Interplanetary question

[SmashingKirby148]

I built this abomination that takes up the whole VAB, but it only has 7000 delta v. Also, there is a second delta v around 9000. I'm confused. How do you go to Eve?

[Taki117]

step one: Plan it. http://alexmoon.github.io/ksp/

There are 2 dV values because one is your dV in atmosphere (Assuming you stayed in atmo the whole time) the second is your vacuum dV, or what it would be in space. This value is pretty close to what your ISP is at an altitude of >20Km on kerbin. Also, I hope you didn't plan on coming back from eve with that.

[bdito]

You have to fix your staging first. Otherwise the deltaV calcualtion won't calculate properly.

The 7678 number is how much deltaV you have if you were in the atmosphere the entire time and the 9000 is how much you'd have if you were in a vacuum the entire time.

Eve is almost always a one-way trip. To return you need something like 12,000 deltaV just to get from Eve's surface into orbit. If you're doing a one-way trip that ship is overkill.

Edited January 16, 2015 by bdito

[SmashingKirby148]

step one: Plan it. http://alexmoon.github.io/ksp/

There are 2 dV values because one is your dV in atmosphere (Assuming you stayed in atmo the whole time) the second is your vacuum dV, or what it would be in space. This value is pretty close to what your ISP is at an altitude of >20Km on kerbin. Also, I hope you didn't plan on coming back from eve with that.

Oh, ok. Well, I wanted to come back.

[Starhawk]

It's definitely doable. Unbelievably hard, but doable.

If you're stuck or want to see how others have done it, check out this thread.

As bdito said, you need to set the staging up correctly in order for the delta-v shown to be for the final, correctly staged, rocket.

If you are having difficulty with asparagus staging, there are some tutorials around that cover it, and I believe there are youtube videos showing how it's done as well. I understand there is also a mod to help with it. I'm not sure of the name, but if you search around these forums, I'm sure you'll find it.

Hope this helps.

Good luck and happy landings!

[SmashingKirby148]

It's definitely doable. Unbelievably hard, but doable.

If you're stuck or want to see how others have done it, check out this thread.

As bdito said, you need to set the staging up correctly in order for the delta-v shown to be for the final, correctly staged, rocket.

If you are having difficulty with asparagus staging, there are some tutorials around that cover it, and I believe there are youtube videos showing how it's done as well. I understand there is also a mod to help with it. I'm not sure of the name, but if you search around these forums, I'm sure you'll find it.

Hope this helps.

Good luck and happy landings!

Ok, thank you. I'm pretty sure the staging is ok...

[Starhawk]

Ok, thank you. I'm pretty sure the staging is ok...

Sorry. I didn't mean to imply it was wrong.

Given the correct staging, MechJeb should give a reasonably valid number for your delta-v.

Once again, it's quite a challenge to undertake. Great views, though. If you like purple.

Good luck!

[SmashingKirby148]

Sorry. I didn't mean to imply it was wrong.

Given the correct staging, MechJeb should give a reasonably valid number for your delta-v.

Once again, it's quite a challenge to undertake. Great views, though. If you like purple.

Good luck!

I might try some B9 Areospace stuff, but I don't have enough science, so I'm gonna rescue Orfen from the Mun.

[Fearless Son]

Man, that thing is a monster!

A question though: are you planning on just getting to Eve, or getting to Eve and coming back to Kerbin? Because those have some very different mission requirements.

This is probably pretty overkill for just getting to Eve. A small, fuel-efficient, interplanetary vessel would do it pretty easily and with a much smaller launch vehicle than you have here. Any lander on that would be able to touch down easily with a small number of parachutes. If you just want to get a probe to explore and transmit from the surface, this is ideal.

However, getting to Eve and back again is much more technically demanding. You practically have to land a whole different launch vehicle on Eve to get back to orbit, and even that is much more difficult to do than to get off of Kerbin in the first place. You are probably better off launching components of it separately and assembling them in low Kerbin orbit before beginning the journey to Eve.

In either case though, the key thing to remember about interplanetary transfer is the same as orbital rendezvous: timing, timing, timing. If you can advance the clock until the planet is in a good window, you can make the trip both short and more fuel-efficient, reducing the need for carrying a bunch of excessive mass with you.

[SmashingKirby148]

Man, that thing is a monster!

A question though: are you planning on just getting to Eve, or getting to Eve and coming back to Kerbin? Because those have some very different mission requirements.

This is probably pretty overkill for just getting to Eve. A small, fuel-efficient, interplanetary vessel would do it pretty easily and with a much smaller launch vehicle than you have here. Any lander on that would be able to touch down easily with a small number of parachutes. If you just want to get a probe to explore and transmit from the surface, this is ideal.

However, getting to Eve and back again is much more technically demanding. You practically have to land a whole different launch vehicle on Eve to get back to orbit, and even that is much more difficult to do than to get off of Kerbin in the first place. You are probably better off launching components of it separately and assembling them in low Kerbin orbit before beginning the journey to Eve.

In either case though, the key thing to remember about interplanetary transfer is the same as orbital rendezvous: timing, timing, timing. If you can advance the clock until the planet is in a good window, you can make the trip both short and more fuel-efficient, reducing the need for carrying a bunch of excessive mass with you.

Ok, good idea.

[Hannu]

Eve is almost always a one-way trip. To return you need something like 12,000 deltaV just to get from Eve's surface into orbit. If you're doing a one-way trip that ship is overkill.

You need 12 km/s if you land on low areas, but 9 km/s is enough from tops of mountains (> 5000 m over sealevel). There are at least one relatively flat place at 6 km. It is possible to drive to ocean shore with rover. Distance is about 100 km and there are quite steep terrain, but Eve is best place to drive. Gravity prevents unplanned flights and traction is good. Just do not drive solar panels opened. Put couple of thousands of charge units batteries, drive panels closed until the battery is empty and stop, open panels and reload battery with time warp.

[Raptor9]

So you want to go to Eve?