Eve project

[Kergarin]

This is how i land and return from eve

 

 

[EvermoreAlpaca]

Single stage to Eve and back.  Some rocks hurt in the making of this film.

 

Edited October 30, 2016 by EvermoreAlpaca

[Kergarin]

3 hours ago, EvermoreAlpaca said:

Single stage to Eve and back.  Some rocks hurt in the making of this film.

 

Can't be displayed because of unlicensed music 

[EvermoreAlpaca]

9 hours ago, Kergarin said:

Can't be displayed because of unlicensed music 

SME has a copyright strike on this in Germany because the public domain music I used sounds similar to a performance by a different orchestra.  I filed a dispute, and based on experience, they will take a couple weeks and then release the claim.
 

Once this is done processing, it will be a muted copy of the video for my German friends

 

Edited October 30, 2016 by EvermoreAlpaca

[Kergarin]

3 minutes ago, EvermoreAlpaca said:

SME has a copyright strike on this in Germany because the public domain music I used sounds similar to a performance by a different orchestra.  I filed a dispute, and based on experience, they will take a couple weeks and then release the claim.
 

Once this is done processing, it will be a muted copy of the video for my German friends
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARPRKC73CvQ

 

Thanks!  Looking forward to see it once it's processed. It's really sad how many videos we can't display here because of this

[Kergarin]

Congratulations and welcome to the Eve SSTO club @EvermoreAlpaca 

 

Did you know that "someone" had this asteroid idea too?

Sadly never found the time to realize it...

[EvermoreAlpaca]

This is my third Eve SSTO, and my fourth reusable system.   I have a bit of a problem =)

I was not aware that you had the idea for the asteroid as well!  Im surprised,  as I thought I was pretty far out of the box on this one.  

On a side note,   the horizontal landing helped with the design because I could mine from the front of the craft.   

[Laie]

On 10/22/2016 at 7:24 PM, eloquentJane said:

Also, have fun with that 2.5m command pod. Getting one of those off of Eve takes a truly monstrous rocket.

Define "monstrous" -- when trying the new atmo in 1.0 I found that one can launch the 2.5m command pod on top of a simple and straightforward contraption that very much looks like a real-world rocket. Vaguely Saturn 5-like and certainly not a small device, but also nowhere as large as many a Jool-5 launcher I've seen.

IMO it's not that hard to build a working Eve lifter these days, the problem is bringing it down to the surface. Not only atmospheric entry, but also the actual landing; I'm under the impression that ships have become more brittle since 0.90.

[septemberWaves]

@Laie By "monstrous" I mean enormous and usually not particularly good-looking, since it takes a huge amount of thrust and fuel which usually manifests as a large gathering of rather sizable asparagus-staged boosters.

[Laie]

@eloquentJane: if memory serves, something along these lines was adequate. Engine shrouds removed for better view.

This particular specimen is untested and lacks TWR for sea level, but should be fine from 2km or so. Performance could easily be improved by attaching up to seven vectors instead of that single mammoth. I'm in no mood to come up with a fully functional LV, I just want to illustrate how much or little rocket it takes to launch a Mk1-2 pod. I can't talk about looks, the parts being what they are, but huge it isn't: in the old days it took a lifter that size for a single Kerbal.

Then again, back then the LFBs would have made wonderful landing gear; when I last tried this (1.1.x) they would come off at the slightest provocation. No landing gentle enough, even *standing* on a 3° slope would tear them off. Strutting didn't help.

Edited November 1, 2016 by Laie

[septemberWaves]

@Laie I do know approximately what's needed for lifting a given payload to Eve orbit. That, by most standards, is a pretty enormous rocket to be sending to another planet*. Much like almost all Eve ascent vehicles.

*To clarify, I don't mean it's large for an Eve ascent vehicle, just that by comparison with most landers it is huge.

Edited November 1, 2016 by eloquentJane

[eagle92lightning]

I BUILT A ORION SLS ROCKET! AAAAWWEEEESSSSSOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!! Project Gemini is gonna begin soon!

