0.17 Planet Discussion

[ModernArc]

I have been thinking about which planet is easier to get to, or the closest planet. Here is a link to a forum page that has a picture of all the moons and planets. http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/entry.php/61-Kerbol-Solar-System-Now-with-names

I think the planet 'Eve' is the easiest to get to. It seems like the closest planet to Kerbin, and it has a thicker atmosphere which is great for the parachute slowing down the spacecraft. I may be wrong, but, that's the first planet I would go to. I think the funnest planet to check out would be 'Jool', which is a gaseous planet. Gas planets are found on the outer portions of solar systems. Or they can be pulled in by gravity. 'Jool' has four moons, 'Laythe' (Oceanic moon), 'Vail' (Ice moon), 'Tylo' (a bit bigger, rocky moon), and then 'Bop' (which has a funny name Its also a rocky moon)

I think the Squad team did very well on naming the planets, or anybody else that helped name them. Thank you for working very hard on the game You have been working fast! Very fast. Maybe too fast Anyway, I hope this helped or, showed you what some of the new planets will be like.

Credits: what-the, posted the picture (Thank you)

Squad, making an awesome game. Yet to become awesomer. (Psst, that's not a word, lol)

[Excalibur]

Planets closer to the parent star than your point of origin (Kerbin in this case) are harder to reach than planets further away. This is because when you journey into the inner solar system you delve deeper into the star's immense gravity well. This has the effect of making any orbital changes much more expensive. So my guess would be that Duna would be easier to reach than Eve.

That said ease of mission depends on what you're trying to achieve. Nova said in one of the unofficial 0.17 discussion forums that Eve's gravity would be about 1.7x Kerbin's, whilst having an atmosphere 5x as dense. The thick atmosphere would make landing very easy. However if you want to do a return mission, taking off again from Eve would require quite a bit more delta-v than lift off from Kerbin.

So if you want to bring your Kerbals home, I'd recommend Duna as your first target. I know it's mine.

Edited September 3, 2012 by Excalibur
Clarity

[Exovian]

I plan to use airship parts to make a station in the upper atmosphere of Jool, but that's just me.

[Raticon]

Well, i'm a sucker for desert planets so definitely Duna will be the main goal for me. Getting home will be an entirely other subject as taking off from Minmus or the Mun can be done with the smallest engines available, making any lander-designs compact and easy to use, taking off from a planet with anything that actually resembles "Gravity" will need something with a bit more punch to it... *Ends rambling abruptly to run back to the drawingboard.*

[Excalibur]

I plan to use airship parts to make a station in the upper atmosphere of Jool, but that's just me.

Haha that's such an awesome idea, I'd never have thought of it! I've been wondering how cool it would be if someone combined the Electrical Energy plugin with DYJ's propeller-driven engines. I've been wondering about building a fold-up aircraft with solar panel-covered wings that flies through Jool's atmosphere indefinitely!

Well, i'm a sucker for desert planets so definitely Duna will be the main goal for me. Getting home will be an entirely other subject as taking off from Minmus or the Mun can be done with the smallest engines available, making any lander-designs compact and easy to use, taking off from a planet with anything that actually resembles "Gravity" will need something with a bit more punch to it... *Ends rambling abruptly to run back to the drawingboard.*

I think possibly the hardest mission profile will be landing on Eve and returning for that exact reason. Either that or getting to Moho. If it's as close to the Sun as Nova says it'll be nigh on impossible to get to without some crazy parts.

Edited September 3, 2012 by Excalibur

[Exovian]

http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/showthread.php/9634-PLUGIN-PART-0-14-Ludodyne-airship-balloon-v1-1-%28Apr-23rd%29

Here's a good set of parts, but I don't know how well they work.

[Richy teh space man]

http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/showthread.php/9634-PLUGIN-PART-0-14-Ludodyne-airship-balloon-v1-1-%28Apr-23rd%29

Here's a good set of parts, but I don't know how well they work.

Its a nifty little mod, I'd thought about using those airships on Eve but getting them over there is a bit tricky..

[ModernArc]

Excalibur, I agree. But, is it still easier to go towards the sun because the gravity is pulling you towards it? Instead of fighting the gravity, going away from the source of gravity.

Yes, it will be a lot harder to take of from Eve, but i'm not even considering trying to go back home.

Eve will still be the first planet i'm going to. Then Moho, because I will make a rover and something, just like landing on Mars.

If your an expert, I dare you to try to land on Gilly, the smallest body of rock and minerals in the Kerbol solar system.

[Excalibur]

Excalibur, I agree. But, is it still easier to go towards the sun because the gravity is pulling you towards it? Instead of fighting the gravity, going away from the source of gravity.

Yes, it will be a lot harder to take of from Eve, but i'm not even considering trying to go back home.

Eve will still be the first planet i'm going to. Then Moho, because I will make a rover and something, just like landing on Mars.

If your an expert, I dare you to try to land on Gilly, the smallest body of rock and minerals in the Kerbol solar system.

