UmbralRaptor

\o/ As far as fuel goes, it's frighteningly easy to overbuild a rocket without getting useful delta-v.

Erm, you can hit escape velocity with a relatively small rocket using only stock parts...

Or an older desktop. *downloads*

Outwards? Not without hitting the tower. A second 'stage' of those sorts of engines/tanks separated by decouplers seems to give me structural/strength issues when under thrust (but this might be avoidable with careful throttling). Also, it makes my system cry.edit: Structural issues are solvable. Stability is iffy, though.

A better designer/pilot should be able to get it into orbit. This is the best that I've done so far: The design in VAB. Those are 8 of NovaSilisko's HH-77 insulated fuel tanks feeding 8 of Sunday Punch's K2-X medium liquid engines. This thing was flown straight up at full throttle, because with these parts, I get a slideshow on my Pentium 4. =/ At burnout: And a bit after apokee: Unfortunately, where to go from here is not obvious. Using the higher Isp NERVA engines gives me stability problems part way up (would more/larger SAS solve this without excessive weight?). The tanks don't seem to allow vertical fuel transfer, so stacking is out. Strapping additional engines onto the size will cause collisions with the tower. Using the lower attachment point is problematic, as I now have enough weight to tend to break anything on there on the pad...

This is annoying. If I could keep my rocket stable, I could probably do this with stock parts. *goes to check out Silisko's and SundayPunch's parts*

The probe lives? :hailprobe:

sqrt(2GM/r), or ~1.4*(circular) orbital speed. (G is the gravitational constant, M is the mass of what you're orbiting/want to escape from, and r is how far away from it you currently are)