On ‎11‎/‎1‎/‎2016 at 2:38 PM, eloquentJane said:

@Laie By "monstrous" I mean enormous and usually not particularly good-looking, since it takes a huge amount of thrust and fuel which usually manifests as a large gathering of rather sizable asparagus-staged boosters.

I now have a SLS rocket ready for launch this weekend!

[Palaceviking]

On 22/10/2016 at 5:09 PM, eagle92lightning said:

LOL! and I think I know what I am talking about and plus the gravity is wrong. Eve is the same size if not smaller than kerbin.

Nope, quite right if you think about its proximity to the nearest star, it would be quite dense indeed.

[eagle92lightning]

11 minutes ago, Palaceviking said:

Nope, quite right if you think about its proximity to the nearest star, it would be quite dense indeed.

exactly! But gravity only depends on mass.

[Palaceviking]

Sorry haven't got the figures in front of me but is the mass/gravity out of whack for Eve?, haven't spent much time there really.

However, Jendorf has, he's been there since 1.0.something

 

Edited November 3, 2016 by Palaceviking

[McQuacker]

So I did a 1-Kerbal Eve return mission in 1.1.3 and I figured that, with the new science box thing, I could do an unmanned return mission in 1.2. However, I'm now realizing that getting an unmanned probe there without losing probe control is not easy. Putting a big antenna on the probe itself is probably not going to work since it will be ripped off by Eve's atmosphere. Putting it inside a materials bay might solve that but I'm not sure if the antenna still works then, and it also doubles the weight of the returning probe.

Right now I'm thinking about leaving a small satellite with a big relay antenna in (roughly) Eve-synchronous orbit and putting a small antenna on the probe itself. I'm hoping I can then get into Eve orbit and get the ejection burn accurate enough to get a Kerbin encounter before I lose contact with the relay satellite, since I won't be able to do any corrections on the way.

Any thoughts on this?

[Magzimum]

39 minutes ago, McQuacker said:

So I did a 1-Kerbal Eve return mission in 1.1.3 and I figured that, with the new science box thing, I could do an unmanned return mission in 1.2. However, I'm now realizing that getting an unmanned probe there without losing probe control is not easy. Putting a big antenna on the probe itself is probably not going to work since it will be ripped off by Eve's atmosphere. Putting it inside a materials bay might solve that but I'm not sure if the antenna still works then, and it also doubles the weight of the returning probe.

Right now I'm thinking about leaving a small satellite with a big relay antenna in (roughly) Eve-synchronous orbit and putting a small antenna on the probe itself. I'm hoping I can then get into Eve orbit and get the ejection burn accurate enough to get a Kerbin encounter before I lose contact with the relay satellite, since I won't be able to do any corrections on the way.

Any thoughts on this?

Since you only need that relay twice (decent and ascent), any relatively high orbit should be ok.

If you are ok with adding an estimated 0.25 tons of mass, you could put a Mk1 fairing onto the upper stage of the lander, with one or two antennas inside it in their folded-up configuration. You can then deploy these as soon as you're outside Eve's atmosphere. But if you only want to bring home the 0.05 ton Experiment Storage Unit back, I would at least consider if it makes more sense to just add moar boosters onto that tiny storage unit, and just burn a bit more to ensure you get a Kerbin encounter.

Also check out post #5 in this thread: it shows how minimalistic a mission can be to bring back a science storage unit. I am not suggesting that this can also be done from Eve, but it may serve as inspiration or at least as entertainment.

 

[Foxster]

I'm far from any kind of expert on the new network stuff but might it work to have one large coms dish on a mothership to reach back to Kerbin and two very small coms satellites at 120° from the large one, with the three maintaining near 100% coverage of the surface between them?

Edited November 7, 2016 by Foxster

[eagle92lightning]

On ‎11‎/‎1‎/‎2016 at 3:23 PM, Laie said:

@eloquentJane: if memory serves, something along these lines was adequate. Engine shrouds removed for better view.

