The Retro Solar Rescue

[Spricigo]

 

BTW: after several in game years of mission my save suffered a acute case of Chronic Update Disorder. I'm yet to find time, and specially disposition to start over.

 

 

[Cpt Kerbalkrunch]

I reloaded my last quicksave inside Kerbin's SOI. This time I set Pe at 30km and sped up at 300km instead of slowing down. This is the ship at the moment of reentry.

 

 

It ended up being a skip return. This is the ship at Pe. It's a little above 30km because of the acceleration earlier. It raised my Pe a bit, but it did get me over 8km/s. I even had a bit of fuel left before I staged it away, so I could've sped up a bit more.

 

 

Speed had already dropped, so it didn't get very far. This was Ap here. The rest was just waiting 'til I could stage the chute.

 

 

So I cracked 8km/s. Wonder how much faster we can go.

Edited June 28, 2017 by Cpt Kerbalkrunch

[linuxgurugamer]

So, I'm going to try this, but making it a bit more difficult.

Life Support!

I'm going to use USI LS + DeepFreeze to make it more realistic

Wish me luck!

 

[linuxgurugamer]

 I'm surprised no one has tried to do multiple launches and assemble the rescue vessel in open space rather than a single launch from the ground. Did I miss something or is this something in the rules would say it has to be a single launch?

[Human Person]

1 hour ago, linuxgurugamer said:

Did I miss something or is this something in the rules would say it has to be a single launch?

Not at all, you can go for orbital assembly if you like. Looking forward to your entry.

Edited June 28, 2017 by Physics Student

[jonny]

@linuxgurugamer welcome to the challenge.

The last time I checked there was nothing about any launch restrictions in the rules. I think no one would complain about multiple launches, as the challenge is hard enough.

I'm looking Forward to see your mission report.

[linuxgurugamer]

It gonna be a little while before I'm done. And yes I'm doing a chemical mission using among other things space Y booster parts and Etc,I figure I'm going to need 35,000 and 40000 delta-v to complete the mission.

Edited August 3, 2017 by linuxgurugamer

[Spricigo]

7 hours ago, linuxgurugamer said:

 I'm surprised no one has tried to do multiple launches and assemble the rescue vessel in open space rather than a single launch from the ground. Did I miss something or is this something in the rules would say it has to be a single launch?

Well,  we only know no one actually posted an attempt like that.  Go figure how many different ways we all have failed and keep silent about. 

[linuxgurugamer]

5 hours ago, jonny said:

@linuxgurugamer welcome to the challenge.

The last time I checked there was nothing about any launch restrictions in the rules. I think no one would complain about multiple launches, as the challenge is hard enough.

I'm looking Forward to see your mission report.

Well, I'm still working on the first launcher.  Never had a launch destroy the launch pad before upon ignition.

so far, 22413 tons on the pad, 264 parts.  And this is just the first launch!

 

Edited June 28, 2017 by linuxgurugamer

[Cpt Kerbalkrunch]

4 minutes ago, linuxgurugamer said:

Well, I'm still working on the first launcher.  Never had a launch destroy the launch pad before upon ignition.

 

Impressive. I'm a fan of chemical monsters myself. What's the mass on that thing?

[linuxgurugamer]

5 minutes ago, Cpt Kerbalkrunch said:

Impressive. I'm a fan of chemical monsters myself. What's the mass on that thing?

Just updated the post.  22,413t, 264 parts

[Cpt Kerbalkrunch]

1 minute ago, linuxgurugamer said:

Just updated the post.  22,413t, 264 parts

[linuxgurugamer]

I'm expecting the following will be needed.  This is really about the largest I'm comfortable launching, it's just too big, even though I'm using Gravity Turn to do the launch:

Initial launch of rescue vehicle.  This is in development right now

6 additional launches with 3.75m fuel tanks.  Those six tank on the side of the upper stages have docking node at both ends, so I'm going to be launching MOAR tanks.  There is a single KWRocketry Vesta VR-9D engine on the main vessel.  It will make the burns long, but it's the most efficient of the stock-alike parts that I have installed.  Hopefully I'll be able to stack enough tanks on to get the required dV.  By not having larger engines, I'll be able to maximize the available efficiency of the vessel.

Edit:  Test launch finally went well.  I got about 7600 dV into orbit at 150km.  I'm going to do some hyperediting later to see exactly how many tanks I'll need up there. Then I can plan the rest of the missions.

Edit2:  I added some more, and the launch pad exploded from the sheer weight of the vessel.  Launch clamps solved that problem.

Edit3:  Can now get 9000 dV into orbit at 150km on the first launch. 

Edited June 28, 2017 by linuxgurugamer

[linuxgurugamer]

Just an FYI, while I'm developing the vessels now, I will probably be streaming this mission on Sunday evening on Twitch, if you would like to watch.  I'll also review the various vessels I developed during the R&D for this mission, as well as the mods being used.

