Get to space only with SRBs! (Now with re-usability!)

[Grand Ship Builder]

Hello everyone! Today I decided to make a challenge myself, because I couldn't get my mind out of it.
 

The challenge is currently open, but suggestions are also open as well.

The challenge:

Get to space only using SRBs.

Points:

• Expendable = 100 points: qzgy, swjr-swis, Roboslacker,
• Semi re-usable = 500 points:
• Fully re-usable = 1000 points: sevenperforce,
• Each parachute landing = 100 points: sevenperforce x 3,
• Each runway landing = 300 points: 
• Each vertical landing within the KSC = 300 points
• Each landing within visible range of the KSC = 200 points
• Each powered landing = 500 points: Roboslacker, sevenperforce x 2
• Functional Launch Escape System (Single Stage to Space allows LES) = 200 points: sevenperforce,
• Manned = 500: sevenperforce,
• Unmanned = 500: qzgy, roboslacker, sevenperforce, swjr-swis,
• Single booster = 300 points: swjr-swis, sevenperforce,
• Single stage to Space (LES doesn't count as stage) = 300 points: swjr-swis
• Reach an altitude of 0-69 kilometers = 100 points: qzgy, swjr-swis, Roboslacker, sevenperforce,
• Reach an altitude of 70-100 kilometers = 200 points: qzgy, swjr-swis, Roboslacker, sevenperforce,
• Reach an altitude of higher than 100 kilometers = 300 points: qzgy, swjr-swis, Roboslacker, sevenperforce, 
• Get to the Mun = 500 points: Roboslacker,
• Mun landing = 300 additional points: Roboslacker,
• Mun return = 200 additional points:
• Get to Minmus = 600 points:
• Minmus landing = 150 additional points:
• Minmus return = 200 additional points:
• Get to Duna = 1000 points:
• Land on Duna = 500 additional points:
• Duna return = 500 additional points:
• Jool Fly-by = 3000 points: qzgy
• Jool orbit = 3500 points:
• Jool return = 3000 additional points:
• More later. You can suggest how many points for a suggested unlisted achievement, or request to change one.

NOTES ARE IMPORTANT, READ THEM!

Notes:

1. Pretty much everything stacks.
2. Getting to a place simply means getting a little closer than visible range from it.
3. I have a really bad habit of changing how much points each milestone is worth.
4. I also have a really bad habit of changing the suggested amount of points by a lot.
5. You should list your estimated amount of milestones reached and overall score at the end of your post.
6. Videos are allowed.
7. Mods are allowed now, different class as usual.
8. I love craft files. Sometimes I want your designs for myself, so share them if you want!

 

The brave kerbals taking apart this challenge:

1. sevenperforce = 4600 points
2. qzgy = 4200 points
3. Roboslacker = 2000 points
4. swjr-swis = 1300 points
5. Natokerbal = 0 points, nothing yet.

The modded kerbals taking apart this challenge:

1. Nobody, = yet.

 

 

I don't know how to make a badge, let alone give someone one.

Edited September 1, 2017 by Grand Ship Builder

[Natokerbal]

Challenge Accepted I will try tomorrow. but for now I gotta sleep

[swjr-swis]

It has been done before, no reason it can't be done again:

Spoiler

https://imgur.com/a/7Q0pt

(posting the link since the new forum killed imgur albums again...)

78x171km orbit on one SRB (Kickback), expendable, reached over 100km: that woud be 110 points?

That challenge was a bit more strict, it asked for a single Kickback SRB only, so making LKO orbit is about as far as that went. But being allowed to use more SRBs, lots of things are possible .

Edited September 1, 2017 by swjr-swis
new forum eated the imgur album

[sevenperforce]

I'll do this.

[qzgy]

How about a Jool Flyby? 6000 points maybe?

Expendable launch system - 10 points.

Depending if the altitude things stack, my score is either 6220 (10+40+70+100+6000) or just 6110 (6000+100+10)

[roboslacker]

Thanks for the challenge.

This is my rocket

The first and second stages are for getting into orbit. The third and fourth are for getting to the mun.

The probe uses a combination of rockets and lithographing for the landing. The probe is a stayputnik, battery, small reaction wheel, and 4 surface mount anteanae.

