Doing it Apollo style

[vidboi]

Here we go, not quite as aesthetically accurate and pleasing as Mulbin's Munbug, but I had a lot of fun building and flying an Apollo-Saturn V like rocket.

The rest of the gallery can be found here: http://www.majhost.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=278554

The mission should fulfill all the objectives in the first post:

- 3-man Mission +10

- 2-man Lander +10

- 2-stage Lander (leave the decent-engine on the mün) +20

- Escape tower? +10

- Lander stored behind the CM during ascent +20

- Lander tucked away behind some fairing? +5 (the fairing style is different to the actual Apollo style, but I guess it still counts?)

- Free return trajectory to the mün +10

- Flawless landing (no parts broke off, Neil Armstrong is watching you!) +10

- Got a Munar Roving Vehicle (MRV) on board? +15

- After succesfull Mün landing docked CM and MM in Orbit (no swapping ships without docking them first) +10

- MM disposed by crashing it into the Mün (remove Kerbal first!) +5

- Plant flag on the Mün (no cumulative, i.e. two flags don't get you 6 points) +3

- Spashing down on Kerbin (land on water) +5

For a total of 163 points!

For good measure, I also put a small satellite into low munar orbit, just like in the real missions (hopefully it hasn't crashed yet...)

[Xeldrak]

well, looks legit - guess I'll have to come up with some more goals

Also: Awesome rocket, vidboi!

Edited July 11, 2013 by Xeldrak

[SargeRho]

3-man mission, 2-man lander, 2-stage lander, no aspargus at all, escape tower, lander behind CM, lander behind a fairing, kind of, flawless landing...on the 2nd attempt, no swapping before docking, MM disposed by crashing it into the mun, flag planted, splashed down, and no kerbal died.

Oh, and the whole thing is powered by RTGs, like the real ones.

[SkyRender]

well, looks legit - guess I'll have to come up with some more goals

Here's some accurate-to-real-life goals for you:

- Land on the surface on fumes for the lander stage (no more than 20 seconds of full-throttle firing time left)

- Land at the exact coordinates as the original moon landing (there's even a handy marker for you already there!)

[John FX]

Your Mün-mission hast to fullfill the following criteria:

-Everything has to be started with a single rocket (no building ships in orbit or refueling in orbit)

-You have to fly a LOR mission (you need a Command Module [CM] and a specialized Münar Module [MM])

-No mods! All stock, no Mechjeb. (Did Neil and Buzz land by auto pilot?)

-BYOR (Bring your own rocket) - The rocket must be your own design

Just for fullfilling theese criteria you will get thirty points. (+30)

You can get (or loose) point by achiving the following design or mission-goals

Goals

- 3-man Mission +10

- 2-man Lander +10

- 2-stage Lander (leave the decent-engine on the mün) +20

- Main rocked aspargus'd? -10 (Wernher von Kerman does not like aspargus!)

- Escape tower? +10

- Lander stored behind the CM during ascent +20

- Lander tucked away behind some fairing? +5

- Free return trajectory to the mün +10

- Flawless landing (no parts broke off, Neil Armstrong is watching you!) +10

- Got a Munar Roving Vehicle (MRV) on board? +15

- After succesfull Mün landing docked CM and MM in Orbit (no swapping ships without docking them first) +10

- MM disposed by crashing it into the Mün (remove Kerbal first!) +5

- Plant flag on the Mün (no cumulative, i.e. two flags don't get you 6 points) +3

- Spashing down on Kerbin (land on water) +5

- Kerbal dies -20

Awesome new goals:

- Deploy münar sub-satellite before returning to Kerbin +10 Points

Landing accuracy (not cumulative)

- Land within 3 km of Neil Armstong Memorial (NAM) +5 Points

- Land within 1 km of NAM +10 Points

- Land within 100 meters of the NAM +15

I was roving on the Moon one day... (not cumulative)

- Test drive - drive beyond 100 meters of you lander +2 Points

- Proper shakedown -5 points - Drive beyond 2.5 km of the lander

- Gone drivin' - 10 points - Drive beyond 5km of the lander

- Are we there yet? - 15 points - Drive beyond 10km of the lander

MSEP - Mün Surface Experimental Package (not cumulative)

MSEP must have power, probecore and at least one science-thingy

- Minimalistic - 3 points - Deploy one experimental package at landing site

- That'll do - 5 points - Deploy two experimental packages at the landing site

- For science! - 10 points - Deploy two experimental packages 2.5km from the landing site (and at least 2.5km from eachother)

- Science extravaganza! - 15 points - Deploy four experimental packages 2.5km from the landing site (and at least 2.5km from each other)

For a total of 218 points.