[linuxgurugamer]

My stream will be starting soon.  I'll be attempting to rescue Burberry tonite.

 

On 6/27/2017 at 10:07 PM, linuxgurugamer said:

So, I'm going to try this, but making it a bit more difficult.

Life Support!

I'm going to use USI LS + DeepFreeze to make it more realistic

Wish me luck!

 

Using nukes along with DeepFreeze and USI Life Support

[linuxgurugamer]

On 7/2/2017 at 6:51 PM, linuxgurugamer said:

My stream will be starting soon.  I'll be attempting to rescue Burberry tonite.

 

Using nukes along with DeepFreeze and USI Life Support

Mission update:

• All vessels have been successfully test flown into 300km orbit.
• The mission will consist of two vessels, the first will be the main stage and tanks, it will be launched only partially fueld.
• The second vessel will carry extra fuel and the crew compartments, heat shield, etc.
• I'm using the Nuclear Lightbulb from the old mod Atomic Age which I'm working on reviving,  
• Stream this Sunday, and I hope to put together a video of the rescue (beyond just a recording).
• 1st launch will be the main stage and tanks.  It does not have any RCS, but it does have reaction wheels.  It will get into orbit and be oriented in a normal angle.  Nose cone will be jettisoned to expose the 3.75m docking port
• 2nd stage will launch and rendezvous.  2nd stage has lots of Monoprop and verniers, so it will be very maneuverable.
• Crew stage will separate, and the KAL9000 will do the docking and fuel transfer, and then undock.
• Jeb will then dock the crew modules and the vessel will be ready to go.  
• Escape Kerbin SIO, and end up following Kerbin.
• Then we wait until Burberry is close to kerbin.  Jeb may go in the freezer for some of the wait
• Burn retrograde until the orbits have been reversed, then aim for an orbital intercept with Burberry.
• Get Burberry on board, both go in the freezer until close to Kerbin again.  Depending on how far we are, we may do the reverse burn immediately, all depends on how far from Kerbin we are.
• Get back to Kerbin and land.
• Celebrate!
• Give away a copy of KSP 

Hopefully this can all be done in a 3-4 hour stream.

 

[Human Person]

2 hours ago, linuxgurugamer said:

Hopefully this can all be done in a 3-4 hour stream.

When do you plan to do that stream?

You're really putting a lot of effort in this challenge, I can't wait to see the result.

 

Edited July 19, 2017 by Physics Student

[linuxgurugamer]

1 minute ago, Physics Student said:

When do you plan to do that stream?

Sunday evening, hopefully starting at 8PM

[sevenperforce]

The OP is corrupted; does anyone know what the parameters are for Burbarry's orbit, using the Set Orbit function?

[Human Person]

48 minutes ago, sevenperforce said:

The OP is corrupted; does anyone know what the parameters are for Burbarry's orbit, using the Set Orbit function?

Imgur just isn't reliable. 

The eccentricity isn't exactly zero to prevent Ap and Pe markers from flickering.

Edited July 20, 2017 by Physics Student

[sevenperforce]

9 minutes ago, Physics Student said:

Imgur just isn't reliable. 

The eccentricity isn't exactly zero to prevent Ap and Pe markers from flickering.

Thanks so much!

(For the next poor shmuck who can't see images, it's a Sun orbit w/ semimajor axis of 11500000000, eccentricity of 0.001, and inclination of 180.)

[herbal space program]

So this is where the party is. Rolling up sleeves....

[Aetharan]

4 hours ago, herbal space program said:

So this is where the party is. Rolling up sleeves....

Another challenger has entered the fray.  I'm looking forward to this!

[herbal space program]

19 hours ago, Aetharan said:

Another challenger has entered the fray.  I'm looking forward to this!

I was in the middle of building a giant space station for Jool 5 to land on and return from every body, but this sounds too fun to pass up!  I think I'm going to try it with a space plane, maybe taking a shot at the dV record. It looks like what everybody has done wrt gravity assists so far is to go for a direct reversal of trajectory at Jool. It seems to me that another strategy that might work is to set up a 2:1 resonant orbit with Eve and use repeated encounters on that orbit to incrementally tilt my inclination towards Kerbol polar and then ultimately retrograde. I'm not sure what the energetics of this will look like, so I may have to use a ladder of resonant orbits, but I don't see any immediate reason why this shouldn't be doable in both directions. If it works the way I hope it will, I should be able to get it done for not too much dV and quite a bit less then 100 years. But of course the devil is in the details....

[Human Person]

6 hours ago, herbal space program said:

It seems to me that another strategy that might work is to set up a 2:1 resonant orbit with Eve and use repeated encounters on that orbit to incrementally tilt my inclination towards Kerbol polar and then ultimately retrograde.

Interesting idea. I'm curious if it's possible.