Eve Return 1.05 - In memory of the ERC

[spacebrick3]

Just to clarify, are mods allowed in this challenge? 

[RocketSquid]

1 hour ago, spacebrick3 said:

Just to clarify, are mods allowed in this challenge? 

The OP just specifies no Interstellar and no Near Future, but I'm kinda wondering about the second one. Is that all near future, or just the powerful ones (Propulsion and electrics). Near future Spacecraft and near future solar are pretty stock-balanced. The most challenge breaking thing I could think of from one of those would be the big solar panels.

[Gojira1000]

I didn't want to start slicing it too fine - easier to just say no Interstellar, no NF to avoid any uber-parts.

[DustInTheWind]

Going to try it with MJ, KER, Alarm Clock, and Transfer Window Planner. I have NF Spacecraft and Taurus HCV for the big command pods, but won't use them for this launch.

[immelman]

Eve sea level and back, no ISRU.

Hardest thing was getting the fuel tankers into Eve orbit without too much fuel loss:

 

Edited March 4, 2016 by immelman

[KerbonautInTraining]

I'm considering a lifting body/winged entry vehicle for the Kerbal.

Seeing as all I have to worry about in terms of part count is the lander, I can go insane on other parts of the mission.

Gonna have a command module that takes the entry vehicle and 3 crew into Eve orbit. One will ride the entry vehicle down to the lander. 

I'm pretty sure the entry vehicle will have to take an extremely shallow trajectory to prevent overheating. Do you guys know how hard it would be? Is it even worth trying? 

[Gojira1000]

Just now, KerbonautInTraining said:

I'm considering a lifting body/winged entry vehicle for the Kerbal.

Seeing as all I have to worry about in terms of part count is the lander, I can go insane on other parts of the mission.

Gonna have a command module that takes the entry vehicle and 3 crew into Eve orbit. One will ride the entry vehicle down to the lander. 

I'm pretty sure the entry vehicle will have to take an extremely shallow trajectory to prevent overheating. Do you guys know how hard it would be? Is it even worth trying? 

It's doable on paper, maybe - I have burnt several to a crisp trying it, however. Still, there is no progress without experimentation

11 hours ago, immelman said:

Eve sea level and back, no ISRU.

Hardest thing was getting the fuel tankers into Eve orbit without too much fuel loss:

 

Love it!

[KerbonautInTraining]

2 minutes ago, Gojira1000 said:

I have burnt several to a crisp trying it

That's what I feared. Maybe I can have it behind a heat shield and then drop it once I'm slow enough to not burn up? The problem with that is I'll lose a lot of landing point control. Maybe I don't need much, as Eve's atmosphere would allow for a LOT of gliding.

[Findthepin1]

Think I'm gonna do this. If I actually start it in the next couple of days, I'm officially doing it.

[astrobond]

Hi All

Never made a new Eve Mission with my 1.04 tested lander since 1.05 version came out... that's done  

Ksp full stock parts, KER, PreciseNodes and cosmetics addons.

752tons, 192parts, 342562funds..

One launch.

 

 

Fly safe with Valentina

 

[Racescort666]

Can I use Hyperedit to put Jeb on the surface then, without hyperedit, run the mission as normal to recover him and complete the challenge?

ETA: sort of a better version of "Recover Stranded Kerbal" if you will.

Edited March 6, 2016 by Racescort666

[Byronacles]

Hello,

I did this about a month ago. I had no intention of posting this accomplishment online at the time, so please forgive me for the lack of pictures of the transfers and whatnot. The only mod I used was KER.

Eve and back, in one launch.

 

[Starlionblue]

This challenge is driving me nuts... I keep overbuilding. The parts count and weight skyrocket and then I burn up on Eve entry.

If I was a less obsessive individual I'd give up...

[spacebrick3]

I hear you, Starlionblue.

Total, I think my Eve mission will take about seven launches (lander, transfer stage, four fuellings and a launch with double ScanSats.

(sighs...)

[Starlionblue]

3 hours ago, spacebrick3 said:

I hear you, Starlionblue.

Total, I think my Eve mission will take about seven launches (lander, transfer stage, four fuellings and a launch with double ScanSats.

(sighs...)

I am pretty sure (ha!) I can do it in two. One monstrous vehicle for the Eve transit+lander+ascent vehicle. Another launch for a vehicle to pick up the Kerbonaut in Low Eve Orbit.

I've pretty much figured out the "delta-V bits". The problem I have is that the vehicle keep burning up on Eve atmospheric entry. Need to do some more testing on radially mounting heatshields. How do you do that anyway?

[Gojira1000]

On 2016-03-06 at 6:38 AM, astrobond said:

Hi All

Never made a new Eve Mission with my 1.04 tested lander since 1.05 version came out... that's done  

Ksp full stock parts, KER, PreciseNodes and cosmetics addons.

752tons, 192parts, 342562funds..

One launch.

 

 

Fly safe with Valentina

 

That is a very elegant design for an Eve mission - and one launch is impressive

On 2016-03-06 at 10:14 AM, Racescort666 said:

Can I use Hyperedit to put Jeb on the surface then, without hyperedit, run the mission as normal to recover him and complete the challenge?

