Do you do dry runs to Jool before the real thing?

[canuckster]

I've built ships and landers for both Laythe and Vall, I did a dry run test without Kerbals first to see if I had enough dv to get to low orbit and then to see if my landers were capable of landing where I wanted and returning to the mothership with dv to spare. Does anyone else do dry runs or do you choose to fly by the seat of your pants?

[Spatzimaus]

No need.

First, there are mods out there that tell you the delta-V and TWR capability of your vehicle. It's not cheating, because you can do that math for yourself if you're good enough at it, but it's handy to have the computer do it for you as you tweak the design. Once you know that your vehicle has, say, 8000 m/s of capability, you just look at the chart that says how much is needed to get to the various places. Add in an emergency reserve, say 10%, and there's never a question of whether you'll have enough.

Second, all of my vessels can be refueled on-site as needed. I've got fuel depots scattered all over the system, for when I want to go somewhere with a small vessel, plus several landed rovers carrying emergency fuel supplies for stranded vessels. For instance, I went to Laythe with a medium (23 tons) spaceplane that was nearly dry upon reaching that moon. It partially refueled in orbit, landed, took off, fully refueled again, then had just enough fuel to come home. If I'd had less fuel, I'd just have stopped a few more places along the way (like Minmus, Duna, and Pol). Of course, my latest spaceplane (34 tons) can go all the way to Laythe and back without refueling, but that's admittedly kind of overkill.

Finally, there's the Kethane mod. Use that, and it becomes trivial to make designs that can refuel themselves, no depots needed. I did a Grand Tour back in 0.18-0.19 this way, with my ~50-ton lander refueling itself at every stop. It takes a lot of work, since landing on specific spots to drill is a lot harder than the usual "aim for a smooth area" method, but it's definitely not stock gameplay.

[Randox]

Sort of I suppose. I don't send unmanned missions first unless an unmanned mission is the point. I am familiar enough with data lookup and some of the calculations that I can be pretty certain that a ship can do something like return to orbit, and in cases where I am not certain (such as my upcoming flight test on Duna), I have a contingency plan laid out, and everything I need will be in the Duna system with me in the event a manned mission might become stranded.

My biggest problem are design oversight and building flaws. Before something is used on an interplanetary mission, I use Kerbin, Minmus, and the Mun as a proving ground. I can simulate an inter planet jump, landing in various situations, aero braking and so on. The idea is to see if I forgot anything, see how the ship performs, and find any design or construction flaws.

[qromodynmc]

Well I always send a probe to see how it goes,I dont like sending my kerbals to everywhere.

[InterCity]

I don't send kerbals to the gas giant ever, since i hate leaving them stranded and return from Jool is INCREDIBLY HARD/IMPOSSIBLE. Usually, i just send an airship (hooligan labs) and fly around as long as posible.

I only got a kerbal to the high Jool orbit.

[Superfluous J]

The very first time I went to Jool, I copied the .craft that was going there to a sandbox game to launch it and make sure it could get there. Just to make sure I had all the logistics right.

After proving to myself that I had it, I've never felt the need since.

[SSSPutnik]

Nope, first run out I made it, landed on most moons then ran out of fuel. Had to send a refueling mission.

Next run, did it without refueling.

[Captain Sierra]

VOID only tells me Kerbin TWR but it does give me dV. I'm usually pretty good at judging what fraction of Kerbin TWR will get me off various bodies but if there is any doubt, I do a 'simulation' powered by HyperEdit to take me there so I can test the lander, then I revert so as far as my persistence knows, it never happened.

[dharak1]

A good mod for delta V and TWR is Kerbal Engineer Redux. It gives you in atmosphere delta V and TWR for whatever body you have selected.

[magnemoe]

I always test Tylo landers, they tend to crash.

I uses hyperedit for this

Except for this remember that moving between the moons of Jool uses a lot of dV as in over 4Km/s if you go from low orbit to low orbit

[m4rt14n]

I dont always send kerbals to Jool. But when I do, they dont come back.

[theend3r]

I always overbuild and make the ships completely modular with contingency plans. No need to send probes, if I fail it's only because of my piloting.

[DerekL1963]

The very first time I went to Jool, I copied the .craft that was going there to a sandbox game to launch it and make sure it could get there. Just to make sure I had all the logistics right.

This. NASA runs simulations and so do I... along side my career mode save is a sandbox save where I test vehicles, missions, etc...

[irongut]

In my career game I'm currently working on an unmanned mission to Jool and all of its moons.

I have a mothership and 6 probes designed to do science in high and low orbits of each celestial and to land on Laythe. They were designed using a dV chart and Kerbal Engineer Redux to ensure they have more than enough dV for the mission. I haven't run a sandbox simulation of the whole mission but I have used it to prove I can dock all the probes, fly the mothership to Mun, undock the probes and run my science projects. Apart from this basic shakedown test I will be flying by the seat of my pants.

My mothership and probes are currently sitting in LKO awaiting their launch window which opens in about 24h.

[Javster]

Sometimes, the limitation is how I pilot my craft, so a dry run is always good.

[ComradeGoat]

I always test Tylo landers, they tend to crash.

I uses hyperedit for this

Except for this remember that moving between the moons of Jool uses a lot of dV as in over 4Km/s if you go from low orbit to low orbit

I tested my Tylo lander on Kerbin, by doing a powered descent that was always well below terminal velocity.

When I got to Tylo, I landed and took off again on the first attempt. Huge success!

I dont always send kerbals to Jool. But when I do, they dont come back.

Mine end up living in a space station at Laythe. In theory, I could use a nuclear tug to drag the habitation module back to Kerbin with everyone on board, but in practice it's a one-way trip.

Maybe one day I'll bring someone back, just to prove I can. Seems a waste to remove a perfectly good spaceship and a load of fuel from the Jool system though. It takes so long to get there.

Edited February 3, 2014 by ComradeGoat

[Aragosnat]

Depends on how well I build the craft in question. But, I do try and send probes out first that. Hopefully have enough fuel left over to to support any coming ships. Sadly. I have a tendency to waste a lot of fuel. On the bright side. I recently tosses a SSTO space plane probe out of Kerbin's SOI. Pretty sure I don't have enough to do a Jool encounter. But, might be fun to see if I can make it.