Eve probe

[ThunderTurtle]

I've been trying to send a probe to Eve because I've never been there. The problem is that every time I send something to Eve it burns up high in the atmosphere. I've slowed my craft down as much as possible before it hits the atmosphere but it burns up every time. The heat shielding might as well not be there.

[RoofCat]

slow down more?
You would need roughly 2500m/s for that. Eve orbital speed is around 3100 and direct arrival from Kerbin speeds you up to ~4200m/s at Pe iirc. You need to get below 1500m/s before you reach 40km or so. Which is almost a full extra stage.

Or just add heatshield and target 40km Pe so it doesn't do to many circles burning down ablator. Balance is the key. Use multiple heatshields arranged properly to create the right kind of stabilizing drag if needed.

[Jupiter3927]

You can add a shell of heatshields and land pretty much anything on Eve.
Just 1 small heatshield should be enough for a small probe or rover.

[Elementus]

just use a bigger heat shield

[a]

I would recommend doing multiple passes, slowing yourself down, or enter higher up in the atmosphere. If you come in too shallow, then you will burn up, heat shield or otherwise.

[RoofCat]

Originally posted by a:

I would recommend doing multiple passes, slowing yourself down, or enter higher up in the atmosphere. If you come in too shallow, then you will burn up, heat shield or otherwise.

that is not correct. Deeper entry (lower Pe) adds to drag and thus you actually slow down much quicker and burning less ablator on heatshield than doing higher Pe for longer time.
Drag progression <> Heat progression. At least not in KSP. At some point air friction turns into air "wall" and you are just stopped without too much heat added and with a lot of G's.

Also shorter reentry limits the time for transfered heat to travel around. There are limits how much heat each part can forward over time. So shorter is safer with shields.
Sometimes you need high heat resistance small part right next from heatshield to reduce heat transfer and increase safety even further. Like fairing base or service bay. But in most cases you don't.

Try the Jool scenario with 170km and 150km Pe and compare ablator after.

[Yaldabaoth]

On my first eve probe I had two extra large heat shield (the inflatable ones) on top and bottom. Kept the craft so small that when both are inflated it looked like a football. Tumbled through the atmosphere quite nicely.

[kamikazi21358]

If one heat-shield doesn’t work, go the standard KSP route:
When in doubt, add more.