totm jun 2013 Kerbolar Demo Parts Extravaganza!

[Leibniz]

After seeing the multi-part missions in this challenge, I thought I'd try as well. My first attempt got to Dres but couldn't get back again, so here is the second try.

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The central lander in the first picture is "Munlighting"; the other two are "The Eisenhower" and "Dres and home". I'm quite pleased with the mission except for a few niggles: I needed to reduce thrust around 30km in the launch to keep the rotation manageable; there was a 600m/s inclination burn between Duna and Dres (pretty much the worst position); and the unbalanced third stage made for some very long burns. Suggestions are welcome!

The return journey (via encounters with Jool and Eve) was a fortunate discovery at Dres when I realised how much delta-V was needed for the direct route. So thanks for the challenge and what it has taught me about ship design and gravity assists.

[tavert]

Very nicely done Leibniz! Impressive first post, as well. Next time you head out to Dres (or Moho or Eeloo for that matter), if you're the planning-ahead type, I highly recommend playing around a bit with http://alexmoon.github.io/ksp/ to avoid any unfortunate inclination surprises.

[TheMontgomery]

Well done! I'll update scores once I have a chance. Thanks for all the submissions!

[metaphor]

Just made something that can go into the Sun. Made only from SRBs, decouplers, struts, and a capsule, so it can be built in the demo, even though it doesn't go to any planets.

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[iDan122]

I'm still trying to do this, I have a craft in Duna orbit but might have seriously misjudged how much fuel I needed to get back

Try using an Ike gravity assist?

[Bobnova]

This is a kick. I enjoyed it.

Sadly I got a whopping 250 points due to a slight miscalculation.

As a note, this operation had zero test flights / simulations. Jeb was loaded and went and landed and came back and died on the first attempt.

I think I can do both Mun and Minmus with this setup.

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I'll try again later. Thanks for the challenge!

Edited August 26, 2013 by Bobnova