stanleywinford

If you're flying with MechJeb just out of curiosity about your stats, or to improve your design, that's fine. But if you have a flight plan that involves checking delta-V in-flight, you can't use MechJeb. I hope that makes sense. The idea is that someone without any mods (like me) should be able to take your craft file, fly it, and get almost exactly the same result as you.

Yes, because if you put the mechjeb module on your craft while flying (and it's not a simulation run), the craft is no longer 100% stock. I'll let it slide if you've done the challenge already, but if not, please don't do it. - - - Updated - - - Cool design! Your speed at infinite distance is 21.165 km/s. Did you do a burn near Kerbol, or was most of your burn in Jool orbit? Also, what were the toroidal fuel tanks for? I thought those couldn't hold xenon fuel...

No exploitation of glitches, so the K-drive isn't allowed. You can certainly use the atmosphere to your advantage by aerobraking.

Wow, 44 km/s! I've never seen so much ion propellant in my life--and you staged it! How long did the burn take?

Here's my own attempt. Poor Katline Kerman is shooting out of the solar system at 27.72 km/s. She's already 2.7 billion km away, where the sun looks almost like a star and the solar panels gather no light: http://i.imgur.com/FgbVne8.png And here is the craft that took her there: http://i.imgur.com/43BmUzJ.png - - - Updated - - - I did the same thing in 0.23--I used an ion drive to leave the solar system at 65 km/s. I tried the same strategy in 1.0.2 because I didn't know about the change, and needless to say, it didn't go well...

I haven't looked too closely, but I think the same person did a grand tour without command seats. His craft is much bigger, and available for download: http://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/1qbdum/an_epic_grand_tour_follow_the_18_year_journey_of/

The Kerbals decide they want to visit another star. Even if it takes a hundred thousand years, they are willing to wait--after all, for immortal beings, any length of time is a mere blink of an eye. Even so, they'd like to arrive as soon as possible to escape the boredom of being trapped inside a pod for countless millennia. Challenge: Send a Kerbal + craft out of the solar system at the fastest possible speed. Your score will be your speed relative to Kerbol at infinite distance. This speed can be calculated using v_inf = sqrt(v^2 - 2GM/r), where v is your current orbital speed around Kerbol, r is your distance above Kerbol's center (NOT its surface), and M is Kerbol's mass. If you don't know how to use this formula, time warp until you are at least 300 million km from Kerbol and report your orbital speed. If you're too impatient to wait this long, I'll calculate the speed for you based on the screenshots you submit. Rules: 1. Crafts must be 100% stock. You can use MechJeb or other mods to design your craft, but can't use them to fly it. 2. The Kerbal MUST be in a pod or command chair; a free-floating Kerbal isn't OK. 3. You can't exploit glitches 4. To submit your entry, post 1) a screenshot of your craft at launch or in the VAB, and 2) a screenshot of your craft as it's leaving the solar system, after burning all its fuel. In the second screenshot, make sure the orbital speed and altitude above Kerbol are clearly visible. I need this to verify your orbital speed at infinity. Scoreboard: 1. FlipNascar: 63.12 km/s 2. cryogen: 43.69 km/s 3. myself: 27.720 km/s 4. Ferdoni: 21.165 km/s

It's definitely possible to do this, even without mining. This person did it, and his ship isn't even very big: http://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/1km15p/the_grand_tour_landing_a_single_kerbal_on_every/?limit=500

Do flybys count for points, or do you have to get into orbit? If I land on a body but can't return to Kerbin, does that count for any points? What if I land on a body and get back into orbit, but can't get back to Kerbin?

Scott Manley managed to complete the entire tech tree in only 2 launches. In version 0.24. See here:

This. The Oberth effect is very powerful.

