Spaceship Avalon ready to begin the Kerbal Grand Tour (Design)

[xtoro]

It's time. I've been playing KSP long enough that I think I'm ready to take on the Grand Tour.

Now, first off before anyone comments about mods etc, I do realize that many have done this all stock. I am not. I also realize that people do this from kerbin orbit and to the entire tour using only the fuel they carry. I'm going a different route. One thing I don't like about some of the grand tours is that they aren't very realistic. Yes I know, it's a game about little green guys that can sit in a 1-man pod forever with no food/water/oxy and so on. But I was never a fan of the tiny pods that the Kerbals are supposed to sit in for years at a time. And, I also don't like those landers that are just a seat on top of a rocket. No, they should be INSIDE a lander can of some sort. Let's get a bit of realism here... Another thing I really wanted was a habitat section for the Kerbals to live and play in which includes a centrifuge habitat (From LackLuster Labs) so that they have some gravity on their trip and don't come back with bones like crackers (do they HAVE bones?) This of course added a lot to the weight of the ship...

So, my design. I will admit that I DID use lander crafts that others have built and modified them to suit my needs. The landers that I built were close to being as efficient as the best ones I found, but I wanted that extra 100 DeltaV.... And as Picasso said "good artists copy but great artists steal"

The entire ship with all tanks fully loaded weighs in at 740 tons with a part count of 657. It only has about 6000 Delta-V but that's ok because the ship is tugging an unmanned Karbonite mining rig. The mining rig will drop down to moons, drill, and process the Karbonite into fuel and monoprop, then dock back up with the mothership to refuel everything.

Mods I've used. This is a long list... But I did have to remove City Lights and Clouds along with a couple others that made things pretty because it was really killing my FPS with the entire ship loaded.

-B9

-Quantum Struts

-Firespitter

-Kerbal Joint Reinforcement

-Karbonite

-Lackluster Labs

-Mechjeb2

-NovaPunch 2

-Protractor

-R&S Capsuledyne

-Radial Experiment Storage Container

-Texture Replacer

-Wayland Corp (various packs)

And now, The Avalon: (CLICK ON ANY OF THE IMAGES TO VIEW HIGH-RES)

Starting from the left, all the way up to the centrifuge is the main mothership and what will get her around the solar system. In the middle you can see the centrifuge habitat which gives them gravity, 4 inflatable habitat/storage modules, and another hull for science/living etc. Then we have a hub which connects 2 landers and some science kits that they will bring down with them. These 2 landers will be used for every landing except for Eve. On the end is the Eve lander

Another view.

Here we see the "front" of the ship, and where the Eve lander is docked. Tons of aerospikes, and below those, is the descent stage which is jettisoned at high altitude.

Here's a closer look at the 2 landers and the living quarters.

As you can see, the top and bottom of the hub have the landers docked with science kits already attached. There are 2 more science kits on the left and right docks ready to be used if needed. You may also be wondering what the box next to the lander hatch is. That's the Radial Experiment Storage Container. I'm bringing these just in case I run into problems storing science in the pods. Science can be stored in these containers. Also handy if I'm trying to leave a planet or moon, because I can drop the science kit for the ascent.

Here's a closer look at the main cockpit. It holds 7 kerbals and will bring them all home in the end.

Here's a rear view, showing the 6 Nerva engines and 2 booster rockets.

Top view. These 2 large booster rockets are not SRB's and they can be throttled and turned off. They will only be used to get out of Kerbin's orbit and make it to Eve, and after that it will be Nerva's only. With the Nerva's and boosters, I get a TWR of 1.49 with the entire ship. After they have been spent and are decoupled, the ship is left with 0.25 TWR. But that's ok because the first stop is Eve. After landing and returning from Eve, I'll no longer have that giant lander stuck to the front of the ship. In between the 2 boosters is the mining rig which will refuel the ship along the way provided I find enough Karbonite. I will be scanning for Karbonite as I go along.

Now for the individual parts so you can get a better view.

The landers. I downloaded SO MANY and tried dozens and dozens so I'm really sorry if you recognise your design here. I honestly don't remember where I got them from. Speak up and I'll give you credit for it!

The "Adam" lander which will only land once, on Eve, and then be discarded. Has a science kit on top, and decent stage on the bottom. I also added more aerospikes. The lander itself is a clever design of asparagus staged aerospikes, with a second set of Rockmax 45's in asparagus staging as well. 7100 Delta-V with descent stage, 7700 Delta-V without it (to ascend from Eve).

