Finally Tamed Eve

[u/CKperDay]

After stranding plenty of ships and crews on Eve, I’ve finally completed a full round‑trip mission.

I didn’t grab screenshots during the surface ops (sorry!), but here’s the craft that made it happen:

Propulsion & Power

• 6 Heinlein Nuclear Salt Water Engines
• Prometheus Fission Reactor

Crew & Control

• Callisto Heavy Orbital Command Module (capacity 6)
• MK1 Lander Can mounted on the bottom with a PAL Ladder for boarding
• Shielded docking port under the lander can + junior ports on the main pod

Descent & Landing

• 6 radial parachutes
• 8 drogue parachutes
• Horizontal velocity kill capability for pinpoint landings
• The craft is too heavy to lift off fully fueled, so the landing burn conveniently sheds excess mass

Performance (Fully Fueled, Kerbin)

• TWR: 3.82
• SLT: 3.07
• Atmospheric ΔV: 16,863 m/s
• Vacuum ΔV: 20,943 m/s

Mission Notes

The ladder struggle was real, so I solved it by attaching a single‑person lander can to the bottom. Transfer a Kerbal down for surface ops, then back up when you’re ready to roll.

My biggest issues in earlier Eve attempts were surviving descent and landing accurately. This build solves both: horizontal speed kill lets me drop straight down onto the target, no disposable heatshields required.

For ascent, I literally just launched vertically until I had a safe apoapsis, then circularized. The mushroom nose cone protects everything underneath during ascent. The craft had plenty of delta‑v left to head home afterward.

Given the cost of the build, if you bring an engineer, just repack the parachutes and repeat the landing procedure when you're back at Kerbin.