UFP Missions
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Horus Lupercal
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Depends what he's got under those fairings. I'll admit 5 titan engines is over kill unless he's at 1500t launch weight, and it looks like he's on about half that, but it's all contextual to payload weight.
I've done Jupiter with 3 grasshoppers, but only because there was zero payload except the probe to control it.
I've done Jupiter with 3 grasshoppers, but only because there was zero payload except the probe to control it.
Altaïr
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Nice lander 
Astro is right, you don't need so much Titans. Also, those engines are very good to overcome Earth gravity, but they are very greedy. So once you're high enough and you're on a long ballistic trajectory, they are not useful anymore, at that stage you should swith to Frontier engines which are way more efficient. If you pass Karman line with Titans still burning, you clearly rely too much on them and you will waste fuel. Believe me, the Titan is the worst engine in space.
I would also recommend to split your rocket into more stages: when you separate an empty stage, you alleviate the rest of your launcher from a lot of dead weight.
What I do is usually this:
- 1st stage with Titan/Hawk engines, that will burn until 15-20 kilometers.
- 2nd stage with Frontier engines (Broadsword for a small rocket) that finishes satellization.
- 3rd stage does the trans-lunar injection.
From there, you can either add more stages, or if your 3rd stage is big enough, use it for your maneuvers around the Moon etc...
Try to apply this, and if your trajectory is good enough, you'll be surprised to see how little power you really need for a Moon mission.
Astro is right, you don't need so much Titans. Also, those engines are very good to overcome Earth gravity, but they are very greedy. So once you're high enough and you're on a long ballistic trajectory, they are not useful anymore, at that stage you should swith to Frontier engines which are way more efficient. If you pass Karman line with Titans still burning, you clearly rely too much on them and you will waste fuel. Believe me, the Titan is the worst engine in space.
I would also recommend to split your rocket into more stages: when you separate an empty stage, you alleviate the rest of your launcher from a lot of dead weight.
What I do is usually this:
- 1st stage with Titan/Hawk engines, that will burn until 15-20 kilometers.
- 2nd stage with Frontier engines (Broadsword for a small rocket) that finishes satellization.
- 3rd stage does the trans-lunar injection.
From there, you can either add more stages, or if your 3rd stage is big enough, use it for your maneuvers around the Moon etc...
Try to apply this, and if your trajectory is good enough, you'll be surprised to see how little power you really need for a Moon mission.
Horus Lupercal
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Lt. Snakestrike
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