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Single Stage to (at least) Minmus Landing... some assembily required.

piicyfs.png

nxJQGd7.png

ME25dF0.png

jqgRzvJ.png

I used the Raipiers for orbital transfer because I had a mun slingshot to minmus that I couldnt wait 5 orbits to take advantage of, but theoretically the NERVA has the D/V to single stage to Laythe and back, if you slingshot tylo on the way out.

Brings a NERVA in the cargo bay, redocks with it on a suborbital hop (or in orbit) and let the probe core take control. Belly RCS are rated for IKE landings even without the nerva.

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Single Stage to (at least) Minmus Landing... some assembily required.

http://i.imgur.com/piicyfs.png

http://i.imgur.com/nxJQGd7.png

http://i.imgur.com/ME25dF0.png

http://i.imgur.com/jqgRzvJ.png

I used the Raipiers for orbital transfer because I had a mun slingshot to minmus that I couldnt wait 5 orbits to take advantage of, but theoretically the NERVA has the D/V to single stage to Laythe and back, if you slingshot tylo on the way out.

Brings a NERVA in the cargo bay, redocks with it on a suborbital hop (or in orbit) and let the probe core take control. Belly RCS are rated for IKE landings even without the nerva.

You know that KSP has a built in screenshot option, right? Press F1 to capture the current screen, and it's saved in all its high(er)-res glory :D

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Is it a plane? Is it a rocket? Is it a rover?

Here is "Tough Bird": a bigger better faster and stronger SSLRRV (Single Stage Laythe Roving Return Vehicle)

0.25 stock parts and physics used (Mechjeb for control).

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Key parameters:

* 6km/s delta-V from orbit on rocket power.

* Enough fuel to ascend from Kerbin and then from Laythe.

* 2 pilots and 16 passengers traveling comfortably inside the vessel. (880 credits per passenger for fuel).

* 40 wheels enabling roving activities.

* 22 radial parachutes. Descends at 14m/s at Laythe on a typical mission. Sustains no damage up to 17m/s with full fuel load (see album)

* 16 turbojets and 4 LV-N atomic engines. 22 vernor engines to shorten takeoffs to 70m/s.

* 98 ram air intakes.

* 229t starting mass, 140t fuel (approx. 2 S3-14400 tanks)

Typical mission profile:

1. Take off from KSP, ascend to 22km altitude. pitch less than 55 degrees.

2. At 22km accelerate from 750m/s to 1200m/s (orbital) to use the highest thrust level.

3. Resume climb at 50m/s to 28km altitude, then 30m/s to 31.5km.

4. At 31.5km slow acceleration from about 1950m/s to exactly 2260m/s.

5. Pitch up 30 degrees, engage rockets, switch off engines sequentially in 4 groups as oxygen runs out and throttle drops to 2/3.

6. Circularization burn (less than 30m/s) and target Jool: ~2100m/s

7. At Jool: aerobrake or target Laythe directly. Approximately 500m/s for aerobraking, orbital insert and de-orbit maneuvers.

8. Atmospheric entry and glide to relatively flat land near sea level.

9. At least 1km above terrain: drop velocity to under 70m/s and deploy parachutes to avoid ripping fuselage off. Transfer fuel if pitch or roll above 5 degrees. SAS and brakes on, deploy landing gear.

10. 14m/s drop on terrain. Repack parachutes, repair wheels.

11. Rove! Retract landing gear, enable wheels with action group. Fine controls on, speed below 10m/s to avoid breaking wheels or ripping fuselage supports.

12. Position on a relatively flat terrain facing east, the plane needs 350m (about 1/7 of KSP runway) for takeoff with the amount of fuel remaining.

13. Rebalance jet fuel. Deploy landing gear. Brakes on. Jet engines on. SAS and RCS on (for vernor engines). When jets spool release brakes. At 65m/s pitch up, in the air switch off RCS.

14. Climb to around 15km, accelerate to 1500m/s then continue at 80m/s ascent.

15. At around 24km engage rocket engines and climb at 30deg. Switch off turbojets with action groups in sequence.

16. Short cirularization burn. At this point: at least 3km/s delta-v remains.

17. Target Kerbin, and either land at KSP, or parachute again. When nearly empty the plane glides happily at 18m/s and parachutes at 10m/s.

"So why is it so big?"

Because it has a large delta-v budget, and carries essentially a 10t payload (cockpit + 4 passenger segments) on a round trip to Laythe with complex capabilities. It was a very tough plane to build and test because it is initially underpowered and has a very thin margin for error during Kerbin ascent, although it is much easier to fly afterwards. A great challenge was to make it robust for parachute drops without using too many parachutes.

Edited by smartech
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Is it a plane? Is it a rocket? Is it a rover?

Here is "Tough Bird": a bigger better faster and stronger SSLRRV (Single Stage Laythe Roving Return Vehicle)

0.25 stock parts and physics used (Mechjeb for control).

http://imgur.com/a/VZN4O

Key parameters:

* 6km/s delta-V from orbit on rocket power.

* Enough fuel to ascend from Kerbin and then from Laythe.

* 2 pilots and 16 passengers traveling comfortably inside the vessel. (880 credits per passenger for fuel).

* 40 wheels enabling roving activities.

* 22 radial parachutes. Descends at 14m/s at Laythe on a typical mission. Sustains no damage up to 17m/s with full fuel load (see album)

* 16 turbojets and 4 LV-N atomic engines. 22 vernor engines to shorten takeoffs to 70m/s.

* 98 ram air intakes.

