Eve Sample Return Mission

[McQuacker]

I recently got a complaint from Jeb, who stated that he was getting bored of flying to Minmus all the time. I guess even the vastness of deep space and the serenity of the void lose their charm after a while. Jeb explained to me that there were those of little faith who stated that Minmus was as far as Kerbal-kind was ever like to get, and that a body as heavy and distant as, say, Eve would be forever out of reach. "Never!", said Jeb. "I shall personally go there and what's more, I'll prove it! I'll even bring back some rocks from the surface, so that none of ye may doubt the piloting skills of Jebediah Kerman again!"

Next morning Jeb woke up terribly hungover, but unfortunately Bob and Bill had captured his entire ill-begotten rant on video, making it impossible for him to back out now. Luckily Bob and Bill both, after a nice chit-chat with Jeb who didn't threaten them with any form of corporal punishment at all, volunteered to accompany Jeb on this heroic mission. The only problem with their fantastic plan is that the unbelieving Kerbals in the bar the night before were not entirely wrong - the Space Program right now doesn't have anything that's even close to capable of returning home from the surface of Eve.

Good old Werner von Kermann soon fixed that though, resulting in the following monstrosity:

- The Lander -

- The Returner -

- The Complete Ship -

The mission is to bring Jeb to Eve's surface, let him collect a nice bunch of science while there, and then return him and the samples safely to Kerbin. Bob and Bill will remain in orbit (in a duo impersonation of Michael Collins) to keep the return vehicle running. The imgur album shows several screenshots of the ship in the VAB, captions provided.

http://imgur.com/a/DLmc6

Next post will contain the Kerbin ascent!

Edited September 3, 2016 by McQuacker

[Tw1]

Not a bad looking set of spacecraft modules. 

Was each designed as an individual component, or did you take the whole rocket at once approach? 

maybe this would be better in mission reports though? 

 

[McQuacker]

Thanks! The lander and the return vehicle were designed separately, only made so that they'd fit snugly in the fairings. After that I used the whole package so that all the big rocket stages would be powerful enough.

What do you mean by the mission reports thing? According to my browser this topic is in there already :/

[MaxL_1023]

Try Kerbal Joint Reinforcement - it really helps with the wet-noodle syndrome, especially since there is no real efficient way to strengthen joints using structural parts. 

[McQuacker]

The next set of screenshots is up! Here I show the ascent from Kerbin, circularization and encountering Eve. FYI, Jeb's already safe back home at KSC, it's just a matter of uploading and commenting all the pictures. Here's a small selection of screenies:

Lift-off:

Ditching first stage using Flea boosters instead of Separatrons:

Orbiting Eve:

 

Edited September 3, 2016 by McQuacker

[McQuacker]

And the rest is up there too. Small selection of the rest of the mission:

Atmospheric entry on Eve:

Landed on Eve with the science equipment:

Eve ascent:

Last stage:

Getting Jeb back into the Returner:

Flying over KSC during Kerbin re-entry:

Science results:

 

[MaxL_1023]

I am thinking about what it would take to do a Venus sample return in RSS. Can rocket engines function in 90 atmospheres?