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Flying Rock Challenge

AHHans

By AHHans
in KSP1 Challenges & Mission ideas

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AHHans

AHHans

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gNY1OqD.png"On Kerbin even the rocks can fly!" (In the revelations by Johnpatmos Kerman)

With Jebediah being on his way to Jool, Tedford Kerman took the opportunity, grabbed an access rover, and drove out to Jeb's asteroid-to-aircraft conversion that is still parked close to the KSC. After careening wildly around the grasslands Tedford finally found the trick how to get this so-called aircraft into the air: put enough grease on the wheels so that you kind-of "fly" over the surface until you gather enough speed to take to the air. But even then he needed all his skill to keep the craft flying, never actually in the direction he pointed it, but flying. At least it managed a good clip when he opened up the throttle and set the props to high-speed flight. Back on the ground he thought:

"Hmmmm. I wonder if someone can do this better?"

CLExtI6.png

The challenge is to build an aircraft that uses an asteroid as it's main structural component. That's all. Well, it should be a "natural" asteroid, i.e. one you "found" in space, not something you added in the SPH.

Rules

  1. "Aircraft" means that it should be capable of - reasonably ;) - controlled flight, you should be able to fly it somewhere (e.g. the KSC), land it, and take off again.
    • I don't care if it is a plane with wings, a quadcopter, a VTOL that flies on jet thrust, or whatever.
    • It should be able of controlled (well, after a fashion) landings, just letting it fall at the end of some parachutes is not O.K.
      • Feel free to use the Kerbals parachutes as wings if you want.
      • Using parachutes to decelerate (or even land) during (re-)entry from orbit is O.K.
      • Using parachutes to decelerate once you are safely(?) on the ground is also O.K.
  2. It should be "reusable", i.e. there should be no built-in limit on how often you can land and take off again.
    • If it uses a limited resource like Lf, then it should at least have some point where you can attach a refueling truck with a Klaw or so without the structure falling apart. (That shouldn't be too hard.)
  3. "Asteroid as main structural component" means that it should be an asteroid that can fly, not a plane that can carry an asteroid. If it can still fly if you destroy the asteroid, then you did something wrong! :D
  4. No cheating after you started assembling the craft. I.e. after you attached the first component to the asteroid.
    • This is no competition about who can find the best asteroid, or how to get a crazy collection of structural parts into orbit. So feel free to cheat an asteroid into existence in LKO and your craft into a rendezvous with it. But it should in general be possible to assemble the craft without cheating at all.
    • You can also first land the asteroid on Kerbin and attach the components there.

I plan to have two leaderboards: one for the highest speed in level flight, and one for the most easy-to-use construction.

Note:
As of 21st March 2020: In version 1.9.x there is a bug that affects the mass of small asteroids: #24855 on the bugtracker. Affected asteroids get a mass of 150 t assigned to them instead of the correct value. In the bug report on the bugtracker there is an explanation of a patch that fixes this issue.

Speed Record Leaderboard

Submission Rules:

  • Be landed at Kerbin, take-off, do your high-speed run, and finally land again.
  • Provide at least picture evidence of your speed run.
  • If the number of submissions allows it, then I'll split this into separate leaderboards for stock (+DLC) and modded craft.

Current Leaderboard:

  1. @AHHans with "Flying Rock Kit": 136.5 m/s

Easy-to-use Construction

Submission Rules:

  • Stock (including DLC) only! I want a large audience that is able to use the craft.
  • Publish the craft file somewhere, together with assembly instructions.
  • Submission Deadline: 12th April 2020 (Easter Sunday)
    • Later submissions may or may not be included.
  • I plan to ask the people here on the Forums to vote for the most user-friendly craft.
    • If you have a good idea on how to do this, then let me know.

My submission, the "Flying Rock Kit":

Spoiler

 

uT8VODh.png

JDh44BH.png

Hv7Vv6a.png

GqtYMA5.png

 

 

 

 

Edited by AHHans
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AHHans

AHHans

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1 hour ago, RealKerbal3x said:

Hey, @5thHorseman should be good at this

Well, yes, I never kept it secret that @5thHorseman gave me the idea for doing my "flying rock"!

But his version wouldn't actually qualify for my challenge: it wasn't powered, so it couldn't take off again.

P.S. And, yes, I included a reference to him in the challenge description.;)

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AHHans

AHHans

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Up front a PSA:
As of 21st March 2020: In version 1.9.x there is a bug that affects the mass of small asteroids: #24855 on the bugtracker. Affected asteroids get a mass of 150 t assigned to them instead of the correct value. In the bug report on the bugtracker there is an explanation of a patch that fixes this issue.

But the main topic is a new prototype for a flying rock, the:

Jet Rock

hgOOMut.png

In an effort to create a flying asteroid that is easier to fly I tried a system that relies on jet thrust to keep in the air, and using a large number of reaction wheels to control the craft.

