After a successful Duna expedition I realized that without the lander the command ship had enough Δv for a brief visit to Ike to gather more of that sweet, sweet orbital science!
Thanks to a helpful gravity assist from the Mun, the crew made it back to Kerbn with a whopping 9 Δv left. If they didn't get enough aerobraking on the first pass it would have been next stop; deep space...
I have and love the times that you think you’ll get the aerobrake capture but then your next mission becomes a deep space rescue 😆
Congrats on the success!
Thanks!
Some times the recovery from a mishap is more fun than the intended mission!
Unlike today, turns out the 160t payload I nursed into orbit was the wrong payload! 🤨