How do you go interplanetary?

[NSEP]

How do you send anything Beyond the homeplanets sphere of influence? Do you have a seperate transfer vehicle that carries your spacecraft and can be reused or do you do everything in one launch. Discuss that here!

Edited November 21, 2017 by NSEP

[Majorjim!]

I do all of the above!

[nascarlaser1]

I haven't done interplanetary yet (still waiting for the window to get to duna) but I will be using either, multiple launches and docking, or just building 1 ship in the VAB and using extra planetary launch pads to get it into orbit.

[katateochi]

I've not done much interplanetary stuff in ages, mostly just sending small ScanSat probes. It's mostly because what with work and other RL stuff I don't have the time for big IP missions and I find that there's still plenty of fun to be had within Kerbin's SOI.  Also I'm playing with TAC-LS now and trying to be (sorta) realistic by sending out probes first and unmanned test missions before I send any Kerbals. 
In the past I've sent manned missions everywhere and had bases on quite a few places. With bases my prefered method is to send a "fleet" of ships which all depart at around the same time and then I try to get them to stay as close together as possible.  Main reason for doing that is I like the confusion and chaos of them all trying to arrive and enter orbit in quick succession. 
oh, and I totally meant to vote for "Kerbin is my home" on the last poll I'd clicked sort of boring and then hit submit before changing it. 

[ARS]

I do a lot of interplanetary launch, preferably in one launch, pack everything needed for journey and do it all at once

If playing with mods, then the one thing that's mandatory for me is designing self-sufficient ship with renewable resources to get fuel during journey (mining, dust collecting, virtual particles, GN particles, etc.), in short, my vessel must have a way to get fuel from somewhere to keep moving

[James Kerman]

I really enjoy planning "all in" missions so when I go somewhere I go heavy.  I like building craft with a detachable ISRU (automation and crew capacity) on the bottom and leaving them behind to create rescue/refuelling ability wherever I've been before.  I also tend to dock to retrieve crew, keeping the 'Service Module' as an asset to be used as a ferry, refueller or fuel depot.  An example:

I built this vessel for my last Duna Mission (Boosters not shown).  It can carry 22 kerbals, 1 relay/scan sat on top and the refuelling module on the bottom remains on Ike but can has enough DV to take off from Duna and land on Ike with plenty spare for plane changes (2 kerbal capacity).  All modules are automated.

 

Edited November 21, 2017 by James Kerman
Spelling

[reifsnyderb]

Hello,

I usually build a re-usable interplanetary ship, assemble it in orbit, re-fuel it around Minimus (by mining and refining fuel at Minimus), then launch it on it's way.  The ship usually carries at least one lander as well as anything else needed for the mission.

I've landed kerbals everywhere but Tylo, Eve, and Laythe.

When going to distance planets, such as Eeloo, I started using a disposable ship due to d/v requirements.  The cost is a lot higher, however.

Sending a mining and refining system to the Jool system works well with a re-usable interplanetary ship as Pol is great for mining.

Best Regards,

Brian

 

[Rocket In My Pocket]

I answered:

1) Kerbals: I turned off the ground tracking stations in my latest career game, so using probes isn't as easy as it would be normally; this has the side affect of making most of my pioneering trips crewed until I can set up a presence in system to establish communications.

2) Multiple launches: A potato PC means anything over 100 parts starts to lag the frame rate. I tend to build small, send things up in pieces, and fuel them for the trip in orbit. Also, I'm just a fan of over complicated missions in general, simple is boring.

3) Yes, I enjoy it a lot: Although I spend a lot of my time screwing around on Kerbin or in Kerbin's SOI. When I do get around to launching interplanetary missions, I really enjoy the sense of accomplishment.

Edited November 21, 2017 by Rocket In My Pocket

[Atkara]

When I first saw the thread's title, "How do you go interplanetary", the first response that came to my mind was: Very carefully.

Then I saw the poll

Anyway, I send pretty much everything that was listed, except resources, since I play mostly stock. I do it in multiple launches, which I fuel up in orbit, originally with an ISRU equipped surface miner based on Minmus, later replaced by a combination of fuel cargo spaceplanes and fuel drones.

I would've loved to have modular stations. I even had finalized a cargo ship to get the parts wherever I needed them. But they wobble so much, even with a docking closure rate of 0.05 m/s, which is my standard anyway. So I had to get back to the original all up, compact and rigid design. For this, I have a reusable transfer vehicle I can use.

