The not-entirely-without-bugs Eve rocks challenge entry!

[Xannari Ferrows]

So I decided to do a bit of experimenting with a new Eve challenger design. Let me tell you, this thing could be a Kerbol challenger if you really wanted.

And here's an overhead view of the challenger vessel itself so you can see the size in relation to the circle:

It's nothing fancy of course. Really it's just a pile of fuel and some engines, but it get's the job done.

Using a specially designed stage setup, this thing gets INSANE delta-V! More than anything I've ever built before! Honestly we could take this thing anywhere we please, but today we're just going to eve.

Oh, deuce what am I doing? Please don't let me bore you with all the details.

To not waste anymore time, here's the report. Enjoy!

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Once again, please tell me if it was okay to start from orbit. I just wanted to save you the trouble of the lifting and docking, because that went on for hours because some idiot behind the controls managed to forget to put RCS on the rover, thus making me have to use the entire challenger.

EDIT: New information! I've finished documenting the launch sequences, and here they are:

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Now for the data requirements:

Game version: .25.0

Mods used: None (Without lifting) KW rocketry (With lifting)

Mods used(2): Kerbal Engineer.

Landing site: Judged from how Eve's terrain rolls based on position of the water.

Part count/Weight: 417 parts and 595 tons. (Without lifting)

Part count/Weight(2): 599 parts and 5378 tons. (With lifting)

Total cost: 2,959,424 dollars... and 98 cents.

Greatest achievement: Just completing the mission is achievement enough for me.

Things that didn't go as planned: Though the science rover works, the driver seems to freeze up and stop moving if in there for a few minutes.

Things to change: Use the longer cargo bay to hold more science and have a more stable environment for a crew member. I only the small one this time because it was compact and lightweight.

Edited January 3, 2015 by Xannari Ferrows
Finished launch documentation.

[Red Iron Crown]

This image makes me very suspicious of your LV-N's not being stock:

For the pictured 5,302kg craft to deliver 6,040m/s with an 800s Isp engine, it would have to have a dry mass of only 2,458kg. Visible on your vessel is a 2,250kg LV-N, a 250kg fuel tank, a 600kg pod, a 200kg docking port, and at least three 75kg RCS tanks. What gives?

[DMSP]

This image makes me very suspicious of your LV-N's not being stock:

http://i.imgur.com/r5VGW2p.png

For the pictured 5,302kg craft to deliver 6,040m/s with an 800s Isp engine, it would have to have a dry mass of only 2,458kg. Visible on your vessel is a 2,250kg LV-N, a 250kg fuel tank, a 600kg pod, a 200kg docking port, and at least three 75kg RCS tanks. What gives?

And those boxes on the sides are struts, right. If not then they might be the weight.

[Red Iron Crown]

And those boxes on the sides are struts, right. If not then they might be the weight.

I believe those are the massless remnants of radial decouplers.

[Laie]

Now that it has been pointed out, I wonder why I didn't see it before. The vessel in the first pic weighs 600t and is supposed to get 2400m/s out of two orange tanks (~5% of it's mass). In a later picture, there's a scheduled 24min of burn time for six nervas drawing on an orange tank (should be less than 12 min). Either way, the engines seem to have an ISP of ~2200.

However, this is not necessary: even with stock nukes, the six tanks would give him ~3000m/s, more than enough to get to Eve.

I've rebuilt the vessel as it appears in Eve orbit: if the RCS tanks are empty, the vessel would have more than 2km/s on a stock nuke; and if they're full (and accordingly, the vessel carries less rocket fuel), the combined nuke + RCS would still provide something on the order of 1700m/s. Again, fully enough to get the job done.

I believe that there's nothing wrong with his engines. I've heard of KER giving impossibly high values at times; one Eve Rocks participant failed to return because he became wasteful with all the excess dV he thought he had but didn't.

Edited February 23, 2015 by Laie

[Randazzo]

He "runs an equation through the physics engine" to get improved LV-N performance.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/110643-Xannari-s-Jool-5-Kethane-low-mass-attempt!

Edited February 23, 2015 by Randazzo

[Xannari Ferrows]

He "runs an equation through the physics engine" to get improved LV-N performance.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/110643-Xannari-s-Jool-5-Kethane-low-mass-attempt!

Actually this was before I started caring about modifying the game. Everything used here was all natural.

- - - Updated - - -

I've rebuilt the vessel as it appears in Eve orbit: if the RCS tanks are empty,

They aren't empty. Not completely, at least. If I remember correctly, somewhere around .2 and .15 of their full capacity.

I believe those are the massless remnants of radial decouplers.

Those should be RCS blocks. Though it does look like a few strut end points.

For the pictured 5,302kg craft to deliver 6,040m/s with an 800s Isp engine, it would have to have a dry mass of only 2,458kg. Visible on your vessel is a 2,250kg LV-N, a 250kg fuel tank, a 600kg pod, a 200kg docking port, and at least three 75kg RCS tanks. What gives?

This is why I didn't use Kerbal Engineer Redux for the Eve ascent or return trip. But, just to be safe, I'll run through my calculators again.

3 minutes later: Well, I use approximations, but the Delta-V is still as it was calculated during the challenge [by hand]

Edited February 27, 2015 by Xannari Ferrows