Want to go to Eve and back? Try this.

[Redshift OTF]

Warning! This is not 1.0 compatible. I will try and make one that is though but that could take some time...29/4/15

Everything you need to land a Kerbal on Eve in a capsule at sea level and return him safely to Kerbin.

The Eve Comet. 683 parts. 2346 tons on the launch pad. Total DeltaV = about 27,000. The lander itself is only 130 tons after the parachutes are ejected. No part clipping used because some people consider that a bit cheaty.

Craft file here!

Yes, it does look a bit like a Christmas tree but aesthetics are hard to do without part clipping. It does the job though.

Operators Manual

The trip to Eve and back is a perilous journey even if you have the skills and have been supplied with a ship that can do the job. Please read this manual fully to ensure a happy and safe trip. Please note, this is not a guide in getting to Eve and back although there is guidance regarding the Eve ascent stage.

Do not press any hotkeys unless prompted to do so!

I couldn't get the ladder system to retract in the VAB so you will have to do this yourself before flight. Press hotkey 3 to do this, (you may need to press it twice at launch).

The lifter is made of two parts and follows the standard method of obtaining a low Kerbin parking orbit i.e. straight up for 10km and gravity turn.

Lift off!

Nice view.

Gravity turn.

The first stage of the lifter is jettisoned.

The second stage of the lifter is small but does the job.

The second stage of the lifter is jettisoned and the transport stage finishes the orbital injection burn.

In orbit ready for interplanetary travel.

Here you can see the transport stage firing for the journey to Eve. It is powered by 24 LV-N engines and has over 3600 DeltaV to get you to Eve and is also used to de-orbit the lander. This should be more than enough.

Arriving at the purple planet.

Aerobraking in Eve's atmosphere. Although aerobraking is good practice, there's enough DeltaV in the transport stage to obtain an orbit without having to aerobrake if you don't want to.

Now that stable orbit has been achieved we decouple the return stage. This is left in orbit and used to carry the capsule back to Kerbin. Decouple it manually by right clicking on the blue ring.

Warning, if you switch to this craft it may be best to right click on the LV-N engine and select activate engine rather than hit space bar to stage. I've known the fuel tank and engine to decouple too early if this is not done.

The transport stage is used to de-orbit the lander to your landing site.

Transport stage is released. Best point retrograde for this. It's quite slow in coming off so be patient. Do not use any fuel to push yourself away from it as you want as much fuel as possible for the ascent.

The lander stage falling towards the surface.

Press hotkey 1 to release the parachutes. You want to do this above 2000m from the height you want to land because...

...the first set of parachutes are set to deploy at 1500m above your landing point. Second set at 1000m and third set at 500m. Deploy the landing wheels. Recommended brakes on and SAS engaged!

Providing the landing spot is relatively flat you will have landed without too much of a problem and without using any thrust or fuel. The landing can handle some slope but if you think you are going to land on a gradient you might want to modify the landing gear yourself. It works fine for most situations. If you are landing a lot higher than sea level you might need to use a bit of thrust to slow your landing as the parachutes will be less effective. It's not something I have tested to be honest although it is worth noting that at near sea level altitudes the lander is falling at about 6 m/s so higher up it may not be needed.

Press hotkey 2 to activate the escape towers and jettison all the parachutes. That's all the hotkeys done, (apart from hotkey 3 for the ladders of course).

Press hotkey 3 to extend the ladders and go EVA!

I'm thinking the landing wheels may not be optimal for all landing scenarios so feel free to adjust them in the VAB if you want, (after you have tried this standard configuration).

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Here are the ascent stages in album format. At second stage, (the stage after the 3 large side tanks are released and you just have the central large engine), throttle down to 2/3rds throttle and then back up to full throttle when the upper asparagus stage is activated. It is recommended you don't start the gravity turn before 30km, don't turn more than 45 degrees until 45 km and don't turn more than 80 degrees before 70km. The lander is rated to reach an orbit of 100km although it may get higher.

I haven't tried this at 0m, (actual seal level), but it can get to a 100km orbit from an altitude of 250m with 500 DeltaV remaining so it is pretty likely and there is a good margin for error.

Once your capsule is in orbit switch to the return stage and rendezvous with the capsule.

The return stage docks easily with the capsule. I've added a light since then for easy docking on the night side of Eve.

Jettison the remains of the fuel tank from the capsule, (right click the decoupler and hit decouple), after draining the remaining fuel into the return stage. The return stage has 5000 DeltaV which is loads of fuel to get back to Kerbin, even if you don't aerobrake. The rest should be obvious...

Javascript is disabled. View full album

The return to Kerbin and a heroes welcome!

Hopefully this will be of use to some people. If you have any issues then let me know.

Edited April 29, 2015 by Redshift OTF

[Jamie Logan]

Wow!!!!!!!

[Francesco]

Nice, but dropping nuclear engines near KSC is bad taste :sticktongue:

[RSF77]

And just like that youve managed to deplete kerbins fossil fuels as well as irradiate the only beacon of civilization in the known kerbiverse.

[Redshift OTF]

Yeah, Jeb got in trouble for "delivering" the LV-N back to the launch site. No snacks for a week!

That is awesome! I love it.

