Eve ascent (with Kethane)

[MrChumley]

I'd like to share four vehicles that made it possible to fly to Eve, mine some kethane, and return to Eve orbit.

My computer isn't the most beastly, so I tried to keep part counts down. Around 200 parts or less to avoid "rendering fatigue" thereby enhancing your Kerbal Space Program experience with the smoothest possible framerate. (my 7900 GTO useta be a pretty cool graphics card)

Built in 0.20.0

Mods used:

-Kethane

-Quantum struts

-Quantum fuel transfer

-Mechjeb

-Payloader (used in construction, not needed)

Vehicles:

Vehicle #1=

http://www./?hjg6ua3lkk36c5e

Eve Visitor mk4.2- This is the main craft, (the only one that is manned). *special action groups= 1- Toggle lv45 engine on/off, 2- Toggle 4x aerospikes on/off (should probably have the kethane engines toggle on/off with 3, but you'll have to set that one up yourself)

Vehicle #2=

http://www./?pman6eqprbm2dfs

Eval Kethrover- This is the kethane mining/scanning rover with skycrane (can also be used on other moons/ planets) *special action groups= 1-toggle solar panels and Kethane drills, 2-toggle oxidizer/liq fuel converter 5-toggle just solar panels. It is short and fat for ultra stability. Tested to 30m/s on Eve no problem... might wanna tap the brakes when stopping though.

Vehicle #3-

http://www./?z5amxqn1hq93mdw

Tugger 3- This is the nuclear powered interplanetary transfer vessel (you will need to launch this vehicle twice, and dock it to the rover, and Visitor mk4.2 respectively to get the delta V required for interplanetary transfer.

Vehicle #4-

http://www./?xt24eaizfxhx45n

Fuel Tanker 1-This is just a fuel tank that you can use to dock behind the Tugger 3 for more fuel if you need it (you will probably need to at least on the mk4.2's journey.)

Method:

*Please note that I use hotkey/actiongroup "0" to toggle on/off the gimbals on all my ascent stage mainsails so as not to wobble the ship apart on launch.

1. Start with the rover launch, then launch the first Tugger 3. Dock while in kerbin orbit. *Optional- launch the fuel tanker and dock it to the back of the tugger 3 (depending on planet positions/ interplanetary transfer skills you might not need the tanker for the rover transfer to Eve).

2. Transfer the rover apparatus to Eve dropping empty tanks as needed.

3.Aerobrake to slow down and get Eve orbit (periapsis down to 65,500M), and circularize to about 100-150km

4. Scan for kethane. Hopefully you get lucky and find a deposit fairly equatorial, and as high in altitude as possible.

5. Undock, deorbit,and land the rover. Open parachutes ASAP, and use the skycrane to slow down enough for soft landing.

6. Once landed, throttle up skycrane till just before liftoff and hit the staging so the skycrane flies off.

7. Now launch the Eve Visitor mk4.2, *note it will not have enough delta v to get a circularized orbit on just the ascent stage, DO NOT stage the LV t-45 yet! (You need the docking port to attach the Tugger 3) Instead use hotkey "2" to toggle the aerospikes for that little extra oomph to get a circularized orbit around kerbin.

8. Launch the second Tugger 3, and the fuel tanker.

9. Dock the fuel tanker to the back of the Tugger 3, then dock that apparatus to the bottom of the MK 4.2.

10. Transfer to eve, again aerobraking with 65.5km periapsis. Dont be afraid to use some fuel from the MK4.2, I ended up emptying the four stacks above the kethane engines, and DON'T forget to toggle off those aerospikes before you burn! (see above pic where I forgot)

11. Undock and land the MK4, you want to land at an altitude at LEAST 3.2km ASL, on as flat as ground as possible. Again, opening the chutes ASAP, and using the LV t-45, and the aerospikes to slow landing at the last min for a soft touchdown.

12. Rendezvous with the rover and begin the refueling process. You might need to try a couple of times to get the balance of kethane fuel right so that the four kethane engines run out of fuel about the same time all the tanks above them run out (For me the amount of kethane needed was 550 units). This is a prudent quicksave time.

13. After refueling completely with liquid fuel/ oxidiser, and transfering the needed kethane from the big storage tank into the smaller bottles, you can hit the stage button on the mk4.2 once again to fire sepatrons, and disconnect the top kethane tower along with the chutes. (my favorite part of the mission)

14. Plant your flag, and prepare for liftoff! Now remember the hotkeys (1&2), turn off the lv-t45, and the aerospikes, activate the kethane engines, throttle up to about 90% throttle, and wait until they spool up.

15. When your ready to go toggle both the lvt-45 and the aerospikes on.

16. Leave the lv-t45 on for it's thrust vectoring, and turn off the aerospikes (toggle hotkey "2") to conserve fuel.

17. You will need to toggle the aerospikes on/off a few times to make sure you keep going up until your craft gets light enough to be lifted by only the kethane engines and the lv-t45.

18. Hopefully you run out of kethane, and all of your kethane engines shut off all at once, at the same time the fuel in the stacks above them are empty. At this point all you have to do is ditch the heavy kethane engines, and empty fuel stacks, all 4 at once (2 stages), and

fire up the aerospikes. hotkey "2"

19. Reduce throttle so that you aren't loosing too much delta V to atmospheric drag. I started my gravity turn at about 76k.

20. Get into orbit.

21. The Tugger 3 has a Clamp-o-tron jr on the bottom that will dock onto the top of the mk4.2's command pod. for the ride home.

This Mission took about a week to pull off successfully, but it was quite satisfying. Despite the relatively simple vehicles (and mods), this is still quite difficult. Please give these crafts a try and see if you can pull it off too! Please leave comments as well. Thanks for looking!

Peace and kerbal kindness

-Chumley

Edited June 19, 2013 by MrChumley

[MrChumley]

Too hard?

Mods: I wasn't sure if a more appropriate place for this would be in "challenges"? But my main goal is to try and get people to give these crafts a try, and get a kerman back from the surface of Eve.. Even if their computer isn't the top of the line...