[Career]: Mun exploration is... huh.... expensive.

[KSK]

I'll find some pictures later but a single FL-T800 tank (or equivalent amount of fuel in smaller tanks) will get the following parts from LKO to the Munar surface and back down to Kerbin.

Mk1 capsule

LV-909 engine (one is all you need)

3 landing legs

2 goo canisters

1 Science Jr

1 decoupler (optional)

1 parachute

It'll only do a single landing and needs some reasonable piloting but it's a fairly low cost ship for the Explore the Mun mission. Depending on how confident you are, you can even use some of that FL-T800 worth of fuel for the last part of the ascent to LKO. The Science Jr can be ditched to save weight and give yourself a bit more spare fuel. Decoupler is for separating the capsule at the end which is purely a personal thing - I prefer Kerbin return vehicles to have heatshields. Also I'm not entirely sure a single chute would be enough to land the whole thing - you might need two radial chutes.

How you get it all to orbit is entirely up to you but it doesn't need that much of a rocket. BACC SRBs are probably your friend for keeping things cheap.

[Godot]

My robotic probe (orbiter + lander) that fulfilled the "Explore Mun"-Contract cost me slightly less than 50k

As Scientific payload the lander featured a Goo-Container + Science jr + Thermometer, the Orbiter 2 Goo-Containers and a Science jr.

[O-Doc]

It sounds like you're doing it wrong. I put up a space station w/ lab around Minus, then moved it to Mun for about 250K. It's got more than a jumbo64 of fuel for the lander. I wasted an additional 100K taking up landers I didn't use. Doh! I think I'm inspired enough to make a series of low tech, low cost lifters for the general KSP population.

Making low cost lifters was really what 0.24 brought to the game for me.

[Godot]

so it doesnt matter if i try to save some debris? it will dissappear anyway? i saw that but i was not sure if it's really so. so you really don't care about the decoupled stuff.

You can use the mod DebRefund for it ... it recovers stuff when it reaches the 2.5 km limit ... that is, if you put enough parachutes on it (reason why my robotic probe had so many chutes on the lifter stage ... recovered 17k of the 47k).

But, i for my part, don´t slavishly try to recover everything ... my missions are always in Plus nevertheless (due to careful selection of contracts and putting several contracts together for a mission)

[SRV Ron]

The Mun, Minmus, Duna, etc... contracts for landers have only required the following;

1. Orbit the body

2. Transmit science data while in orbit

3. Land on the body

4. Transmit science data from the body.

Therefore this budget cost one way probe is designed for those missions minus the Goo canisters. It contains a Too Hot Thermometer for the science requirement.

Cost; $16,078 Kerbal Bucks with goo canisters. (removed with a SAS added for control during flight.)

In orbit to head to Minmus or Mun.

An addition of two more SRBS, larger fuel can on the transfer stage, and optional parachutes on the lander will make this design interplanetary.

Edited July 24, 2014 by SRV Ron

[KerikBalm]

I don't remember how much my mun exploration mission cost, needless to say, it went beyond the mission requirements, I got the following to low munar orbit:

A station consiting of:

1 mk1 command pod

1 science lab

1 orange tank

2x FL-T400 tanks

2x LV-N engines.

1 docking port

Batteries, solar panels, com port

It was send with a lander consisting of:

2x FL-T400 tanks

1x FL-T100 tank

2x science JRs

2x goo cans

1x LV-N

batteries, communitron, static solar panels, landing legs, docking port, thermometer

The lander's tanks are not filled up most of the time, only for reaching the poles ( I should have just entered into a polar orbit directly).

I've got almost all the mun biomes covered, and I still have 3/4 of the orange tank, I think I'll pack up and head to minmus, making it one rocket for all biomes on minmus and the mun.

I did the math, and the LV-N is the most fuel efficient way to get around if you're carrying a manned pod and 2x materials bays and 2x goo cannisters - which increase your dry weight to the point that the LV-N is better than the 48-7s - if you are going to repeatedly refuel, use the LV-N, if you're only going to make one landing, use the 48-7s, don't include an orbiting fuel depot(well, at least not a big one, you can do orbital rendevous, but its not so attractive on the mun when you only need a couple hundred m/s to dip your PE into kerbins atmosphere) and science lab, and have a much smaller launch.

I also sent a small probe that I used to get the seismic and grav scans, sine i didn't have them unlocked for the first launch - I didn't have nukes unlocked either, but I had an experimental contract to test them.

I also covered one of the biomes (all science except mat and goo) with a Rapier SSTO, as I had a contract to test the rapier on the mun.

It only cost me the fuel to get there and back... but the dV budget was tight.

Edited July 24, 2014 by KerikBalm

[95tiger59]

A better way to do science contracts is use Rovers/Satellites and Bases/Stations they can easily complete the contract once their up there you don't have to pay again and science counts for the contract even if it has a value of 0

[Geschosskopf]

Hello.

I've managed to get to Mun exploration contract. By using moslty reusable designs up to this point I've managed to save up some 250k of funds.

Now I want to go to the Mun. Mun contract offers 100k of funds as reward, but my Mun rocket designs easily beat 100k cost threshold thus making whole thing unprofittable.

