The Kiss Minmus Absurdly Low Orbit Challenge

[Klapaucius]

The Goal:  Get as close to the ground as possible while in a stable orbit around Minmus.

 

The leader is the one with the lowest combined Apoapsis and Periapsis.

 

RULES:

1. You may launch from Kerbin or hyperedit yourself to Minmus.  (There will be a combined leaderboard and also a separate leaderboard for Kerbin launched craft).

2. If you Hyperedit, you must start on an equatorial orbit with an AP and PE of at least 20,000 meters each.

3. Your final orbit may be at any inclination or eccentricity, but you  must use maneuvers to get there. (No Mission Buildering yourself into a prime position).

4. You must make a complete orbit without crashing into the ground.  Just because it looks like it is a viable orbit from the M view, does not mean it actually is. (Don't ask me how I know this).

5. You only need to make one complete orbit to score.  In the case any orbit outside of equatorial, the ground will be constantly shifting, so just see what you can do one time around.  However, you will need to get yourself back into a viable long-term orbit to score. Dead Kerbals don't count.

6. A stable orbit is defined as a complete revolution around Minmus with no input. In other words, no propulsion of any kind once in position.  The orbit cannot be said to begin until all forms of propulsion are turned off.

7. Scoring is simply adding the AP and PE. The lowest is the leader. In the screenshot below, the score would be 3919 + 4483 = 8402 (The below example does not count as it is actually NOT a viable orbit, the ship was obliterated--see #4 above).  Any entry with an AP higher than 7000 will not be scored.

8. The person who gets closest to the ground as indicated by the altimeter in the ground distance position (the green icon) may subtract an additional 542 meters off their score.  A screenshot is required to claim this bonus.  Note that the closest point to the ground is not necessarily the Periapsis.  The additional 42 is because I just reread The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and because round numbers are boring.

9. Don't go looking for loopholes or trying cheats. Just maneuver your way into what you feel is the optimum orbit.  Feel free to start again if you crash.  If in doubt, ask. 

10. Video proof is great.  However, if you cannot produce video, then please adhere to the honor system. 

11. Because timewarp does not work at very low altitudes, you may test your orbit in the tracking station rather than waiting half an hour to get around the moon.

12. If you crash, you may start from a quicksave, but you must restart above 20,000 as per rule #2 above.

13. Your craft must have crew. It would not be a proper KSP challenge without the possibility of high risk and rapid demise.

 

LEADERS:

@ralanboyle 9600 (and currently holds closest to ground bonus) so total score is 9058

 

Edited June 6, 2021 by Klapaucius

[ralanboyle]

I made a video a year or two ago that I think meets these qualifications. It’s AP is about 6000, PE is about 3600 and she gets down to about 110 off the deck (actually much closer given the controlling command module is near the top of the large ship .)

 

Edited June 6, 2021 by ralanboyle

[Klapaucius]

27 minutes ago, ralanboyle said:

I made a video a year or two ago that I think meets these qualifications. It’s AP is about 6000, PE is about 3600 and she gets down to about 110 off the deck (actually much closer given the controlling command module is near the top of the large ship .)

 

That kicks things off very nicely indeed!  So that scores you 6000+3600-542=9058 

[ralanboyle]

42 minutes ago, Klapaucius said:

That kicks things off very nicely indeed! 

This can probably be cut in half. I may try a dedicated run later. 

[Admiral Fluffy]

I’m going to do this as soon as I get on the computer again

[cubinator]

I am currently attempting this, and...

Trajectories mod is real useful for this.

[Admiral Fluffy]

1 minute ago, cubinator said:

I am currently attempting this, and...

Looks like it went well. You didn’t die

[cubinator]

3 minutes ago, Admiral Fluffy said:

Looks like it went well. You didn’t die

Yeah. I've just gotten it into my first orbit attempt!