steps to planning a duna mission?

[nascarlaser1]

Hi guys!

I am going to duna soon, and I would like to know, how do you guys plan out a mission before doing it?

[bewing]

I just throw a rocket together and fly it once in sandbox mode, and jot down how much fuel I have left at each landmark. If I don't have enough left at the end, then I add another tank or two and test it again.

 

[Reactordrone]

Figure out what you want to do at Duna and build a vehicle that can do that. Build a transfer stage that can take that vehicle to Duna and then build a launcher that can take all of that into low Kerbin orbit.

 

Do you want to land on Duna? Are you planning on aerocapturing with a small ship or bringing in a large station/lander combination? Do you also want to explore Ike? do you want to bring along all of your fuel or set up an ISRU.

Basically, start at the top and work your way down the rocket remembering that a little extra weight at the top adds a lot more weight at the bottom of the rocket.

 

[nascarlaser1]

Thxs guys!

[Aegolius13]

In delta-v terms,  Duna is not meaningfully different than the Mun.  Only about 100 m/s more to get to in a good window , plus a cheap insertion if you can aerobrake and/or do an Ike assist.  Your descent should be nearly free thanks to atmosphere,  which makes a round trip landing and ascent similar delta-v wise to the Mun.  So your rules of thumb for the Mun should be fairly accurate,  though I like a bigger safety buffer since any rescue will take a long time. 

I tend to build rather extravagant Duna missions since the cost is so low.    Fully reusable ships are very doable,  even if you don't use nukes. It's also feasible to bring a lot of extra fuel to reuse your landers a few times. 

 

[Foxster]

Anywhere tricky I often do the mission backwards first i.e. build a surface to Kerbin return craft, use HyperEdit to place it and test it, then build what I need to get it down to the surface, test that and so on. I think of it as running a mission in the simulator first, like astronauts really do.

This then let's me get the payload optimised and minimised for the next stage.  

Also make sure to use a mod that gives you the dV of your craft e.g. MechJeb or KER and use https://13375.de/KSPDeltaVMap/ to check that your craft meets the mission requirements with a little breathing room. 

One tip for Duna if you are doing the mission for science points is to go to Ike instead. Same science experiment multiplier as Duna and a lot easier to get to and from. 

[Human Person]

For Interplanetary Missions, I usually send whole stations. I first build the entire spacecraft in the VAB, launch it in parts to assemble it in LKO.

 Modules:

- Station core: Lab, crew space and life support

- Lander(s): small reusable lander for small bodies, disposables lander(s) for large bodies. For Duna and Ike, you can go with reusable Landers. Build them as light as possible and use parachutes for the duna descent.

- Return Vehicle to bring your crew back home.

- Mining rig (optional): You have to decide if you want to pack a mining rig or simply more fuel.

- Drive section: the heaviest part of your spacecraft. It must make the transfer and insertion burn. Because it's so heavy, I usually launch it partly empty and refuel it in LKO.

 

Crew: 

1 Pilot

2 Scientists 

1 Engineer (only if I do mining)

Edited June 5, 2017 by Physics Student

[nascarlaser1]

Thxs @Physics Student! I would do that but I've yet to figure out how to successfully dock ,+I don't have very good patience for that kind of precision lol.

[Human Person]

3 minutes ago, nascarlaser1 said:

Thxs @Physics Student! I would do that but I've yet to figure out how to successfully dock ,+I don't have very good patience for that kind of precision lol.

Keep practicing. Docking is easy once you figured it out. 

The mods "RCS Build aid" and "Docking Port Alignment Indicator" are very helpful tools here.

[grafdog1138]

Hey, so looking at doing a Duna mission myself, and liking the idea of testing it from the Duna end backwards. Where do I get HyperEdit?

[Foxster]

HE is available here: http://www.kerbaltek.com/hyperedit

There was/is a little bug that I'm not sure is fixed yet that might crop up with HE. It was when using HE to set an orbit around a distant body and you would sometimes get some surface graphical glitches. If you get that then just use the stock cheat menu (Alt-F12) to get to an orbit around your chosen body and then use HE's landing tool to get to the surface. 

Edited June 6, 2017 by Foxster

[grafdog1138]

Downloaded HyperEdit, not sure where in the file hierarchy it's supposed to go? Running on a mac

[Spricigo]

2 hours ago, grafdog1138 said:

Downloaded HyperEdit, not sure where in the file hierarchy it's supposed to go? Running on a mac

It goes in the Kerbal Space Program/GameData folder.

[Firemetal]

Take one Kerbal there first, you'll want at least 4000 m/s of DV, use Duna's atmosphere to get into orbit around Duna, maybe try Ike first, it's easier.

Fire