Here is a bunch of images in a row.

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Edited July 30, 2013 by John FX

[Xeldrak]

Well, I've added new goals! If someone on the Top-5 just wants his points updated because you allready achieved one of the new goals, please tell me.

Thanks to Johnno and SkyRender for you suggestions.

[Dunbaratu]

I think this bonus:

- Lander tucked away behind some fairing? +5

Is utterly incompatible with this requirement:

-No mods! All stock, no Mechjeb. (Did Neil and Buzz land by auto pilot?)

The default fairings that come with stock parts work ONLY on engines and nothing else. To have a fairing part around any other non-engine part, you need a mod.

Unless you're talking about a fake fairing composed of flat panel parts glued together.

[Xeldrak]

yes, I'm talking about "fake fairings". Check out vidboid's rocket:

[mootavic]

ok this is just a rehash of something i did as soon as docking was implemented so it only meant removing all non stock parts and reflying the mission manually. Which was surprisingly more efficient than my mechjeb missions lol.

All relevant pictures can be found in the album below, sorry but the full thing is more than 70 images.

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Points

- Base +30

- 3-man Mission +10

- 2-man Lander +10

- 2-stage Lander (leave the decent-engine on the mün) +20

- Main rocked aspargus'd? -10 (Wernher von Kerman does not like aspargus!)

- Escape tower? +10

- Lander stored behind the CM during ascent +20

- Free return trajectory to the mün +10

- Flawless landing (no parts broke off, Neil Armstrong is watching you!) +10

- Got a Munar Roving Vehicle (MRV) on board? +15 oops, i didnt have a rover. i missed deleting that bit. my bad

- After succesfull Mün landing docked CM and MM in Orbit (no swapping ships without docking them first) +10

- MM disposed by crashing it into the Mün (remove Kerbal first!) +5

- Plant flag on the Mün (no cumulative, i.e. two flags don't get you 6 points) +3

- Spashing down on Kerbin (land on water) +5

- Land within 200 meters of the NAM +15 [actually landed 25.4m away, can has bonus points?? ]

Total - 163 148?

I should have thrown a mini rover on there but it would have thrown my balance off something shocking. i might retry that part when we can make collapsible parts and accessories.

Edited July 12, 2013 by mootavic
fixed an error

[Xeldrak]

hmm...allright, so now you two share the first place. Congratulations

Changed the requirement to land within 100 meters of NAM, but that changes nothing on your points.

Edited July 12, 2013 by Xeldrak

[mootavic]

i edited my post to show i erroneously included the points for the rover however i am currently redoing my whole mission so my points will end up different anyway.

also, just for clarity, does the rover need to be manned?

EDIT: Just redid the mission, this time i slapped 2 rovers on [the 2nd one is literally there for ballast and holding 2 extra MSEP's] and it's a good thing i gave my lander dV to spare.

drove one of the rovers 2.5km away from the landing site, but my distant MSEP's both broke so i failed at getting the extra 10 points i was aiming for but the 2 i dropped at the landing site didnt break so hooray for that. looks like that other rover came in handy after all.

other than that, mission profile and all previous goals achieved again with the following extra. screenshots for extra achievements in gallery provided

- Got a Munar Roving Vehicle (MRV) on board? +15 [this time for real]

- Proper shakedown -5 points - Drive beyond 2.5 km of the lander

- That'll do - 5 points - Deploy two experimental packages at the landing site

grand total - 178 i think, unless "minimalistic" and "that'll do" stack, which i dont believe they would.

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Edited July 12, 2013 by mootavic

[Xeldrak]

Alright, you now clearly lead the Top-5.

[GabeMerrill]

Awesome Challenge! Why not list all entries rather than just top 5?

Edited July 12, 2013 by GabeMerrill
more info

[Xeldrak]

Awesome Challenge! Why not list all entries rather than just top 5?

Well, I did not expect so many entries. Considering that by now it was really hard to get into the Top 5, I think I'll just list all entries...

@SargeRho Please calculate your points yourself.

@Xenonclave By the way, what is the music you used during ascent from münar surface?

Edited July 12, 2013 by Xeldrak

[Kylekov]

I just posted a minute ago but I think something went wrong...

