Mars-Bound Hokie

El Kerman was at the VAB waiting for the elevator doors to shut when some hot new intern ran inside. He tried to flirt with her, but he had an undiagnosed heart condition which left him extremely vulnerable to heart attacks. The intern thought he had just fainted from shyness and would get up soon, leaving him in the elevator after she got off. Ten minutes later, the janitor was entering the elevator when he saw El's lifeless body. He called for help and tried to use the defibrillator, but it was no use. El Kerman was dead on arrival. As a result, the KSP administration unanimously voted for a new policy that mandated calling for help for any unconscious kerbal found on premises that were not sleeping areas - even if it's a mere faint. Despite Mortimer Kerman's reluctance, they had also agreed to offer free health screenings for non-kerbalnaut personnel to see who would be predisposed to collapsing for any reason - especially from heart conditions. Martin Kerman will die from an osprey crash

Johnny Kerman was mining for diamonds in the caves underneath his new farm. To clear some rock in his path, he used his iron pickaxe to make a crack small enough for him to place a bomb inside. However, due to his dyslexia, he set the timer to 1 SECOND when he thought it would be 1 minute. He was also dumb enough to place his pickaxe right next to the rock. As soon as Johnny started the timer, he started to walk away. Much to his surprise, the bomb exploded and the force of the blast sent his pickaxe flying right at him. Less than five minutes later, his wife Betsy came running into the mines to check out the noise. After she cleared some of the rubble, she found Johnny dead with a pickaxe in his back. The autopsy showed that his cause of death was exsanguination from the puncture wound - and that the damage the body sustained from the rubble was actually postmortem. Trevor Kerman will get hit by a school bus.

Yes, so long as you can prove it can be done.

Frodo and Samwise Kerman, along with the rest of the Fellowship of the Jewels had just stolen Gollum's cursed jewelry in an epic heist. Instead of going with the Fellowship on foot to the top of Mount Doomsday, they decided to just rent a small plane and just drop the jewels from there. Unbeknownst to them, Gollum had snuck aboard their aircraft. Seconds before the plane arrived at the drop zone, Gollum attacked Frodo and tried to reclaim his jewelry. During their struggle, they inadvertently opened the doors and caused the plane to tip over. Frodo held on for dear life while the jewels fell out. Cursed by his greed, Gollum dove out of the plane in an attempt to save it. In his haste, Gollum forgot to strap a parachute on before jumping. As a result, he and his jewels plummeted to their doom in the lava pool on the top of Mount Doomsday. Homland Kerman will die from a Compound S overdose

I am. Let's see pictures of it, then.

I guess that means RTGs are out of the question, then.

Oh, great. Looks like I'll have to put posting spacecraft on hold until the problem's fixed.

I built something like that two years ago. It was not VTOL, but rather a spaceplane-carried spaceplane. The Lazybird dropping off its cargo, a three-man interplanetary mining-capable spaceplane, after achieving LKO. No more stopping at Minmus to refuel. After the main spaceplane is dropped off in LKO, the unmanned carrier flies back to the KSC. The craft file and usage instructions can be found here: https://kerbalx.com/Mars-Bound_Hokie/Lazybird It took me countless hours and prototypes to finally get a prototype that works. So, in a way, although not VTOL, I made an airborne aircraft carrier.

