[Career] Satellite for everything?

[627]

Hi,

with the new contracts there's always one that says "transmit science from [planet X]"

Easiest solution is to keep a ship in every visited place but why not build a little probe that can orbit all the bodies and transmit science data?

So I build this:

Strapped onto this:

My first idea was to bring the main ship to the planets and launch the probes. But than I took two to the muns and hey that ion engine has lots of fuel left. (First time I ever used it)

So I thought lets get those probes everywhere, start with the big glowing thing in the middle...

yeah... what to say... First I haven't enough power for the ion engine but that seems to be a minor problem. Fuel on the other hand... I managed to get periapsis below 1 million km, but shortly after that I ran out of fuel.

So befor I just strap two satellites from the carrier together (for double fuel) and try it again, I wanted to ask.

Is there a way to get a satellite on it's own to every celestial body? (From LKO, of course)

Target orbit is 500km for all planets/moons and below 1million for the sun.

Delta V looked immense for the sun alone. I read about bi elliptic transfers so launching to sun from jool would be easier but you still have to brake to circularize orbit.

[Strainborm]

I guess there's really only 2 ways you can do that. 1. lots n lots of fuel. 2. incorporate some clever gravity assists from planet fly-by's to get to other planets.

2nd way is pretty tough, although very possible. I remember Scott Manley's video where he took the stock Kerbal X to almost every planet in one go, but it took a reeeeeaaally long game time, so its not ideal if you have other missions going on at the same time.

1st way is something i would do, pretty lazy, but hey, it works

[Kasuha]

So I thought lets get those probes everywhere, start with the big glowing thing in the middle...

Surprisingly that big glowing thing in the middle is the hardest one to get to.

Personally I'd suggest:

- go as light as possible except ion engine and xenon:

-- replace all massy parts with massless where possible (solar panels, battery)

-- remove any unneeded payload (docking port)

-- use lightest available probe core (OKTO2 if you have it already)

Then it should be no significant problem to get the probe to each planet and moon. If you make it light enough it should not be a problem to get it even on low periapsis Sun orbit right from LKO. If it is a problem, I suggest using gravity assist off Jool.

[impyre]

You might consider a three stage probe. They will be larger overall, but more capable. Basically, build the first probe stage to establish encounter, the second stage to establish orbit, and the third stage with ion propulsion for simple orbit adjustments when desired. You could probably merge the second and third stages, but who wants to break escape velocity with an ion engine?

[KerbMav]

but who wants to break escape velocity with an ion engine?

Noone, as I learned only a few hours ago.

It is possible to get into orbit around a planet by slinging around its moon (if it has one) and then lower the orbit over time - but getting into a moon's orbit seemed impossible to do with my setup yesterday.

[627]

who wants to break escape velocity with an ion engine?

Took me only half an hour yesterday

[SRV Ron]

An excellent ship in very late career. For early career, you need something cheap and small once you unlock Ox Stat panels and the Stayputnik.

SSTO orbiter;

Booster to go to Mun, Minmus, and beyond.

[NecroBones]

I'm doing something similar, but using delivery vehicles with both satellite and lander probes. For instance, I just got a batch out to Moho (and nearly ruined it with insufficient delta-V, but managed to do some very careful maneuvers to save the mission). I've been using 48-7S engines though, not ions, to keep the burns short. My patience only goes so far when I'm sending out a ton of these things.