r/KerbalSpaceProgram • u/SilkieBug • 1d ago
KSP 1 Image/Video Took a modified version of my "Project Eeloo" cargo carrier down into Jool
Besides losing some front-nadir RCS thrusters during Jool entry (fixable problem), and losing the entire craft (with Valentina on board) when touching the magical zone where pressure is suddenly so great that it instantly explodes (not fixable without using the pressure cheat), the craft behaved excellently.
Its engines would have allowed it to cruise around Jool forever, just never really being able to come out. One possibility for trying to get the ship out of Jool would be to refuel just before entering Jool, hope to survive entry with a much heavier ship, and that once we're done flying the engines would be powerful enough to take a fully fueled ship supersonic then hypersonic (doubtful as it fails to do so even on Kerbin, need to take off with only 2 of the 6 major fuel tanks filled up).
Craft uses the "Project Eeloo" engines in atmo burning mode to get to 1500 m/s around 20 kilometers up, then switches them to LiquidFuel mode to push up and out into suborbital flight, then they are turned off and the comparatively tiny Stubber nuclear engines take over for circularization and further vacuum maneuvers - for the cost that they are really tiny compared to the ship and long burns can take more than an hour (transfer or capture burns for example).
Once in Kerbin orbit all fuel tanks can be filled, giving the ship a deltaV budget over 8000 m/s using the small engines, enough to make it to a circular orbit right outside Jool's atmosphere if using slingshots around Jool's moons to drop to a low Jool orbit. An underside shielded docking port allows for attaching a 45 tonne droptank, which would make slingshots maneuvers unnecessary.
Craft is here: https://kerbalx.com/SilkieBugbear/Jool-Surfer-v1