Mission to Duna

[CameronLeroux]

Currently I have been trying to get to Duna, unfortunately there have been multiple failures that have resulted me in suspending the mission until I can find a reliable way to get there, I would appreciate it if you give me some tips and tricks.

[Presto200]

Have you tried to launch at a Duna transfer window? If you go into the tracking station and look at the orientation of all the planets then you should timewarp until you see Kerbin behind Duna at about 45 degrees (a little less that that technically). This should be the easiest way to get an encounter.

This is a helpful map (not mine) Credit: Unknown

[CameronLeroux]

I did do that, the thing was that I was trying to follow what Matt Lowne did only to end up failing. And the thing is if I do build a rocket I end up adding too much fuel and the rocket looks like a giant mess, and the one problem that I end up having to deal with is craft wobbling itself apart. I even had the idea to send a rover so that I don't end up killing my kerbals but I don't know how to get one there or even build one. I don't even know how to build an aerobraking stage to prevent the rocket from burning up.

[BechMeister]

Can you share a image of your rocket? We will have an easier time to help you if we see your craft.

What engines were you using and how much Δv you have etc.

 

[CameronLeroux]

Sure can, however, I am currently at school, but to answer the engines I was using were a poodle engine for landing and another one for maneuvering, a mainsail for the core stage, and 4 liquid fueled boosters with a reliant engine. I will not copy from Matt Lowne for the rocket and I will show you an example rocket once I get home.

[BechMeister]

38 minutes ago, CameronLeroux said:

I will not copy from Matt Lowne for the rocket and I will show you an example rocket once I get home

That is all good - Depending on the craft, the poodle engine may be underpowered. Duna has a pretty low gravity, and thin atmosphere.. so it may be good enough. 

All my crafts I have tested around Duna has been using the spark engines, but they have been tiny and multi staged.. and was essentially just a craft going from the Duna surface to Low Duna Orbit - to then dock with a "mothership"

Any way... looking forward to see the rocket in question! x)

 

Edited April 11 by BechMeister

[BechMeister]

Just checking in again - I will try replicate the craft once I see it to see how it flies

[CameronLeroux]

Forgot to do it yesterday because I was hanging out with friends on my quest 2.

[CameronLeroux]

Screenshot (55).png Here is the monstrosity.

[BechMeister]

Thats one big rocket! How much Δv does that have? What engines are you using? it looks quite monstrous. Looks like less can do it to me?

Edited April 15 by BechMeister

[CameronLeroux]

My dumb self deleted my exploration campaign because I lost Jeb, Bill, and Bob in space. Now I got to start all over again since I couldn't revert to launch. 

 

[BechMeister]

you could have mounted a rescue mission?

 

[CameronLeroux]

There's only one problem, I can't dock at all. I'm bad at docking and don't understand it at all.

[BechMeister]

10 hours ago, CameronLeroux said:

There's only one problem, I can't dock at all. I'm bad at docking and don't understand it at all.

that reminds me that I've been wanting to make a tutorial... I do it a little different now than most I see online.. and I think its a superior method x) 

I once did a step by step guide with gifs for another KSP player.
 

This is an older post though.. but it is a step by step guide.

I do it in a different way now though. That is more precise, but also demand that the player can be this precise.

Edited April 16 by BechMeister

[CameronLeroux]

Thank you, this will work.

[BechMeister]

30 minutes ago, CameronLeroux said:

Thank you, this will work.

If you try it out. It would be nice if you could make some feedback on it. I could make a propper guide, I mean... this is just a long answer to a guy who had the same problem x)

[Meecrob]

On 4/15/2024 at 2:50 PM, CameronLeroux said:

I'm bad at docking and don't understand it at all.

You aren't supposed to, lol. Back in the Gemini days, all the astronauts hated Buzz Aldrin because he made the rest of them look like amateurs with regards to rendezvous. The astronauts of that era were test pilots, and then there was Buzz with an Sc.D.  in Astronautics.

From Wiki:
This [Buzz' selection to NASA's Astronaut Group 3] made him the first astronaut with a doctoral degree which, combined with his expertise in orbital mechanics, earned him the nickname "Dr. Rendezvous" from his fellow astronauts.^[38][39][40] Although Aldrin was both the most educated and the rendezvous expert in the astronaut corps,^[14] he was aware that the nickname was not always intended as a compliment.

 

Jokes aside, learning rendezvous is one of the more difficult parts of KSP, but if you've already made it as far as designing a Duna mission, you have the required skill and interest, its just a matter of practice to hone this specific skill.

Rendezvous training takes a period of failure where you seemingly make no progress for way too long and seriously wonder if maybe you are just not capable of doing it. Push through that feeling because you are in the period where your brain is absorbing the procedures. Rendezvous is surprisingly complex...especially for something people already assume is complex. After many failures, you will have  an attempt where you realize your brain started doing the steps before you thought of them consciously. This is the point you are now a beginner. You will be able to rendezvous, but pack some extra Dv, lol. All my crafts from this time period had way too much monoprop. This is also the point where you realize that your reward for learning how to rendezvous and dock, is the full game. KSP without docking is basically just a demo, lol!