Rover Challenge

Horus Lupercal

Horus Lupercal

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#51
#51
Lt. Snakestrike said:
That lifter looks a lot like my fireball (except better), is this just a case of great minds think alike?
Click to expand...
Nope, its a case of I seen your first fireball and thinking 'that looks beautiful. I need all of it.

I was stuck with crap H shaped badly designed rockets with 100ton payloads as I didn't understand that you needed burn time rather than just raw power to weight to get anywhere.

And the first stage reminded me of the Ark from the original transformers cartoon.

Screenshot_2018-10-30-00-14-33.png


So I copied it and it's morphed from that ^^

Screenshot_2018-11-25-00-14-19.png


To this. I had the same problems as you, stage one emptying before the booster, boosters not coming away cleanly so I've had to line the booster inside edge with panels into a sort of slide so the stage doesn't rotate and kill the boosters and fit the boosters with broadsword engines at the top so they peel away top first and keep moving away
 
Lt. Snakestrike

Lt. Snakestrike

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#53
#53
Horus Lupercal said:
Nope, its a case of I seen your first fireball and thinking 'that looks beautiful. I need all of it.

I was stuck with crap H shaped badly designed rockets with 100ton payloads as I didn't understand that you needed burn time rather than just raw power to weight to get anywhere.

And the first stage reminded me of the Ark from the original transformers cartoon.

View attachment 10473

So I copied it and it's morphed from that ^^

View attachment 10475

To this. I had the same problems as you, stage one emptying before the booster, boosters not coming away cleanly so I've had to line the booster inside edge with panels into a sort of slide so the stage doesn't rotate and kill the boosters and fit the boosters with broadsword engines at the top so they peel away top first and keep moving away
Click to expand...
Yeah, looks like you went for a more soyuz-style approach to booster seperation as well, I just use a side seperator-adaptor and hope it gets far enough off in time.
 
Horus Lupercal

Horus Lupercal

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#54
#54
Lt. Snakestrike said:
Yeah, looks like you went for a more soyuz-style approach to booster seperation as well, I just use a side seperator-adaptor and hope it gets far enough off in time.
Click to expand...
Yeah, i went with it for reliability and it looks cools as **** when it blasts away from the second stage
 
Horus Lupercal

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#55
#55
Lt. Snakestrike said:
Yeah, looks like you went for a more soyuz-style approach to booster seperation as well, I just use a side seperator-adaptor and hope it gets far enough off in time.
Click to expand...
Whenever I used separators the boosters for some reason (likely spite) used to immediately roll inwards and smash into the second stage. So my options were either not be accelerating, tiptoe away from them and pray they didn't bite me, or blast them away
 
Lt. Snakestrike

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#56
#56
And that wasn't even actually my first fireball. I started with using a two and three stage variant for inner-planetary missions, but realized it wasn't enough. (It was in another thread that moved off topic then got closed due to an argument)
 
Horus Lupercal

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#57
#57
Lt. Snakestrike said:
And that wasn't even actually my first fireball. I started with using a two and three stage variant for inner-planetary missions, but realized it wasn't enough. (It was in another thread that moved off topic then got closed due to an argument)
Click to expand...
Aaah, it was the first one I seen, not the 2.0 version that kept falling out of the sky.
 
Horus Lupercal

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#58
#58
Danny Batten said:
Yes I too have done that, your design is good. How much can it carry?
Click to expand...
I reverse my prev. statement. It's not a very good prime mover, the way its set up makes it great at exploring but having only 4 wheels at a time on the floor means it can only carry about 20t in Earth gravity and be expected to go off road. Extending the wheelbase to 6 should give another 40t capacity but may affect x-country ability.
 
Blazer Ayanami

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#59
#59
Ok, Here's my attemp: The 100% reusable Europa Rover Carrier (ERC)
Screenshot_20190226-082747.png
This is a 2-Stages rocket capable of taking 160 tons to LEO and back, without dropping any piece, not even the Fairing. It calls the Leviathan I.