* 229t starting mass, 140t fuel (approx. 2 S3-14400 tanks)

Typical mission profile:

1. Take off from KSP, ascend to 22km altitude. pitch less than 55 degrees.

2. At 22km accelerate from 750m/s to 1200m/s (orbital) to use the highest thrust level.

3. Resume climb at 50m/s to 28km altitude, then 30m/s to 31.5km.

4. At 31.5km slow acceleration from about 1950m/s to exactly 2260m/s.

5. Pitch up 30 degrees, engage rockets, switch off engines sequentially in 4 groups as oxygen runs out and throttle drops to 2/3.

6. Circularization burn (less than 30m/s) and target Jool: ~2100m/s

7. At Jool: aerobrake or target Laythe directly. Approximately 500m/s for aerobraking, orbital insert and de-orbit maneuvers.

8. Atmospheric entry and glide to relatively flat land near sea level.

9. At least 1km above terrain: drop velocity to under 70m/s and deploy parachutes to avoid ripping fuselage off. Transfer fuel if pitch or roll above 5 degrees. SAS and brakes on, deploy landing gear.

10. 14m/s drop on terrain. Repack parachutes, repair wheels.

11. Rove! Retract landing gear, enable wheels with action group. Fine controls on, speed below 10m/s to avoid breaking wheels or ripping fuselage supports.

12. Position on a relatively flat terrain facing east, the plane needs 350m (about 1/7 of KSP runway) for takeoff with the amount of fuel remaining.

13. Rebalance jet fuel. Deploy landing gear. Brakes on. Jet engines on. SAS and RCS on (for vernor engines). When jets spool release brakes. At 65m/s pitch up, in the air switch off RCS.

14. Climb to around 15km, accelerate to 1500m/s then continue at 80m/s ascent.

15. At around 24km engage rocket engines and climb at 30deg. Switch off turbojets with action groups in sequence.

16. Short cirularization burn. At this point: at least 3km/s delta-v remains.

17. Target Kerbin, and either land at KSP, or parachute again. When nearly empty the plane glides happily at 18m/s and parachutes at 10m/s.

"So why is it so big?"

Because it has a large delta-v budget, and carries essentially a 10t payload (cockpit + 4 passenger segments) on a round trip to Laythe with complex capabilities. It was a very tough plane to build and test because it is initially underpowered and has a very thin margin for error during Kerbin ascent, although it is much easier to fly afterwards. A great challenge was to make it robust for parachute drops without using too many parachutes.

stop, stop, stop, stop it you guys are gonna get me started on big sssto again ;.;

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stop, stop, stop, stop it you guys are gonna get me started on big sssto again ;.;

Three words: Remember the lag. Now picture you recent fuel stations, with a couple of SSTOs docked and still within usable framerate territory.

Rune. Cured of the urge yet? I doubt it. So make one of each! :)

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Two Kerbal VTOL SSTO for trips to the Mun.

Unusual engine arrangement on this one is in no way due to it lacking in power along both axis...

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https://www.dropbox.com/s/mpb0n5lr0lzzx59/Munar%20Shuttle%202%20NMJ.craft?dl=0

1 - downward jets

2 - turbojets

3 - nukes

0 - auxiliary jet (you'll need this up to about 22K (ish))

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Meet Photon, my stock SSTO solar powered space plane. This is Minmus edition (probably only edition too, because I'm tired of ion engines). It has ~6000 m/s of dv after achieving low kerbing orbit.

jXTxaMyZiYGm3.png

Fun fact: with the jets alone I can put the plane into "orbit". It's hard to explain. Still inside the atmosphere I can get my apogee (on the other side of the planet) to 80km. It's "orbit" with quotation marks because my perigee is inside the atmosphere (the craft is still inside the atmosphere!). I never did this before, did something change in previous versions regarding jet engines, air intakes, atmosphere or something?

I'm proud of this little dude. So much that It's 4:30 AM here and I have class tomorrow morning. And I have to finish my homework. OK, I have to start it as well.

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Fun fact: with the jets alone I can put the plane into "orbit". It's hard to explain. Still inside the atmosphere I can get my apogee (on the other side of the planet) to 80km. It's "orbit" with quotation marks because my perigee is inside the atmosphere (the craft is still inside the atmosphere!). I never did this before, did something change in previous versions regarding jet engines, air intakes, atmosphere or something?

I'm proud of this little dude. So much that It's 4:30 AM here and I have class tomorrow morning. And I have to finish my homework. OK, I have to start it as well.

Oh, perfectly reasonable, you just have a T/W and intake/engine ratio good enough to get >~2,300m/s at about 30 kms. I have gotten >120km apoapsis on jet power alone at times. The trouble is, you can't really get high payload fractions that way, a good percentage of your mass to orbit end up being turbojets. Teh trouble is, it's tough to get enough rocket oomph afterwards to be really interesting as a lander to other non-oxygenated places. You can do up to Munar-like gravity on ions and don't care about the transit delta-v, or you can pack a couple km/s on chemical engines at good T/W, but the only real way of getting really far and still have the T/W to land is nukes, and going very easy on airbreathers. And even there, stock T/W and tankage mass fraction ratios limit yourself to more or less Duna return missions.

Then again, this is the perfect thing to serve as a Laythe return vehicle. The jets will still work there and the mass is tiny!

Rune. This kind of ships are fun little buggers.

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I spent several hours trying to see how close to Laythe orbit I could get on jets once - got it down to about a minute technically inside the atmosphere, but as it was only about 5m in I didn't really count it :) not terribly practical. What is practical is doing ballistic launches from jets if you throw an orbital booster on the payload - although you have to get high enough AP so you can get the payload in orbit before the launch vehicle gets too far back in the atmosphere and gets wiped.

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