Jump to content

To the mun... on one engine!


Recommended Posts

Challenge: Get to the mun on one engine.

Now that we have fuel pipes, this is possible.

You can have an infinite number of fuel tanks, if you wish. You may use any parts of your choice.

Basically, fuel is pumped to the engine from external fuel tanks, which are jettisoned when they are empty (to save weight)

Fastest time/ Most interesting rocket wins!

GOGOGO!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure it actually is possible, at least not without ridiculously unrealistic parts. Yes, with fuel lines you can have the entire fuel of the craft go through a single engine, but that engine has to be powerful enough to actually lift all that fuel. I\'m not sure if engines like the Big Bertha can actually push up the entire mass of fuel required for a Mun return trip if there\'s just one engine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, after a little testing; it looks very much possible. I managed to do a Munar-Insertion with 3/4 left on my single 2m tank. Unfortunately, the new orbit was little tilted, so it missed the moon. I\'m going to give it another try, and maybe some tweaks. All this was done on Nova-punch and stock.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was so close! However, I have found quite an annoying problem when landing. My current lander decelerates way to fast! It can go from 600m/s to 0m/s over the space of about 1000m. Even worse, the lowest power output will decelerate the ship. So I cannot stay at a certain speed. As a result, I touched the moon many times only to fly back up again. On the final, my ship fell over. At this point, I had less 1/3 fuel left, but that may be able to get my lander back.

Wait a second, I just realised that because only a one way trip was needed; I have completed the challenge!

Edit: Made successful landing, unsuccessful return.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rather stupid, but stock engine can\'t lift more. And that was inefficient trajectory. With joustick and efficient trajectory it can be possible even to return

P.S. Sorry for the broken screenshot - my videocard doesn\'t like this screenshot function.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

You could do everything except land on a single engine without fuel lines. I\'ll take a look at this and see if it\'s doable, but I think the additional mass of a ASAS/RCS system (for Mun landing) may make it unachievable. We\'ll see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alright, so.

I was able to reach orbit and...um...well....let\'s say I landed Kerbal style.

I overshot the Mun several times, but with enough kick to completely mess up my orbit. So by the time I was actually landing on Mun I did not have enough fuel to slow down, and it ran out while I was falling Q_Q

And apparently my ship looks very similar to the one Alchemist used.

Le ship.

iooioj.png

Le orbit

2jebbe8.png

Le landing

10fs0pg.png

Le credits

r0dzqb.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah! Nice try. How many tanks is that? I had the same idea, with with 2x2 drop tanks and one main tank. First time was a crash with multiple fatalities I admit but I tried again with some fuel conservation factored into the timing of burns etc the second and third times my Kerbals lived. Second time I used a T45 and crash landed at 20m/s tail first and only the capsule survived. The third time using a T30 there was a bit of a snafu with lunar orbit but I caught it eventually (hence mission time) and the ship somehow landed on its nose, which if I am not mistaken means I have completed another challenge, the 'land your ship on its nose' challenge.

Screenies of third attempt below 8)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On my first try attempted with Asaman\'s design (3x1 drop tanks and a T45). Managed to crash on the Mun at < 300m/s (can\'t recall exact speed, but I think that was the upper bound).

On my second try I went with something essentially the same as Alchemist\'s design. Made a few mistakes (which cost precious fuel to correct), but actually made it to a vertical Munar descent (conveniently right over a flatish Munar Mare) - a last moment full burn with the remaining 5% fuel killed most of the vertical speed, and then dropped the rest of the way to impact at ~30m/s. The LFE and LFT were destroyed by the impact, but the command module came to a perfect, upright rest on the Munar surface.

I don\'t know if a return is possible, it\'s likely to be very marginal if so, and some very careful controls would need to be made in order to avoid burning too much fuel on those small mistakes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tried full flight once, but without joystick all I could was bouncing off the Mun and engaging full thrust in order not to fall on my side. Made it back to Kerbin (a bit messy trajectory, could be more fuel efficient) but ran out of fuel during final braking. Result - hard splashdown at 18 m/s. It really can be possible, but needs good pilot, good controls and no lag (unfortunately I often have something strange during powered landings in the moment I engage the engine)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We don\'t need fuel lines where we\'re going.

XVlaJ.png

Touché

ADDED: I tried the above philosophy, and, needless to say, I managed to actually land AND survive the landing!

...even though I still managed to run out of fuel at the last second, which caused me to land at a little bit too high speed, causing engine and fuel tanks to explode.

10hlt8x.png

vy5zzc.png

eqdw28.png

P.S. this is the first time Kerbonauts survived the landing on Mun...ever.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...