How will you get to one of the planets?

[hebdomad]

I think a lot of people will be launching one way rockets. I think I'll try a flyby then a Lander mission.

[aceassasin]

Alright heres my plan i will launch a 3 man capsule but kick one kerbal out before launch so i only have two kerbals i will transfer to the planet. on my arrival i will land directly to conserve fuel used for orbit insertion. with parachutes and a small amount of powered flight After staying on the surface and EVAing waiting for the next launch window to the planet. when it does open i will launch a 3 man orbiter with 2 kerbals kicked out. I will use aerobraking (skimming the atmosphere) to help put me into orbit. The two kerbals will launch off the surface rendevouz with the orbiter they will Eva ditch the lander and hop on the ride home However i will have to wait for another launch window. on our cruise home there will be a few Deep space evas and a re-entry to kerbin at record setting speeds other than that they will be greeted as heros

[DeadlyPear]

IF some of the new parts are a working empty capsule, then that would make a return trip much easier. Because you could then have an Apollo-style mission with a small lander.

[deadshot462]

Been practicing interplanetary missions, it's surprising how little fuel it takes to come back from a higher Kerbaol orbit. Most of the fuel will be spent takeing off from Kerbin's atmosphere, and landing a big ship that can take off from an atmosphere filled planet.

[EvilotionCR2]

I would use ion engines

[Millst0ne MK II]

1 word, and 1 only. Planes.

[Tim_Barrett]

I think a lot of people will be launching one way rockets. I think I'll try a flyby then a Lander mission.

To be honest, I'd think that the target is so far away that I would prepare for the worst/longest missions.

Some planets might have atmosphere, so I'll pack a parachute on every ship, regardless of what I'm heading for, just in case I get into a crappy situation or fail on my orbital mechanics. I'm not dismissing landing engines though, because what if the atmosphere is too thin?

[DeadlyPear]

To be honest, I'd think that the target is so far away that I would prepare for the worst/longest missions.

Some planets might have atmosphere, so I'll pack a parachute on every ship, regardless of what I'm heading for, just in case I get into a crappy situation or fail on my orbital mechanics. I'm not dismissing landing engines though, because what if the atmosphere is too thin?

Better pack a parachute, and then add about 3 more. Just in case.

[Tigga]

I think my first missions will have a lander, with the aim of escaping the planet but not having enough to re-tansfer back to Kerbin. A second craft with spare crew space and no lander will follow shortly behind and I'll EVA my landing Kerbals to this craft. After I get that sorted I think I'll try a single-craft misison, but I'm not very optimisic!

[Fendleton]

I'll probably build a 35-65 ton vehicle with aerospike engines, then build a basic launch system to lob the whole thing out of kerbins SOI. I did that for sun-diving missions and it worked pretty well. Probably going to use powered touchdown with a drogue chute....and/or just covering the prototype in parachutes. Avoiding things like Skycranes and the like until I know what I'm doing.

As for the return trip....well...I'd try giving my lander enough fuel to make it back into a low orbit, then attempt a rendezvous with a second ship (which I've....never done before) with enough fuel to get back.

First mission: Test the lander and return vehicles in orbit, practise rendezvous. Repeat as needed.

Second mission: Slingshot or orbit around target planet in return vehicle, scout for landing sites. Practise orbital maneuvers around planet, make sure there's enough fuel for rendezvous operations.

Third mission: Send the lander AND return vehicle over (2 crew in lander, 1 man in Mk 1-2 pod in return vehicle), put them into a nice low orbit. Lander then lands (obviously), carries out scientific work while the orbiter...um..orbits. When it's time to go back, pop back into orbit (or sub-orbital but high enough to be picked up), get as close to a rendezvous as fuel permits, match speeds and position from the return craft....EVA the lander crew over, and head on home.

[UmbralRaptor]

As far as vehicle design goes, lots of asparagus. I'm thinking something like this:

(Current GLOW: ~187 tonnes. Exact design subject to change without notice.)

[Rocketscience101]

I'm going to do what Nasa does. Wait, the time for the planets to eclipse, launch the rocket, then when I leave kerbin orbit and enter kerbol, I will try and fly it into the gravity field of the planet, if I miss, I will orbit kerbol, and do what I do for a mun mission, get into low orbit, and fire it when the target planet is rising.

[Ziff]

I have already built two ships. One is a planetary orbiter, with a 2 man crew in the pod. It has enough fuel to orbit and return from a planet. The other is a 1 man pod currently capable of reaching orbit, and then re-entering and landing on Kerbin using a combined parachute/engine system, and then launching again to reach a 75km orbit. I just have to work on adjusting the second craft so that it too can reach a planet. It's a bit tricky, with the mass. I will launch both craft to a planet, 1 will land and explore, then return to orbit where it will rendezvous and the kerbal will spacewalk back to the 2 man pod for the trip home.

However, I really hope that .17 brings us the ability to have more than one command module on a craft. In which case I will scrap my current design and build a craft that functions like Apollo.

[bsalis]

Been practicing interplanetary missions, it's surprising how little fuel it takes to come back from a higher Kerbaol orbit. Most of the fuel will be spent takeing off from Kerbin's atmosphere, and landing a big ship that can take off from an atmosphere filled planet.

Yes true. DeltaV for LKO is about 4500m/s, with target planet being less I think. So I would say 8000m/s for both. I think I can manage to build a stock rocket with 12000m/s with a lander that has enough power to weight to get back to orbit. However I suspect more parts and tweaks in 0.17 to make more powerful rockets.

