[DUNA MISSION FAILURE] Ship issues... again.

[Claw]

Sometimes it's not all about making the most efficient ship, but making one that you like for aesthetic or roleplay reasons. Starwhip's ship might be way overbuilt for a Duna trip, but it looks much more plausible than a high-efficiency 20-odd part minimalist ship.

*high fives* That's the beauty of this game! You can design what you like.

[Starwhip]

Sometimes it's not all about making the most efficient ship, but making one that you like for aesthetic or roleplay reasons. Starwhip's ship might be way overbuilt for a Duna trip, but it looks much more plausible than a high-efficiency 20-odd part minimalist ship.

YES! Finally, someone who has the same mindset.

Although I did realize... I sent 3 Kerbals on the most recent mission... with room for 10. Ah, well. Next time, new ship, new crew, new experiences!

So... Strangest little gravity effect I ever saw:

Little loop-de-loop up there...

[Red Iron Crown]

Ike is such a jerk sometimes.

[Starwhip]

Okay, the next mission is going to have:

1 - More compact ship. The thing, at the moment, is huge. And excessive. The return stage, according to the Protractor mod, only requires ~ 1,000 meters per second of Delta V.

2 - Heavy-duty lander. Well, um... when I took the Duna lander to Ike, it ran out of fuel. Gonna pack just a little bit more next time.

3 - Cupolas. The new one had none. I'll include an observation deck.

4 - Crew Transfer Stage Overhaul. The thing had enough Delta-V to get to Duna and back, practically. Nearly 2 km/s. I'll tone it down a little. It also packed an extra 2 tons or something for the other HSC, which I did not use. I'll fix that as well.

5 - Debris Elimination Tools I'll fit the lander & transfer stage with an RGU so that I can deorbit them. No debris in my game.

Let the building begin.

[Northstar1989]

I agree with the previous weight-shaving ideas and further suggest:

1 - Keep your Kerbals in the lander can throughout the trip

2 - Connect the lander can to its lander with a pair of Clampotron Sr.'s

3 - When done exploring Ike, leave the lander in Low Ikean Orbit and dock the can to the transfer stage

4 - Remove the Cupola, Hitch-Hikers, Hubmax, and big RCS tank from your transfer stage.

5 - Make your transfer stage just a Clampotron Sr., fuel tanks, and engines.

6 - Move all life-support functions (e.g., solar panels) to the lander.

-Duxwing

If you REALLY wanted to get minimalist, you'd use the same engine for the transfer (via multiple periapsis kicks) and the lander. But sometimes it's about building something plausible and realistic, rather than minimalist. I can't recommend cutting out the extra living space (i.e. Hitchikers) for the Kerbals, for instance.

The structure, on the other hand, could be improved. Finding a way to cut out the Hubmax, and minimize RCS tankage, would of course be useful without in any serious way impairing the realism of the mission...

Regards,

Northstar

[Northstar1989]

Okay, the next mission is going to have:

1 - More compact ship. The thing, at the moment, is huge. And excessive. The return stage, according to the Protractor mod, only requires ~ 1,000 meters per second of Delta V.

2 - Heavy-duty lander. Well, um... when I took the Duna lander to Ike, it ran out of fuel. Gonna pack just a little bit more next time.

3 - Cupolas. The new one had none. I'll include an observation deck.

4 - Crew Transfer Stage Overhaul. The thing had enough Delta-V to get to Duna and back, practically. Nearly 2 km/s. I'll tone it down a little. It also packed an extra 2 tons or something for the other HSC, which I did not use. I'll fix that as well.

5 - Debris Elimination Tools I'll fit the lander & transfer stage with an RGU so that I can deorbit them. No debris in my game.

Let the building begin.

Good ideas- but remember that you can ALWAYS spend more Delta-V on the transfer, to make it faster. It's never a bad idea to expose your crew to less interstellar and Kerbol radiation...

3x living space isn't exactly unrealistic either...

Regards,

Northstar

[sam445]

The reason you spin out of control is because the top of your rocket is heavier than it's bottom.

[XOIIO]

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but if not, get mechjeb and let it do the long tedious burns, it will time it just right and stop once it's done, super handy for ion crafts or large LV-N burns, I can just whack it on for a 15 minute burn, time warp 2 or 3 times and set an alarm on my phone for roughly when it will be over.

[Raptor9]

EDIT: Ah, Captain Sierra already pointed out Munar gravity-assists, my bad.

If you plan it properly, you can use the Mun to gravity assist your transfer trajectory.

My first attempt I designed a interplanetary ship with five NTR engines for a transfer to Duna, and used Kerbal Alarm Clock to get the right transfer window. I used what I thought was a "reasonably low" amount of fuel to eject from Kerbin orbit, but used up almost all of the rest trying to slow down to insert into Duna. While I got to Duna in a short amount of time, it took too much fuel to slow down. I had about 7% of onboard fuel left by the time I got into a 150km circular orbit around Duna's equator, and that was after I went into some of my lander's fuel reserves.

My second attempt, I used the Mun to slingshot (10km altitude fly-by ) out of Kerbin's orbit, and used a trajectory that entered Duna's SOI at a much more shallow angle. It's gonna take 100 days longer to get there, but it'll use less fuel to brake into Duna's orbit. My ship is still en-route, but I'm already well above the fuel curve. I'll try to slingshot around Ike on my way out, too.

The gravity-assist requires some more maneuver node planning and timing with the Munar orbital period vs Duna transfer window, but the pay-off is worth it in my opinion from a fuel reserves standpoint.

Edited May 25, 2014 by Raptor9

[Starwhip]

Well, here we go. Mark Three.

It has the Delta V. It has the crew space. It has the cool factor. (Looks like a night club with those lights activated)

AND ITS GOING TO DUNA SOON^tm! (I have to finish my driver education thingy IRL first... should only take about 45 minutes or something.)

(No cupolas. They turned out to hurt more than help. Oh well.)