Teilnehmer

In my attempts, I used two Dawn engines at launch, and TWR was enough to ascend without lift. The idea with lift is interesting though. I should try a single-engine craft.

Here are my attempts.

I've created a challenge. Try it.

DUNA DAWN Ascend and reach a stable orbit from the surface of Duna using Dawn ion thrusters. Rules: Open the debug menu, go to Cheats → Set position and enter the coordinates of the deepest pit on the surface of Duna (elevation below 130 m above "sea level"): Lat: -5.94 Lon: -50.55 Use only stock or DLC parts. Use only Dawn ion thrusters for propulsion. No RCS translation, no cheaty tricks. Reach a stable orbit (Pe above 50 km). A craft with the lowest mass wins. Winners in different categories (manned/unmanned, single/multi-stage, energy sources used) will also be marked. I've made a couple of entries myself. I'll post them here a bit later.

That's unlikely. It's an equatorial orbit as said, The cam is above the pole—we can see the planet rotating around the central point.

This is not accurate. It's fairly easy to ascent from Duna using the ions. It's also possible for Laythe and Kerbin with some part clipping and a huge effort. On Eve, however, the ion engine's thrust is exactly 0, even on the top of its highest mountain. Only hacking the engine specs can help.

At 1:15, the animation is a bit inaccurate: The closest point of an orbit to the planet should be its periapsis which is opposite the apoapsis.

There are lots of asteroids in the Solar system. Some of them have weird shapes. How probable is it for an asteroid to demonstrate Dzhanibekov effect while spinning? Is there any evidence of such asteroids? If an asteroid has a suitable shape and has received a proper spin (after a collision or something), how long can it spin Dzhanibekov-style? As far as I understand, astronomers can detect the spin of an asteroid by observing the changes in its luminosity in time. Can Dzhanibekov effect be recognized by the pattern of luminosity changes? (E.g. patterns like ABCABCABCDCBACBACBADABCABCABC.)

Technically, an Imgur album is a video. With a very low variable framerate

Oops! I didn’t test it for different screen resolutions. That was really stupid! Here’s the fix: Version 1.12.3.1 Screen resolution fix.

Thanks a lot for pointing this out! I fixed the issue (I hope). Version 1.12.3.0 Docking to altimeter fixed. https://i.imgur.com/DXfoZ0Y.gif

Can a 235 ton craft be considered smol? https://kerbalx.com/Teilnehmer/Eves-Drop

Make a functional replica of this beauty. Please use Realism Overhaul and Real Solar System. Try to match the specifications as closely as possible Height 40 m Diameter 7 m Fairing Diameter 5 m Payload To LEO (reusable)  8 t Payload To LEO (expendable) 15 t Lift Off Mass 480 t Stage number: 2 Reusable first stage Propellant: Liquid Oxygen and Liquid methane I’m not sure if it’s possible to make reusable fairings. If not, expendable fairings are OK. Your replica should be able to reach orbit and land its first stage. You don’t have to do both things simultaneously. Sources Project page: https://www.rocketlabusa.com/launch/neutron/ Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_Lab_Neutron Presentation: News article: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/02/rocket-lab-reusable-neutron-rocket-update-competing-with-spacex.html Anything you find.

Version 1.12.2 Brazilian Portuguese translation by @Lisias.