Extract ore from Laythe and return it to Jool orbit.

[AxSirlotl]

I've built a startship which will take the craft to Jool, but I haven't made the craft. I've tried a Vtol with the Convert-o-tron 125 (smaller one) but that doesn't really work. Does anyone have any good craft which can mine ore then return to laythe orbit (starship will take the mining ship back to Jool orbit). The convert-o-tron can be left on Laythe. Thanks.

Edited May 1, 2016 by AxSirlotl

[mrclucks]

Depending on how much ore is needed will determine how big and what kind of craft is needed.  You could make an SSTO with overpowered airbreathing engines to accelerate you to a ballistic trajectory with a high apoapsis and then use a vacuum engine to accelerate you out of orbit.  Your orbit would almost always be a complete orbit around jool.  Depending on how high your orbit is and how much your craft weighs, you could use ion engines to accelerate to an escape orbit from Laythe after using the overpowered airbreathing engines.  

You could also use one craft to mine the ore and then dock with your mother ship and escape out of laythes orbit.  As long as you have the required amount of ore on that ship, you should have your contract completed

[SteveD80]

Just out of curiosity, why Laythe? I'd expect one of the smaller moons to be more efficient.

[Plusck]

3 hours ago, SteveD80 said:

Just out of curiosity, why Laythe? I'd expect one of the smaller moons to be more efficient.

Certainly a contract, judging by the terms used.

Still, it would be a lot simpler to just mine the ore on Laythe, then bring ore from somewhere else (Bop or Poll) into Jool orbit. The contract won't mind where the ore comes from - the only time is is required to be on Laythe and "fresh" is when it is actually being mined.