DunaBug successfully delivered to the red planet!
I also launched a comms relay on the same gameday, but it was a separate rocket. I probably could have stuck them together on the same vehicle, the Kerbin orbit + Duna transfer stage was the same even, but the differences between the goal orbits were too large for that kind of efficiency and my skill level.
By the time I started the descent the rocket portion of the rover had enough ∆v to get back to orbit from the surface, I think. The plan was always to use parachutes though so i used the rockets to slow down to around 200m/s during atmospheric entry and detached them at full throttle around 1km from the surface.
The rover itself has 2 solar panels, an assortment of instruments (that don't really matter since it's sandbox), 4 rubber wheels, and a leg in front and back in case it tips over. If it rolls on it's side, at least an antenna and solar panel is guaranteed to break and there was not much space left for legs so i'm relying on it's width to not roll. By using momentum and slight energy inputs I managed to get it to travel around 15 m/s over the surface, which is a scary speed when it's on average 20 000 000 000 km away!
I also launched a comms relay on the same gameday, but it was a separate rocket. I probably could have stuck them together on the same vehicle, the Kerbin orbit + Duna transfer stage was the same even, but the differences between the goal orbits were too large for that kind of efficiency and my skill level.
By the time I started the descent the rocket portion of the rover had enough ∆v to get back to orbit from the surface, I think. The plan was always to use parachutes though so i used the rockets to slow down to around 200m/s during atmospheric entry and detached them at full throttle around 1km from the surface.
The rover itself has 2 solar panels, an assortment of instruments (that don't really matter since it's sandbox), 4 rubber wheels, and a leg in front and back in case it tips over. If it rolls on it's side, at least an antenna and solar panel is guaranteed to break and there was not much space left for legs so i'm relying on it's width to not roll. By using momentum and slight energy inputs I managed to get it to travel around 15 m/s over the surface, which is a scary speed when it's on average 20 000 000 000 km away!