On the April gamestreaming schedule, Viewer Challenges, and stuff. · 5:15pm Mar 30th, 2020
OK, based on Patreon votes, the schedule for my April game streaming is as follows:
TONIGHT - KSP: Rescue From Eeloo (Remember that one-shot flight to Eeloo? Tonight I'm gonna go back to that gamesave and see if Jeb, Bill and Bob can get home on less than 1200 m/s of delta-V, or if a rescue ship can reach them.
AFTER TONIGHT:
MONDAY - KSP: VIEWER BUILD CHALLENGES
April 6 - KSC ROVER RALLY (details to come in separate blog post)
April 13 - OPEN VIEWER SUBMISSIONS (just send me a rocket build and tell me how to fly it, and I'll try)
April 20 - RESCUE FROM THE BAD DAY MOUNTAINS (VTOL rocket to land on a mountain peak to rescue a kerbal)
April 27 - more open submissions and/or new idea TBD
WEDNESDAYS - ATTACK OF THE EARTHLINGS
Note: if/when this game is completed, any remaining Wednesdays will become KSP Hard Mode, focusing on Duna and Eve missions
SATURDAYS - XCOM LONG WAR
Note: there is absolutely zero danger of this game completing anytime in April
All game streams begin 7 PM Central Daylight Time.
Also, I'm wondering: is there interest in watching me record audiobook readings of FimFiction stories? I've been thinking about this for a very long time, and I'm almost ready to give it a shot. The first story, if I do it, would probably be "Blueblood: Hero of Equestria." (Chosen because it's a story I like with mostly male characters; I don't have money for a voice-acting cast, and I don't think I do justice to an all-female cast.)
And finally: I'm going to push to get the next Haycartes' chapter out before tonight's stream.
What's the current date/time in your Eeloo rescue save? Turns out the minimum delta-v for a straight Hohmann transfer back to Kerbin can vary by quite a bit, down to a minimum of ~1365 m/s. It's not quite enough to get back, but if you want to get out and push it might be bearable.
Alternatively, you can harness Jool for a gravity assist. KSPTOT says that you can get departure delta-v requirements down to below 500 m/s, although that would depend very heavily on your available departure window.
5231956 Situation: three-man lander on surface of Eeloo, more or less on the equator. Lander has 407 units of fuel and proportional oxidizer, calculator reading 1618 m/s, which means I guesstimate about 900 m/s once I get into a safe low orbit of Eeloo. There's a probe-equipped stage with docking ports in orbit containing another 168 units of fuel and proportionate oxidizer, but the stage has no RCS or monoprop, and the lander has thirty units of monoprop but no thrusters except those built into the Mk. 2 capsule. (Also, the return heat shield might block fuel transfer- don't know if that setting is engaged or not.)
As of the current save, it's game Year 8, Day 403, not quite 3 hours.
Oops, forgot you wouldn't have been in orbit yet. Yeah, Hohmann transfers are definitely not an option.
Seems you can't quite get 500 m/s, but you can still make it back with less than 900 m/s, assuming I didn't screw up the time conversions [0]. One of the trajectories it's spitting at me says you only need ~850 m/s of delta-v total, but you leave Eeloo around year 19 and stay in transit for 44 (!) years. Another only requires ~650 m/s of delta-v, but you'll leave around Year 30 Day 340 and will be in transit for about 73 years. Limiting the launch window to leaving by Year 10 Day 120 or so would result in a total delta-v requirement of ~930 m/s and a total transit time of ~46 years.
I can provide more info if you want; not sure if you'd prefer to find a solution on your own.
[0]: KSPTOT takes Earth times, so Kerbin Y8:D403 -> 7 Kerbin years, 403 days elapsed -> 7 * 2556.5 + 403 * 6 -> 20313.5 hours -> 2 Earth years 116.4 days elapsed -> Y3:D116).