This particular specimen is untested and lacks TWR for sea level, but should be fine from 2km or so. Performance could easily be improved by attaching up to seven vectors instead of that single mammoth. I'm in no mood to come up with a fully functional LV, I just want to illustrate how much or little rocket it takes to launch a Mk1-2 pod. I can't talk about looks, the parts being what they are, but huge it isn't: in the old days it took a lifter that size for a single Kerbal.

Then again, back then the LFBs would have made wonderful landing gear; when I last tried this (1.1.x) they would come off at the slightest provocation. No landing gentle enough, even *standing* on a 3° slope would tear them off. Strutting didn't help.

I can get a mk1-2 off the ground with a smaller set up than that I mean like just a few hammers

[cy4n]

Challenge Accepted.

Plan Details:

1. Before mission, ISRU equipment is shipped to Eve surface.
2. The lander aerobrakes while attached to transfer vehicle.
3. Before the circularisation burn, the lander undocks and re-enters, perfectly timed to...
4. Land on Mount Indigo and deploy rover.
5. The rover goes everywhere while ISRU creates fuel.
6. Lander launches back into orbit, and rendezvouses with the transfer vehicle.
7. Done!

Edited November 7, 2016 by Osmium

[Chris_2]

Idea: 2-stage launcher. But the 1st stage (booster) goes sub-orbital ('straight up only past the thick lower atmosphere') and lands using parachutes. 2nd stage goes to orbit, transfers crew and lands again. Then the booster and 2nd stage are refueled and docked on the surface, and ready to be launched again. A fully reusable system kind-of like SpaceX Falcon 9 or ITS (but on Eve). Anybody ever tried this?

Edited November 7, 2016 by Chris_2

[DustInTheWind]

I would love to see a science probe with a sample return via the new Experiment Storage Unit. For complexity, it should have ComNet engaged so you have to use relays to maintain control which is absolutely necessary during ascent.

Hmmm, I think I have my next mission...

[Laie]

On 11/7/2016 at 9:47 PM, Chris_2 said:

A fully reusable system kind-of like SpaceX Falcon 9 or ITS (but on Eve). Anybody ever tried this?

Idea sounds great. The LV itself will be quite doable and a lot less monstrous than the Eve SSTOs that pop up every now and then. Only... how should one combine the stages on the surface of Eve?

[Kertech]

I've been up and down to eve about 10 times (I'll get the photos when I get back to my house, currently on placement in the middle of nowhere!) so I'll quickly put in my thoughts about what works.

 

first it is the only planet I research a landing zone prior to mission. at least an ore scan and an altimeter map! I normally drop a plane probe on eve to fly over to the site prior as well just to scout out a flat region to target!

Develop a reliable isru system preferably on wheels and have some way to connect it to your ship (kas pipes are so useful!!) it is often better for this to be autonomous! Send this ahead of your mission to your landing site, or else it is pointless going!

Test your rockets ladders on the launch pad! 

launching, transporting and landing a rocket empty is so much easier! (Hence the research) if you send it down fuelled it can be a pain to land due to the weight breaking gear. Having the gear and chutes on decouplers is useful to shed weight in the lower atmosphere. More stacks means more drag. It is better to have boosters shed early and use a single core rocket. Aero spikes and vectors are almost essential for lower atmosphere!

put air breaks at the top of your rocket in the shadow of your heat shield to keep it pointing the right way on reentry.

 

my normal mission is:

scan eve. Find an ore reserve near several biomes that's flat and high up. Send an isru rover and eve ascent vehicle down. Send down any other stuff (I play with life support and other difficulty stuff so having a base is essential!) then send the kerbal in an eve descent pod (standard capsule and parachute) to roughly the location, have them hook up the launcher and do some science. Get them back to orbit and get them home. The beauty of rovers on eves surface is that they are reusable!

[EvermoreAlpaca]

23 hours ago, Laie said:

Idea sounds great. The LV itself will be quite doable and a lot less monstrous than the Eve SSTOs that pop up every now and then. Only... how should one combine the stages on the surface of Eve?

I made a reusable two stage design using a propeller driven first stage.

https://youtu.be/LSWMLkek_OE?t=752