Gravity assist only to jool

[Kevin_kerman]

I don't know if this is even possible, but if you try this, the rules are simple,

1. Launch a rocket with a payload on board
2. put the payload in an eccentric orbit that allows you to get a gravity assist of the Mun or minmus
3. try to get to Jool with just gravity assist and only 2 tons fuel.
4. Probes or crew
5. you are allowed to do small burns

 

if you have OPM or beyond jool installed, for an even crazier challenge, go to Sarnus or sarkin

if you have any interstellar mod installed, try to get to that system(wormholes allowed)

 

Edited December 17, 2024 by Kevin_kerman

[herbal space program]

That mission is basically not possible.  I won't say it's entirely impossible, but it would require at least half a dozen perfectly timed sequential gravity assists, probably more like eight, and setting all those up so you don't have to do a single correction burn to stay on course is next to impossible.

Edited December 17, 2024 by herbal space program

[Kevin_kerman]

14 hours ago, herbal space program said:

single correction burn to stay on course is next to impossible

You're allowed to bring 2 tons of fuel to do minor burns

Edited December 17, 2024 by Kevin_kerman

[DennisB]

20 tons of fuel for minor corrections??

What kind of payload should be transported? With a small payload you can do the whole transfer without any gravity assists with 20 tons.

[Kevin_kerman]

9 minutes ago, DennisB said:

20

up to 20 tons, actually, now that I think about it, it should be 2 tons

[herbal space program]

1 hour ago, Kevin_kerman said:

up to 20 tons, actually, now that I think about it, it should be 2 tons

If what you want to see is fancy gravity assists, I think you're really better off specifying the amount of vacuum  deltaV you're allowed to expend beyond whatever high-AP Kerbin orbit you start at, as this parameter is independent of vessel design. Even with just 2 tons of fuel, a Nerv with a probe core, some reaction wheels, some batteries and an antenna could probably make the Jool SOI from LKO in a single burn. I'm too lazy to fire up the game and check right now, but I'm pretty sure that's the case. I know that back in the day, some people were able to  marginally improve on the ~1050 m/s  from LKO Munar-assisted K-E-K-K-J route by using a Munar assist to eject into a Kerbin resonant orbit, from which they could set up a second Munar assist to get to the required, very specific Eve encounter. 1050 m/s is just 100 m/s more than the most eccentric possible Kerbin orbit,  so the benchmark for that route would be 100 m/s, to which you could add maybe another 50 m/s  in correction burns. But that's still an extremely hard challenge, and I know because this sort of thing used to be my bag in the earlier days of KSP.  One thing that might make this more interesting however is the fact that you're not measuring from LKO, but rather from some eccentric Kerbin orbit. That could include one with a PE somewhere between Mun and Kerbin ad an AP just inside the Kerbin SOI. Such an orbit has more energy than the typical Oberth-maximizing highly eccentric orbit, and although it's not optimal for ejecting from LKO, it could likely make it possible to get more juice out of your Munar assist than you would boosting from there. Anyway, good luck getting takers. This sort of thing is far from trivial!

Edited December 17, 2024 by herbal space program

[Kevin_kerman]

the payload must be more than 20-100 tons and chemical engines only

and the payload must be crewed

Edited December 17, 2024 by Kevin_kerman

[herbal space program]

15 minutes ago, Kevin_kerman said:

the payload must be more than 400 tons and chemical engines only

and the payload must be crewed

Nobody, and I mean nobody is going to want to try that. Maybe you should try it yourself if you don't believe me?  That is after all the posted etiquette of the challenge forum: you don't post challenges without providing an example of doing them yourself.

[Kevin_kerman]

Sry, 20-100 tons, more if you want, actually, can this thread just be locked?

[Mr. Kerbin]

 

[James Kerman]

Thread locked at OP's request.