Slaying the purple beast!

[Tourist]

I should probably update this thread, its seems to have become active again.

So the beast was eventually slain, due in no small part to the great ideas discussed here. Sadly no pictures, but this is how I did it.

I won't bore you with launch and transfer. In short, lots of engines. Crew (Jeb) sent separately to lander/ascent vehicle in a mothership with other support Kerbals.

Rendezvous and transfer of Jeb above Eve. The last of the fuel in the transfer stage was burnt off to lower the PE into the atmosphere.

With literally everything behind overlapping heatshields, I descended through the atmosphere as a glowing fireball. A truly white knuckle affair, with little actual input. It was a watch and hope affair. The fires subsided and the ship eventually reached parachute speed and height, and floated gently to the purple ground.  Jeb got out, took some samples, planted a flag then climbed back into the vessel. 

Lander/ascender consisted of 6 fuel tanks with aerospikes clustered asparagus style around a central core powered by a vector. On top of that a Mk1 command pod on a small fuel tank and a LV-909 for the final push to orbit.

TAKE OFF!

As always with asparagus staging, the first stages burn off worryingly fast. With about two aerospikes left, it began to get very hairy. On one hand I needed to manage the throttle to prevent burning up in the atmosphere (a risk simulations had shown was all too real), while at the same time flicking to map view to avoid wasting fuel on a needlessly high AP (future missions will have Kerbal engineer installed to avoid this problem). With the vector now running solo, and focusing on heat and projected altitude, I didn't notice I'd veered off course badly. I corrected, but I did not know if I would have enough fuel after that wasteful episode?

The Vector burned out. It was all down to the valiant LV-909. With great tension I watched the little engine burn, the fuel slowly depleted and the trajectory flattened out and extended over the purple surface agonizingly slowly, until.... the PE pokes up from the surface and climbs. The fuel ran out, but no before a stable orbit was achieved.

In due course the mothership caught up, burning way too much fuel in the process because the ascender was now on a very awkward inclination due to veering off course. A refueller needed to be sent to get the mothership back how with all souls about.     

And there you are, I finally got the big purple monkey off my back.