TheBarnetts

A vessel that pays homage to the ARES mission. Namely the MEM lander. I've been hyperediting the lander into orbit of Duna and will build a launch vehicle once all the kinks are worked out. Unlike the MEM that could only get back to Mars orbit, mine is direct to Kerbin capable. The MEM was always the most viable looking concept to me so I wanted to capture that in this build. Pardon the doodoo graphics and enjoy! [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/WMlEzmj.png[/IMG] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/lzFFnSa.png[/IMG] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/4cO7krv.png[/IMG] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/FsvyGps.png[/IMG] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/5AK2KqK.png[/IMG] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/E205eQe.png[/IMG] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/NqK8Sue.png[/IMG]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/h4ihjE9.png[/img]

Ah, should have known. This is the first time I've installed Mechjeb so it didn't really occur to me at first.

Hello, Mechjeb will not turn or actuate the control surfaces despite saying it's gravity turning. Have checked probe orientation and install path. All is good as far as I can tell. Using latest install of KSP and mechjeb 2.5.3. I also installed kerbal engineer so would that create a conflict? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

Dang, beat me to it! Oh well, I have a slightly different idea that I'm trying to make happen. Nicely done!

It's now functional enough to share outside the WIP thread. Gets to LKO with 2 orange jumbo-64 tanks and an ISRU setup. Hopefully it can land somewhere without a refuel in LKO. I'm going to try and add an under-wing RCS powered tug/grabber adapter so I can mine asteroids. Pardon the bad graphics, btw; my computer is not the greatest. I keep her about 30 degrees til I get to 14km and level out to get speed. At 12kms, I angle back up to 35 degrees. 22km kick in the mammoth engine and shortly thereafter the jets cut out. LKO achieved. The 2x orange tanks can be detached via the big docking ports in the back, but I want to try and land this somewhere and refuel later (hopefully). On EVA, I noticed it wobbles without input... oh well, at least it's not too bad... just a little I guess. Here you can see the drills. A keen observer might notice this one doesn't have the solar panels on it. This pick is from my first LKO mission. Panels deployed and awaiting future mission destination.

Started trying to lift 3 jumbo 64 oranges to orbit. My poor comp just didn't want to do it with the designs I had in mind. I could probably do it if I carried the tanks externally instead of in cargo bays. I wanted cargo bays though for other payloads. Also, I hate when cargo bay doors clip into other parts when open; does it matter in KSP? No, but it bugs me so I have to make the engine pylons away from the cargo doors. The extreme weight of the fuel/engines requires lots of support when stationary and aerodynamic support when moving. I eventually abandoned the 3 oranges for 2 and an ISRU setup. I had to use some of the orange tank's LF, but I had a surplus of LOX so it carried more than I needed in weight. I think it will do pretty well eventually.

It flies without unplanned disassembly or rolling over to the left now. Seems low on thrust. I had 32 engines on the first and was trying 28 because I thought it was a little smaller... guess I'll have to add some more and hope it doesn't look too tacky.

They're all payload . I made a similar space plane and just kept pasting parts on it til it got to orbit. I ended up with 1.5 of the biggest tanks worth of fuel so I reasoned the next plane would have cargo doors and should carry 3 orange tanks. First model had 32 turbo jets and a single 'mammoth' engine. This one doesn't fly nearly as good as the ugly one yet, but I'm pretty optimistic since the last one made it. Here's a pic of the ugly proof of concept:

I got a similarly massive SSTO to orbit today, but this more aesthetically pleasing one still needs some tlc.

I've returned to my roots since 1.0 and retooled the formula for my work horse SSTO rockets. This guy can carry up 90 tons to 80km orbit (I goofed the gravity burn and orbit in the first pic; 70k periapsis & 100k apoapsis). In this case, it's a fuel depot for future, more economical air breather SSTOs (when I finally get used to the new features...). Only problem was the winglets overheated, but everything else survived to fly another day!

Here is the Skylon BUFF. Looks like the Skylon kind of but's a Big Ugly Fat F---. More info in the album First good non-rocket SSTO I've made. Recently got it to carry 40 tons with relative ease.

Simple Ranger from interstellar. What it lacks in features (no vtol), it makes up for in low part count. Was thinking for the future; might try my hand at a fully loaded Endurance. It can get to 90km comfortably and surprisingly stable considering the shape/weight distribution. Has a standard docking port in the back like the movie. Lots of offset parts which bugs me, but has decent accuracy.

Well, this works in that it does what I want. I got tired of doing gravity turns and thought 'Why not just shoot straight through the atmosphere and burn to orbit only in space? Why turn at all?' It requires virtually no piloting; just fire the engine at apoapsis (which is consistent every time). Uses cheapy boosters and all parts are recoverable. Anyway, it looks like crap because I threw it together from sub assemblies, etc. Still thinking over the aesthetics to make it look more realistic. I present: The Falcon Punch.

I'll definitely give that a shot, but the lack of engine gimbal made me just want to keep the center of mass in one spot for the entire flight. I was just oogling at your shuttle replica btw !