A couple of user comments... first, there's a bug that affects Linux with the extra-large TR-38-D decoupler that causes game crashes when staging. You have to edit the part, and it gets a lot more wobbly, so I added 4 struts from the 1st stage to the 3rd stage, and 4 struts from the 2nd stage to the 3rd stage.

Second, you can edit the craft file and change the RetractableLadders from StateName = Extended to StateName = Retracted. I don't think dealing with a bug this way is cheating. IMHO of course... I couldn't get them to retract in the VAB either. Strange.

Anyway, I'm in Kerbin orbit and it's almost 3am so I have to put off the Eve burn, darn it.

Thanks for the comments! Useful to know about the ladders. I might have to try that in future.

[Lohan2008]

OhMyGoodness !!!

[iDan122]

That's the smallest Eve lander I have seen! Sidenote: can you make a version without the return ship? I just want to send the lander one-way

[John FX]

Nice. I`m doing Eve properly for the first time myself.

I`m doing a 3 man pod though. Got my lander to about 170T. Might download your craft to check it out.

[Redshift OTF]

That's the smallest Eve lander I have seen! Sidenote: can you make a version without the return ship? I just want to send the lander one-way

You can remove the return ship in the VAB by clicking the blue decoupler shown in one of the pics in the first post. The whole ship should work exactly the same without it. No need to alter the staging. You'll just have to rescue the Kerbals from orbit another way.

Nice. I`m doing Eve properly for the first time myself.

I`m doing a 3 man pod though. Got my lander to about 170T. Might download your craft to check it out.

I did a 3 Kerbal challenge to Eve and back recently although my lander ended up being 427 tons! If you can do it with only a 170 ton lander you are doing it better than me.

[Redshift OTF]

Ah good, I'm glad to see that the lander worked for your style of ascent. Was there much DeltaV left over?

[Redshift OTF]

Ooh well done. I hadn't tried it that low down so I will have to remember those co-ordinates. Glad to see the lander is tougher than I thought!

I have experimented with different ascent profiles for Mechjeb and found that turning at 25km and/or finishing the turn around 70km wasn't optimal but if it worked for you then good as I think that indicates there's some more margin for error.

[Redshift OTF]

I used 30km gravity turn start, 100km turn end and a turn shape of 32 percent. Make sure you have Limit to Terminal Velocity is enabled and if Mechjeb is auto staging you can get an extra boost by making sure both the pre and post delays are set to zero.

[Majorjim!]

Hi Redshift,

An Eve return ship is a thing of beauty,as is your ship!

The only thing that conserns me is the craft is advertised as capable or return from sea level but later in the post you say a sea level launch is "pretty likely".

MJ

[Redshift OTF]

I got the lander back to a 100km orbit from a height of 303m with 500 DeltaV left over so I think "likely" is pretty accurate.

[Majorjim!]

I got the lander back to a 100km orbit from a height of 303m with 500 DeltaV left over so I think "likely" is pretty accurate.

Surely its either possible or not possible. I am just saying its better to be clear on these things.

You don't sound confident in your answer though leading me to assume that you don't know. If you know all the numbers its possible to discover mathematically if it is indeed possible or not.

Sorry if that sounds blunt but a 'from sea level' Eve return ship is a big deal so as I said before, it is better to be clear on these things.

She is a very impressive craft Redshift. Rep for you.

MJ

[Majorjim!]

Well, if you read my posts, you can see I got it back from 6m ASL.

Seen it now, thanks GeneCash.

MJ

[Kevin Kyle]

What fun this was to do. I had to add a very few braces. I couldnt keep it under control without them. I dont use Mechjeb so I think the braces were a requirement. Worked as expected though. I had some doubts about getting back into orbit. I landed at about 1000m ASL and it went pretty good. Another fine ship from the Space Craft Exchange. TY so much for the great ride. I enjoyed that a lot.

[Redshift OTF]

Glad it worked out for you! Yeah, the speed those stages drop off makes you question whether the thing will make orbit but most of the DeltaV is in the final couple of stages so it gets you there.

[tippingbison]

That's an awesome Lander!

[fenderzilla]

how much delta v is in the lander stage?

[Frank_G]

10k of delta V at least. Otherwise it wouldnt make it back.

Congratulations on the achievement!!! Returning from Eve really was a big milestone for me too.

[Technical Ben]

Nice, but dropping nuclear engines near KSC is bad taste :sticktongue:

You mean they don't "burn clean"?

[Redshift OTF]

how much delta v is in the lander stage?

I think about 12,500 m/s DeltaV. It had a bit spare when I got it into orbit. I'm not sure if this craft would work in 0.25 as they have changed some of the parts. The regular SAS unit has been shrunk which I had on the return stage so I might have to look at that.

[Liowen]

I just landed this on Eve about an hour ago, and would have gotten it in orbit.......had I not had it locked on retograde. Redshift would you mind if I use this in my go everywhere series, full credit for the design of the ship of course. The only mods I mad to the craft was launch clamps (because exploding launch pads are a thing), one more set of landing wheels, and hotkeying the brakes and deployment of landing gear on the chute key. It was an awesome flying fuel station, but it was just so Kerbal .

[Starslinger999]

Nice, but dropping nuclear engines near KSC is bad taste :sticktongue:

Actually if kerbals are green so technecly they can survive radiation easily (or they would ban nukes like USA and russia did.)