[Mission Idea] Somewhat of a Jool-5 concept? Maybe?

[SpaceplaneAddict]

Because this forum is now marked Challenges and Mission Ideas, I went ahead and created this thread  for feedback on my concept for the Jool-5. 

 

 

Anyway, here's the details for the landers:

4 standardized "tugs" with claws on the bottom and mining equipment, looking somewhat like Kuzzters Kranefly, small maybe.

1 "Blade" SSTO, which can be found in my sig. This will the universal lander for all moons except Tylo.

1 Vertical Take-off SSTO with mining equipment, specialized for landing on Tylo. Also has rendezvous equipment.

 

 

 

The mothership will be nothing but some docking port, a decoupler to attach the spaceplane by it's nuke, a nose docking port for the Tylo ship, a probe core, BigS fuel tanks, and plenty of power.

 

Flight plan:

Send the whole thing to Jool, all connected to the mothership. Reach orbit at Laythe. Land using spaceplane at Laythe. Land a tug on top of it and refuel both of them by attaching with claw. Spaceplane will make orbit around Vall and land. New tug will be sent to land on top again. Repeat procedure for Bop and Pol. After, rendezvous around Tylo and wait. Switch to the Tylo lander and do the whole mining process. Orbit again and rendezvous with spaceplane. Refuel spaceplane with any leftover fuel. 

Fly back home!

 

So? Whaddya think? Possible? Inefficient? Let me know, cause I don't want to halfway to Jool and realized I did a bad.

Edited January 8, 2016 by SpaceplaneAddict

[Stratzenblitz75]

Well, If I'm understanding your plan correctly, I have a few bits of advice:

1. Why are you bringing 4 tugs on the mission? I know you are trying to land the tug on-top of the space-plane to refuel it, but this seems like overly complicated way to refuel something. I'd imagine it would be much simpler to just include a drill and an ISRU unit on the space-plane itself. Also, what are using to power the ISRU units? I haven't done any ISRU around Jool, but I've heard that those suckers are very power hungry, and that solar panels don't provide much juice at that distance. 

2. What are you going to use to get into orbit around Laythe? Are you going to use engine power, or are you going to aero-brake? In the case of the later, I've found reentry heating to be very brutal in 1.05. You might want to consider heat shields if you haven't already. Additionally, make sure your space-plane can handle an interplanetary reentry at Kerbin on the way home or can carry enough fuel to slow down.

To be more efficient, I would build a separate, smaller lander for Vall, Bop, and Pol. However, seeing as you're a space-plane addict, I doubt I would be able to change your mind on that one ;).

Everything else seems fine though. As long as your crafts pack the necessary delta V (and the necessary TWR and power generation in the case of your Tylo lander), you should be good to go.

[SpaceplaneAddict]

Four guys for disposability. They're unmanned, and their job is over when I finish refuelling the spaceplane. 

 

Man will probably just pack enough fuel to brute force my way into an elipticall orbit. Remember how I planned to mount the plane backwards? That's going to not help, So I'll have to reenter "prograde" so I don't flip from CoM and CoL Buisness.

 

And the Tylo lander will just be something with a cockpit, fuel, mining kit, and engine. Keeping it simple just helps me think.

 

Plus, I plan on reusing the Laythe tug and mothership. They will both have class, So I'll shove any LF I can into the spaceplanes before departure, hopefully reaching the max capacity of 7km/s of Schmelta-V

Edited January 8, 2016 by SpaceplaneAddict