Credit for this lander goes to Red Iron Crown! It's his design that I used for this, and made a few modifications to it such as adding the descent stage, some extra aerospikes, and the science kit on top. Big thanks goes to him because I couldn't quite get my designs to be as efficient as his for a proper Eve landing and ascent.

This is the mining rig. Pretty straighforward and can refuel itself while on the surface with it's built-in fuel converters. It also has an extra tank on top which can be left attached to the mothership if it needs to mine on a moon with higher gravity. This will allow it to lift off easier, but will result in more trips.

The mothership. Should get the crew around with no problems. Once the load starts to get lighter, I can jettison the big grey tanks that are on top of the ring to raise my TWR. In case you're wondering, the ring is from Wayland Corp and is great to use. It also holds quite a bit of fuel.

The main command module/emergency return ship. The pod holds 7 kerbals and has 4500 Delta-V with the radial Nerva engines, so it can easily get the Kerbals back home. Chutes are on the pod, along with science storage boxes in case I run out of room or have a problem storing science into the pod.

The living quarters. Centrifuge is where they would spend most of their time living and sleep. They then have the 4 inflatable areas, and the long hull. Weighs 14 tons.

This is dubbed the "Tylo Lander". If it can land on Tylo and return, it can land anywhere! It's a 2-stage lander, which I why I'm bringing 2 of them. On Tylo, for SURE, the lower stage will be jettisoned. I haven't completely mapped out the order of my journey other than making Eve my first stop. So at some point, I'll be losing the lower part of this ship. But since the Eve lander will be long gone, I can then dock the second lander at the front so I won't have any balancing issues.

Here is the hub which will attach all the landers and science kits to the living quarters. Each science kit has everything needed to collect from the planets and moons. I'm also using quantum struts here to stabilize the landers when docked.

That's about it. Still working out my plan on what order to visit everything. But one way or another, I'll have planted a flag on everything but the sun and Jool, and collected enough science to make my computer explode when I recover my craft

Wish me luck!

XT

Edited October 23, 2014 by xtoro

[xtoro]

Reserved for future updates.

[xtoro]

Also reserved for future updates

[xtoro]

This will be a long mission, so I'm gonna save another post....

[Fox62]

This thing looks fraking awesome! I think you might want to add KAS though, it would definitely help prevent the ship from flexing and wobbling in flight. You would have to take longer to disconnect the struts when decoupling or undocking things.

[xtoro]

This thing looks fraking awesome! I think you might want to add KAS though, it would definitely help prevent the ship from flexing and wobbling in flight. You would have to take longer to disconnect the struts when decoupling or undocking things.

Yep, you were right! I didn't think it would be so bad because all the Eve lander's fuel tanks are empty until I get to Eve orbit and refuel using Karbonite mined from Gilly... But ya, not really a wobble but it bends quite a bit and throws the whole ship off, and when I try to correct it, it starts a death wobble. Not a huge fan of KAS. I used to use it but it was very glitchy and sometimes made things explode, so I don't use it anymore.

So, I restarted the departure to Eve and sent up a tug with a girder attachment and some quantum struts to keep it steady. I just placed it between the Eve lander and the docking hub.

It has docking ports on both ends so I can ditch it when I get to Eve. Rock solid now! I've only taken it to 2/3's throttle but I'm now approaching Eve and getting ready for some aerobraking to establish orbit

It's quite time consuming because my part count is now 657, so my FPS is suffering and I'm running between 1/2 and 1/3 normal speed

Anyways, onwards to Eve!

o7

XT

[Fox62]

Huh. I really think that KAS is far better due to the fact that it's simpler to use.

[xtoro]

Hmm. Maybe I'll give it a try again after this mission and see if I'm still getting glitches with the newest version. I do like being able to attach things to my ships via EVA.

[Fox62]

That, and you would be able to get away with disposable mining and refinery units and a re-usable tanker.

[Potterus]

Where did you get the rotating part for the centrifuge?

[xtoro]

Where did you get the rotating part for the centrifuge?

It's from Lackluster Labs

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/24906-WIP-LLL-Lack-Luster-Labs-LLL-12-2-10MAY2014-SXT-17a-30AUG2014-KSC-v3

It doesn't actually do anything, but for realism, it provides gravity for the crew. Uses 3/second electricity, mass of 6t and can supposedly hold 6 kerbals, but I've never found a crew hatch. Works for me though because my ship's crew is 7, so one is always "on duty" and the other 6 can enjoy some gravity.

[Potterus]

It's from Lackluster Labs

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/24906-WIP-LLL-Lack-Luster-Labs-LLL-12-2-10MAY2014-SXT-17a-30AUG2014-KSC-v3

It doesn't actually do anything, but for realism, it provides gravity for the crew. Uses 3/second electricity, mass of 6t and can supposedly hold 6 kerbals, but I've never found a crew hatch. Works for me though because my ship's crew is 7, so one is always "on duty" and the other 6 can enjoy some gravity.