Scoring;

Expendable, 1 powered landing, broke 100 km, landed on the mun

10+100+100+200+100

510 points

[sevenperforce]

Does it need to be stock or can I use Tweakscale?

[Grand Ship Builder]

8 hours ago, sevenperforce said:

Does it need to be stock or can I use Tweakscale?

You can, but that would make you modded. putting you in a different class.

Edited August 31, 2017 by Grand Ship Builder

[sevenperforce]

6 minutes ago, Grand Ship Builder said:

You can, but that would make you modded. putting you in a different class.

Tweakscale doesn't change any of the physics or physical capabilities of the engines.

[Grand Ship Builder]

4 minutes ago, sevenperforce said:

Tweakscale doesn't change any of the physics or physical capabilities of the engines.

From what I know, Tweakscale adds more fuel and presumably more thrust to SRBs. I'm feeling nice today, so i'll pass Tweakscale off as multiple boosters.

2x size = 2 boosters.

However, to keep things simple, you are only allowed to scale boosters 3x and in multiples of 2.

Edited August 31, 2017 by Grand Ship Builder

[sevenperforce]

6 minutes ago, Grand Ship Builder said:

From what I know, Tweakscale adds more fuel and presumably more thrust to SRBs. I'm feeling nice today, so i'll pass Tweakscale off as multiple boosters.

2x size = 2 boosters.

However, to keep things simple, you are only allowed to scale boosters 3x and in multiples of 2.

Tweakscale increases the size of each part but keeps TWR and Isp constant.

And that's fine. I actually wanted to use Tweakscale to make SRBs smaller, not bigger.

[Grand Ship Builder]

1 minute ago, sevenperforce said:

Tweakscale increases the size of each part but keeps TWR and Isp constant.

And that's fine. I actually wanted to use Tweakscale to make SRBs smaller, not bigger.

Okay. I'll have to think about it in the meantime.

[septemberWaves]

@Grand Ship Builder If I'm not mistaken, Tweakscale obeys the square-cube law for scaling parts, meaning that if you increase the size of a part by a factor of 2, its thrust (if an engine) will increase by 4, but its fuel (if a fuel tank) will increase by 8. Scaling up causes fuel quantity to increase faster than thrust, while scaling down causes fuel to decrease faster than thrust. What this means for solid rocket motors specifically is that, by scaling down a solid rocket motor, you can get a lot more thrust for the same amount of fuel.

On another note, I'm working on a rocket designed to complete this challenge in the 4x scale Kerbol system (meaning delta-v requirements are approximately doubled). It's reasonably-modded, but the parts are pretty much stock-balanced.

[Grand Ship Builder]

8 hours ago, eloquentJane said:

@Grand Ship Builder If I'm not mistaken, Tweakscale obeys the square-cube law for scaling parts, meaning that if you increase the size of a part by a factor of 2, its thrust (if an engine) will increase by 4, but its fuel (if a fuel tank) will increase by 8. Scaling up causes fuel quantity to increase faster than thrust, while scaling down causes fuel to decrease faster than thrust. What this means for solid rocket motors specifically is that, by scaling down a solid rocket motor, you can get a lot more thrust for the same amount of fuel.

On another note, I'm working on a rocket designed to complete this challenge in the 4x scale Kerbol system (meaning delta-v requirements are approximately doubled). It's reasonably-modded, but the parts are pretty much stock-balanced.

Unfortunately, to keep things simple, things like parts mods, physics-changing mods, aerodynamics-changing mods, parts-changing mods, and planet mods that change the stock planets are abolished. You can have parts mods, but not use them. Visual mods, auditory mods, information mods, and autopilot mods are fine, as long as they don't change the game's physics and aerodynamics. As long as it is completely possible in stock.

 

EDIT: Mods are allowed, just ignore that entire thing above and just pretend it's a joke.

Edited September 1, 2017 by Grand Ship Builder

[septemberWaves]

Well in that case I won't waste any more of my time on it.

[Grand Ship Builder]

Just now, eloquentJane said:

Well in that case I won't waste any more of my time on it.

Okay.

[sevenperforce]

Okay, here we go. Did it without Tweakscale just so there's no question of legitimacy. 

I present...the Fauxon 5!

