Best re-entry spacecraft for Experiment Storage Unit

[blag]

Hello,

I'm struggling to make a small science storage probe that can handle the 3km/s re-entry from Minmus/Mun.

The point is, given the size of the Storage Unit, every probe core will catch some drag and as there is no small one that can handle more the 1200k, they all go boom...

This is the best I can make, but it had to use some offset to protect the probe :

https://imgur.com/a/mTJvvT5

(I get rid off the thermal shield as it seem useless against the 2900K tolerance of the Storage)

Edited May 21, 2018 by blag

[Xd the great]

What i suggest doing is an oversized heat shield, aerobrake at 55km. Put something insulating such as another probe core or a reaction wheel. Should work fine.

P.S. i prefer to use command pods.

[blag]

I'll try with an oversized heat shield.

The command pods don't feature the "collect all" option, and if I need to put someone in, that's no longer an unmanned probe...

[Gargamel]

1 hour ago, blag said:

(I get rid off the thermal shield as it seem useless against the 2900K tolerance of the Storage)

That's a nifty little design you got there.   Are those vertical bars struts?  You can probably do without those. 

Why get rid of the heat shield?  If you are having problems with re-entry heat, use a heat shield.  That tight little probe you have should fit nicely behind a heat shield. If the smaller heat shields aren't holding up, use a second one right below it.  

What might be causing the drag is not the box, but the experiments themselves, they seem to stick out a bit from the edge of the probe. 

[Xd the great]

Here is another solution. Place 8 or more storage unit arpund the whole thing and use them as a heat shield to uphold the highest kerbal safety standards.

[bewing]

Does it really need to be guided? Are you willing to use parts from the MH expansion? Why do you care if the probe core explodes?

[blag]

7 minutes ago, Gargamel said:

That's a nifty little design you got there.   Are those vertical bars struts?  You can probably do without those. 

Thanks !

No struts, what you see is the edge of the QBE probe that I offset in the battery / SAS. That's why I think this is a bit cheating and I don't really like it

For the heat shield, this one can make (more or less the solar panel) a really hard re-entry at over 3.2km/s with a negative Pe ... The Storage unit is really tough (just 400K under a heat shield, better than the mk1-3).

 

This is the big shield try :

https://imgur.com/UNhVj2q

It can do a good reentery, but it's a bit heavy on the lander (nearly 0.5t)

 

But I finally found a good solution, without hiding a full probe :

https://imgur.com/dxNgaW6

With the small OKTO2, I keep it at 0.28t and nothing is out of the Storage screening

 

[CrashyMcCrashFace]

I've noticed the smallest heat shield will transmit heat to some parts that seem like are a smaller diameter and well protected behind it. I was able to fix it by first attaching a Cubic Octagonal Strut and then everything above that. The downside is it makes it a little more top heavy. You can offset the parts a little.

Edited May 21, 2018 by CrashyMcCrashFace

[blag]

7 hours ago, Xd the great said:

Place 8 or more storage unit arpund the whole thing and use them as a heat shield

Not really good to make a "small spacecraft" XD

1 hour ago, bewing said:

Does it really need to be guided? Are you willing to use parts from the MH expansion? Why do you care if the probe core explodes?

I don't have MH now, I think it's worth at best 10€, so I'll wait steam sale...

I don't need it to be guided, but I need the science that's inside. and for that if the chute don't deploy, there is no hope, aka a not blow'ed-up probe in the physical radius.

 

43 minutes ago, CrashyMcCrashFace said:

I've noticed the smallest heat shield will transmit heat to some parts

This is probably why the classic probe core can't stand even a little drag : if it's already hot from the shield, it's a straight boom

[bewing]

4 hours ago, blag said:

I don't need it to be guided, but I need the science that's inside. and for that if the chute don't deploy, there is no hope, aka a not blow'ed-up probe in the physical radius.

You can activate the parachute at any time. You can activate it while you are at Minmus before you decouple the science pod.

You can, for example: put some science in the science pod, get the mothership back into orbit at minmus, make the ejection burn so that there is a 1000 meter Pe at Kerbin, activate a parachute attached to the science pod, decouple just the science pod and parachute, turn the mothership back around and brake back into orbit of minmus, then watch the science pod fly all the way back to kerbin, watch the parachute open, and the pod plus parachute land all by itself.

 

 

Edited May 21, 2018 by bewing