I got a Duna related question.

[bncrock]

So I put together this interplanetary vessel back in .24 but it wasn't until 1.0.5 when I used it to get to Duna (deadly re-entry is off because the ship was designed pre-aerodynamic update). I encountered a few issues along the way, such as the solar pannels I put on the lander not retracting for my aerobrake maneuver due to the pannel update, but my biggest concern is fuel. Currently I have a refuel stage headed to duna to give a little extra fuel to the transport stage (even though I have plenty) but it's also hauling a battery pack and retractable solar pannels to go down with the lander. I was curious if, over all, the lander has enough fuel to make it to orbit and meet the transport stage, which is at about 105-110k meters. It's a lander can with a senior port, a quarter 2.5m tank of fuel, a poodle engine, two solid rocket boosters (thumper) for takeoff that have decouplers to seperate, 8 parachutes (better safe than sorry), and the heaviest landing legs (4).

Including the additional stuff, will this be good or should I consider more fuel to be taken by the refuel vessel. 

I should add this is by memory. I won't have access to my computer for a bit, and as such I can't check any stats (though I could wiki it but I got stuff to do).

[Dfthu]

It should be good if you pick a good transfer window between duna and Kerbin.

[worir4]

All you have to be able to do is reach orbit. Once you have done that, if you run out of fuel you can just send another re-fueling ship (assuming you are not using any life support mods.)

As for the parachutes, don't open them too early because they will burn up. 8 can sound like a lot of parachutes but depending on the size of your ship, be prepared to use your engines to slow down.

Good luck.

[bncrock]

44 minutes ago, worir4 said:

All you have to be able to do is reach orbit. Once you have done that, if you run out of fuel you can just send another re-fueling ship (assuming you are not using any life support mods.)

As for the parachutes, don't open them too early because they will burn up. 8 can sound like a lot of parachutes but depending on the size of your ship, be prepared to use your engines to slow down.

Good luck.

Thanks. Again, this is a save from .24, which is nearing 2 years old. Which means it was not outfitted properly whatsoever. My biggest worry is, since this was pre deadly reentry, is that the lander will burn up because of the lack of heat dispersers. The entire shuttle survived the aerobrake maneuver (I stayed a bit higher than normal and used a bit of fuel to get out of the escape trajectory) but landing is another story. I know that Duna has a weak atmosphere so if I enter low enough can I look to avoid massive overheating? 

[cubinator]

17 minutes ago, bncrock said:

I know that Duna has a weak atmosphere so if I enter low enough can I look to avoid massive overheating? 

From my experiences with Duna, you don't really need any heat shielding at all if you're coming in from low orbit.

[bncrock]

6 minutes ago, cubinator said:

From my experiences with Duna, you don't really need any heat shielding at all if you're coming in from low orbit.

Ok, thanks.

[Nich]

My last time at Duna was an interplanetary air brake at 15 km. Got very hot but nothing blew didn't need any heat shields

[KroShan]

On my experience the quarter fuel tank with poodle is sufficient for reaching Duna Orbit. With SRBs you should have plenty of dV to get back to the transport.

The Landing will be the hard part. As @worir4 wrote the parachutes wil deploy late, often too late. I always have to slow down my vehicles with eingine thrust before i can open the parachutes savely.

[something]

Landed quite some stuff at Duna for my current Duna mission. Turns out nothing got hot due to atmospheric heating.

And as already has been written - be careful with the chutes. My fist Duna lander lost its engine due to me relying on chutes and being 10m/s short in the end...boom...engine gone. Would be bad if you planned to bring that ship back to orbit. Could be kind of a challenge - without engine...

Edited March 14, 2016 by something

[Tex]

Moved to Gameplay Questions because... It's a gameplay question.