ETA: sort of a better version of "Recover Stranded Kerbal" if you will.

Getting to and landing (in one piece) on Eve are part and parcel of a "go there, plant a flag, come home" mission - so no to hyperedit, sorry

@Byronacles gets an honorable Eve badge, too. I'm sensing a lot of asparagus in most entries. Not a surprise, that.

[Byronacles]

Thank you @Gojira1000!

If anybody would like, I have no problems posting my craft file. You would just need to add on ladders so your Kebal can plant a flag.

[Starlionblue]

Now that I finally figured out how to stitch heatshields together, I've finally been making some progress... Thank goodness for HyperEdit so I can test stuff easily.

2 hours ago, Byronacles said:

Thank you @Gojira1000!

If anybody would like, I have no problems posting my craft file. You would just need to add on ladders so your Kebal can plant a flag.

Sure!

[astrobond]

7 hours ago, Gojira1000 said:

That is a very elegant design for an Eve mission - and one launch is impressive

Thank's a lot @Gojira1000 

Now in a hurry to make a new mission in " Eve Return 1.1 - In memory of the ERC "

Fly safe with Valentina.

[Byronacles]

Sorry for the delay @Starlionblue. Here it is:

Stock Eve Lander

Edit: The TWR and dV should be sufficient to get you back to Kerbin even if you land in the water (which I did on one of my tests). 

I hope you enjoy it, and good luck! 

 

 

Edited March 10, 2016 by Byronacles

[Starlionblue]

Whoooo! I did it. Finally did it! My lander had around 10500 delta-V. After much finicking with re-entry I managed to set her down at 3500 altitude.

Eve return mission 1.05

(How do I embed Imgur albums?)

Stable Eve orbit was achieved with.... over 3800 delta-v left?!? I may have overbuilt. I do get the feeling that while 13000 delta-V from Eve sealevel is a good ballpark, you can make huge efficiency gains with aerodynamic and ascent profile optimization. For one thing using the Mk1 command module and a nose cone is way better than using the Mk1 lander can and a nose cone despite the increase in weight. Also, the can makes control difficult as it tends to drag the nose to one side. This easily leads to tumbling.

Some notes:

• Yes, I know my Kerbin booster is sheer brute force and could have been done much more elegantly. However it did keep the parts count and complication down.
• Heat shields are tricky, and so is keeping the lander behind the heat shield. I had to add a bunch or RCS and also fins at the top for a weathervane effect. I managed entry into the Evemosphere with my main engine heated to 92% of its max.
• When entering the Evemosphere a shallow entry angle is critical to limit heat buildup.
• While asparagus is more efficient, for the lander I chose a rather traditional three stage design with only a little asparagus for the first stage. The added complication of asparagus was making things way overcomplex in the first 10 iterations. One Mammoth engine and the biggest Kerbodyne tank go a long way.

Unexpected complication: Eve ascent. I managed to blow up dozens of times. Two factors to consider:

• When to start the "gravity turn". Too early and you will eventually heat up the command pod and nose cone to destruction as you try to accelerate in the thickest part of the Evemosphere. Too late and you're wasting fuel. Around 25000 meters seemed like a reasonable number.
• Dynamic pressure. Too high and you're wasting fuel. Too low and you're not climbing fast enough. After some experimenting I went with 40000pa. I get the feeling you want it high in the beginning to "punch through" the thicker parts of the atmosphere as fast as possible at the expense of some higher drag.

By starting my "gravity turn" around 25km, when I really started to increase the horizontal component to orbital speed I was (just) above the altitude where heating became a showstopper.

 

(On return, I missed the KSC by about 50km but I'll take it.)

Edited March 10, 2016 by Starlionblue

[Starlionblue]

Oops...

Edited March 10, 2016 by Starlionblue

[Gojira1000]

9 hours ago, Starlionblue said:

Whoooo! I did it. Finally did it! My lander had around 10500 delta-V. After much finicking with re-entry I managed to set her down at 3500 altitude.

Eve return mission 1.05

 

I LIKE a big borg-cube launcher. It's more Kerbal-ish. And you got back to orbit with a load of dV - I definitely shouldn't have landed on the beach. (But, sand-castles!)

[Starlionblue]

12 minutes ago, Gojira1000 said:

I LIKE a big borg-cube launcher. It's more Kerbal-ish. And you got back to orbit with a load of dV - I definitely shouldn't have landed on the beach. (But, sand-castles!)

The "problem" I have now is that since I had all that delta-V left I'm tempted to try a sea-level landing. I'm just worried wife will leave me and stuff if I spend any more time obsessing over KSP. And then there's the whole "holding down a job" thing... 

Edited March 10, 2016 by Starlionblue

[spacebrick3]

I am almost ready to begin transfer to Eve, but first I need a name for my vehicle. The mission itself is E.V.E. (Eve Vehicular Egress), and I would like a lander with the same initials. Examples would include Exploratory Vessel: Eve and Egress Vehicle: Eve.