With somewhat mixed success: using SAS to keep it pointed upright (select "control from here" from the probe core and set SAS to "surface" -> "radial out") it is easy to get into the air and land in one piece. You can also fairly easily decide on the postcode in which you want to land. Precisely landing on a certain spot - like the helicopter pads on the VAB - is possible but pretty tricky. Even with a fully mined out asteroid it has a fairly large inertia, so that it reacts rather sluggishly to the controls.  Also the - let's say unconventional - aerodynamics of the craft means that it can easily go out of control, from which it usually doesn't recover.

Spoiler

 

HsEwGUE.png

XQHeZ7b.png

qpdoJt1.png

wxdn6Xj.png

 

But it does fly, and it will take you where you want to get! Even if it looks a bit like a giant turtle while doing so.

Qh4u9dy.png

P.S. The full gallery on imgur: https://imgur.com/a/5WEaYtO

Edited by AHHans
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AHHans

AHHans

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47 minutes ago, Klapaucius said:

Perhaps a dumb question for someone who has put so many hours in KSP, but how do you convert a captured asteroid into a part in the SPH?

I don't.

The challenge is to take an asteroid and then attach the parts that make it into a flying craft.

Here are screenshots from the assembly of the Flying Rock (in orbit):

p5tVNxF.jpg

And from assembling the Jet Rock (after landing the asteroid close to the KSC):

VAD8PcF.png

CSwagEk.png

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Klapaucius

Klapaucius

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1 minute ago, AHHans said:

I don't.

The challenge is to take an asteroid and then attach the parts that make it into a flying craft.

Ahh.  In the current environment, I should not touch my face, but normally that would be a facepalm!

Edited by Klapaucius
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sturmhauke

sturmhauke

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9 minutes ago, sevenperforce said:

Reading this and wondering if it will be possible to bring an asteroid to the KSC and then return it to LKO.

In before Bradley Winstance does this in an SSTO that lifts off with Junos and lands on Duna......

While he's the MacGuyver of KSP and is probably already planning such a mission, I'm a disciple of the Church of Moar Boosters.

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AHHans

AHHans

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58 minutes ago, sevenperforce said:

Reading this and wondering if it will be possible to bring an asteroid to the KSC and then return it to LKO.

In before Bradley Winstance does this in an SSTO that lifts off with Junos and lands on Duna......

Well, if you put the asteroid in or on top of the craft, then it shouldn't be that much of a problem. And it might indeed be easiest to do so with a spaceplane. But putting an asteroid in or on top of a rocket would not qualify you for this challenge: you are supposed to change the asteroid into a flying craft, not put the asteroid in or on top of a craft. ;)

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HansonKerman

HansonKerman

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I shall immediately attempt to create a mission centered around this, then get copyright strikes for plagiarism on KerbalX.

 

jeez these planes look weird and hilarious 

On 3/27/2020 at 4:54 AM, Klapaucius said:

Perhaps a dumb question for someone who has put so many hours in KSP, but how do you convert a captured asteroid into a part in the SPH?

HOWEVER there is a part called PotatoRoid in the files. According to the wiki, it is a size C asteroid that can be loaded in. It’s a cube in the VAB, as PotatoRoid is too big to fit without zooming out of bounds (tho you can get a glimpse from the corners. It’s not really possible to attach anything to it as PotatoRoid doesn’t like things under its skin. I’ve never tried using an Advance- who am I kidding, the Klaw to attach it to something or drill it tho. Probably works, it looks and behaves like an asteroid. How do I know this? Boredom and digging in part files bc KSP part code is so easy to understand.

 

when I get a new computer, I shall definitely try this. Would PotatoRoid count bc I have never caught an asteroid in my life.

On 3/31/2020 at 12:57 PM, sevenperforce said:

Bradley Winstance does this in an SSTO that lifts off with Junos and lands on Duna......

sounds like something he’d do

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AHHans

AHHans

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17 minutes ago, HansonKerman said:

jeez these planes look weird and hilarious 

Jupp! Isn't that what KSP is about?:cool:

17 minutes ago, HansonKerman said:

HOWEVER there is a part called PotatoRoid in the files.

I'm aware of this, but it is possible - and IMHO more fun - to catch an asteroid and convert it to an airplane.

17 minutes ago, HansonKerman said:

Would PotatoRoid count bc I have never caught an asteroid in my life.

If you use that to "dump" and asteroid somewhere close (or on the grounds of) the KSC and then use other craft to mount the airplane parts on it, then that's fine. (Rolling a PotatoRoid out of the VAB and detaching all non-PotatoRoid parts leaves you with a craft that is not actually different than catching an asteroid and landing it next to the KSC.)

But if you rely on the parts that you added in the VAB (or SPH) for it to fly, then you'll only get a honorable mention. ;)

Edited by AHHans
fixed typo
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AHHans

AHHans

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1 minute ago, HansonKerman said:

that is literally impossible far as I’ve seen.

Ah, good. That saves me trying to come up with two badges. :cool:

P.S. One idea would also be to create the PotatoRoid as you mentioned, and the use the cheat menu to move it off the launch-pad or runway.

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HansonKerman

HansonKerman

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9 minutes ago, AHHans said:

P.S. One idea would also be to create the PotatoRoid as you mentioned, and the use the cheat menu to move it off the launch-pad or runway.

That’s useful for retired Career saves, as it (in my experience) dissolves the LaunchPad immediately.

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