smartech

I think this is a very useful chart for the atmospheric planets: Eve, Duna and Jool. Unless we are we have a massive delta-v budget, for the rest it is almost always better to aerobrake into a highly elliptical orbit with a periapsis barely above the atmosphere and apoapsis as close the edge of the SOI as possible around the closest atmospheric planet and wait for a good transfer from that orbit.

A very good solution to waste is to throw it into a mini black hole. It will be converted to gamma radiation as the small black hole evaporates.

Tides would make a wonderful gaming experience. Imagine being safe to land only above 500m ASL because otherwise your lander/rover/base gets washed away and destroyed by a giant tidal wave. Must collect the beach science very quickly before the next one comes. Maybe wait for a particularly large ebb so that more science from the bottom can be collected. Extra science for surf-boarding. - - - Updated - - - Maybe even once in a while a dead Kraken would wash up and you can study it only before the next tide collects it back into the ocean.

There was a similar challenge before, but I cant find the link. I think the winners managed upwards of 33km/s. Edit: here it is http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/59823-0-22-0-23-0-Delta-V-Maximization-Challenge

I've played around with the optimal rocket tool here: http://garycourt.github.io/korc/, and it looks like Foxster has pretty much nailed it, so the challenge is basically over . The lightest SSTO it finds with 4500m/s is 0.682t. Interestingly, going to multiple stages it goes down to only 0.652t with 2 stages because the decouplers are very heavy relative to the rocket.

Here is Tough Bird Special Edition landed on Duna after a reentry from Laythe. Unfortunately I did not capture screenshots during parachute descent. The last 2-3 pictures show them deployed (black covers) and the rear vernor trusters firing to stabilize after it bounced off the surface. The last image is right after takeoff. Posted originally here: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/33312-Showcase-SSTO-s!-Post-your-pictures-here?p=1643625&viewfull=1#post1643625

I cant wait for the day when we'll be able to truly colonize the Kerbal system. Imagine landing a large supply ship on Laythe, unloading a small base to let you do small repairs (re-tile fuselage after re-entry, re-attach fallen parts?). Make a small runway, upgrade it with lights for night landings, then make a larger runway. Make an assembly building to launch rovers. Bring a terraforming (Kerbin-forming) machine, gradually gets green, some water evaporates as it gets warmer and there is more land with trees etc. Maybe then Laythe will be more interesting. Right now for me the only interesting thing about it is how to get there and back with the least amount of delta-v.

I recommend reading those wonderful charts optimal engine choice for desired TWR and delta-v. Generally, the LV-N is usefull for bigger craft with lots of fuel, which would ammortize its large weight.

Minmus is interesting because you can use the Greater flats as long runways to accelerate to orbital velocity, and you dont really need TWR > 1.

Happy New Year everyone. Today I'd like to share Tough Bird Special Edition: now able to visit Laythe and Duna on the same trip. As usual it is stock physics and 0.25 parts. This is based on my previous effort here: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/33312-Showcase-SSTO-s!-Post-your-pictures-here?p=1626216&viewfull=1#post1626216 It's now opened a new category: SSLDRRV (Single Stage Laythe and Duna Roving Return Vehicle). It basically means it is capable of performing the trip Kerbin-Laythe-Duna-Kerbin in a single stage. There are some differences from the previous design: * the delta-v on rocket power is up to 6.7km/s to accommodate the takeoff from Duna, the payload is down to just 10 kerbals to maintain the needed mass fraction. * overall, along with its jet engines, the craft now expels nearly 20km/s delta-v. * there are more wings in the front part * hard to see in the pictures, but there are extra vernor engines in the rear in order to stabilize the craft after bouncing off the surface of Duna after the initial parachute drop. The landing on Duna itself brings several challenges. Because of the thin atmosphere, the craft can only land in the lowlands, no more than around 600m ASL in order to limit the descent on parachutes to 21m/s and the takeoff speed to 35m/s. Of course given enough time, it can go pretty much anywhere on the planet as it can rove around freely when landed. The landing at such a speed becomes problematic as it creates a large bounce back in the air, and that's where the extra vernors come handy. I set Mechjeb to maintain surface horizontal shortly before the touch-down, and it uses the vernors and the momentum wheels (which by themselves are too slow) to righten the craft back wheels down after the bounce. For a takeoff at 600m ASL on Duna, I first accelerate using the roving wheels to 20m/s, then engage the rockets to push further to 35m/s which should be enough to lift the nose off. The takeoff speed is not particularly high, but because of the weight of the craft at this point, it is difficult to attain it quickly. Given how the surface of Duna is riddled with small hills, high takeoff (or landing) speed is a real killer for any spaceplane. Down on the surface it has 2.7km/s delta-v. At this point of the trip, the craft has 0.56 TWR before takeoff and it climbs to 0.72 right after orbit circularization. Yes, a craft with TWR less than 0.72 can make it all the way up to orbit! After around 15 minutes of ascent while pitched up 25 degrees, after burning through 1.9km/s, it attains 45x45 low orbit with 850m/s left for the trip back to Kerbin. Pictures from Duna ascent here:

