Specific or Multi-purpose Missions?

[Popuptwo]

I dunno about you guys but I like to pack as many things into a mission as possible. Its not just "Send one satellite into orbit" its "Launch three satellites then a Mun lander just for fun". I dunno why. Maybe its just that I like to save the trip and get as much accomplished as possible. Sorta like this:

I had never been to Jool let alone Laythe. But I brought a crap ton to do. 3 Satellites, 3 Rovers, a landing pod. I just like to pack as much as I can into a mission. Maybe its because I'm not so experience in interplanetary flight that I don't want to make the effort 3-4 times to the same place when I can just do it all in one shot. However the downside to my "DO EVERYTHING AT ONCE" strategy is that I rarely test all of the components individually. I just sort of send them and hope everything works according to plan XD (which it normally doesn't)

But anywho, what about you guys. Do you like making precise single purpose launches or are you like my and jam as much to do onto every mission as you can?

[stupid_chris]

Depends. Usually I do precise missions, but I was seriously considering making a full detailed mission to land a probe on all of Jool's moons in one ship, I think I'll work on this when .21 hits.

[NASI Director]

Unless I'm making something like a Mun station or Comm Relay, I only pack one thing. Probably because I suck at getting stuff into orbit (I don't like asparagus staging).

[omegamatrixhh]

I find myself feeling like my mission is incomplete if my vehicle only has one purpose. Since we're lacking any level of scientific experimentation, and since there is really very little actual discovery to be done as of now, I try to complete as many crazy tasks as possible.

As soon as .20 hit, I sent up a one man Mun lander with a large fuel tank meant to orbit the Mun, and a space station core to orbit kerbin after my Munshot. It didn't go especially well but I had fun and met new challenges so maybe that's why I do it.

[Coneshot]

I like to pack a bunch on one flight, but sometimes that can backfire.. I sent a multi-probe ship out to Eve yesterday only to discover that all 12 probes had the decouplers on backwards.. I could eject them but their engines were blocked from firing!

[Popuptwo]

I like to pack a bunch on one flight, but sometimes that can backfire.. I sent a multi-probe ship out to Eve yesterday only to discover that all 12 probes had the decouplers on backwards.. I could eject them but their engines were blocked from firing!

I think some of the joy of packing lots of things into one mission is the unknown factor. Just not knowing if everything is going to work is kind of a thrill. But I think its also fun having to make things up on the fly when things go wrong. I dunno, maybe that's just me xD

[leax256]

I like to pack a bunch on one flight, but sometimes that can backfire.. I sent a multi-probe ship out to Eve yesterday only to discover that all 12 probes had the decouplers on backwards.. I could eject them but their engines were blocked from firing!

"control from here" the probes then decouple, or just use stack separators.

[Tw1]

I do too. My first missions to other planets were all manned, each carrying three satellites, and four probe-rovers.

Though how these were delivered, and the levels of success all varied.

My first Jool mission was no flyby. I sent an elaborate probe that would place rovers on all the moons. The third version if it is actually succeeding.

If you've got the budget, (which is currently no issue in kerbal) it makes sense to do it this way, and get the most of of each launch window.

[espm400]

Honestly, it depends on where I'm going. Anything in the Kerbin SOI tends to be specific, a piece of a station here, a mapping satellite there. When it comes to putting actual Kerbins on an interplanetary mission, I usually have probes, rovers, space planes (for the atmospheric planets), the works. Mind you, I usually send my 'KT-Mapsat' (Kethane Mapper + ISA Mapsat) and a mini rover or two to scope my landing site first though.

[magnemoe]

I like to pack a bunch on one flight, but sometimes that can backfire.. I sent a multi-probe ship out to Eve yesterday only to discover that all 12 probes had the decouplers on backwards.. I could eject them but their engines were blocked from firing!

You did that too

If you have parachutes they can still land on Eve if you drop them on an reentry path.

Tend to do complex missions myself. last was an unmanned sample return mission from Jool atmosphere and rocks from all the moons, from Laythe this is atmosphere and water to.

Worked out except the Tylo lander who missed an engine, this was a luck as I got enough fuel to return. However the Tylo followup mission will just land collect samples and return, and yes deploy an satellite in polar orbit.

[Popuptwo]

Honestly, it depends on where I'm going. Anything in the Kerbin SOI tends to be specific, a piece of a station here, a mapping satellite there. When it comes to putting actual Kerbins on an interplanetary mission, I usually have probes, rovers, space planes (for the atmospheric planets), the works. Mind you, I usually send my 'KT-Mapsat' (Kethane Mapper + ISA Mapsat) and a mini rover or two to scope my landing site first though.

Yea, when I built my space station I for the most part kept it to just bringing up the pieces, but I couldn't help myself and I had to include a few satellites on a few of the launches ;P

You did that too

If you have parachutes they can still land on Eve if you drop them on an reentry path.

Tend to do complex missions myself. last was an unmanned sample return mission from Jool atmosphere and rocks from all the moons, from Laythe this is atmosphere and water to.

Worked out except the Tylo lander who missed an engine, this was a luck as I got enough fuel to return. However the Tylo followup mission will just land collect samples and return, and yes deploy an satellite in polar orbit.

Like I said, its sort of a thrill having to figure things out on the fly. Its fun not knowing if everything is going to work perfectly and having to come up with solutions when things inevitably go wrong