You're looking at this the wrong way. You make your money doing part test contracts, then you spend that money on Mun missions to gather science. That's the general idea. Now, if you've also got some Mun-related contracts you can do along the way, to help cover the costs of the Mun trip, then you don't pay as much money to get your science done, which is good. IOW, don't expect to turn a profit on everything you do, but make enough profit on your side business of testing parts and rescuing Kerbals to pay for the losers and still keep you comfortably in the black.

I mean, suppose you're using Remote Tech, which requires you to set up a complex satellite network. The satellites have to stay up there so you'll never recover them, and usually there aren't many contracts you can do while you're putting them up. So the network represents a pretty substantial sunk cost you'll never get back, but which you have to spend to use probes. Obviously you thus have to get that money back doing lots of part tests. So look at your science missions the same way.

[Frank327]

You're looking at this the wrong way. You make your money doing part test contracts, then you spend that money on Mun missions to gather science. That's the general idea. Now, if you've also got some Mun-related contracts you can do along the way, to help cover the costs of the Mun trip, then you don't pay as much money to get your science done, which is good. IOW, don't expect to turn a profit on everything you do, but make enough profit on your side business of testing parts and rescuing Kerbals to pay for the losers and still keep you comfortably in the black.

I mean, suppose you're using Remote Tech, which requires you to set up a complex satellite network. The satellites have to stay up there so you'll never recover them, and usually there aren't many contracts you can do while you're putting them up. So the network represents a pretty substantial sunk cost you'll never get back, but which you have to spend to use probes. Obviously you thus have to get that money back doing lots of part tests. So look at your science missions the same way.

This depends on what you consider "doing science". If you only consider it a science mission if you've got 4 science jrs and 4 mystery goo on board then you probably won't make a lot of money while doing it. But if you just take a little bit of science equipment (and remember there's lots of science in just doing surface sample, EVA reports, crew reports) then you can easily make lots of money doing munar/interplanetary contracts. Hell, you can do a duna mission without fuel lines for 53k if you keep your lander lightweight.

[Geschosskopf]

This depends on what you consider "doing science". If you only consider it a science mission if you've got 4 science jrs and 4 mystery goo on board then you probably won't make a lot of money while doing it. But if you just take a little bit of science equipment (and remember there's lots of science in just doing surface sample, EVA reports, crew reports) then you can easily make lots of money doing munar/interplanetary contracts. Hell, you can do a duna mission without fuel lines for 53k if you keep your lander lightweight.

But OTOH, if you don't take a full load of science parts, then you leave points on the table. Then you face a choice. Do you make a 2nd trip to the same place with the other experiments, or do you ignore this and move on to greener pastures further afield? If you make a 2nd trip, you have to buy that rocket which ups the overall cost of going there at all. Plus you have to take time out of your life to do that instead of doing something else. OTOH, if you ignore these points, then when you go further afield you're more limited in your rocket design, which again translates into not being able to get as much science there in 1 trip as you could have, which just gives you the same choice again.

But the thing is, money is easy to get. Without even trying hard I easily get 1-2 million in the bank by the time I think I'm ready to pillage Mun's science properly. And this is making no effort at all to recover parts, and putting up a Remote Tech network and a space station as well out of my own pocket. Just do a couple rescues and a dozen or so of the easier test contracts, plus a Munar flyby. With that sort of bankroll, a mere 100-150K on a Mun rocket isn't a concern.

[Frank327]

But OTOH, if you don't take a full load of science parts, then you leave points on the table. Then you face a choice. Do you make a 2nd trip to the same place with the other experiments, or do you ignore this and move on to greener pastures further afield? If you make a 2nd trip, you have to buy that rocket which ups the overall cost of going there at all. Plus you have to take time out of your life to do that instead of doing something else. OTOH, if you ignore these points, then when you go further afield you're more limited in your rocket design, which again translates into not being able to get as much science there in 1 trip as you could have, which just gives you the same choice again.

But the thing is, money is easy to get. Without even trying hard I easily get 1-2 million in the bank by the time I think I'm ready to pillage Mun's science properly. And this is making no effort at all to recover parts, and putting up a Remote Tech network and a space station as well out of my own pocket. Just do a couple rescues and a dozen or so of the easier test contracts, plus a Munar flyby. With that sort of bankroll, a mere 100-150K on a Mun rocket isn't a concern.

I usually try to take moderate science equipment. The 53k duna lander did have 2 science jrs. and 2 goo containers. And other science equipment further up the tech tree is often very lightweight so you can add it without changing the craft. And I'm not too bothered with "leaving points on the table". You could max the tech tree with only missions to mun and minmus but that would be pretty boring. I just like visiting new planets/moons and that's gonna give enough science anyways.

[SRV Ron]

The updated Mun, Minmus Lander. I moved the SAS down to the second stage as the Stayputnik can easily handle turning the transfer stage.

The same design, with six SRBs, two FL-T800 fuel cans in the second stage, FL-T400 on the third stage, for exploring Duna, Ike, and Eve.