I do enjoy it a lot. Sticking around the beach won't do for me. Reaching the next "island" then the next, etc however, does.

[Guest]

I thought going interplanetary was the selling point of the game... It is for me, at least.

[NSEP]

3 hours ago, regex said:

I thought going interplanetary was the selling point of the game... It is for me, at least.

There is a big chunk of players who don't go beyond Kerbins SOI, because they are more interested in the Building aspect of the game and/or like flying planes and driving cars.

[FungusForge]

I've voted "other" for the first two questions because I don't discriminate, and it usually depends on the mission. For example, small rovers I'd send to Duna would come packaged with a relay satellite in a single launch and delivery. However, with my landship or large Baserunner-inspired rovers I would do at least two launches because I don't want to risk the crew launching (and sometimes landing) such an awkward payload. With the landship specifically, the crew were sent in a reusable interplanetary shuttle. I also intend to have some kind of ISRU set up somewhere on or around whatever planets I plan on putting things, even if its somewhere like Dres that'll probably be entirely populated by robots.

[GoSlash27]

I start my careers "caveman- style", and one of my goals is to have missions ready to roll to Ike and Gilly on the first transfer window.
Accordingly, my DSN and access to powerful antennae are limited and I am forced to go manned.
 

My first interplanetary missions are much simpler than my later expeditions. First, I launch the reusable mothership intact and unmanned. It acts as it's own central core during launch and is unmanned and nearly out of fuel in LKO. Then I crew and fuel it in orbit with follow- on launches. Next, the landers. Once all the pieces are in place, I will park it in low munar orbit and refuel again, topping the tanks off and awaiting the first transfer window.
 
 Later missions rely more heavily on probes and higher tech, since the tree is filled out. My manned missions become more complicated affairs that combine orbital assembly, an orbital station, and SSTO spaceplanes.

 Eventually I end up with a completely reusable interplanetary transportation and communication network, where the only thing that needs paid for is fuel. When that happens, I consider the game "won" and await the next update.

Best,
-Slashy
 

[Ty Tan Tu]

I guess I am more circumspect than most. Unless it is a planet I know well, typically I send a probe to scan for resources first. Next I send a unmanned rover at a promising location and troll around the surface for a suitable spot (flat is high on my list of suitable). 

The next step should be to land a miner so that I will have fuel ready for a home trip back to Kerbin, but the truth is I am usually chomping on the bit by then and send a lander connected to a orbital space station command module.

To answer one of the other questions, I love traveling to another planets. It is still exciting. But I do sometimes find the prep work tedious, at least for my big space station/lander. I am still horrible at lifting fuel off of Kerbin with any type of efficiency, so I have a fuel mining base on Minmus. At first I thought it was cool connecting a fuel rover to my miners and transfer the fuel to a shuttle that would deliver it to the mother ship ( I have it down to 90% efficiency). But when it can take four or five fuel missions to fuel your big mission, it can get a bit boring.

I suppose I should explore the mega delta-V mission from Kerbin direct to a planet. I am probably just thinking about it wrong, I am using solid fuel boosters to compensate for the weight of the liquid rocket fuel I want to get in orbit, but I can run into aerodynamic and heat issues...

[Whisky Tango Foxtrot]

My usual pattern is to first send a science/relay/scanner satellite into a polar orbit around the planet in question, often using disposable chemical rockets. With the following missions I send mining equipment, an orbital station (a simple fuel depot for planets that I don't plan on spending a lot of time around and more elaborate stations for planets that I want to keep occupied) and then finally a Kerbal crew, with all of these missions being sent via reusable transfer vehicles propelled by nuclear rockets.

[Haruspex]

A picture is worth a lot of words, so:

Fig. A (Jool Expedition - 1.1) 

Fig. B (Eve Expedition - 1.2)

Pretty much self explanatory. The mothership is assembled in orbit and consists of a nuclear lander/tug with ISRU, an orbiter part with the lab and the like and various disposable/one way stuff like relay satellites, atmospheric probes, rovers, etc.

Edited November 23, 2017 by Haruspex

[AngrybobH]

I use a transfer vehicle that is fueled from mining outposts. It's basically just a collection of trusses with a probe core, a bunch of docking ports and some engines. I then launch multiple rockets and space planes with all the mission equipment. The crew goes up last in the return vehicle to complete the sometimes 1000+ part lagfest. I use probes to refuel the transfer vehicle and send it back whenever it has sufficient dV to get back home.