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sdj64

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    Sr. Spacecraft Engineer

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  1. Okay I'm not dead but I've only made it to Laythe so far. At this rate, I'll be done by April! (joking of course, but it will definitely be after Christmas) I had to give the ship some nukes for the Tylo transfers and a redesigned tail for better aero stability, compared to the previous picture I posted. Here are some pictures: https://imgur.com/a/fBd4Wp8
  2. Generally, I have allowed anything in Kerbin SOI before you leave, provided you fly it yourself and don't just cheat-menu it into position. You could capture an asteroid, set up a mining outpost on Minmus, launch a huge fuel depot or tanker, or any other infrastructure of your choosing. I have accepted entries that used each of those things, usually they were done in an existing save with the stuff already there. You can't interact with any ships/stations beyond Kerbin's SOI though. Jacob's decision is his to make though, this is just for perspective of how it was handled before. Update on my own ship: I think I will probably have to add a couple of nukes for the transfer from Pol-Tylo and back. It's just not quite enough to make it as-is. Maybe I can switch some of the LF storage to LFO and eke out more vacuum performance, I did want to avoid having nukes on this ship.
  3. It's going to be tight on delta V but the intent is to land all 125 on every moon! It has a VTOL system to land on its belly, since it's too big to tail-land and flop like Marschig's ships. It also carries a lander in one of the cargo bays, but it's intended for biome hopping for science and can't both land and return to orbit on Tylo.
  4. This will be the 5th time I've attempted the Jool 5 Challenge Today is the 5th anniversary of the Jool 5 challenge And now, in KSP 1.5! So naturally, 125 Kerbals are going to Jool. Actually, 1.5 threw off my plan. I had planned this mission when KSP was in 1.4.5, where the 3rd "5" was, of course, the 5 moons of Jool. But when 1.5 dropped my first thought was "oh now I have to do 625" then "well this part count is spiraling out of control" then "better finish my 125 kerbal ship..."
  5. I was considering replying and you hit the nail on the head, exactly what I was thinking. I would add, I got rid of the "mixed solutions" category only after there were no entries in that category for a whole game version. But there's certainly the case for it returning, if there is demand!
  6. I'm a little late since I was on vacation last week, but it's been just over 6 months that @JacobJHC has been managing the Jool 5 Challenge! Great job so far! And great job everyone who submitted an entry! It's great to see that even after almost 5 YEARS the Jool 5 keeps inspiring people to come back or try it for the first time.
  7. Okay fine... Dockable ore container left in low orbit.
  8. I think what you are imagining is completely impossible. Nobody has even made an Eve SSTO with refueling that can operate entirely independently (i.e. make it to Gilly to refuel after Eve takeoff without using a dockable fuel container left in low Eve orbit). You should probably ping @Kergarin too since he is the expert in Eve SSTOs. This video shows his Eve SSTO which uses a dockable fuel container. It was done in version 1.2.2 but I didn't see any atmosphere changes since then, looking through the version history. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIuSCWxPZm4
  9. The ion stage didn't have enough TWR. I set no minimum for it, thinking it was fine for in-space maneuvers, but Mr. Oberth was not happy with my decision. I did create a new craft that has much lower drag and the proper ratio of LF to Ox, and even raised to 4 ions but I still don't think it will be enough. I got about 75% mass fraction to LKO but didn't really want to try the ion part again. I revisited the spreadsheet and it looks impossible without ions.
  10. Try 4 Rapiers and 2 NERVs, you'll probably find that the weight savings from eliminating two engines are more than worth the slight hit to ISP. If you really need the vacuum ISP for a Tylo landing, you can replace the Swivels with Darts, or a single Skiff, Poodle, or Wolfhound if your design allows it.
  11. I got that question once before with a Thud, and I think I said if half the body is visible it would be good. Though if I was judging your entry and I saw this in the album after you finished the challenge, I'd probably accept it since it's not that major.
  12. I think it auto-formats if you paste the URL into the editor. If you click the hyperlink button, it makes a blue underlined text link instead.
  13. @kerbalstar The Jool 5 Challenge is currently maintained by @JacobJHC. You have the right thread linked though. Thanks for keeping the heritage challenges updated, it's a great list to have.
  14. Awesome! Jeb's level was really lacking participants recently so I'm excited to see people going all out for science. I think you forgot the fact that Jool has a High and Low atmosphere. I've never seen anyone try to recover Jool low atmosphere science. Diving probes have been done, but transmitting science doesn't count for the score. There are a couple of other science cases, maybe read the wiki page on science for more... The only limit on experiments I'm aware of is "no duplicate experiments in one container". The science lab doesn't have this limitation. Yes, you can dump parts anywhere you want. Many people leave the mothership in orbit of one moon, or in Jool orbit, and go from there. You could also land your mothership on a moon if you want, but getting back to it might be a hassle.
  15. I actually stopped trying after getting less than halfway to the Mun in 2 hours (real time) of ion burning. I then went back to my spreadsheet and tried to make it work with nukes, but I don't think the TWR and DeltaV can both work out. Does somebody else with more time and experience with ion ships want to try?
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