Commander Amaro

Maybe philosophy is the wrong word here, but what goes through your mind while designing a rocket, and how do you go about making it fulfill it\'s intended purpose? I first try and determine how adaptable I can make the entire design and how well it can respond to unexpected (read: overlooked) problems. Then I think in terms of what each stage should do: The first stage (aka the 'lift stage') has to be big and powerful, because the more power and thrust that I have initially, the more equipment and fuel can be in the other stages, and I\'ll have more versatility with the rest of the design. SRBs can often be used here to great effect to help overcome the large amount of inertia and to save fuel. The second stage (or the 'orbital insertion stage') has to strike a balance between power and efficiency. After the first stage throws a large amount of equipment into the upper atmosphere, this stage helps to add a large amount of orbital velocity to the craft and give it the final push out of the atmosphere that it needs to achieve orbit. It has to have enough power to give it the necessary velocity to achieve orbit, but at the same time it has to have the efficiency and the fuel capacity to burn long enough to get the job done. The third stage (aka the 'orbit stage' or the 'mission stage') mainly has to be fuel efficient and to have a good fuel capacity, without as much concern given to power as the other two stages. This stage is used for any correctional maneuvers that are going to be made to the orbit/trajectory, any more velocity that is going to be added, and any de-orbit maneuvers that will take place. Power is not as big of a concern, but efficiency and capacity is, because if this stage runs out of fuel while you are still in orbit, it is highly likely that you are not going to make it back to the surface of Kearth. That is my rocket design philosophy. That is what goes through my head while designing and building a rocket, and so far it has been a rather reliable set of ideas to stick by. So, what is your rocket design philosophy? How do you build a new rocket? What goes through your head during the design process? Insight into other people\'s design process could be very useful for anyone who is starting out or looking for new ideas.

I tried to make my lander adaptable and simple. It has a descent stage with an efficient engine and two fuel tanks, one for the initial descent and one for the final approach. After the triumphant celebration of touchdown and the obligatory screenshots, two radial SRBs fire which give the ascent stage quite a lot of speed and propel it back towards Kearth. Any further orbit corrections are done with a small tank and liquid-fueled engine. This has made a successful landing and an almost successful return, failing only when the parachute was torn off during atmospheric re-entry. I\'d like to think that I accomplished something, though. As you can see if you look at the fuel gauge, it\'s not the most efficient design in that I landed with maybe a few drops of fuel left in the tank.

Here\'s an idea for a part that I\'ve been thinking over: A 0.5m, or maybe even 0.2m diameter solid rocket booster about the length of a standard fuel tank that can be mounted radially. It would have high thrust and very high acceleration, but it would have a rather short burn time of about five seconds. It could be used for a multitude of purposes, such as satellite propulsion, lunar ascent, emergency de-orbiting, or as a means of accelerating a stage before ignition.

After the announcement that there would be a moon (or Mun, whichever you prefer), many people (including myself) started developing huge rockets, intricate landers, and other associated systems to get them to the moon. We\'ve already seen several of the rockets that are going to get us there. That\'s all well and good, but what I\'d like to see are the actual landers, the business end of any mission to the Mun, the part that\'s actually going to be kicking up some dust (to quote Neil Armstrong) when you actually get there. I\'ve started testing a lander in the area around the Kerbal Space Center. I call it Touchdown 1. Here it is after it\'s first successful landing: It\'s not the most stable design, but it\'s a beginning Now let\'s see yours