While Elonski Kerman is busy taking over Chirper, YSpace has been forced to take some minor budget cuts. As such, its engineers in the Relay Web project have been tasked with designing a more efficient way to carry its small relays into orbit. A few days later, they agreed on testing spacecraft that can carry two or more relays at the same time. Here are the rules for this interesting challenge: (BARE MINIMUM) Your craft has to carry two or more relays to LKO Relays being of identical design not required, but highly recommended Bonus points if you can get your carrier higher than that Each relay has to have at least 2 G relay power All relays have to be unmanned. The delivery craft can go either way BEWARE: if you choose to have any kerbals pilot it, you have to return all of them alive after all relays are deployed No damage can be sustained to either the relay or the delivery craft upon deployment. Not even the solar panels (IF YOU PLAN ON RETURNING THE DELIVERY CRAFT) all your relays must be deployed If not, you can ignore this You will be placed in separate divisions based on whether your entire craft has: Simple Tastes - ALL STOCK PARTS, NO DLC At least no mods that come with additional parts Spice Things Up - DLCs INCLUDED, BUT NO MODS Free-for-all - MODS You can submit as many entries as you want, but only your best entries will be considered for each division (OBVIOUSLY) Pictures/video of your performance to be considered Scoring Format RELAY QUANTITY: +10 points for every relay past 2 (baseline: 20 points) e.g. for a 16-relay spacecraft, that's (20 baseline points) + [(16 relays - 2 baseline = 14 additional) * (10 points each) = 140)] = 160 points If you can carry 10 or more relays at once, that would be awesome SPACECRAFT REUSABILITY: 75 points if you use a spaceplane AND can (obviously) land the emptied craft in one piece 50 points if you take off the rocket from the launch pad AND can return it to Kerbin's surface + 15 point bonus if you manage to not damage it during re-entry and landing Fairings deployed don't count when it comes to assessing damages, as they were planned If you can take it to another celestial body's orbit and return the emptied craft to Kerbin's surface, that would be VERY awesome No additional points if returning the spacecraft is not possible PERFORMANCE: 25 points - Can only take the craft up to LKO before deploying the individual relays 30 points - Can take it up to Minmus orbit 35 points - Can take it up to the Mun's orbit If you can do that, then you can do Minmus just as easily 70 points - Can put the relay carrier in orbit of another celestial body OUTSIDE OF KERBIN'S SOI before deploying them e.g. if you want to start a relay web over Ike, send your delivery craft to that rock before deploying them one-by-one in various orbits PRICE: 30 points if price<$100K 20 points if $100K=<price<=$400K 15 points if price>$400K AUTOMATIC DISQUALIFICATION IF ANYONE DIES OR GETS STRANDED EVERYONE RETURNS ALIVE I'll start us off with my entry, a relay carrier with 16 individually-named xenon-propelled 2G relays https://kerbalx.com/Mars-Bound_Hokie/Multi-Satellite-Carrier-16-pack Have fun, everybody. I can't wait to see what you all come up with.

"This aircraft is crude, but it should be adequate to pass off as a replica of the Wright flyer." In other words, yes it qualifies. Impressive work with making it all-stock and non-DLC, by the way. I never saw that coming. Feel free to write your name in the checklist.

While I was walking through the National Museum of the United States Air Force last Saturday, I was reminded of all the KSP replicas of those same aircraft. Some of them looked like they can be done with pure stock parts and no DLCs, while others (mostly the older ones) need mods that come with more parts. So, I started this thread for everyone to showcase their replicas of the aircraft that the four large hangars (plus the Missile Gallery) have on display. The guidelines for this showcase thread are simple: You are free to use any and all parts necessary, including ones that come in DLCs and mods. Vehicle has to be functional. Which means pictures/video of the craft in action. Similar performance stats are a plus. Vehicle has to look as close as possible to whatever real-life craft you're trying to copy. Therefore, it is highly recommended that you have photographs to reference. Build something not yet claimed on the checklist (link below) first. If you want to show something that's already been showcased on this thread, fine - but you don't get credit for it. I don't care if you built the craft 7 minutes or 7 years ago, so long as it's yours. If you have an old stash of aircraft replicas that you're willing to showcase (and can work), great. Weaponry (e.g. guns, bombs, missiles) not necessary, although I won't object to them either. If the original aircraft was manned, so is your replica. If the original aircraft was unmanned, so is your replica. I won't object to a probe core for your manned aircraft if it doesn't deviate too much from the aesthetic, so long as you include the appropriate crew module/s. You don't need to match the passenger/crew capacity of your original aircraft, so long as your replica comes close to looking like its real-life counterpart AND it's functional. e.g. if you use one or more Mk. 3 Passenger Modules for an Air Force One variant, as long as your aircraft makes a convincing replica I don't mind you exceeding or falling behind its real-life counterpart's passenger capacity. Those things weren't designed for carrying a lot of people anyway; just provide comfort for the president and his staff. (SIDE NOTE) Whoever builds the Douglas VC-54C "Skymaster," I'm not requiring you to install an elevator in the back to load polio-stricken passengers in and out. If you do and the plane still flies smoothly, even better. The one housed in the museum was designed specifically to transport then-president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who needed a wheelchair. Craft files a plus. Below is the link for the replica checklist: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tA9IGsSCQIuTFjw9eNHYcgv8JboCxKiAy9ep5-nflR0/edit?usp=sharing Here are the instructions on how to use it: Pick an aircraft that has not already been built Like I said earlier, if you want to build something that's already been done here, don't steal credit from the original kerbalnaut Once you're done, write: Column D: Your KSP Forum name Column E: The link to the specific forum post showcasing your replica/s It is acceptable to put more than one craft in the same post. Just leave a link for everyone to find it. Column F: Whatever DLCs you used to make the replica If this doesn't apply to that specific craft, leave it blank Column G: Whatever (parts) mods you used to make the replica If this doesn't apply to that specific craft, leave it blank Column H: (IF YOU WANT TO) Additional notes that other readers may find interesting Please don't modify someone else's notes. If you want to debate/talk to someone about their craft, don't do it on the spreadsheet. Source for my list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_at_the_National_Museum_of_the_United_States_Air_Force I'll start us off with my favorite, the SR-71 Blackbird. The SR-71 Blackbird on display in the SPH Picture taken February 2020. Ted Kerman enjoying himself flying at high altitudes at a speed higher than the aircraft's real-life counterpart. There you have it, folks. Have fun, and I can't wait to see what you got.