The problem with going to an inferior planet (the correct technical term for a planet closer to the parent star than a reference planet) is braking once you get there. Sure, depending on where Moho gets placed you'll need only about 1-2km/s extra delta-v on top of your Kerbin orbital velocity to get into a Hohmann transfer. But when you arrive you'll need to shed a helluva lot more - anything from 4-8km/s. Therein lies the challenge. A rough guess would say the ship you launch into LKO would need about 6-10km/s delta-v to successfully achieve orbit. That's one mother of a rocket if you're using stock parts!

[Anomalous_Matter]

Of course, all this discounts any sort of new part that the devs add. They know that a majority of the people who play don't know all the math and timing involved in getting a new planet, so it's reasonable to infer that there'll be some sort of ion engine or solar sail of some sort, or at least a really-efficient engine of some sort for space travel.

[RoboRay]

I'm thinking any visit to Eve, at least with stock parts, is going to involve aerocapture for orbital insertions and probably repeated aerobraking passes to lower apoev, then a burn to raise periev out of the atmosphere if you intend to remain in orbit.

Edited September 10, 2012 by RoboRay

[Znath]

If Eve has 5x earth's air viscosity, I wonder if you can land even without parachutes? It at the least, with very few parachutes.

I'm sure when it's finally out we'll know whether or not air breathing engines work on it.'

If they do, it'll actually be possible to lift back off from it.

If they don't, it will be tremendously difficult.

I remember on Orbiter, the pressure was so great on Venus that rockets couldn't even function.

On the other hand, as long as the atmosphere isn't corrosive, you could take off with propellers.. now there's a funny idea.

[nhnifong]

I plan on going out to Jool first. One, because it's SOI will be easy to hit, and from there, I can explore four moons. I'll practice my transfers and attempt to do a grand tour of Jool's moons and then land on one of them. I think Laythe has an atmosphere and I'll just parachute down to the surface and take a nice screenshot with Jool in the background.

[RoboRay]

If the air-breathing motors won't work due to the lack of oxygen in the air, maybe we'll get an alternate fuel that will work. Hydrazine burns nicely in CO2, for example.

[halocon720]

I plan to use airship parts to make a station in the upper atmosphere of Jool, but that's just me.

Yes. Just yes.

On a more on-topic note, I will most likely fly a RemoteTech satellite into orbit and set up like an interplanetary comms relay.

[RedDwarfIV]

I will be repurposing my Deep Space Explorer design as Stellar Descender - a ship that heads towards Kerbol and stays down there. Moho's the target, and hopefully a manned lander can come down on the [permenant] night side without heat difficulty. If heat will be implemented for 0.17. Though the 'mysterious part' in the Duna lander spoiler photographs is, I believe, a heatshield.

[mbrane]

I'll build a fast rocket and attempt to go straight through the gas giant

or at least explore at what depth my rocket is destroyed

[Winter Man]

The problem with going to an inferior planet (the correct technical term for a planet closer to the parent star than a reference planet) is braking once you get there. Sure, depending on where Moho gets placed you'll need only about 1-2km/s extra delta-v on top of your Kerbin orbital velocity to get into a Hohmann transfer. But when you arrive you'll need to shed a helluva lot more - anything from 4-8km/s. Therein lies the challenge. A rough guess would say the ship you launch into LKO would need about 6-10km/s delta-v to successfully achieve orbit. That's one mother of a rocket if you're using stock parts!

A few gravity assists with Eve and you're set though. See: Messenger probe's route to Mercury.

[nhnifong]

I wonder if you could come up with a trajectory that aerobrakes through eve's atmosphere to achieve a slower flyby of Moho (thereby needing less fuel for orbital insertion)

[Stoup]

That sounds entirely possible and incredibly difficult, and is therefore a great idea!

[ScramUK]

Awesome! More Kerbol satellites for me to slam things onto....

[nhnifong]

That sounds entirely possible and incredibly difficult, and is therefore a great idea!

Great! Let's do the whole thing in IVA too

[ScramUK]

I wonder - how would KSP handle flying into a gas giant?

Would Jool have any solid surface at all? Or would it be like flying into a soup that gets thicker and denser the deeper you go?

Edited September 10, 2012 by ScramUK

[AmpsterMan]

I'm going to Minmus when 0.17 comes out . In all seriousness though I would probably try to experiment with the new indicators in the VAB to build a better SSTO Space Plane.

As far as the planets go, I think the difficulties (and therefore order) of the planets I will be visiting will be: Duna, Jool, Eve, and then Moho. For Duna I think will be kinda like landing on the Mun with a bit more gravity but an atmosphere, so it might actually be easier to land. Eve will require a space plane by the looks of it. I am undecided whether Jool will probably not be much more difficult than Duna to reach.

And Moho = Lol

[TheProdigy]

mechjeb autopilot landings/takeoff + IVA's = AWESOMMMEEEE

I wont even attempt manual stuff in IVAs when doing a serious attempt.