Dres (NO MODS)

[Billyk88]

I am tryin to fly to dres, land, and return. I was able to get there but it would take so much delta v to get a good orbit around dres to drop my lander and keep my tug in the orbit that i would have no fuel left to get back. I have to atomic motors and it said it would take me 4200 delta v (46min) to get my orbit. Im lookin for any advice and pic are really appreciated. ( NO MODS PLZ).

Thank you

Edited April 19, 2014 by Billyk88

[Vanamonde]

If the destination is an airless world (no aerobraking) without moons (no gravity assists), there aren't any fancy flight techniques you can use, and it's almost entirely a matter of ship design. If that's what you're asking about, here's a ship you can download which has made several interplanetary trips while hauling significant cargoes, and it is capable of visiting Dres.

[Mitchz95]

I usually use two ships docked together: a Mun-capable lander with some RCS, and a larger transfer stage with NERVA engines. Once you burn into orbit, detach the lander and touch down on Dres. When you're done there, return to orbit and re-dock with the transfer stage for the trip home.

[Billyk88]

Do any of those moded? Can u post some pics plz

[ScallopPotato]

None of them look like they have any mods installed.

[Vanamonde]

If you are asking about mine, I am a stock-only purist. No mods at all. And the links are picture-iffic.

[Billyk88]

Ok kool can yall post pics of ur ships plz

[FenrirWolf]

If your orbital insertion needs that much delta-v, you might have to be content with a flyby for now. Get them back home and see if you can get a better intercept next time?

[Billyk88]

My intercept perapsis was 433,000m which aint the greatest but could of been way worse.

[FenrirWolf]

Right, but it's more the timing of your Kerbin departure and phase angle that determine how fast you'll be going when you intercept another planet. When I encountered Dres on my last mission I only had to slow down by around 2000m/s instead of 4000

[Billyk88]

Oh ok i really need to learn more about kerbin depart and phase angles. Thank you everyone

[Mitchz95]

Oh ok i really need to learn more about kerbin depart and phase angles. Thank you everyone

Give this a try. It was a life saver for me.

[BudgetHedgehog]

Whenever I go to another planet, I send two things: the tug/lander combo (the tug has a lab, 4 NERVAs and enough fuel to get into a stable orbit around the destination) and a refuelling ship (terribly simple - one probe core, a large SAS (buffed with TweakableEverything to have more power), a couple of RTGs to power it (so no batteries or panels), and two KAS pipe connectors. The same amount of fuel as the tug, but with the lander and lab's weight in fuel too, with a bit extra gives about 10km/s of dV). Send both off and when I get there, rendezvous, transfer fuel across (I could do it by docking of course but after so long spent in the ship, I like to give the little guys some time to stretch their legs) and I have enough fuel to get home. I usually don't bother getting a stable orbit around Kerbin - the lander has space for 3, but only one pilot. The lab guys get in the capsule and when I get close to Kerbin encounter , I put the periapsis basically on the ground (hooray for no DRE!) and decouple.

All completely doable without mods but they do make things easier (launching the 40t refueller or lab/tug in one go, for instance, is a lot quicker with KW Rocketry).

In fact, as I type this, I have a couple of guys that were going to go to Dres with this exact method. Turns out Jool was in the way so we're taking a detour, which'll be fun. I've only ever done a few flybys of Jools moons, would be nice to land on one for the first time.

[Billyk88]

Yea thank you for the calculator. Im not quite sure how to use it but i will figure it out. Ok kool i will see what i can come up with thank u

[Nemecle]

The only advice I can give you is to be careful about the way you enter the SOI : be sure to be in the same way of the planet's surface : landings and take off will be less DeltaV expensive

[Billyk88]

Thank you for your advice

[Liowen]

Something I use for finding the "best angle is a mod called Protractor, you just attach it to the ship and you can see when the best time to leave is relative to what planet you are at currently. I normally put a small satellite around Kerbin so I can get the angle I need. It has it set so you can switch between angle or time, I usually use the time function to make it easier. You will want one on the ship going to Dres as well so you can plan your return with it as well.

[Billyk88]

Thank you but i refuse to use mods.

[Superfluous J]

The game doesn't give you the tools to do this with any finesse, and you don't want to install mods that will allow you to finesse it, so I suggest building the hugest ship you can launch into orbit and just brute force your way there.

Prepare to send refuelers as well, and for the mission to take decades

[Liowen]

Thank you but i refuse to use mods.

You can always use a real protractor and do the math yourself. I do not like to use mods either, however when you reach the limits of what is offered in game using a mod to help, not do the item in question for you, out is not a terrible thing. There are websites that will tell you, but you have to enter in information to make them work.

[Guest]

You can keep fuel budgets under control without mods or complicated math :

1. Put a probe outside of Kerbin's soi that remains in the same solar plane as Kerbin. Then set Dres as target. This will allow you to see the ascending and descending nodes with Dres.

2. Time the launch of your Dres ship so that it coincides with Kerbins arrival at one of the nodes. This will allow you to get closest approach indicators when you're ships projected path intersects with Dres's orbit.

3. Time warp until you are just past the first closest approach. You can now burn either retrograde or prograde until you get a Dres intercept. Use your manuever nodes to figure out which. It would be preferable to set yourself up for a prograde burn as this will reduce the delta-v needed to get a Dres capture. You may have to go around more than once to get into a good position.

Using Alexmon's launch planner will give you the most efficient launch times, but the method I just tried to describe here will get you there in pretty good shape too, without mods.

Edited April 19, 2014 by Otis