And you thought re-entry was actually simple and easy

[Man in the Funny Hat]

[Seshins]

Fascinating. I always knew it was a feat but having it broken down like that was very interesting. Because of KSP i actually understood most of it pretty well too.

Still blows my mind when i think of those guys flying for the first time to another body. Would've felt surreal in a way i imagine.

[Vanamonde]

The video, while interesting, is not about KSP itself, and therefore the thread has been moved to off-topic lounge. Thanks for posting it, though.

[astropapi1]

The first nail-biting atmospheric entry moment I had in KSP was actually at Duna. I'm in the middle of my first manned Duna mission (inspired by Mars Semi-Direct), so my Duna Ascent Vehicle and the Habitat went to Duna on a weird transfer. I don't actually know what it's called... Just think of a Hohmann transfer, but I kept burning for a little longer, so I would arrive about 1/4 of a year before.

I had previous experience with Deadly Reentry and Duna atmospheric entries, but I didn't take into account that with this new (untested) transfer so the rockets had way less Dv than they should, I would arrive at a much higher speed, so I realized that I would have to:

1) Shave off ~3200m/s using nothing but Duna's atmosphere and the fumes from my transfer stages.

2) Survive the heat and the high Gs.

3) Manage to land two ships at the same spot, despite having to deal with 1 & 2.

After multiple instances of crashing into mountains at several thousand m/s and my crew dying of high G loads, I finally managed to do it.

After a few minutes of walking around, I got a huge feeling of nothing-to-do-ness. Duna is a creepy place and I just want to open up a transfer window and bring the guys home.

Edited October 1, 2014 by astropapi1