Yay wheels (now with craft file)

[Kerbart]

Skycranes are reliable vehicles to put a rover or vehicle on the surface. Obviously, I try to avoid them. Making a contraption like this one never worked satisfactory in the past, but I guess wheels have changed in such a way that now... it works!

Not a McGuffin

What's in the box?! What's in the box?!

Prepare for landing

The Box on the way to the surface

Safely Landed

Those tiny landing legs are good enough to absorb the landing shock

Surprise!

The front pops off, and out comes the rover!

It's alive!

Now I have a reliable way to get my rovers safely anywhere, protected from harsh outer space on the way there.

The Craft File!

There were a couple of requests for the craft file (linky), so enjoy! (all stock parts).

Notes:

The rover is attached with a coupler to the lander. The "hatch" is attached to the docking port at the front of the lander (use "control from here" for easy steering). Land with gear down to prevent unscheduled rapid disassembly, and then retract gear to bring the bottom to the surface. Stage to pop the hatch and to release the rover, and happy exploring!

It shouldn't be too hard to attach small science gear, just be aware that you don't want to drop below the bottom at the rear or you'll get stuck getting out. There's no science gear on my version, as it's intended to scout out a good site for a base (flat, and all), although on econd thought I should have added a thermometer (for those occasional science data from the mun missions). and I added a thermometer for those pesky science data from the mun missions.

I've tried this approach in previous versions but either the rover wouldn't release or get launched into orbit when detaching, whatever changes Squad made to the wheels (and we know there were many) resulted in it working now. I might try bigger ones too!

Edited January 11, 2017 by Kerbart
Added link to craft file

[Mikki]

Nice little bug on wheels! I`d like to take your contraption to Ike, can you give a craftfile from the box and the rover?
You don`t mind when i copy your moonbug, no?

Edited January 11, 2017 by Mikki

[Sharpy]

IMO that's waaay overbuilt.
The skycrane must be like 10x the mass of the rover.

This is about all you need to deliver it to Mun from LKO; launch it on a Kickback and LF tank with a Reliant on it, or something comparably sized.

On launchpad, set the docking port attached to the reaction wheel as "Control from here".

Deploy the fairing as soon as you're out of the atmosphere. Extend the rover's antennas to retain connectivity with KSC.

During flight to Mun, orient self to have sun in the panel.

Land vertically on the engine. Throttle it down enough so that the final descent is at about 1m/s.

Tip over wheels down using the reaction wheel. Decouple node on the docking port. Set "Control from here" for the docking port on the rover.

 

Edited January 11, 2017 by Sharpy

[TopHeavy11]

Wow. What rocket did you use to get to orbit/Mun?

[Enceos]

@Sharpy When we launch stuff, we do it in style

@Kerbart 100 points, dude!

[Sharpy]

5 minutes ago, Enceos said:

@Sharpy When we launch stuff, we do it in style

Well, I like "in style" and simultaneously efficiently, that's why my payloads rarely go under 50 tons That way transfer and landing stages are respectable despite being "just the right size"

---

Okay. Let me rephrase my criticism. The skycrane is very nice. The rover is way too small .

Edited January 11, 2017 by Sharpy

[Kerbart]

3 hours ago, Sharpy said:

IMO that's waaay overbuilt.
The skycrane must be like 10x the mass of the rover.

Probably even more! However, I wanted something that would keep my rover "boxed" until the landing. Once it's safe and the dust has settled, then my little rover comes out. I fully agree, if you're looking for efficiency, this is not it.

But I was looking to satisfy my gameplay/roleplay needs, and a "naked minimal delivery" does not fullfil that; my contraption does.

1 hour ago, TopHeavy11 said:

Wow. What rocket did you use to get to orbit/Mun?

Craft file shared. Just some run-off the mill Jumbo tank with a Skipper attached (I'm one of those weird people who like the Skipper, it's not as thirsty as the Mainsail). A bit rich on the DV, but I'll leave white-knuckle-razor-thin-margin missions to the 'ung ones. Too much excitement for me!

5 hours ago, Mikki said:

Nice little bug on wheels! I`d like to take your contraption to Ike, can you give a craftfile from the box and the rover?
You don`t mind when i copy your moonbug, no?

Not at all. I put the link up in the top post!

[Sharpy]

7 minutes ago, Kerbart said:

Probably even more! However, I wanted something that would keep my rover "boxed" until the landing.

Seriously consider fairings. They have a really ludicrous impact resistance - essentially as long as the base doesn't touch the ground, the fairing itself is unbreakable. And if you don't care about impact durability that much, wing segments make much lighter boxes. The Blade radiators look kinda neat too.

Spoiler

Lithobraker 2. Survives a Mun landing at 380m/s.

 

 

[Mikki]

@Kerbart

Hi there, guess where your elaborate craft is hanging around...! Its on his way to Ike, with my career "Duna Bothering Program"!

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/154699-dbp-duna-bothering-program/
 

Your craft:

Launcher - excellent
Fairing got stuck but i shacked it off - excellent
Rover in a box - excellent

Most excellent craft in my whole game now! 

It is now to a crew transfervessel docked, i made minor changes for dockingability and lesser performance on Ike, the vessel is now named "Ikebug", the "DBP" management is honored to take it with us.

 

Spoiler

Thank you! Would be glad when you look into my mission report once when you have some spare time! Your craft has a serious mission! Cheers! 

Edited January 11, 2017 by Mikki
typo8D

[Kerbart]

4 minutes ago, Mikki said:

Thank you! Would be glad when you look into my mission report once when you have some spare time! Your craft has a serious mission! Cheers! 

I'm glad you enjoy it, and I look forward to see it included in your mission report!