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The K Prize - 100% reusable spaceplane to orbit and back


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Thanks Camaron.

I am assuming you completed the mission with a safe landing sumrex.

panzer1b your album is not linking, cant see what you have done.

SumGuy, what a great plane and video, thanks for sharing. Unfortunately in the video Constellation lost a wing tip on landing because of problems with drifting to the side (because the plane wasn't level fyi) so I have linked it as a gatecrasher so people can see the video, but to win the K-Prize you have to land without breaking anything ! Sorry ;) Also I need tonnage for the maximalist record check and if you have done it successfully without losing any parts (but not on video) then say so and I can give you a K-Prize link as well as or instead of the gatecrasher and you can decide if you want the gatecrasher link removed.

Columbia, the mission is running and anyone who contributes something for others to view gets a link one way or another. This last update took a while because my ISP decided to "fix" my internet connections signla to noise ratio which for some reason took 4 days during which I had no internets. Imagine my suffering if you dare (actually it was quite nice and peaceful).

Congratulations to ...

sumrex with Jabby.

Deutherius Advanced Pilot Precision Award 1stClass, Kosmokerbal Commendation (Minmus) and Utilitarial Commendation x2 (Minmus, KTO) with Garrad Mk1-C.

Pamynx Advanced pilot precision award 1stClass with Icarus.

Thrain Utilitarial Commendation, Advanced Pilot Precision Award with X-Wing.

Speeding Mullet Astrokerbal Distinction (Minmus & Mun), Utilitarial Commendation (Minmus), Advanced Pilot Precision Award with Dinklestein.

Joshwoo69 with Woot.

for completing the K-Prize successfully. Thankyou all for your mission reports and welcome to the K-Prize party guest list, aka the roll of honour. btw I took certain liberties with the names for Speeding Mullet's and Joshwoo69's crafts, hope that is OK, please provide alternatives if you prefer. Also Speeding Mullet FYI the Ex~ prefixes only apply outside Kerbins SOI, hope you're not too disappointed! Though the Minmus Mün double is definitely a noteworthy achievement, hence the summary in brackets, hope that is OK.

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Here is my entry, a bare-bones (who needs a cockpit?), single-engine craft capable of taking one Kerbal to LKO and bringing him back again.

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The pilot was Patvin Kerman. The craft is "Golf II". All stock (except for the Kerbal Engineer part). The decoupler behind the command seat and parachute on the front form the emergency escape system, thankfully not needed on this mission.

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SSTO, and to the Mun. Didn't get back because I crashed it... Refining design and will try again. Fairly minimalistic and looks really cool IMO.

http://imgur.com/a/6tYm9

Edit: Ok, getting frustrated now... How do you embed an imgur gallery?

Check these out.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/101227-How-do-you-embed-an-Imgur-album-on-the-forums

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/36010-Introducing-the-Ability-to-Embed-Imgur-Albums

Edited by bdito
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My first forum post! WOOO!

Anyway, here's the Kultralight. 1.687t, and I'm certain a better designer/pilot could cut it down even more. My flight profile to orbit was crap, and then seriously overshot the runway, and just baaaarely made it back.

Basically a redesign of Mesklin's 'Brynhildr.' On a fun note, its the first SSTO I've ever successfully flown to space and landed without cheats :)

I think Mesklin should keep the lightest title, especially since he did it with a Kerbal.

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Hello, this is my first entry, so I apologize if I missed any details. This is a stock SSTO spaceplane, but I have MechJeb running for telemetry... I specifically disabled all of MechJebs "helpers" such as intake-management and flameout-prevention to do the run here with the screenshots. If that crosses a line let me know and I'll retry; thanks!

Pre-launch, the vessel is 10.7 T of mass which includes several science tools, solar panels, a docking port and RCS controllers for extended out-of-atmosphere (OOA) experiences. Circular orbit established >100k with >500 Dv left in the rockets, and plenty of liquid fuel for atmospheric maneuvers. Manually landed safely at KSC after one orbit with fuel to spare. MET 46 minutes.

