Spagetification on Eve? (Thanks)

[Technical Ben]

Is it just the really high gravity, or am I doing something wrong? Anything I try to land on Eve larger than a rover becomes a pancake, even with a feather light landing. It just collapses under it's own weight.

I'll never be able to do a landing and return.

Edited March 31, 2014 by Technical Ben

[cerberusti]

There is another recent thread including a discussion of eve landers, including landing gear:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/72220-Eve-One-Soliciting-advice-for-an-Eve-Ascent-Vehicle

[Technical Ben]

Thanks (sorry "Eve" is too short to search).

I might end up on Lander design 3 then. If this last attempt does not work, will ditch the poor Kerbal in orbit to at least leave them safe.

[Legendary Emu]

I have no experience with interplanetary stuff. But I would think that a plane would be your best bet to get around.

[cerberusti]

At the end of the thread planes are mentioned. This is basically impossible on eve without using modded engines or an infinite fuel cheat (although may be worth another try in the next patch after the ion change.)

Ion planes do work well as a rover on eve, but not to ascend.

[Kasuha]

On Eve you need aproximately twice the number of landing legs than on Kerbin.

[Technical Ben]

It's not necessarily the legs. I can do that bit. It's the fact it all falls apart, as such:

Old video, but similar problems. Thought I'd sorted them since. http://youtu.be/8Kd4EIR1ylo

Good news is the latest design does land with enough effort, but has a fatal floor, I made it's floor (as in literally, the bit under the cabin) a battery, and it scrapes the ground.

Never mind, something went very wrong with my TWR calculation, and it seems I have 1.0... Gah!

Edited March 31, 2014 by Technical Ben

[ScottyDoesKnow]

Old video, but similar problems. Thought I'd sorted them since. http://youtu.be/8Kd4EIR1ylo

These are all the standard problems you get for your first attempt at Eve. I can't see the weight of that lander but for me at 300t I used 42 landing legs, 12 drogue chutes and 12 radial parachutes. And the drogues have to open 2 at a time or they tear off.

For the TWR, use kerbal engineer. It has an option in the VAB to set your reference to Eve so you can see what your TWR will be.

[Technical Ben]

Thanks. I'll take that to not and I'll send a recovery which should work, will be similar design, but this time I'll remember to put rockets on the stages! (Duh!)

[vger]

It's not necessarily the legs. I can do that bit. It's the fact it all falls apart, as such:

Old video, but similar problems. Thought I'd sorted them since. http://youtu.be/8Kd4EIR1ylo

Radial engines are your friend. You'll be able to get just as much thrust without the lander being so ridiculously tall. That will at least help with stability.

[Dispatcher]

Besides the above and other pertinent threads, Eve presents a very helpful opportunity for landing, in that drogue chutes and/ or parachutes are extremely useful given its relatively dense atmosphere. Make sure to repack any chutes which will be used later on the final Kerbin descent stage, if they are one and the same.

[Technical Ben]

Still getting spontaneous disassembly, before even trying to launch. That's from a too light lander too (as I forgot half my engine clusters on the build... XD ).

I might just give up, or wait for the less wobbly AMD/0.24 update.

[Red Iron Crown]

I add tanks to the top of the lander to simulate the higher gravity on Eve. Example, from the thread cerberusti linked:

The 2.5m tanks on top are not part of the design. They happen to mass about 70% of the whole lander, so adding them to the vessel approximates the stresses the landing gear and other structure will experience on Eve.

I haven't figured out a way to do something similar for testing parachutes.

Edited April 1, 2014 by Red Iron Crown