The SRBs lift both designs to 12,000 meters. They are turned down to 75% power

The Duna explorer is on its way with plenty of delta V for the mission. The third stage fuel can is over 1/2 full. The lander has a full fuel can as well as parachutes for Duna or Eve landing.

Edited July 25, 2014 by SRV Ron

[MarvinKitFox]

but my Mun rocket designs easily beat 100k cost .

You can get to the Mun with a 15k rocket.

Manned even, for 25k.

.

.

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Oh what? you want to RETURN your kerbal too? And safely????

.

.

My approach is to use a 395k rocket.

With flyback launch booster = 135k back.

With single stage Kerbin otbit-to-mun-and-back-and-landing intact = 205 back

= 340k recovered, 55k spent.

For that, on my last trip, I got rewarded for 11 different contracts.

[Superfluous J]

My viewers are making me ships that cost between 30-80k and I'm having no trouble landing them on mun and getting home.

Well, I'm having trouble but not with the rockets

[KingPhantom]

so i stuck on 3.7million funds... i an live with that... i launched some satellites for the "get sience from"-contracts... for each body in the kerbin system is that 50k funds... but i hope to get it back with the contracts. they give up to 80k

Edited July 25, 2014 by KingPhantom

[0x7be]

Ok, I've taken into account some advices and now I have rocket that costs 50k of funds that ought to complete 250k worth of contracts.

That is something I can live with

Thank you for assistance.

Edited July 25, 2014 by 0x7be

[Kosmo-not]

My Mun ship costs ~19k

[UmbralRaptor]

Far from an ideal design, but it works for bootstraping a Mün mission from a mere 20 !!SCIENCE!!

From the earlier posters, it looks like just under √22K is neither here nor there. Larger tanks would reduce costs some, and staging would allow for carrying instrumentation beyond a single Kerbal and/or doing crater hopping. Launching to Minmus would allow for perhaps as much as 1 tonne of goo/material bays, or hitting a few different landing sites.

[smart013]

Kudos for all the efforts to fly as cheap as possible. This is definetely a challengin way to play. What i experienced after adding deadly reentry to my mods is the joy of designing highly versatile, 100% recoverable launch system that made it up, and back to ksp with minimal loss worth and without burning up. My motto right now is "fly with style and expensive, and get the money back after the fun"

Learned a lot about timing, heat dissipation, reentry profiles and more this way. And made millions on the way

[DBT85]

My rocket which went to Minmus and got 2000 science from Crew Reports, EVA reports and soil samples. Would have been more but I missed a landing spot!

[Russoft]

My first Mun rocket was about 50-60k. I used 7 SRBs as the first stage, a recoverable liquid fuel second stage (skipper) and partially recoverable lander. In fact, I regularly discard the first stage and keep the second stage and manage to accrue quite a bit of money. The trick is to complete multiple contracts with each launch.

[Beachernaut]

I'm working on a play through without transmitting anything, so I've made it a bit harder on myself. My first "gather science around mun/minmus" contracts were combined with my "explore mun/minmus" contracts. I launched a small "station" (as small as I could make it with a lab) to Mun with a small lander docked to it. Once in orbit I used the lander to land at biomes and gather science, then return to the station and store the science in the lab, and use the lab to clean the science jr and goo containers. Once I hit most of the biomes on Mun, I did a holman transfer to Minmus and did the same there.

Since I've completed those, I get the "gather science around mun/minmus" and "plant a flag on Mun" contracts pretty regularly. Since I'm not transmitting anything, the key to my game is SSTO spaceplanes to pack my science probes and landers to orbit. Also, minimum is the word here. For the gather science contracts, the only science part that goes up is the thermometer. The drawback here is you have to be in close proximity to Mun/Minmus to use it (below 20km IIRC). As light and cheap as I could make it. Probe core, small battery, small fuel tank, thermometer, small engine, parachutes, and some solar panels. Right now I have a prety good cargo SSTO that will pack 6 science probes, or a manned lander into orbit for $5k-$8k in fuel. Since I can take 6 probes at a time, each contract for Mun/Minmus science costs me very little. SSTO fuel dived by 6 plus probe cost - probe recovery.

Edited July 28, 2014 by Beachernaut

[bdito]

My mun/minimus rocket costs ~ $110k. Most of the cost is is the lander which is ~$70k due to all the science equipment (3 of everything). If I return close to the KSA I typically get around $65k back, so it costs around $45k to get there and back. I could make it better but I don't have a whole lot of the tech tree open.

My first stage has something like 30 Rockomax BACC SFB's.

Once you've done a bunch of the missions you'll have a few million bucks so doing stuff on the cheap isn't as much of a concern. Just pick all the high paying contracts.

[NovoRei]

Mun rocket: 19k

The S2 stage made to the moon and became debris.

[Seret]

By using moslty reusable designs up to this point I've managed to save up some 250k of funds.

Now I want to go to the Mun. Mun contract offers 100k of funds as reward, but my Mun rocket designs easily beat 100k cost threshold thus making whole thing unprofittable.

If you're able to build a up a cash surplus then taking the odd unprofitable mission for fun shouldn't be a big problem. A successful Mun mission should give you a ton of science and rep, which is worth trading some money for IMO.