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Solid Rocket "SSTO" Challenge

Klapaucius
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Klapaucius

Klapaucius

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On 5/13/2020 at 8:32 AM, mystifeid said:

To claim the last two endorsements - (Is there an endorsement for having all endorsements?) -

 

Your phenomenal accomplishments tied with you commitment to the Solid Cause have earned you the right to choose a medal from any element on the periodic table.  In the interests of cost, we do ask you keep to element 108 or under.

Edited by Klapaucius
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ralanboyle

ralanboyle

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Alright, I got jealous of @mystifeid's accomplishments so I threw this video together instead of taking the time to make a proper video. I believe I have collected all the rest of the medals now. I realized that the Thrust Limit of the SRBs can be mapped to the main throttle making things a bit more efficient. It's finicky but it does make for more precise maneuvers. I also settled on this design because it is reliable and very easy to fly/land. It's stall speed is under 30m/s when empty! 

 

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mystifeid

mystifeid

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28 minutes ago, ralanboyle said:

I believe I have collected all the rest of the medals now.

Held any Hydrogen medals ? Woomerang launch pad ? You will need that one for your atom of Organesson. When you do these, pick an element.

Here is Shrike Mk3 with a launch cost of 7342.

 

Edited by mystifeid
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mystifeid

mystifeid

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@Klapaucius- this business of putting thrust limit in an action group. Is this allowed? Already I've made orbit using just a Kickback. Only problem was the orbit was too high for the Sepratrons to deorbit. Now I'm taking fuel out of the Kickback. It's also possible to completely shutdown - it takes a while - and restart the Kickback.

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Klapaucius

Klapaucius

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2 hours ago, mystifeid said:

@Klapaucius- this business of putting thrust limit in an action group. Is this allowed? Already I've made orbit using just a Kickback. Only problem was the orbit was too high for the Sepratrons to deorbit. Now I'm taking fuel out of the Kickback. It's also possible to completely shutdown - it takes a while - and restart the Kickback.

Actually, no not really. At least, you need to accomplish the whole thing first without that. If you can do all that, well then you have earned the right to noodle around.  Because if you can adjust the throttle in flight it totally defeats the challenge--they might as well be liquid engines.   I assume you are referring to @ralanboyle's submission?

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mystifeid

mystifeid

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58 minutes ago, Klapaucius said:

 I assume you are referring to @ralanboyle's submission?

Yeah, I didn't know you could do that. I thought that was a good find.

 

59 minutes ago, Klapaucius said:

Because if you can adjust the throttle in flight it totally defeats the challenge--they might as well be liquid engines.

I agree but wouldn't have minded if you had said the opposite.

 

1 hour ago, Klapaucius said:

At least, you need to accomplish the whole thing first without that. If you can do all that, well then you have earned the right to noodle around.

So, I'm pretty sure I won't be noodling around.

I could be wrong but at this stage I don't think it's possible to make orbit without throttling the Kickback. (To ensure I could deorbit, I had to completely shut the Kickback down while I coasted to the Ap.)

Just wanted to check before I sunk a lot of time into it.

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AHHans

AHHans

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3 hours ago, Klapaucius said:

Because if you can adjust the throttle in flight it totally defeats the challenge--they might as well be liquid engines.

I totally agree. In RL you can adjust the thrust of an SRB by forming the solid fuel so that the surface that actually burns is smaller or larger. You can even generate thrust curves by forming the fuel the right way. But once the SRB is lit you cannot change it anymore! You can just watch it and pray you did everything right.

Hmmmm... So IMHO it would be O.K. to use a KAL-1000 to "program" a thrust curve - keeping the thrust between 10% and 100% - that starts when you light the SRB and runs until burn-out. As long as you specify the thrust curve in the hangar and don't modify it after launch.

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mystifeid

mystifeid

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4 hours ago, AHHans said:

Hmmmm... So IMHO it would be O.K. to use a KAL-1000 to "program" a thrust curve - keeping the thrust between 10% and 100% - that starts when you light the SRB and runs until burn-out. As long as you specify the thrust curve in the hangar and don't modify it after launch.

Mercifully, a KAL-1000 is reasonably expensive and is not going to help lower the cost of a Kickback launch. It's cheaper to stick with the Shrimps and their nosecones. But it still might be possible to swap the Shrimps for Mites...

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ralanboyle

ralanboyle

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I hear you guys and it felt cheaty when i discovered it. It is, however a normal function of the stock game and the rules didn't specify otherwise so I went for it. If a new rule is made then I'll follow it. I would like to note that throttling SRBs is not as easy as using liquid engines, the delay is catastrophic and the dv readouts are completely false (jus' sayin')  In the mean time, here is a quick trip to Woomarange and a failed (but super close) attempt at Plutonium. 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
Klapaucius

Klapaucius

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9 hours ago, Platapoes said:

Made it! Got to orbit and back (took many tries) and landed at the KSC, taxied (on the taxiways ;)) to the science centre bridge! Total cost: 14,557 creds.

https://imgur.com/pV9wS5B 

 Here's the craft, I think I took a video of the landing, I can try and upload it if anyone wants.

Well done. Yes, we like video ::)

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NightshineRecorralis

NightshineRecorralis

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https://kerbalx.com/NightshineRecorralis/Mini-Relay

This was harder than I expected, so I just kept adding boosters until it worked XD

Apologies for the abrupt ending and poor audio. Timestamps for various events are in the YT description.

I think I pretty much just built a rocket with wings and not really a spaceplane, though 

Edited by NightshineRecorralis
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Klapaucius

Klapaucius

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@Platapoes  One collector's item Rubidium medal for you for successfully making it back to the KSC. You have to right park in front of the hangar to get the Cesium medal. I am going under the assumption you took off from the runway achieved stable orbit?

 

@NightshineRecorralis  Thank you for your noble entry. Alas, it does not qualify as it did not take horizontally.  But just getting one of these things into a stable orbit is no mean feat.  Please accept a flask of Hydrogen for your participation.

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Klapaucius

Klapaucius

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4 hours ago, Platapoes said:

Thank you very much, but is the large R&D bridge not Francium? Also yep horizontal take-off and stable orbit, with Pe at ~92km and Ap ~130km, and the craft is name "Smokestack" :D  Thanks! 

Yes, I was going off your video.  Did you continue all the way there?

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