Thanks for the link to the mod

[Stratzenblitz75]

Good luck with your Grand Tour! Embarking on a Grand Tour is perhaps one of the most challenging and most rewarding things you can do in KSP. And you get to see all of the planets in ways you probably haven't before!

I have a few resources that helped me immensely during my grand tours, one of which is this flow chart I made to describe my flight plan (just ignore the "ion lander" and "GPL" tags, the arrows represent transfers and the Delta V stats should be *accurate with any craft).

Also this launch window planner resource is incredibly useful. Seriously, it takes SOO much guess work out of interplanetary transfers since it tells you how much Delta V you need, what time to depart, and at what ejection angle. (No gravity assist planner though:()

Hope you find these resources somewhat useful and once again, good luck!

*Figures may not be entirely accurate, use at your own discretion

[sdj64]

Nice looking ship! For the Centrifuge and many LLL parts that can hold crew, there is no hatch, you are supposed to use a crew transfer mod to move the crew to and from the LLL airlocks to get them out of your ship. You can also move them to any pod that does have a hatch then EVA them.

[Alshain]

Nice ship. I may have to blatantly steal the name.

[xtoro]

Good luck with your Grand Tour! Embarking on a Grand Tour is perhaps one of the most challenging and most rewarding things you can do in KSP. And you get to see all of the planets in ways you probably haven't before!

I have a few resources that helped me immensely during my grand tours, one of which is this flow chart I made to describe my flight plan (just ignore the "ion lander" and "GPL" tags, the arrows represent transfers and the Delta V stats should be *accurate with any craft).

Also this launch window planner resource is incredibly useful. Seriously, it takes SOO much guess work out of interplanetary transfers since it tells you how much Delta V you need, what time to depart, and at what ejection angle. (No gravity assist planner though:()

Hope you find these resources somewhat useful and once again, good luck!

*Figures may not be entirely accurate, use at your own discretion

Cool thanks for the links! I usually just use http://ksp.olex.biz/ to calculate phase angles which is really all I need at this point, but the link you sent has much more info! The flowchart is cool too, but, I have some storyline which will determine the order of planets and change things up to make it more interesting. Spoiler: The next planet on the trip is very green.....

Nice looking ship! For the Centrifuge and many LLL parts that can hold crew, there is no hatch, you are supposed to use a crew transfer mod to move the crew to and from the LLL airlocks to get them out of your ship. You can also move them to any pod that does have a hatch then EVA them.

Ya I figured that, but it's ok, I don't actually move the crew around except for to/from the landers, and I use CrewXfer. And a note here on the realism aspect, is that I allowed myself to use CrewXfer because I designed the ship to have living spaces attached to eachother, including the hub to get in and out of the landers without having to EVA.

Nice ship. I may have to blatantly steal the name.

Haha, help yourself man, I didn't copyright it or anything

[Stratzenblitz75]

Cool thanks for the links! I usually just use http://ksp.olex.biz/ to calculate phase angles which is really all I need at this point, but the link you sent has much more info! The flowchart is cool too, but, I have some storyline which will determine the order of planets and change things up to make it more interesting. Spoiler: The next planet on the trip is very green.....

Yeah, that calculator is pretty handy for calculating phase angles and should serve you well for most of your transfers. Except for Moho. That calculator does not factor in Moho's high inclination or eccentricity so it can give you a poor launch window. And believe me, you do NOT want a poor launch window for Moho. A poor launch window from Eve or Kerbin to Moho can easily cost you 5-6 km/s in Delta V for a complete transfer. Its even worse if you transfer from further out. This is where the launch window planner excels. It factors in Moho's inclination and eccentricity and as a result, it can give you a much more efficient transfer,

Also, I'd advise you visit Moho while you're still at Eve where a typical transfer is ~4 Km/s Delta V. If you transfer from further out such as Duna, the requirements are even more and your ship (which you say has about 6 Km/s of Delta V) might not be able to complete the transfer. Just to give you an idea:

Best case scenario estimates:

Duna->Moho: 5.8 Km/s

Dres->Moho: 6.6 Km/s

Laythe->Moho: ~6 Km/s

Eeloo->Moho: 7.3 Km/s

Keep in mind that these values are for extremely rare (once every 10 years) departure windows that you execute perfectly. Factoring in human error and a more timely launch window adds 0.5-2 Km/s of Delta V to each of these values.

Just something to keep in mind...