onyx wave
Doing an early-ish Eve return mission in modded career. I'm trying to get the return rocket through reentry, but after it passes ~40km it always loses stability, flips, and explodes. Shallow vs. steep entries don't seem to make a difference. I've done everything I can to get the CoM forward, and I tried a couple of ways to get the center of drag back to the tip of the rocket using heatshields as fins, but that didn't work either. Anyone know why this is happening?
normal zodiac
That's just how Eve is. Craft experience a lot of Gs and aero buffeting and tall rockets will always be in danger without significant stabilisation. This is often provided by some powerful RWs in combination with an aero stabiliser like a inflated heat shield mounted to the top or tail fins.
onyx wave
normally I'd use the inflated one, but Ihaven't unlocked anything past 2.5 heatshields, hence the frankenstein shield. Good to keep in mind tho, thanks