Girasol Lander

[Jaeara]

Hello, all you happy people!

This is the first craft I'm posting to the forums (first post, even!) and I'm really proud of her. It's the Girasol Lander.

When deployed, the A.I.R.B.R.E.A.K.S. give the Girasol its distinctive look (girasol is spanish for Sunflower.)
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/TMr0GsV.jpg[/IMG]
In 1.0.4, I successfully tested her entering Kerbin's atmosphere from Minmus and Mun, and also Duna and Eve's atmospheres. She can take off from Duna into orbit, also.
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/KgVAhUY.jpg[/IMG]
The aerobraking is enough to slow her down, and with the droughts and chutes, she'll touchdown and not need boosters to slow her down.
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/qmTAvky.jpg[/IMG]
The trick I've found is to enter the atmosphere slowly (in Kerbin, for example, Periapsis of 45-50km is safe, no matter from what speed the craft is going.) Sure, you might do six orbits, but she'll get you down to the surface alive. On Eve, especially, I do this to keep from overheating.

These pictures I uploaded have radiators on the sides. I still haven't decided whether i truly need them or not, but from trial and error it seems like I don't. Hell, the center fuel tank has a Clamp-o-tron senior on the bottom, not a heat shield (though a heat shield can be placed on the clap-o-tron and ejected after it's no longer needed.)

Please let me know what you think!

~Jae

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

Looks great, and welcome to the forums! The arrangement of drogues and normal parachutes is clever.

[Jaeara]

Thank you, and thank you!