Will it survive?

[Stilgar2300]

I;m about to conduct my first landing on another planet. And since i've never done something so extreme i'm at a loss. I'm trying to do it without tutorials to see if i can do it on my own, and i have interstellar and B9 installed. So maybe i should have figured this out first but will this thing survive an aerobraking maneuver in Duna's Atmosphere? I didn't realize how fragile it was until i tried to turn it. i do have a fail safe that will dump the bottom lander if i think it's going to fail but i would rather not cut the mission in half. thanks!

[mike9606]

If you don't have Deadly Re-entry or any mod that makes reentry dangerous you should be fine if you retract the heat radiators and the solar panels if you do the aerobraking maneuver right.

[timsfitz]

Looks pretty flimsy. Good thing u can quickload and try as many times as u need.

[SkyRender]

Generally speaking it's best not to aerobrake mothership-class craft of that size. Landers are made deliberately small for reasons besides just fuel efficiency: smaller means easier to balance aerodynamically. If you're dead-set on getting that whole thing down to the surface of Duna, I suggest you do it in segments. Certainly it won't be landing gracefully with a form factor like that.

[Stilgar2300]

Generally speaking it's best not to aerobrake mothership-class craft of that size. Landers are made deliberately small for reasons besides just fuel efficiency: smaller means easier to balance aerodynamically. If you're dead-set on getting that whole thing down to the surface of Duna, I suggest you do it in segments. Certainly it won't be landing gracefully with a form factor like that.

The whole thing isn't landing. But i need to aerobrake to make sure i'll have enough fuel to get back home

[AlamoVampire]

The whole thing isn't landing. But i need to aerobrake to make sure i'll have enough fuel to get back home

retract the radiators, solar arrays and any other bits that are extended first off. Secondly, know where you plan to hit the atmosphere in regards to your orbit now, and prior to atmospheric interface <when you make contact with it> make sure the backside of the ship is facing the way your headed <in otherwords your ship needs to point retrograde> and just aim as deep as you think you need to be. best of luck

[SkyRender]

The whole thing isn't landing. But i need to aerobrake to make sure i'll have enough fuel to get back home

Then take it very carefully, and consider multiple passes if you can. FAR is not very forgiving of ships like that.

[magnemoe]

Aerobraking put the same stress on all parts in stock, retract radiators and solar panels and you are likely to be fine, I would go in with the lander first and try to keep it first all the time.

Have an save far out, one fallback is to decouple lander, then brake the mothership some so the lander arrives 15 minutes before the mothership and you can aerobrake them independently.

This also have the benefit that if the aerobrake of the lander turns into a landing its no catastrophe.

[Streetwind]

Then take it very carefully, and consider multiple passes if you can.

This. If it can't make the full aerobrake, then do a small one higher up, just enough to keep you in the SoI. Then come back for a second pass. And maybe a third or fourth too. You have over 100 days till the Kerbin return window anyway, might as well take your time.

Of course, that means you're likely getting at least one Ike encounter, as you famously can't swing a cat around in Duna's SoI without getting an Ike encounter. But see that as a plus: you might be able to use its gravity assist to brake your mothership further (just don't let it shoot you off into a useless orbit), and you can decouple your Ike lander if you are carrying one. If you don't carry one, well, you just got a free opportunity for flyby science! Saves you the need to spend fuel to fly there from Duna later.

Edited July 9, 2014 by Streetwind