One way eve trip worth the loss?

[ToukieToucan]

So I am planning to go to Eve but with tac life support its pretty obvious that they will stay on Eve for their last days. And ofcourse the brave kerbalnauts will receive the highest honour: "Among the stars" and a Failed Apollo 11-ish speech.

 

So is the surface sample and the eva data (+ milestone money/science) worth the death of a kerbal? 

[John FX]

Only you can answer that.

Myself I send unmanned probes and make do with orbital EVA science reports.

[Choctofliatrio2.0]

Pro: Manned landing, no need for return vehicle, cheaper.

Con: Loss of Kerbal, less science returned, moral guilt.

Your call.

[Randazzo]

I don't know off the top of my head the worth of that science, but altogether it can't be much when transmitted (I'd guess ~ 200-300 tops) which can easily be obtained elsewhere.

I suppose it comes down to whether or not the cost of replacing that crew is worth that little bit of science to you, if you even need or want to replace them.

[LordKael]

You could of course leave the Kerbal in orbit with a return stage, saving his life. To get the science, send down an unmanned probe with all your experiments

 

[suicidejunkie]

Just because it is a one way trip (for now) doesn't necessarily mean it is a suicide mission.

If you add some greenhouses, you can turn it into a permanent colony!

Alternatively, give them 10 years of supplies and pick them up when you hit max tech.

[Dman979]

How much would it take to replace the crew, in purely monetary terms? How about reputation, or astronaut morale (if that's something you'd be concerned about).

Also, if you only send an ascent vehicle, you could leave the crew in orbit with a space station you sent unmanned. Then you can get all the "Science from Eve orbit" contracts!

[Guest]

Just leave the astronauts in orbit around Eve and send a probe.

[Cornholio]

Absolutely! Anything for science!

[Evanitis]

Once you have probe cores, that's kinda' the only use of pilots.

[ToukieToucan]

10 minutes ago, Evanitis said:

Once you have probe cores, that's kinda' the only use of pilots.

Pilots might as well be volunteers these days, neither of them need skill anymore.

[Laie]

1 hour ago, ToukieToucan said:

So I am planning to go to Eve but with tac life support its pretty obvious that they will stay on Eve for their last days.

I don't see why?

a) Eve is no longer the beast it used to be; with the kind of lifter that was necessary to return one kerbal, you can now carry four or more.
b) life support for the return trip stays in orbit. Life support for Eve visitation stays on Eve. You only need to lift the amount necessary for ascent and rendezvous (a few hours should do; make it two days and be safe.).

I only know TACLS from RO and have no idea how it works in stock, so I may be missing the point. Is there more to it than carrying some extra mass?

[Renegrade]

You could always just send robotic resupply missions to Eve to keep the kerbal(s) alive.  TAC LS containers aren't particularly heavy and only moderately unwieldy.. just drop in with some supplies every once in a while to keep the kerbals going.  If you're not opposed to science labs (I am, but I can comprehend that others are not), might even put one of those down there.   Multiplier is probably pretty good?

I do surface studies in BTSM on canned life support all the time (and that's without KIS/KAS).

If you do have KIS/KAS available to you, so much the better for resupply.   It's so easy to hook up with some hoses...

[Nich]

Ya 10 years supply doesn't cost much who knows maybe by then you will know how to rescue them

[pincushionman]

The fact that you even ask the question says to me that, for you, it is not worth stranding a Kerbal. Plan a means of return.

[ToukieToucan]

2 hours ago, suicidejunkie said:

Just because it is a one way trip (for now) doesn't necessarily mean it is a suicide mission.

If you add some greenhouses, you can turn it into a permanent colony!

Alternatively, give them 10 years of supplies and pick them up when you hit max tech.

Sometimes we need to make big sacrifices.

[nosirrbro]

It most certainly is worth it! However, it is only worth it one way: Take a science lab, and set it up on the surface. It will generate loads of science, and if you add a greenhouse you now have a high efficiency permenant science generator! If not it wont be permenant, but will give lots of science, the surface of Eve has some insane science multipliers.

[Laie]

Sorry the bump, but... I still don't understand why a return is out of the question. Could someone please explain?

[Nich]

probably tech or skill level.

[AbacusWizard]

Leave no kerbal behind! BRING THEM HOME!

[magnemoe]

5 hours ago, Laie said:

Sorry the bump, but... I still don't understand why a return is out of the question. Could someone please explain?

This, download an Eve accent craft, then use an rover to take the kerbal to accent craft. Either train in sandbox or land on other biomes and do an accent to train and to return data. 

[stosyfir]

Weve never lost a kerbal in space before we are sure not going to lose one on my watch! -Gene Kerman

Srsly though the sci wouldnt be worth it to me personally.. Eve = unmanned probes for me

 

 

 

[mrclucks]

Drop some life support with him.  Maybe he'll surprise you and survive The Martian style.  

 

Seriously though, just have unmanned probes for anything deeper than skimming Eve's atmosphere, and be sure to have enough batteries and ways of getting EC, as well as an antenna

[SkyRender]

You could always tell yourself a story to justify it.  Perhaps the brave Kerbal who is doomed to live their final days on Eve has a terminal illness.  Perhaps they're a notorious criminal who wants one last chance to do something useful for society instead of getting a lethal injection.  Maybe they're part of a cult that thinks Eve is inhabitable and they've sabotaged the mission to land instead of orbit and return.  Role-playing can justify all sorts of things that would seem inhumane without such context.

[corvustech]

Select the crew from Kerbals whose last mission ended horribly, but they surivived.  Crew of three that crashed on Mun and wrecked all the science modules, then needed rescue?  Eve Prison Planet for you, failures!  Glory to the Kerbin Empire!