Suggestions: 1. You probably do not have either enough thrust or enough lift or both. A good rule of thumb is 15t per jet engine, 13t for RAPIER. and go to slightly more loading (17-15) when you get this working. 2. It could be hard for a large plane, but try to calculate the total lift rating of the parts and make sure it is around 0.8-1 lift rating per t. 3. Make sure the center of lift is slightly behind the center of mass (the spheres should touch or nearly touch), and the thrust vector is pointing towards the center of mass. 4. Install more control surfaces: canards near the nose of the plane, elevons near the rear. Make sure the canards are facing the right way or they wont work.

Improved version of my SSLRRV Tough Bird. The plane has stock 0.25 parts and physics. The album has pictures of a trip to Laythe's rarely seen north pole. The parachute landing was completely unnecessary since it turned out to be completely flat, although I did not know what to expect in advance. Improvements: * 50% more payload: now 26 kerbals can make the trip to Laythe and back * weight is down 12% to 207t, while still maintaining 6km/s delta-v. * more robust plane because of the weight decrease with the same 10 landing gear, 40 roving wheels, and 18 radial parachute system. Survives up to 18m/s drop full of fuel (only needs tire repair). The main improvement is going from 16 to 12 jets, which allowed me to eliminate a lot of fuel while maintaining the same mass fraction. I had to improve my ascent profile, and add some extra wings to compensate for going from 14t to 17t per jet engine. The lighter weight in turn enabled me to eliminate 1 atomic engine, now down to just 3. The plane has pretty low TWR: 0.66 on jets during takeoff, 1.38 maximum at 1km/s, just 0.1 on atomic engines initially, but it is perfectly sufficient to reach Laythe and back to Kerbin atmosphere, still have 2km/s left on atomic engines and capable of flight for another 5 mins on jet power. The low TWR necessitates the use of "stretching" burns, which raise the apoapsis nearly to the end of the SOI. To depart from Kerbin orbit to Jool, I first set up a maneuver node for the ejection burn (2.2km/s in my latest trip), then "stretch" the orbit to around 8000x100km just inside Mun's orbit (inside its SOI) keeping the periapsis exactly on the maneuver node. This sinks 850m/s, then I create a new maneuver node which should fall near the periapsis with around 1.2km/s. Then 8mins before the maneuver I start burning pro-grade for nearly 17minutes to attain the delta-v. I perform a similar stretching orbit when departing from Laythe. There I sink 600m/s in the SOI and complete the ejection with another 700m/s. Original plane info is here: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/33312-Showcase-SSTO-s!-Post-your-pictures-here?p=1555016#post1555016

But rearranging does not litter, given all the parts are re-docked.

Can you design a ship that will split itself into parts and attach to the asteroid as wings, tail and landing gear, and land the whole thing on the runway? For that matter, if a craft reconfigures itself through docking, does this still count as a single stage?

This craft is built to primarily fly in space to Laythe and back, but it still qualifies as a rover: Original post here: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/33312-Showcase-SSTO-s!-Post-your-pictures-here?p=1555016&viewfull=1#post1555016