NGTOne

With the recent discovery of planets other than Kerbin (and theories that there may even be planets orbiting other stars), the KSP administration has made the decision to construct a robust, re-usable colony ship infrastructure, to make interplanetary (and eventually extra-Kerbolar) colonization routine and efficient. To this end, they have commissioned YOU, the public at large, to design a large colony ship that meets the following requirements: 1. Capable of deploying the following colonial equipment to the destination body: a) A large colony base, with room aboard for at least 32 Kerbals. The colony should be landed manned. A set of outposts, each with room for at least 4 Kerbals. There should be no fewer than 4 of these outposts. The outposts should be landed manned. c) A set of manned rovers, each with room for at least 4 Kerbals. There should be no fewer than 4 of these rovers. Note that the rovers can be landed unmanned. d) A set of space stations, at orbital inclinations of 0, 45, 90, and 135. Each station should house no fewer than 8 crew members. e) Any other equipment that is deemed useful (Kethane refining equipment, mapping satellites, what have you). 2. Capable of travelling from Kerbin orbit to orbit over any planet or moon in the Kerbol system nonstop and returning to Kerbin orbit after dropping off the colonial equipment, without refuelling. 3. Capable of long-term operation (i.e. should have as little reliance on consumables as possible - for instance, using gyroscopic steering instead of RCS). 4. All colonists should be kept in a habitation block during transit - i.e. the colony equipment should not be used as habitation space during the journey. 5. Capable of unmanned return to Kerbin orbit, to pick up a new load of colonial equipment, and delivering this equipment to a different body. 6. Capable of deploying any piece of colonial equipment at any time - there should not be a requisite order for deploying equipment (e.g. "this piece deploys before this piece"). 7. Designed as a single, monolithic mission architecture (i.e. multiple flights to the target body should not be required to deliver all requisite equipment/fuel. Multiple flights to Kerbin orbit to assemble, fuel, and crew are OK, but only one craft should have to leave Kerbin's SOI). You are allowed to use any mods you like, so long as they are balanced. HyperEdit is not permitted (all components should be launched from the ground or built fairly on orbit). You are not restricted by budget or number of launches. In short, your assignment is to develop a re-usable colony ship that can deploy a whole colonial infrastructure in one go, and then do it again and again. As an example, I present the Grand Voyage-class colony ship: Post your colony ship pictures and mission reports below!

The KES Far Horizon (a Grand Voyage-class colony ship, more information here) on a mission to Dres. The first of its class, in orbit of Kerbin. Leaving Kerbin far behind on the way to Dres. Dres insertion burn, showing off the powerful engine array. The prefabricated colony base, loaded with 64 colonists, separates from its dock at the stern of the ship. The colony base, landed on the surface of Dres. Sunrise on the surface. So very far from home. One of the outposts, with a rover to go with it. The last piece of hardware to be deployed, one of the space stations, thrusts away from the ship. The habitation and mechanical blocks are clearly visible now that all the colonial equipment has been removed.

8 7.5m "Elder Goddess" rockets from the Gaby's Quick and Dirty Miscellania pack, in a single (OK, 1.5) stages. I couldn't do anything fancier with the stages, because Cthulhu attacked prototypes 1-4 IN THE VAB, and made parts "forget" they were attached to anything. This was the first prototype that I could get consistent launches out of without struts and fuel lines mysteriously vanishing between launches.

