About placing something below thrusters...

[Tigermisu]

If I have a skycrane, and I have a flat big panel below it (payload) will the thrusters still thrust if their exhaust is pointed right at the flat panel 5m below them? If not, what is the correct way to build a skycrane? OR a non-skycrane to deliver for example, a rover

[Cal'Mihe]

They will work, but they will also damage the part situated below the thrusters. You'll see it in the mission log (F3) that "Part So-and-so was damaged by exhaust from thruster This-and-That"

[Cranium]

And by damage, it usually is just for show, as right now, damage done by engines isn't very real.

[blizzy78]

You could tilt the thrusters slightly outwards so the fire does not hit any other part of the vessel.

[Tigermisu]

Oh ok.

I'm still curious about a non-skycrane to deliver a rover however...

[bobcook]

I'm still curious about a non-skycrane to deliver a rover however...

This is my first rover delivery to the Mun. Not really an actual skycrane design, although I suppose its might not be as different from a skycrane as it could be.

[Zephram Kerman]

Non-skycrane rover delivery? Neh. Yeh can't get there from here.

Well, I suppose you could mount rockets on radial decouplers around the sides, so that they jettison after landing.

Or, in low-gravity worlds, just put the rover on top of the rocket, then gently tip it down to the surface. (What could possibly go wrong there?)

[Zephram Kerman]

This is my first rover delivery to the Mun. Not really an actual skycrane design, although I suppose its might not be as different from a skycrane as it could be.

Wow, Bob, that looks cool. Not even Kerbal, just.... real.

[HeadHunter67]

This is my first rover delivery to the Mun.

Could that conceivably be modified to be unified with a lander assembly, so that we could do something like the Apollo 15-17 missions with the ELM and the LRV? That's the kind of mission I'd really like to do, but I don't understand the intricacies of doing it in game yet.

[bobcook]

Wow, Bob, that looks cool. Not even Kerbal, just.... real.

Thank you! I've been wanting to build and fly stuff that is reasonably realistic just the stock parts. This is such a fun game, endless possibilities.

Here is what the lander and rover look like after separation:

[AmpsterMan]

Could that conceivably be modified to be unified with a lander assembly, so that we could do something like the Apollo 15-17 missions with the ELM and the LRV? That's the kind of mission I'd really like to do, but I don't understand the intricacies of doing it in game yet.

I don't see why you wouldn't be able to plop a lander can on top of that. With a few minor adjustments you could make a two stage lander.

[bobcook]

Could that conceivably be modified to be unified with a lander assembly, so that we could do something like the Apollo 15-17 missions with the ELM and the LRV? That's the kind of mission I'd really like to do, but I don't understand the intricacies of doing it in game yet.

Sure, I have another version of this craft with the two-man capsule inserted above the fuel tank, but I haven't flown it yet. This particular mission was a "trial run" with automated controls for both the rover and the lander. I really hate sacrificing Kerbals when a robot can crash just as efficiently.

[HeadHunter67]

I'm just wondering how to get it to drop the rover if I do that - without launching the lander back into space.

[SleepingDragon]

Some of my rover+lander designs

http://imageshack.us/g/1/10241965/

[Skorpychan]

I'm just wondering how to get it to drop the rover if I do that - without launching the lander back into space.

Land, hit 'control from here' on the rover's probe core, decouple it, and drive off.

It won't rocket off if you kill thrust beforehand. Unlike skycranes, where you get to the ground on blazing full throttle, release the payload, and get catapulted skywards, to crash down wherever.

[maltesh]

If I have a skycrane, and I have a flat big panel below it (payload) will the thrusters still thrust if their exhaust is pointed right at the flat panel 5m below them? If not, what is the correct way to build a skycrane? OR a non-skycrane to deliver for example, a rover

If solid- or liquid-fuel rocket thrust from your engines hit something that's part of your spacecraft, that thrust is nullified. You should build so that exhaust of the engines of the skycrane do not hit the attached flat panel.

RCS thrusters and Ion Drives have no issue with their exhausts being blocked currently.