This fully-reusable clone of the Falcon 5 rocket features five main engines on the booster and four main engines on the orbital stage, plus deorbit and landing engines on the capsule payload. The first stage executes a spectacular suicide-burn tail-first propulsive landing on a single solid landing rocket, touching down gently on landing legs, while the second stage deorbits itself using auxiliary motors and body-glides to a predetermined landing spot before landing on parachutes. The capsule deorbits itself and then lands propulsively, but carries an emergency parachute for less-than-nominal landings (or for launch aborts which expend its landing and deorbit motors).

One pair of second-stage engines is thrust-limited aggressively to provide a smooth, low-acceleration orbital injection (and to allow time to reach space before the burn ends). It carries enough auxiliary motor pairs to aid in circularization and provide orbit adjustments

A spry 148 tonnes is not bad for an all-solid orbital launcher, especially one that is fully reusable. As you can see, I placed several reaction wheels in the fairing section of the second stage. Both sets of SRBs have nose cones (connected at the bottom, rotated, and translated up) to reduce drag. The only expendable part in this whole stack is the payload adapter, which was really unavoidable. The capsule is drained of monopropellant but given an extra battery, since the SRBs have no alternators and won't recharge the batteries that run the reaction wheels.

Here is is on the pad! It launches from its own landing legs. The auxiliary motors on the first stage are angled out to prevent exhaust damage, and the guidance fins are just below the CoM at liftoff (but will be above the CoM of the empty first stage).

Launch and Abort Sequence:

Spoiler

Liftoff!

Landing legs up, nosing over immediately since my TWR is going to go up too fast to control, otherwise.

Launch abort test! Valentina is nervous about this but someone had to ride the capsule.

The abort motors rapidly push the capsule supersonic, away from the (theoretically) exploding booster, while the capsule's reaction wheels control the direction.

Will pop the emergency chute soon.

Emergency chute out!

Valentina is none the worse for wear.

Splashed down and just fine!

Nominal launch and first-stage recovery:

Spoiler

Relaunching.

Approaching first-stage burnout. As the first stage drops in mass, CoM moves forward, giving the winglets more control authority.

Burnout; separating stages.

First stage is recovered almost exactly like the Falcon 9.

Turning off the control authority for the winglets, because they'll be coming down tail-first and will screw everything up. Fortunately, with the upper stage and payload gone, the CoM is now lower than the winglets, so their drag will be helpful. I suppose I could lock them deployed and autorotate down but that seems overly complicated.

Opening the airbrakes to help maintain a tail-first entry.

The core engine only has about a third of its fuel. Should bring us right to 0 airspeed.

Not enough speed for re-entry heating.

Getting ready for the landing burn!

This took very careful timing.

Landing burn ignition!

Opening the landing legs. I'm going to splash down because I couldn't be bothered to build a barge and bring it out here, but you get the point.

Approaching 2 gees at the end of the landing burn.

If there was an ASDS here, the deck would be torched.

Burnout at almost exactly 0! Definitely within the allowances of the legs.

Firing half my aux engines to soften the landing.

Splashing down at <4 m/s.

And down!

Reaction wheels soften the rollover.

Final splashdown.

Recovered! Now, back to my orbital stage.

Orbital insertion:

Spoiler

Starting TWR is slightly under one gee because of thrust-limiting on the upper stage. This was necessary in order to follow a gentle gravity turn. Higher acceleration required Val to nose over really hard, which in turn is inefficient and still resulted in overly high apoapse, making circularization difficult or impossible.

Still nosing over a bit.

Nice gentle, flat ascent. I'm pretty streamlined so a little extra aerodrag is fine; I've already virtually eliminated gravity drag.

Different thrust limitations on each engine pair allowed for a nice thrust curve.

Just staying pointed at the horizon.

First engine pair burned out; now down to a nice smooth half-gee of acceleration.

The less I need for circularization with aux engines, the better.

Burnout with a nice high apoapse!

Warping around to circularize.

Firing a single pair of aux motors.

Circularized!

Upper stage recovery:

Spoiler

Upper stage in orbit.

Decoupled! I wanted to find a way to reuse everything, but there was no way to have two heat shields facing each other without a stack separator between them.

My batteries are supplemented by a pair of RTGs hidden inside the fairing, so I have plenty of electricity to run my reaction wheels. Flipped around to retrograde, firing six of my aux engines to deorbit my upper stage.

Definitely low enough to assure re-entry.