This ship represents an extension of the large-spacecraft design principles first developed for the Ministry of Improbable Spacecraft's Bright Future-class survey ship, to fulfil an expanded mission of colonization and exploration. Design Goal: A large, single-launch spacecraft capable of deploying a fully-developed colony infrastructure to a low-gravity body in one mission, including orbital stations, outposts, rovers, and crew. Intended for eventual interstellar missions, where multiple missions to deliver crucial colonial infrastructure might arrive in-system years apart (forcing undesirable delays in colonial deployment). It is then intended to be either abandoned, used as a space station core, or (where feasible) returned to Kerbin for re-use. Specifications: Mass: Takeoff mass: Approx. 7000 tons. 933 tons to Kerbin orbit, approx. 50% of which is colonial equipment. Payload: 1x 64-man prefabricated colony base 4x 4-man outpost 4x DEMV Mk2 rover 4x 12-man orbital station Crew: Normal complement of 128 (all colonists, ship is capable of autonomous operation), maximum capacity (with all payload modules occupied) of more than twice that. Crew normally resides in habitation block at bow of ship during transit, with colonial equipment kept vacant until orbit over target body is achieved. In an emergency, the colonial equipment can be used as lifeboats, and can be docked together to form a larger, though immobile, "life raft", allowing the colonists to hold out for later rescue. Engineering: 1x onboard nuclear reactor 96x control moment gyroscope, to provide maneuvering torque without requiring RCS 48x SM-FFR, for sustained deep-space operations. Development Notes: The Grand Voyage-class went through an extensive prototyping phase, with prototype 5 being the first successful design. Early designs had far more propulsion capacity, but the structural elements required to support these massive arrays of engines proved impossible to implement and launch, and yielded diminishing returns at any rate. The largest design problem was how to stow all of the requisite colonial equipment compactly and in a manner that was easy to deploy in no specific order, and without risking damage during launch, flight, or deployment. In this dilemma, the largest single problem was stowing the large prefabricated colony base in such a way that it was a) easy to deploy, not impeding regular operation during flight or deployment of other colonial elements, and c) not going to be destroyed by the incredible heat generated by the engines. To this end, it was mounted at the far aft of the ship, and the engines set on structural standoffs around it, such that it was protected from the hot exhaust. Orbital assembly of the spacecraft core was deemed impractical, due to the large concentration of gyroscopic control units in the aft section (which would have caused far too much rotational strain on the ship's spine without adequate reinforcement), and the precision maneuvers required to dock some of the elements, all of which lack RCS (especially the habitation block and colony base, which both have tight clearances around fragile elements). Album: KES Far Horizon on the launchpad. The KES Far Horizon, the first of its class, in orbit of Kerbin. KES Far Horizon, leaving Kerbin far behind on the way to Dres. Dres insertion burn, showing off the powerful engine array. The prefabricated colony base, loaded with 64 colonists, separates from its dock at the stern of the ship. The colony base, landed on the surface of Dres. Sunrise on the surface. So very far from home. One of the outposts, with a rover to go with it. The last piece of hardware to be deployed, one of the space stations, thrusts away from KES Far Horizon. The habitation and mechanical blocks are clearly visible now that all the colonial equipment has been removed. The end result of deploying all the equipment. The stations are orbiting at equatorial, 45, 90, and 135. The outposts and main colony were landed at various locations of scenic interest on the surface. KES Far Horizon herself can be seen orbiting to the far right (all equipment was deployed from an altitude of approximately 250 km). Downloads for this craft and other fine Ministry of Improbable Spacecraft products can be found here.

The launcher consisted of 9 Griffon XX 3.75m engines from KW Rocketry, in two asparagus stages. The ship itself clocks in at 287 tons. Can't remember how much the launcher comes in at. I used MechJeb in this thing specifically because I didn't have the patience to do maneuvers through the lag, especially since this thing is a bear to turn (does 180 degrees in almost exactly 60 seconds). My machine still performed reasonably well with it, though.

This vessel represents the Ministry of Improbable Spacecraft's first foray into large-vessel design and construction, and implements a number of new and novel techniques. It was designed to serve as a testbed for future large-vessel design principles, as well as the effects of long-term space habitation on large groups of Kerbals. The Ministry is very proud to present: The KES New Worlds, the first of the Bright Future-class planetary scientific survey vessels. Specifications: Payload: 12x Planetary probe drop pod - each pod contains one probe, with a full suite of scientific instruments. The pod itself is used as a deorbit motor, then discarded once the probe is on course to its target. Propulsion: 24x SM-FFR, for nearly infinite endurance, even on the longest of missions. Crew: Regular complement of 48 Kerbals. Occasionally used for deep-space rescue or retrieval due to its large capacity and extended range. 4 science labs, for analyzing the data sent back by the probes. Power: 1 onboard nuclear reactor, for producing as much power as a group of Kerbals could ever want. Design Goal: A large spacecraft capable of indefinite presence (and subsequent return to Kerbin from) anywhere in the Kerbol system, as well as detailed scientific analysis of any body it is orbiting. Also, a testbed for the long-term effects of space travel on large groups of Kerbals (for further development in colonization vessels), and for large-vessel construction techniques in general. Album: KES New Worlds in low Jool orbit to retrieve Jebediah and co. from their 7-year-mission aboard the Jool Orbital Science Station. And here, seen leaving Jool orbit, with all internal and running lights on. Downloads for this craft and other fine Ministry of Improbable Spacecraft products can be found here.