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SSTO to Minmus needed


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I've finally got a base on Minmus that is generating LfO+Ox. So now I'm looking to be able to get from Kerbin to Minmus, land and refuel, and fly back to Kerbin.

Anyone have an SSTO design that is able to do this? I completely suck at plane design.

 

Thanks!

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Who says it has to be a plane?  You could do a rocket SSTO, however, these are horridly impractical.  You're best bet in this situation is to have a refueling station in Minmus Oribt, build a fuel transfer vessel designed to go from Minmus to a refueling station in LKO, and back, build an interplanetary craft.  dock it to the LKO refueling station, and then go interplanetary with full tanks.

 

To answer your question however, try this design:
 

 

Edited by Taki117
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35 minutes ago, Taki117 said:

To answer your question however, try this design:

 

Unfortunately that seems to be pre-1.0, so new aero changes all that. Also, I was hoping someone actually had a file I could use...

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9 hours ago, ibanix said:

I've finally got a base on Minmus that is generating LfO+Ox. So now I'm looking to be able to get from Kerbin to Minmus, land and refuel, and fly back to Kerbin.

Anyone have an SSTO design that is able to do this? I completely suck at plane design.

 

Thanks!

20160412202320_1_zpspirhnsei.jpg

 

I'd be happy for someone to try out my Penta Star design.   I'm linking the bare bones version so it doesn't have any kind of docking port currently, but it has two large empty mark 2 cargo bays so you could probably just put an inline clamp-o-tron in there or something.   BTW It doesn't need to refuel at all to fly loads to minmus and back, if they're bulky but fairly light.   Refuelling is needed for missions to Duna and Laythe.

Download the CRAFT file from the Microsoft Onedrive link here..

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=7003A8806D8A6B2C!713&authkey=!AKArjxC_7Z_h9kk&ithint=file%2ccraft

I have not tested the design without Kerbal Joint Reinforcement, I don't think it would end well, due to having 4 sets of wings attached to each other.

Also,  you are going to want TacFuelBalancer.   At the start of each flight, click on the Liquid Fuel tab and press the "Balance All" button.   The jet engines drain evenly from every tank but the NERVs are classed as rockets and won't use any of the fuel in the wings (ie 90% of it) unless you run a mess of ducts everywhere.  This mod takes care of that problem, makes sure the feeder tanks never run dry.

That forum post contains advice on how I think it should be flown.   Besta luck...

Edited by AeroGav
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I'd recommend the fuel depot be in Kerbin orbit ( 150km perhaps ) - that way full tankers from Minmus can drop down the gravity well and aerobrake, and empty ones have a much easier time getting back to Minmus. If you want to save fuel costs for  KSC launches - which I assume is why you wanted a spaceplane - then your problem becomes "getting an empty tanker craft to LKO" which is about ~1000dV and a vertical touchdown less of a problem.

Apparently I've built a spaceplane that'll get to Minmus & back without refuelling with ~100 passengers, but I don't think that's any actual practical use :P

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This should work:

WX5qthB.png

It is specifically designed to go to Minmus with enough margin to actually exit Kerbin's SOI on the way back home.

 

Rune. Because such a mission nets lvl3 experience in a single flight.

Edited by Rune
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On 4/19/2016 at 3:10 PM, Rune said:

This should work:

 

 

This thing looks amazing, but I think I need directions on ascent, because I keep getting to about 30km at Mach 3, running the closed-cycle and once the oxidizer is run out, the LN isn't enough to get me to orbit.

Edited by ibanix
derp
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21 hours ago, max_creative said:

Ever try @Matt Lowne's sstos? There here. He made an Eeloo ssto!

Hey thanks for the mention! Super shameless plug, but if you're interested in learning I made a tutorial for building (practical) Minmus SSTOs

 

 

 

Edited by Matt Lowne
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22 hours ago, ibanix said:

This thing looks amazing, but I think I need directions on ascent, because I keep getting to about 30km at Mach 3, running the closed-cycle and once the oxidizer is run out, the LN isn't enough to get me to orbit.

I left you some notes on its thread, hope you have more luck next time around.

On another note, if the requirement is just to go to Minmus, this might also qualify, ~1.5km/s on LKO. And perfectly flown, you might even get back.

fSC5HK9.png

 

Rune. If push come to shove, you can do the landing(s) on the EVA pack, right?

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