MUN Rover Land Speed Challenge

[Wurmfist]

This has been probably done before, but I have failed to find it, and since we have a newish update it might be nice to revisit. Especially since our Kerbins can steer them from external cockpits now.

A couple of us on Facebook have been working on this challenge so I thought I would open it up to the public. Thanks to hackman127 for the idea, it was all him.

Rules:

1. Mods allowed.

2. Any method of propulsion is ok, however the rover MUST have a minimum of 4 wheels.

3. Screencap fastest speed recorded with all wheels on the ground (account for shock absorber bounce is OK, the screencap may show one of the wheels slightly off the ground) or it didn't happen.

4. Must be on the Mun (Duh).

Bonus (optional)

-- No crash after reaching maximum speed (stable).

-- External Kerbin cockpit

Reward:

Sense of self-accomplishment and bragging rights. Maybe a title (if I think of one).

Example: (This did crash shortly after this max speed pic, so no bonus for me. I'm sure others will do much better)

Edited June 7, 2013 by Wurmfist
Rule Update

[hackman127]

Challenge Accepted!

[M5000]

Can we use the landing gear and build them like we did back before .19.0, except with bigger rockets?

[Wurmfist]

As long as you use at least 4 wheels and they are on the ground, yep.

[koshelenkovv]

Why can't I use two wheels? Two is enough for rover! Ever one wheel is enough (though slow).

[Wurmfist]

Because those are the rules. 4 wheels.

[Torham234]

I had a stable 100 m/s rover in 18.4 version, and that was without pushing for max speed. The problem at those speeds is that the rover spends more time airborne(err vacuumborne... above ground?) than on the ground. I think I will give this one a try...

[adammada]

Where is best (long, level) place to try?

[J0hnsmine]

I had a "Kethane Trucker" i wish i had a screenshot of, that had 4 wheels and managed to go 40m/s only before being obliterated.

[Spaceisbeautifulul]

I think I can hear children in Nepal laughing at me.

Yeah... not my BEST idea...

It lasted a whole 2 seconds! That's gotta be some kind of record.

Its top speed was 48.4 m/s.

I really should try again, but for now you've got at least two people on the charts.

[MR4Y]

I might post something in a while.

[Elven_sword]

Way back in 0.14 I had a mun rover that could hit 200 m/s for a few seconds.

[Torham234]

Ok, here is my first stab at this. I have basically just modified my old rover to maximize stability at the expense of durability ( my old rover had much larger fuel stores).

Here is the whole rocket at the pad.

Skycrane landed. The "really flat" area that I looked at from orbit turned out to be hilly as hell.... figures...

Rover deployed and ready for service.

maximum speed with all 4 wheels on ground

max speed with 3 wheels on the ground. At this speed the rover bounces like hell, but on flatter ground this should be easily achievable.

If I had landed on a flatter terrain, I could have gone a bit higher, me thinks.

Parts are all stock, the only mod used is the Engineer.

Edit: Does anyone know a really flat patch on the Mun?

Edited June 9, 2013 by Torham234

[Spaceisbeautifulul]

-HUGESNIPFORTHEWIN-.

Edit: Does anyone know a really flat patch on the Mun?

Well, you could try the top of the Neil Armstrong memorial if it accelerates really fast and/or your a badass.

[Wurmfist]

Excellent! Thanks all, keep em coming.

As for the question about a flat spot, try getting into the bottom of a big crater, they tend to be flat. I did my speed test around the Mun Arch (but I won't reveal where that is) but it is rolling hills in that area. But (HINT!) if you actually do the speed test while going down a hill it may yield better results.

In a little while I'll edit my first post with all the speeds set thus far. Thanks!

[Torham234]

I haven't actually found any anomalies on the moon yet. I guess I was just exploring the wrong spots so far. The only anomalies I have found so far is the monolith and the piramids ( I spotted the piramids on one of my long distance jet plane flights )on the kerbin.

"But (HINT!) if you actually do the speed test while going down a hill it may yield better results."

Actually I think a valley would be best ( and probably easier to find ) going down hill you can keep yourself on the ground with RCS and going uphill on the other side the centrifugal force will nicely nail you to the ground. No chance of stopping though, since you will probably fly for 5-10 km after clearing the top. That happened just after the last pic was taken - I have jumped several km. I did stabilize and level the craft, but it still broke on touchdown due to extreme stress.