After the launch the first Stage takes the payload up to 700 m/s and detaches. By then she must be in a suborbital flight, then she can land and the second Stage can bring the payload into orbit.
Screenshot_20190226-083832.png
Screenshot_20190226-083922.png

Now all we must do is open the Cargo Bay Door and release the payload, the ERC. By the way, this Door was designed by me: any similarities with other designs is purely coincidential and unintentional.
Screenshot_20190226-084136.png
Screenshot_20190226-084637.png

As you can see, I've tienes the Rover to make use of its ion engines and fuel. I'll leave the Leviathan in orbit. Now All I have to do is to follow the VEEGA path to reach Jupiter. In fact, I pass Jup's orbit after the first Earth GA, didn't need the second one....
Screenshot_20190226-090001.png

I tried to use Ganymede to help me achieve a Jup Orbit... Actually I had to use a small buen anyway. I'll simplify the Gravity Assistances Path to Europa by three images: If you want to know: I used Ganymede three times to bring my apoapsis down. The third time brings me into Europa's Orbit (at periapsis) while Ganymede is still at apoapsis. Now I perform 3 more Europa flybys to help sicronizing my orbit with her's. At the third one... ENTERED EUROPA ORBIT!
Screenshot_20190226-090253.png
Screenshot_20190226-091535.png
Screenshot_20190226-092229.png

To be continued...
 
Blazer Ayanami

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#60
#60
First of all my keyboard is in Spanish and it changes words sometimes. Please forgive me If you don't understand something.

Okay, After satellizing around Europa, its time to undock the Rover and Land!!!
Screenshot_20190226-094844.png
I started roving on Europa but I bored quickly. Let's return home. This Rover although simple, its very functional, and can liftoff by itself. As you might be thinking I have to dock with the ship I left in Orbit. I forgot to take screenshots of that.
For the return to Earth I tested several methods suggested by some of you. In the End, I burned for Ganymede again and use three powered flybys to bring me out of the Jovian System. Actually to get out was easier than to go in! This orbits brings me towars Saturn, but don't worry a Jupiter flyby will bring me to Earth
Screenshot_20190226-125050.png

Now All I have to do is using Aerobrake to achieve a Low Earth Orbit again and dock with Leviathan I
Screenshot_20190226-131151.png
Screenshot_20190226-134724.png

I selected the ERC's main tank, in the Orbiter, to transfer fuel to L1. Now its simple to deorbit and land. However I wanted one more challenge: to land with my engines, like SpaceX does....
Screenshot_20190226-135640.png
Screenshot_20190226-135706.png

Yeah, SpaceX style, baby! Mission Completed. I know this thread is old. But I wanted to complete this challenge too cause I think a Rover is a classic SFS Challenge.
Screenshot_20190226-135725.png
 
Danny Batten

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#61
#61
The Blazer said:
Ok, Here's my attemp: The 100% reusable Europa Rover Carrier (ERC) View attachment 14141 This is a 2-Stages rocket capable of taking 160 tons to LEO and back, without dropping any piece, not even the Fairing. It calls the Leviathan I.

After the launch the first Stage takes the payload up to 700 m/s and detaches. By then she must be in a suborbital flight, then she can land and the second Stage can bring the payload into orbit.
View attachment 14142 View attachment 14143
Now all we must do is open the Cargo Bay Door and release the payload, the ERC. By the way, this Door was designed by me: any similarities with other designs is purely coincidential and unintentional. View attachment 14144 View attachment 14145
As you can see, I've tienes the Rover to make use of its ion engines and fuel. I'll leave the Leviathan in orbit. Now All I have to do is to follow the VEEGA path to reach Jupiter. In fact, I pass Jup's orbit after the first Earth GA, didn't need the second one.... View attachment 14146
I tried to use Ganymede to help me achieve a Jup Orbit... Actually I had to use a small buen anyway. I'll simplify the Gravity Assistances Path to Europa by three images: If you want to know: I used Ganymede three times to bring my apoapsis down. The third time brings me into Europa's Orbit (at periapsis) while Ganymede is still at apoapsis. Now I perform 3 more Europa flybys to help sicronizing my orbit with her's. At the third one... ENTERED EUROPA ORBIT! View attachment 14147 View attachment 14148 View attachment 14149
To be continued...
Click to expand...
That is a cracking craft man! Very nicely done!
 
Altaïr

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#63
#63
Very well done, you truly masterize the gravitational slingshot! :D
That mission is amazing, I already made some rover missions over there, but not 100% reusable.
 
Blazer Ayanami

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#67
#67
Altaïr said:
Very well done, you truly masterize the gravitational slingshot! :D
That mission is amazing, I already made some rover missions over there, but not 100% reusable.
Click to expand...
THANKS @Altaïr Its really great to hear that from you! Yeah I still need to learn a lot. For example, in the way out of Jupi I spent more fuel than I expected. But I've made some advances with the moons gravity pinball indeed!
 
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