[illectro]

I think two-ship missions will be a must-have until docking is added. Until then, it would not be feasible to launch a whole ship there, have it land, and return. The amount of lag on takeoff would bring most computers to their knees.

This is pretty much the mission profile I published several days ago, I can get away with a couple of 500-600 ton launch vehicles which are well within the limits of the physics engine

[Ziff]

This is pretty much the mission profile I published several days ago, I can get away with a couple of 500-600 ton launch vehicles which are well within the limits of the physics engine

I think I missed that post. I was thinking about sending an unmanned MechJeb probe first and just basically de-orbiting it until it crashed. This would allow me to get some information on the atmosphere(if there is one), and where it starts. My current second ascent stage is based on Kerbin's atmosphere and gravity. Obviously if the target planet has less it will allow me to reduce the weight of my second ascent stages.

I am going to avoid reading about planets on the forums for a few days when .17 comes out. This is something I want to explore and find out on my own without reading what other people figuring out.

[trekkie_]

three words: basic jet engine.

using them (and only them), as the first stage, stretches the distance a ship can travel on an escape trajectory by at least 2-4 times if you use them to launch you up the first several thousand meters, and decouple them. then activate your primary rocket engines/stages and be on your merry way with tons of fuel savings.

but wait there's more. if you make your first stage a basic jet engine, and the second stage turbo jet engines to be decoupled when you reach its maximum usable height, with your remaining stages being rockets (especially low-medium thrust ones), you have the potential to increase your crafts space traveling distance even more!!

but wait there's even MOAR!! instead of making your third stage rockets, make the third stage solid boosters only, then the 4th stage you can fire off your rockets. this means a craft you normally would take off with at the launch pad, doesn't have to fire its rocket engines until you're tens of thousands of meters off the ground! I don't think I need to emphasize anymore about how much this method massively increases your traveling distance while immensely conserves on fuel.

use all three of these tips in conjunction and you can take small or even big heavy ships to distant planets with ease.

Edited August 12, 2012 by trekkie_

[illectro]

I think I missed that post. I was thinking about sending an unmanned MechJeb probe first and just basically de-orbiting it until it crashed. This would allow me to get some information on the atmosphere(if there is one), and where it starts. My current second ascent stage is based on Kerbin's atmosphere and gravity. Obviously if the target planet has less it will allow me to reduce the weight of my second ascent stages.

I am going to avoid reading about planets on the forums for a few days when .17 comes out. This is something I want to explore and find out on my own without reading what other people figuring out.

Oh hilarious I guess I posted it elsewhere...

Yeah I've got one rocket to carry the lander, and another to carry the vehicle to return to kerbin, so I can get my launch mass down to 500+ tons per ship

[Ziff]

three words: basic jet engine.

using them (and only them), as the first stage, stretches the distance a ship can travel on an escape trajectory by at least 2-4 times if you use them to launch you up the first several thousand meters, and decouple them. then activate your primary rocket engines/stages and be on your merry way with tons of fuel savings.

I agree with all your points, under the assumption that the planet will have the type of atmosphere that allows us to use those jet engines. I really hope to see some different atmospheres with these planets where those types of engines don't function correctly.

[Kosmo-not]

but wait there's even MOAR!! instead of making your third stage rockets, make the third stage solid boosters only, then the 4th stage you can fire off your rockets. this means a craft you normally would take off with at the launch pad, doesn't have to fire its rocket engines until you're tens of thousands of meters off the ground! I don't think I need to emphasize anymore about how much this method massively increases your traveling distance while immensely conserves on fuel.

But wait, there's moar! Instead of using SRBs, use a stage of moar liquid engines and fuel tanks and go even farther.

[UmbralRaptor]

Eh, the RT-10 now has better Isp than the size 1 LV-909.

[Tigga]

Wait, you mean I can save fuel in my upper stages by using lower stages? Wow!

I think jet engines are a bit too powerful at the moment and I'll not be using them on rockets, because it's silly. It's trick to balance I guess because you need them useful for spaceplanes. I guess it's a balance between weight, lift, drag and power which is a little out at the moment. Jet engines should be very fuel efficient, but they shouldn't have the power to lift a massive rocket.

[AlternNocturn]

In one of Scott Manley's videos (szyzyg as he's known on the Youtubes), he boosts the orbit of a lone Kerbal from one ship in orbit to another in orbit. After he performed that maneuver, I very quickly realized how similar it was to going to another planet: The Kerbal being the spacecraft and the two vehicles being the planets. The best part about that video, he included the math required to perform such a maneuver, so once I have a very good interplanetary vehicle, I'll be studying the math behind that up until planets come out.

[Panichio]

How will I get to a planet? Uh... well, um... Scott?

I hardly know how the maneuver works, so I'll still have to watch or read a tutorial.

[Samurai20039]

my idea actually requires orbital construction and docking. i would construct an orbital station which would be a "space dock" type deal first. then i would construct my ship in orbit and dock it with the space dock. the space dock will have pods for fuel tanks to go where i can fuel my interplanetary ship. i would then launch the crew into orbit and dock with the station and transfer the crew to the I.P. ship and send them on their way. when they get back i would transfer them back to the pod the launched in and splash down. by this time i would have launched more fuel into orbit and the I.P. ship could then be refueled and ready for its next mission. as for the details of my ship, huge cargo area for hab modules to leave on the planet setting up a small colony. then use the cargo area to send parts for another "space dock" to be built in orbit of the planet where it can be docked and refueled from there to reach further planets beyond and eventually outside the kerbol system.