Note: This is a modification of a previous challenge I made, which turned out to be too difficult for anyone to achieve. I'm 100% sure that this challenge is doable, because I've done it before--with only 3 parts. Over the years, inhabitants of Earth have been watching the Kerbals with envious eyes. They have seen strange, beautiful, elegant, and gigantic aircraft enter orbit and return, all in one piece. With the development of SSTOs, space travel, once enjoyed only by a select few, is now cheap enough to be within reach of middle-class Kerbals. Earthlings have watched long enough. It's not their fault that their planet is 10 times bigger, they say. They want their own SSTO--one that can reach orbit around their own planet. Rules You must install the Realism Overhaul and all of its required mods. Your plane must reach a stable orbit around Earth, but it doesn't have to return. I don't care if your craft actually looks like a plane or not. As long as it can reach orbit and come back in one stage, it's good. Mods Required: Realism Overhaul and all its required mods (http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/84689) Optional: any mod listed as "Very Highly Recommended" and "Recommended" on the Realism Overhaul thread Forbidden: all other mods Heavy Lifter Scoreboard We need a behemoth to haul heavy loads into orbit! The plane/rocket with the largest in-orbit mass wins. Cutie Scoreboard In the future, rich Earthlings will want their own spaceplane, to circumnavigate the world whenever they want. The plane/rocket with the smallest mass at launch wins, so long as it carries at least 1 Earthling.

Yeah, I saw your comment, and I'll take your advice if nobody manages to complete this challenge.

I just installed RO and all required mods, and noticed that a few of the engines require pressurized fuel tanks. However, I can't find pressurized fuel tanks anywhere. Is this expected behavior, or did I mess up the installation? (If I did mess it up, I'll reinstall everything and report back on what happened.) Thanks in advance!

I'm playing with Realism Overhaul too, and a SSTO is definitely possible with RO plus all of its required mods (including Deadly Reentry). In fact, right now I have a manned craft in a stable orbit that was launched in one stage--and it only has 3 parts! (You can probably guess which three.) If this challenge doesn't get any submissions, I'll probably make another challenge that requires RO, but I thought that would both be too easy (you can do it with 3 parts) and too complicated (you have to install at least 8 mods).

I edited my original post so that it doesn't say FAR makes the challenge easier. The reason I'm not making a separate scoreboard is because I don't expect many entries, considering the difficulty of this challenge.

I may be wrong, but as you scale up a craft, its mass scales as the cube of its size while its cross-sectional area scales as the square. Without FAR, drag is proportional to mass, aka to the cube. With FAR, it's proportional to the square. This means that the atmosphere becomes less of an impediment as you scale up with FAR, whereas in stock KSP, it's equally soupy at all scales.

Over the years, inhabitants of Earth have been watching the Kerbals with envious eyes. They have seen strange, beautiful, elegant, and gigantic aircraft enter orbit and return, all in one piece. With the development of SSTOs, space travel, once enjoyed only by a select few, is now cheap enough to be within reach of middle-class Kerbals. Earthlings have watched long enough. It's not their fault that their planet is 10 times bigger, they say. They want their own SSTO--one that can reach orbit around their own planet. Rules You must install the RealSolarSystem mod. Your plane must reach a stable orbit around Earth AND return to the surface, all in one piece. I don't care if your craft actually looks like a plane or not. As long as it can reach orbit and come back in one stage, it's good. Mods Required: RealSolarSystem (http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/55145-0-24-2-Real-Solar-System-v7-2-8-14-14) Optional: Feram Aerospace Research (I originally thought this would make the challenge easier, but Hodo disagrees, and I trust his judgment. Try it if you want.) All other mods: You can only use stock parts, but feel free to use mods to design and/or fly the aircraft. Mechjeb's control module is OK, even though it's not stock. Needless to say, your mod can't change aerodynamics, planetary parameters, engine efficiency, or anything of the sort. Heavy Lifter Scoreboard We need a behemoth to haul heavy loads into orbit! The plane with the largest in-orbit mass wins. Cutie Scoreboard In the future, rich Earthlings will want their own spaceplane, to circumnavigate the world whenever they want. The plane with the smallest mass at launch wins, so long as it carries at least 1 Earthling. Comment In real life, a SSTO is considered marginally possible. However, KSP's air-breathing engines are far more efficient than in real life, and work at every airspeed. Air intakes, nuclear engines, and ion engines are overpowered compared to their real counterparts. I don't know if a SSTO is actually possible in RealSolarSystem KSP, but I know it's possible to come close.