Landing on Duna (The Challenges?)

[opticalshadow]

i dont see the problem really, you just need to add a stage after your orbit stage for landing, then either make it take off worthy, or make it detachable like apollo was. the ship will be rather big but i dont see it being a large issue.

[cocomoe1002]

i dont see the problem really, you just need to add a stage after your orbit stage for landing, then either make it take off worthy, or make it detachable like apollo was. the ship will be rather big but i dont see it being a large issue.

well 1 you have to have enough delta v to escape Duna and most of your fuel will go to waste making adjustments to get back to Kerbin so it would be rather hard...

[A Fat Pokemon]

My craft should be able to do many fo the missions easily enough! I made a 7 billion by 2.7 billion orbit around Kerbol, albeit not leaving Kerbin's SOI at the best time, its by far my best craft with the highest delta-V I've ever seen maybe not THE highest, but this thing is crazy

[DeviouslyDeviant]

I'm gonna use a powered and parachute ascent

[karolus10]

Always you could exploit that now KSP ships aren't take much care about amount of G's - try pass Diuna atmosphere very low (trough most dense part of atmosphere) above ground + parachutes after you lose some speed (if you enter atmosphere very deep and and all your parachutes open at supersonic speed, it could torn your ship apart), It should work pretty well ;-).

Edited September 19, 2012 by karolus10

[Khrissetti]

Has anybody considered landing a plane on Duna? Is the atmosphere thick enough to make a glided landing possible?

[Awaras]

I am planning my mission on the assumption that landing on Duna with several parachutes will be largely similar to a no parachute powered landing on kerbin/mun. The parachutes should slow you down to about the same speed the atmosphere of Kerbin slows you down at 1-2 km altitude...

[RoboRay]

I'm practicing parachute-assisted powered landings, as well. I think those are going to be the way to go for bodies with atmospheres.

[Elven_sword]

My plan is to do a low chute-assisted aerobrake, then when I'm good and vertical I disconnect the parachute. Engines decelerate to about 100 m/s, then more chutes carry me down to about 1 km above the surface. From there it's just engines. I think that we'll have to be careful with aerobraking, because being in orbit around Kerbol will accelerate you to about 9 km/s. I've tried aerobraking above kerbin with those speeds, and it's not pretty. Then again, Duna's thin atmosphere will help.

[Trebuchet-Launch]

My plan is to do a low chute-assisted aerobrake, then when I'm good and vertical I disconnect the parachute. Engines decelerate to about 100 m/s, then more chutes carry me down to about 1 km above the surface. From there it's just engines. I think that we'll have to be careful with aerobraking, because being in orbit around Kerbol will accelerate you to about 9 km/s. I've tried aerobraking above kerbin with those speeds, and it's not pretty. Then again, Duna's thin atmosphere will help.

Remember that once you enter Duna's SOI, your speed will be adjusted to account for its orbital motion. On a perfect minimum energy trajectory, you should have a fairly gentle re-entry. On a less than perfect re-entry (I am shooting for a free-return trajectory for various reasons) you'll have a higher speed hitting the atmosphere, but it will still be significantly slower than 9000 m/s.

[MaverickSawyer]

Think about how the real-life missions to Mars have done EDL, and how they would do the Mars Direct mission. Parachutes are used to slow you down dramatically, and get you going straight down, at which point, you cut away the 'chute, and start your engine(s) to descend under power. Baces will probably be skycraned in.