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The Rattle: Single-Stage Escape-Velocity Starship


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Ladies and Gentlemen, I bring you:

The Rattle

LVnXr.png

It is a single stage escape velocity spacecraft.

From lift-off... to the darkest depths of space, this craft:

1. Has no stages. It brings the entire rocket to escape velocity, including the spent fuel tanks.

2. It does not jettison anything, and lifts an entire hulk of mass to the point of no return.

3. Is made only of stock parts. No mods, no custom content. It breaks the game only by its design.

4. It is stable. Just put on the SAS, maximize the thrusters, and enjoy the ride.

The flight results are here. After watching it fly for 2 long hours, Its still flying at 1.2 km/s at a distance of 12,000 km.

qHBsU.png

As you can see from the Flight Results, this craft has only one event entry: Liftoff. :o No separations, no decouplings.

Vehicle Assembly:

tQFp6.png

I - History

The Rattle was designed after previous attempts made at creating an orbit-capable single stage craft using stock parts.

Its predecessor, the Arrow Series, were highly successful, but lacked the capability of going to escape velocity.

The Arrow Mk III http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/index.php?topic=78.msg2003#msg2003

The Arrow Mk IV http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/index.php?topic=78.msg2534#msg2534

II - Design Core Concept

After discovering that Tri-Couplers lock into themselves by clicking them again and again,

I made the coupler design that I now call the 'Quadruple Tri-coupler Spiral'

NdUzs.png

After 2 (real world) days of tests, trials and failures, I have finally created this monstrosity, capable of hauling its massive weight from the ground, to escape velocity.

But don't just take my word for it... Try it out for yourself!

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Oh, just in case anybody asks, I also found out that any fuel tanks on top of the quad-tri-coupler spiral will feed ALL the engines below.

As a result... the first 3 tanks right below the command module are sucked dry within a few seconds from launch.

9 Engines sucking from 3 tanks. Its amazing how fast they empty.

I used this to adjust the maximum number of fuel tanks I can bring into space.

:D

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I tried this out and it worked pretty great, although I couldn't attach fuel tanks to the main tri-coupler. Thus unable to reach escape velocity.

I recreated the bugged part again, and carefully examined what I did.

First, the bug when connecting the tri-couplers only happens on one specific leg of the main tri-coupler. The main tri-coupler is the one in the center. In default view, it is the leftmost leg at the back. The bug is a little difficult to recreate, since the chance only presents itself for a split second. If you fail once, move the mouse cursor away then try again. You should be able to do this after a few tries.

Second, to install tanks to the main tri-coupler, simply launch the unfinished spacecraft, and return to the vehicle assembly screen. You will notice that you now have the capability to add to the main tri-coupler.

I hope that helps.

If anybody has difficulty following this guide, just download the spacecraft above and modify it to your liking. (You may have to register to the forums if you cannot find the download link at the bottom of the first post.)

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GUYS, SEARCH 'nuclear engine' ITS POWEWFUL!!

But I don't want mods. I think you're missing the entire point of these designs.

Design Update: I'm currently working on a ship that implements some design techniques (Exploits) from multiple ships.

I've decided to use a quadruple tri-coupler spiral (QTCS) from The Rattle with Jeb's flying fuel tanks (JFFT)

I also incorporated a brand spanking new exploit I recently discovered. I'm having trouble making a video though, since this is the first time I've ever done a gameplay video. The video is jerky, and the UI flickers a lot.

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