My Poseidon Mk. IV won't qualify since it falls below the minimum passenger requirement, but it has a cabin ejection system in case a safe landing (hopefully on Kerbin) is not possible. Below is a picture of a test run of the Poseidon's cabin ejection system. The Poseidon had a nose job done (as it got a more heat-resistant nose cone) after this picture was taken, but the ejection system still works Is this the kind of "passenger jet escape system" that you're talking about for the challenge? If so, then it shouldn't be too hard to construct an aircraft that can eject the crewed module and land safely. The Poseidon was designed specifically to be a self-mining SSTO to Laythe, so how hard can it be to slap a larger passenger module on an aircraft that doesn't have so many moving parts? Also, I have a couple of questions regarding the challenge rules: Does this mean I have to land the aircraft on water in one piece - or be able to take off from it again? If so, then I'm basically screwed. If you only need the passenger module to be intact, I guess I'm fine. I'm pretty sure I've mastered landing on any terrain. After all, I've landed on the surface of Laythe countless times. So, does that mean I have to: Take off from KSC Land at the island airfield Take off from the island airfield Land at the KSC

Questions: Are we talking about four kerbals in the same craft, or are they spread out? From which celestial body's orbit do you need to rescue your kerbals from (which planet/moon)? What are the (general) characteristics of the orbit/s? Polar? Prograde/retrograde? I looked through my KerbalX for spacecraft that could rescue four or more kerbals from orbit, and found the Poseidon Mk. IV Craft file: https://kerbalx.com/Mars-Bound_Hokie/Poseidon-Mk-IV-NO-MODS If it can fly to Laythe and back, it can rescue your stranded friends from LKO. The rest of the craft that could carry a minimum of four people to AND from Kerbin's surface were: A spaceplane-launched relay. Unless you also want to deploy a small orbital relay antenna somewhere, I don't recommend using this. It can ONLY carry four people. A docking-capable variant of the Poseidon. What do you think?

I know it's late, but if you want to reduce the overall funds expended, I recommend learning the ways of the spaceplane. If you do it right, you can get the entire vehicle back along with your crew and data. And if you think building regular spaceplanes is a hard, wait until you meet Duna. The atmosphere alone provides two big hurdles you need to overcome: You can't use air-breathing engines on that planet. Which means that you'll have to use rocket engines that will bring your Duna TWR to over 1 when you enter the atmosphere. This is also crucial when you decide to leave Duna. If you use rapiers on your craft, you still need to have enough fuel to make it to Kerbin - or at least your next refueling stop. It's significantly thinner than on Kerbin. Flying a plane on Duna is nothing like flying on on Kerbin or Laythe. Apart from not using air-breathing engines, you can't make turns as well and you have to be quite close to the ground before you can deploy any parachutes. Fortunately, I unlocked the secret two years ago. Below is a picture of the spaceplane I use for Duna missions, the Dirtblood. Craft file: https://kerbalx.com/Mars-Bound_Hokie/Dirtblood After you get this bad boy into LKO, you need to land on Minmus to refuel yourself before you fly anywhere else. Those two NERV engines take up a decent amount of fuel, but it's a small price to pay for a non-rapier TWR of over 1 on Duna. I highly recommend you have an engineer on board to speed up fueling - or repair stuff, now that repair kits are out.* If you have a good enough relay network, you won't need a pilot for this. I haven't updated this craft in about two years. Feel free to try it out and tell me what you think.

It would be interesting to see Lightyear in his pre-academy days, as well as what he did for Star Command before Darkmatter faked his death. Too bad the 2000 movie was direct-to-video. It totally deserved to be in theaters when it came out.