Anywho thanks for this challenge, it was exactly what I needed.

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- Base 30 for mission

- 3-man Mission +10

- 2-man Lander +10

- 2-stage Lander (leave the decent-engine on the mün) +20

- Main rocked aspargus'd? -10 (Wernher von Kerman does not like aspargus!)

- Escape tower? +10

- Lander stored behind the CM during ascent +20

- Lander tucked away behind some fairing? +5

- Free return trajectory to the mün +10

- Flawless landing (no parts broke off, Neil Armstrong is watching you!) +10

- Got a Munar Roving Vehicle (MRV) on board? +15

- After succesfull Mün landing docked CM and MM in Orbit (no swapping ships without docking them first) +10

- MM disposed by crashing it into the Mün (remove Kerbal first!) +5

- Plant flag on the Mün (no cumulative, i.e. two flags don't get you 6 points) +3

- Spashing down on Kerbin (land on water) +5

- Deploy münar sub-satellite before returning to Kerbin +10 Points

- Land within 100 meters of the NAM +15

- Proper shakedown -5 points - Drive beyond 2.5 km of the lander

- That'll do - 5 points - Deploy two experimental packages at the landing site

I think that's 180 total points. I can't believe I forgot to do the flag...

Kylekov

[Johnno]

So here's my second entry.

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A few notes however. Having been to NAM several times I preferred a fresh spot, I did as I suggested earlier and sent down a small probe lander first (launched from my CSM), then did a pinpoint landing next to it. I don't mind if I get points for it or not, up to you Xeldrak. Second note, my landing site seemed quite glitch infested. Floating rocks and bouncy spots being the main thing, however my flag also disappeared. I did get a screenshot of it, but just so nobody gets confused when they look at my screenshots.

Base +30

3-man Mission +10

2-man Lander +10

2-stage Lander (leave the decent-engine on the mün) +20

No asparagus

Escape tower +10

Lander stored behind the CM during ascent +20

No fairings

Free return trajectory to the mün +10

Flawless landing +10

Munar Roving Vehicle onboard? +15

After succesfull Mün landing docked CM and MM in Orbit +10

MM disposed by crashing it into the Mün +5

Plant flag on the Mün +3

SplashdownSpashing down on Kerbin +5

Deploy münar sub-satellite before returning to Kerbin +10 Points

Landing accuracy - Landed within 20 meters of my probe (not NAM) +15?

I was roving on the Moon one day...

- Are we there yet? - 15 points - Drive beyond 10km of the lander

Mün Surface Experimental Package

- Science extravaganza! - 15 points - Deploy four experimental packages 2.5km from the landing site (and at least 2.5km from eachother)

Total score:

198 if my pinpoint landing isn't approved.

213 if my pinpoint landing is approved.

[Xeldrak]

Wow, I'm quite amazed by all the work you guys put into this This is just...phenomenal....

Anyways, I'm fine with landing near you probe, since the NAM is pretty close to the non-inclined orbit. Maybe I should give an alternative target that needs heavily inclined orbit....

[The Destroyer]

I did do this one time, but with KW rocketry. And it left decent stage, CM in orbit, docked in orbit, no kerbal die, 0.19 so no flag

[Xeldrak]

I did do this one time, but with KW rocketry. And it left decent stage, CM in orbit, docked in orbit, no kerbal die, 0.19 so no flag

Well, in this case I fear you don't qualify. But you can allways try again

[Xenonclave]

@ Xeldrak: It's Scheming Weasel (the faster version) by Kevin MacLeod.

I'm really liking the new goals. I think I'll try to make a second entry soon.

[SkyRender]

I did an absolutely gorgeous test-run of this challenge just now, and it would have been perfect if not for one little problem... I got to the surface, performed the best landing I've ever done, and...! "Hatch obstructed. Can't exit." (How'd they get into the lander to begin with, then?) Ah well. I can make some improvements for my next attempt. Like ASAS. And RCS. (Yes, I performed a full Apollo-style mission up to and including landing without ASAS or RCS, which included docking the two modules together. Have I mentioned that I'm awesome yet? )

[Xeldrak]

Nice, so I can expect another entry.

Also - why would you build a MM without RCS?

[SkyRender]

Nice, so I can expect another entry.

Also - why would you build a MM without RCS?

Two reasons: one, because I'm hardcore and that's how I roll! And two, um... I kinda forgot to add RCS to it...

[SkyRender]

So far the Alpaca Lips II mission is going very well. Here's a preview of what's in store for you...

First, a pre-launch publicity shot...

And second, a post-launch very much post-landing shot. Full mission debrief will be forthcoming soon.

[SkyRender]

It's the Alpaca Lips!

So here's the mission I ran, the Alpaca Lips II. Some notes beforehand: I didn't do this on a fresh install, but I did use a fresh save file. As such, there are a few mods installed, but they're all 100% passive in this case. All but one of them are of the "put on your rocket to make it do anything" variety, and the one that isn't (the Crew Manifest mod) is patently useless for a mission like this no matter how you look at it. If anyone is concerned that I might have used mod parts on the rocket, I'd be quite happy to upload Alpaca Lips II for you to check out for yourself. And now, on to the Alpaca Lips II!

It has all the components you'd expect of a proper lunar orbit rendezvous mission: escape tower (to help Kerbals escape really fast if there's a problem and everything is on fire so they decide not to go to space), command module (Kerbal box), lander (part that flies down to the other world with two Kerbals inside), rover (car that drives on the other world and stays there when the Kerbals go home), drive stage (part that falls off third), lift stage (part that falls off second), and boost stage (part that falls off first). We shall point the correct end towards space and hope that there are no bad problems that mean we won't be going to space today!

(The liquid boosters are completely separate from the main rocket's fuel source; if you look at the staging, the main stack's engine doesn't even fire up until they've been ditched! I would have used SRBs, but there are no stock SRBs big enough for the task.)

Lift-off!

Commencing gravity turn...

Disposing of liquid boosters...

Switching over to drive stage... Ground control, we have reached orbit safely. I repeat, we have reached orbit safely.

No need for that escape tower any longer. Fortunately I gave it a probe body, so it can fire itself back towards Kerbin and burn up in the atmosphere.

To be safe, I transferred some fuel between stages here...

Now firing for Munar intercept.

Free-return trajectory confirmed.

As it turns out, I didn't need to worry about the fuel usage at all! Anyway, say goodbye to the drive stage.

Disconnection of lander from command module confirmed.

The modules have been reversed, over.

Lunar intercept is complete. Capturing at 25KM periapsis.

Adjustment to orbit complete. Ground control, we have attained a stable 25KM orbit, more or less.

The lander has disengaged from the command module. Adjusting for landing coordinates...

Releasing our sub-satellite now before we forget about it...

We are approaching the target site. Landing maneuver has commenced.

Landing site confirmed. We are good to go, ground control.

The Alpaca has landed.

For all Kerbalkind, we plant this flag now.

Landing site experimental package has been deployed. Rover is also deployed.

Let's motor.

2.5KM out from our landing site. We have deployed the first distant experimental package.

5KM out, second package deployed.

7.5KM, package #3 deployment confirmed.

10KM out, package #4 has been planted.

We're ready to return, ground control. Departing for the command module as soon as our launch window comes up.

Venting excess RCS fuel...

Liftoff! Separation confirmed.

Approaching command module...

We have re-docked the two modules, over. Also, Jeb did it like a boss without RCS, because he's hardcore and that's how he rolls, over.

We've oriented the entire ensemble towards the surface, gotten an impact trajectory, and released the lander.

Returning to stable orbit. We're done here, KSP command, and we're coming home.

Final burn, boys. Say your farewells to the Mun while you can.

Disposing of the engine now...

Re-entry is a little rough, over.

Splashdown complete. Our mission was a complete success!

Tally:

- One rocket, LOR, no mods used, custom creation: +30

- 3-Kerbal mission: +10

- 2-Kerbal lander: +10

- 2-stage lander (descent stage left behind): +20

- Escape tower: +10

- Lander stored behind the CM during ascent: +20

- Lander tucked away behind some fairing: +5

- Free return trajectory to the Mün: +10

- Deployed münar sub-satellite during landing sequence: +10

- Flawless landing: +10

- Landed within 100 meters of the NAM: +15

- Got a Munar Roving Vehicle (MRV) on board: +15

- 10KM+ roving away from the lander: +15

- Dropped 5(!) science packages: +15

- Re-docked CM and MM in Munar orbit after returning from the surface: +10

- MM disposed by crashing it into the Mün: +5

- Plant flag on the Mün: +3

- Spashed down on Kerbin: +5

Total: 218 points