An unique and short termed opportunity: get very close to the sun.

[magnemoe]

As we know  heating is not active on launch but it will be added in an upcoming patch well before we get the science milestone. 

So this is an window there you can get much closer to the sun than you can then heating is turned on. 
In KSP 1 I managed to orbit the sun couple of km above 0 attitude who was still some distance from the visible sun. 
In last version of KSP 1 I only managed 90.000 km. 


Two parts here, first how close can you get, second can you get into that an low orbit with an ion engine.

If you do an Jool gravity assist to save on dV, drop an probe into Jool to look how its look now, in KSP 1 jool became transparent down at a few km from crunch depth. 

Edited February 24, 2023 by magnemoe

[Tundra]

Or do a Scott Manely

[Polaris0352]

Alright, I know what I'm trying first. Might cheat a bit and use infinite propellant, but in an effort to see how close I can get, I'll let it slide.

[DAL59]

612,000 km

Not good, but I can't launch anything larger without the Kraken 2 striking! Hopefully they fix that.  I admit, I partially just wanted to be the first person to complete a KSP 2 challenge.

Edited February 25, 2023 by DAL59

[magnemoe]

30 minutes ago, DAL59 said:

612,000 km

Not good, but I can't launch anything larger without the Kraken 2 striking! Hopefully they fix that.  I admit, I partially just wanted to be the first person to complete a KSP 2 challenge.

Did your craft get destroyed? around this distance? A bit disapointing seeing that I could get into 90 MM in KSP 1 with heat shield and radiators. 

[JcoolTheShipbuilder]

I smacked INTO the sun and brought the entire KSC along for the ride!

idk if this counts as I didnt survive smashing into the sun at over 90km/s

[DAL59]

1 hour ago, JcoolTheShipbuilder said:

I smacked INTO the sun and brought the entire KSC along for the ride!

idk if this counts as I didnt survive smashing into the sun at over 90km/s

How do you trigger the KSC glitch?

[JcoolTheShipbuilder]

8 minutes ago, DAL59 said:

How do you trigger the KSC glitch?

No idea.. I just switched to the nuclear craft and it just.. happened

[Jvader]

This is as close as I have the patience (and fuel) for.
601 km periapsis (any lower and it explodes) and 119,669 km apoapsis.
Literally could not have done this without the new time warp mechanics, ion engines are actually fun for once!

[septemberWaves]

2 hours ago, JcoolTheShipbuilder said:

No idea.. I just switched to the nuclear craft and it just.. happened

Did you switch from the KSC view or from a different view?

[JcoolTheShipbuilder]

6 hours ago, septemberWaves said:

Did you switch from the KSC view or from a different view?

I think I switched from main menu but it did flicker into the KSC view before fully switching to the craft

[mcwaffles2003]

Stratzenblitz75 already got to - 188,000 km

 

linked for appropriate time

[Klapaucius]

12 hours ago, JcoolTheShipbuilder said:

No idea.. I just switched to the nuclear craft and it just.. happened

I had a similar glitch. In my case, it just happened from loading a save.  I don't think there is any one trigger.

[Sixstrings]

KSC : "So we have these solar pannels we need to test..."
Jeb : "Hold my kerbeer."

[Kerb24]

Sent a probe INTO the Sun. I tried to circularize the orbit, but the batteries didn't charge.

[magnemoe]

11 hours ago, Kerb24 said:

Sent a probe INTO the Sun. I tried to circularize the orbit, but the batteries didn't charge.

Think we have an winner  and the discovery that solar panels don't work inside the sun is interesting. 

[Kerb24]

I'm doing another run, currently -199 MM deep.

Edit: When my probe reached the core of the Sun, it started orbiting it. 

Edit 2: I'll launch another probe and record the flight; I've discovered many new things about Kerbol.

Edited February 27, 2023 by Kerb24

[Kerb24]

Possibly the lowest Solar Orbit anyone has achieved.

[Klapaucius]

Decided to give this a try. This is the last image before Kerbol disappeared from view.  I am now very much inside it.

 

 

Though I think this image from further back is the better picture: