My Epic Ion Probe Journey- Project Hades

[Monty_Droppings]

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I just completed a mission that took 16 hours in real time, and that is despite the fact I timewarped nearly every single burn (Dem ions....)

Kerbin-Dres-Pol-Bop-Minimus-Kerbin again.

Ions were used the whole time, to land and take off from every object except for the lifter stage and the Dres landing/takeoff (Ions cannot even lift themselves on Dres)

That was the most rewarding thing I have ever done, and is probably a cakewalk for most of the people in the community but this was a big moment for me.

The mission was a failure, as the craft was designed to Land on Dres, then land on the 4 "Ionic" objects, the 4 places where ions can lift themselves: Minimus, Bop, Pol, and Gilly. After i Landed on Bop i decided i didnt have enough fuel to go to Gilly, so i had to settle for landing quickly at minimus before heading back to kerbin.

So Meh. Time to do it over again so i can get to gilly this time.

[technion]

Awesome mission. Hitting up all those planetary bodies in a single launch is impressive, regardless of the Gilly situation. I think Dres is underestimated in general, it burns a lot more dv than it looks like it should.

[irongut]

Nice mission. I really like the design of your probe with the solar panels on the arms. What is on the ends, fuel tanks?

I haven't tried ion engines yet but after reading this I'll have to try them soon.

[Monty_Droppings]

Nice mission. I really like the design of your probe with the solar panels on the arms. What is on the ends, fuel tanks?

I haven't tried ion engines yet but after reading this I'll have to try them soon.

There is a set of L100 fuel tanks with "ant" liquid engines, this is what allows you to land on stuff ions cant. Once the stage is dropped, there are still additional xenon tanks, once those get to 25%, i transfer everything to the center tank and drop the radial xenons.

I like this design as it allows me to land on a "heavy object" (that ions normally cant), then i can land on several of the "ionic" bodies before returning to kerbin.

[astropapi1]

Sorry to be that guy, but... *Minmus.

Where did you find the patience to do a mission like that?