Just inside the atmosphere, burning off the rest of my aux motors to make the upper stage a bit lighter (it will slow me down too, but not by much).

Flipping back to prograde so the heat shield on the nose will take the brunt of re-entry.

All the aux motors at the back help keep the center of pressure far aft, so my reaction wheels don't have to work too hard.

Toasty!

This is the hottest it got. No overheat bar at all.

I'm going to target that little desert peninsula.

Nosing up to try and slow down more aggressively. Going to do this Shuttle-style.

Look at all that body lift!

Can I fly this brick down to a landing? I daresay I can.

Don't want to overshoot, so lemme see if I can bank left.

Through re-entry heating. My lift-to-drag ratio is going to go down, not up, so if I want to turn I've gotta do it fast.

A slight roll and a slight yaw alters my angle of attack, and I've got banking!

Banking even harder now.

Almost made it onto a good heading.

That should do it.

Chutes out!

Dropping more gently now.

Mains opened.

Hopefully the heat shield can take the impact.

Aaaand...

Made it!

Upper stage recovered.

Orbital activity, capsule re-entry and recovery:

Spoiler

Gonna do a quick EVA.

Yay!

Back in the capsule, doing the deorbit burn.

Should be enough for a nice gradual re-entry.

Very gentle heating really.

Coming over the KSC.

Ending re-entry heat.

So let's suppose we had a motor malfunction and needed to use landing engines for the deorbit. Never fear; we've got a backup chute!

Popping the chute.

Approach.

Splashdown!

See, that was easy! But on nominal landings, we can use the landing motors instead:

...though it is a little more hair-raising.

Steady as she goes...

Suicide burn time! Val doesn't mind the 5+ gees.

Almost down...

Burnout.

Splash!

Safe and sound, no parachute required!

That does it!

So, scoring.

• Fully re-usable: 100 points
• Each parachute landing: 30 x 3 = 120 points
• Each powered landing: 100 x 2 = 200 points
• Single booster: 100 points
• 0-69 km: 50 x 3 = 150 points
• 70-100 km: 70 x 2 = 140 points
• Over 100 km: 100 x 2 = 200 points
• Manned (suggested): 100 points
• Functioning LES (suggested): 200 points

(Suggested) total: 1,280

[Grand Ship Builder]

13 minutes ago, sevenperforce said:

So, scoring.

• Fully re-usable: 100 points
• Each parachute landing: 30 x 3 = 120 points
• Each powered landing: 100 x 2 = 200 points
• Single booster: 100 points
• 0-69 km: 50 x 3 = 150 points
• 70-100 km: 70 x 2 = 140 points
• Over 100 km: 100 x 2 = 200 points
• Manned (suggested): 100 points
• Functioning LES (suggested): 200 points

(Suggested) total: 1,280

Elon Musk would be proud of you.

[Grand Ship Builder]

1 hour ago, eloquentJane said:

Well in that case I won't waste any more of my time on it.

I finally decided. You can use mods now. Different class as usual.

[septemberWaves]

33 minutes ago, Grand Ship Builder said:

I finally decided. You can use mods now. Different class as usual.

Cool. I had started designing a rocket to land a payload on Duna, it should be interesting to finish it. Out of interest though, why change your mind?

[Grand Ship Builder]

Just now, eloquentJane said:

Cool. I had started designing a rocket to land a payload on Duna, it should be interesting to finish it. Out of interest though, why change your mind?

Because sometimes i'm stressed and grumpy and other times i'm calm and feeling generous. That was one of those times.

[sevenperforce]

1 hour ago, Grand Ship Builder said:

Elon Musk would be proud of you.

Why thank you.

If I may make a suggestion: you should also add bonus points for launching a spaceplane that deorbits itself, then glides to an unpowered, wheeled landing, Shuttle Style. Extra points for having a payload bay, for making a wheeled landing within sight of KSC, for making a wheeled landing on the KSC runway, and for making a wheeled landing on the dirt runway at the old airfield.

Not because I did that, but because spaceplane gliders are something I really suck at. 

Another thing on Tweakscale -- you should allow it on the unmodded leaderboard for everything other than the SRBs themselves. For example, if you want to use a Tweakscaled Mk3 cargo bay on a Mk1-sized spaceplane (like I did here), that's fine, but the SRBs used to launch it have to be 100% stock or you have to go to the mod leaderboard.