See Eeloo on $5 a day (image heavy)

[MarvinKitFox]

Or.. Bill Kerman's Amazing Adventure!

It had finally arrived! After completing 793 missions, Bill has finally qualified for some time off!

The only problem is, Poor Bill is... poor! He has spent all his savings on splints, bandages, traction, and other similar job-stress expenses.

After some tough negotiations, Bill manages to convince Jeb to advance him one month's pay, in return for an extra 5 years of service after his vacation.

Yippee! Bill is going on vacation.

But not any vacation, he wants to go to EELOO!

wot? Yes, Eeloo! "Always wanted to see what it looked like, there. And if I have to do it on a budget, so be it. See here!"

Bill holds out a pamphlet that says "See Europe on $5 a day!"

I have no idea what a "Europe" is, but I do know where Eeloo is!

So the dumb, ahem, brave Kerbal builds the best ship he can, on the tightest budget imaginable, to go to Eeloo!

The end result: two thousand six hundred and thirty five kilograms (including Bill himself) of space-eating contraption!

And thus Bill departs on his Great Adventure!

TURBO-jet powered ascent!

You know, I keep thinking I forgot something.... Wonder what it could be? Ah well.

Ion Drive ready. Ahead full speed, Mr octo. Engage!

.

.

.

a Mere three years, 169 days later, Bill arrives at Eeloo.

As he looks down at his instrument panel, he gasps! "Oh no!! I'm down to my last ten thousand Delta-V! I do hope that is enough to get home!"

.

Gentle as a snowflake, Bill's contraption wafts down to the snowy surface.

Finally on the ground, Bill can take that rest-room break he has been holding in for the last 3.2 years "Never should have had that fourth cup of coffee"

Proudly, Bill unfurls his flag!

"Wow this is swell! But I better get back home, I told jeb it would be only a week, and here its been 3 years 169 days already. My how time flies when you are staring at the stars."

So, his wonderful vacation done, Bill heads back Home, with one fond last look at his camping site.

A short while later, Bill is approaching Kerbin.

"You know, I still think I forgot something. Hmmm."

Bill was in a hurry to get home, so he has a LOT of speed to burn off. A GREAT BIG LOT!!

Speed burned off, Bill prepares to open his .... parachute? "aHA! I KNEW i forgot something!"

No problem, i'll... um, er. Yes, I will use my trust EVA jetpack!

As the ground approaches at 134m/s and with less than 50m to go, Bill jumps from his seat and executes a perfect "duck and cover"

"Wow, never thought that would work! hehehe!"

"Aw shucks, Now I gotta buff out this here Ding!"

And thus ends Bill Kerman's Amazing Adventure!

Whole album here..

http://imgur.com/a/KIy6F

Craft file: (.23.5, uses MechJeb. Universe contains Kethane, but no kethane parts on this ship)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/r1jl3jjjqxhyus0/Eeloo%20on%20%245%20per%20day.craft

Edited April 18, 2014 by MarvinKitFox

[Commander Zoom]

Let's hear it for indestructible helmets.

[Scotius]

Fall from Eeloo to Kerbin ending in glorious faceplant - lithobraking taken to the extreme

[MarvinKitFox]

Let's hear it for indestructible helmets.

No Brain, No Pain

[Buttons840]

Great post. I laughed.

I thought Bill was going to realize he'd forgotten to get a Eeloo space rock as a souvenir. With only 50 meters between Bill and the ground he knew he must have that Eeloo space rock, so he fired up the ion engines and flew back to Eeloo, got his rock, and then returned to Kerbin a second time. 2 trips to Eeloo on a single 2.6 ton ship. It looks like that would have been possible.

[Saltpeter]

This is fantastic. But...how did the ship survive at 134 m/s? @_@

[technion]

Can you help me understand the design of that rocket? I can see tonnes and tonnes of batteries, but no solar panels ?

[MarvinKitFox]

Can you help me understand the design of that rocket? I can see tonnes and tonnes of batteries, but no solar panels ?

Those tons and tons of batteries weigh... zero.

They are physics exempt.

On the cubic octagonal struts the batteries are mounted on, I have several dozen overlapping Solar panels.

Also physics exempt, so they weigh zero, don't block the sun, etc...

All this is mounted on a nice cubic octagonal strut structure that is... you guessed it, physics exempt!

The Cubic octagonal struts at the end on the "arms" are quintuple-interleaved cubic octagonals, for impact resistance.

It survived the ground impact because the outermost 2-3 dozen cubic octagonal struts hit first, and each exploded slowing down the craft.

I had originally planned to land Bill by pancaking the craft down on its belly, but apparently Bill is a very low-drag item, so the re-entry turned me upside down. NOT survivable!

That is why Bill had to jump.

In essence, my WHOLE ship (the space bit) is just

Bill

On a command chair

On an octo pod

On a xenon tank

On an ion drive.

and that is IT. all the other parts are "free"

Look at my ship mass in the pic where I am approaching Eeloo.

Mass = 0.643 tons, and I have more than 10000 delta-v left! And that includes the 80kg for Bill himself!

[Saltpeter]

Brilliant! I especially like the ablative armor, but that lithobrake is just the cherry on top.