2015-03-08_00006.jpg

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2015-03-08_00024.jpg2015-03-08_00038.jpg

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I don't know if I posted my earlier SSTO (s) in this, HUGE thread, but here's the family of SSTO's I am currently using to ferry stuff from KSP to a stable 120k orbit. They can reach higher orbits, of course, but I am not aiming yet for that mission profile.

The first one does not really have enough wing surface to reach orbit with the tanks full, but the other ones can manage just fine

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My first SSTO, a few versions back, was based on this little spaceplane, replacing the liquid fuel tank with a small rocket tank and adding a couple of Rockomax 24-77 small radial engines.

What you see in the picture is an accidental sub-orbital hop, but the periapsis was above 30k, using only an air breathing engine:

0zhxO1L.png

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OK, planning on trying this, but then I need to prepare my install :P

So no NEAR/FAR, or using engines/wings that are not stock.

I am however allowed to use non-stock scanners (SCANsat) and solar panels, guns and the like though?

And Karbonite, it may be a little unfair though so I think I will avoid it (Possibly include it on a detachable planetary lander/station part though)

Is that about it? Sound good? I can otherwise use mods?

...I may have fogotten andused modded engines on the module I'm dropping to the station. That's passable no? Actual craft wont touch them.

Edited by Aerolfos
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It took me a couple nights but I finally made it into the K - Prize Challenge. No special Kudos, just basic completion. I nearly ran out of fuel and it took me nearly 4 hours ingame time to air break enough to get out of orbit. 55173C2E6973ED5F3F0F8C6CC8EA742FD3CE61F125E3C339BD3664A660C2DFB74C93403AEDA9A425

Edited by rose4100
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RevanCorana, thanks for your screenshots, I like your version of Skylon, did the satellite launch mission land and complete the K-Prize successfully? The interesting rotating gif looks like the launch rather than a landing and you didn't otherwise state the mission was completed. If not you can have a gatecrasher link in the OP.

Coga19000 when you say you are going for "1st Class Pilot Precision and Utilitarial Commendation with the Chariot" did you actually get where you were going? the Imgur screenies only show Utilitarial and no landing and no statement visible that you had accomplished the mission. Please clarify if you did or whether you would like a gatecrasher link.

Ar180shooter, thanks for your gatecrasher, hope you like the quip!

Brandano, thanks for the screenies of your interesting designs, if you complete the mission or tried and failed say so and you can have a link on the OP.

Aerolfos, transporting modded payloads is permissable as long as the rules are followed.

Congratulations to...

mdkendall Advanced Pilot Precision Award with Golf II Orbiter.

WolfHealr Advanced Pilot Precision Award with Kultralight.

JackDraak Advanced Pilot Precision Award with Firebird.

rose4100 with Blackbird.

...for completing the K-Prize mission. Thanks for your mission reports and welcome to the K-Prize party guest list aka roll of honour.

JackDraak, Mechjeb is fine and I made up a name for the craft as I didn't see one, let me know if you would prefer another.

Edited by boolybooly
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Gad I forgot to show my Jabby plane made it back last time. Here's good ol Calcal providing a new set of pics. Sorry for having to make a duplicate post for the proof.

ClW5rAf.jpg

S7izSyh.png

I could use the remaining fuel to circularize, but his perigee is in orbit and I don't feel like a long RCS burn. :)

h0K8mAE.png

Making a final dash back to KSP

49PvNLT.jpg

rSnWaXu.jpg

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Edited by sumrex
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Huh, I realized that my latest two missions both qualify for the K-prize.

I claim Advanced Pilot Proficiency medal and Utilitarian Commendation for both. The Iolani 1B from Mission 9 could also claim the docking APPM, but that one is still in orbit, serving as emergency lifeboat.

The Iolani 1A

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The Iolani 1A/B

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Read my AAR thread for more.

Btw, I think the Kudos list should be reworked. For example, the altitudinalist one is plain obsolete with SSTOs visiting other SOIs. I propose to add kudos for a polar/retrograde orbit and more distinction between the APPMs for docking and landing on the runway.

Edited by Redhaze
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Here's my ship, "The Lead Balloon Project":

pagsEN1.png

Full album: https://imgur.com/a/Eviei

100% stock, requested achievements:

1. Advanced pilot precision award

2. Utilitarial Commendation

I'll be taking the ship up again some time soon to do a orbital dock since there was some spare fuel and plenty of RCS mono-propellant leftover.

This was my first challenge attempt and it's taken me some time. Credit to many others in this thread for ideas and tips which have been invaluable.

I did take screenshots inside the SPH showing stats if people are interested. I also did get full funds back, and Lemwell was promoted to level 2 but I didn't remember to take screenshots of the recovery pages.

Edited by Ceq Lysander
Updated with more info
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I'm applying for the K-prize challenge with my trusty servant, "Seagull" (although it resembles more of a bumblebee, I couldn't name it after the great Autobot).

Seagull is almost 100% stock, only my robotic arms are built from mods and the landing gear is TweakScaled but I can easily take out the payload, re-scale the landing gear and post the .craft file here and non-modders would be able to use it.

In this particular mission, it's ferrying engines to my "Jool-5"-ship and the specs are.

Mass at launch: 125.743 tons

Cost at launch: 381794 funds

Engines: 12 Turbo-jets + 1 Skipper

Intakes: 4 intakes per Turbo-jet = 48 RAMs

Payload incl. robotic arms: 12.805 tons

Instead of screenshots, I'm posting a video of the entire mission in 8 times regular speed. The video is cut 2 times: When achieving orbit, it cuts to when I'm at closest approach and begins the docking procedure and the second time it cuts out when night falls and comes back when the sun rises. No cheats, as can be seen by comparing numbers in the "Kerbal Engineer"-window.

I got 100% funds back when landed and it added up to 337652 funds and that means the total difference in funds was 44142. The payload of 4 LV-Ns, decouplers and docking ports costs 38640 funds and that means that the total cost for getting that payload up to orbit and assembled was 5502 funds. I love my SSTO!! :)

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I've had the game for a couple of weeks now, and finally managed to make an SSTO space plane. Imgur doesn't want to embed for me so I'll post a link http://imgur.com/a/jf7aj

Normally I'd decouple the Skipper rocket engine from the plane to re-balance it during re-entry (with chutes attached so it can be recovered), but as that wasn't allowed for this challenge I removed the decoupler, fuel line, and extra chutes. Made the plane spin out of control during re-entry when I pulled out of the dive, but that's what the emergency chutes are for :D. Managed to put her down in the mountain range that's next to the Space center, you can see the reticle for the little buggy I leave out next to it so I can target the space center when I need too.

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Congratulations to ...

sumrex Advanced Pilot Precision Award with Jabby.

Redhaze Utilitarial Commendation, Advanced Pilot Precision Award with Iolani 1A.

- Utilitarial Commendation, Pilot Proficiency Medal with Iolani 1A/B.

Fenya Expeditionary Utilitarial Distinction (Duna), Advanced Pilot Precision Award with Cargo Plane 17B (M2).

Ceq Lysander Utilitarial Commendation, Advanced Pilot Precision Award with The Lead Balloon Project.

Prillmeister Utilitarial Commendation, Advanced Pilot Precision Award 1st Class with Seagull (video).

Invisifly2 with Speedy Space Skipper MkIII.

... for successfully completing the K-Prize mission and thankyou all for your mission and build reports.

Prillmeisters robotic arm cargo delivery was an interesting innovation and completely within the rules as far as I can tell.

Thanks for your suggestion Redhaze, you are right about the Altitunalist goal being from a previous version and I have updated it so that it applies to anyone able to take a craft beyond Eeloos orbit... and bring it back successfully!

Sorry about your landing Gravaar. It was an ambitious mission and deserves a link among the gatecrashers, hope you like the quip :) better luck next time.

g00bd0g I have added your missions below and improvised a name for your ship, let me know if you have a better one. Congratulations on completing the K-Prize and welcome to the party guest list roll of honour.

Edited by boolybooly
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I completed the challenge twice in one flight.

I made it to 120k orbit.

Docked with my space station.

Delivered cargo consisting of a docking port jr to regular adapter.

Landed on the runway.

Without refueling, I took off again, made it to a 72k orbit, maybe could have gone to 120k and docked again but I didn't want to risk it.

Landed on runway.

All with fuel to spare...

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