DustInTheWind

It's been a while since I posted, but I present you with this: https://imgur.com/gallery/v61kVcV

@GameslinxHow would you like them submitted?

@Gameslinx, I crash everytime I try to load. I've removed every other mod except for the links listed in first post, and I've tried to launch without the listed visual enhancement mods to see if that helps, which it doesn't. Do you want the logs / stack trace, and how would you linke them submitted?

Here is a picture of the actual orbital vehicle after landing: Engine not inline with CoM. And another angle

What I really want to know about the X-37 is how it offsets the apparent misalignment of its main engine center of thrust with its apparent center of mass...

Great entry @Foxster, however the crew cabins weigh 500kg per kerbal which is disqualified according to rule 2 and are supposed to be in a cargo bay or behind a faring if used. I think the OP didn't give that rule adequate consideration as you can't transfer crew to parts behind a faring unless the faring is so large you can clip the camera through it.

Yet another excellent mission @Kergarin!!!

Wait, so if a hitchhiker, lander can, or any crew cabin are used, they have to be enclosed in a faring? You can't transfer crew to parts behind a faring unless the faring is so large you can clip the camera through it. Unless you use some mod that will do that.

Or, you could just do what I did and use a Mk1 Pod with a Clamp-o-tron on the bottom. I've used this basic design twice for "tour" missions. 1.05 - I ran the Eve mission first, so I had the port under a faring 1.2.1 - I did Eve after Jool 5, Eeloo, Dres, Duna, Ike, and Gilly, so I couldn't use a faring. That cost me a lot of additional drag.

My last final is December 16th, then I have a big private party to play, then the Christmas Holiday. I will attempt this around New Years. CKAN worked, thanks for the tip.

@Nefrums, Well done! And....I am totally stealing your atmospheric lander. I had no idea the atmospheric ISP penalty for Tekto would be small enough to keep such a high TWR. I was planning on an Aerospike for the flatter ISP curve, now I will have to rethink my attempt once I get OPM to work again.

This could be one of the challenges with a long forum life if the rules were refined a bit: Mods are not addressed: I think informational mods like KER, MJ, Precise Node, etc should be allowed. Non-physics and aesthetic Mods like Chatterer, EVE, Planetshine, etc should be too. Part Mods can get tricky, but Jool 5 kept a good list of mods that weren't too "cheaty." Then you get into LS mods and stuff like like Dang It! ISRU is not addressed. It should be Any limitations should address if recoverable SSTOs or Boosters account for mission cost. Also, with these long missions, there is the possibility of picking up contracts to offset mission cost. My Ultimate Challenge entry ended up netting 42,275,000 funds since I often checked for new contracts. I more than doubled funds in that save even with sending two EVE landers since the first one had a fuel line line issue once I got it out of the VAB. What about CommNet? Since 1.2 this can greatly affect the difficulty of single pilot missions, and with the distances involved with OPM, a robust DSN becomes a necessity What about command pods? Keeping Jeb in a command seat for a couple of decades makes for one stinky spacesuit. Great ChallengesTM are usually something that either a moderately experienced player can accomplish or something where failure is still fun enough to warrant another try. Perhaps the way to do this is to have levels like Jool 5, but instead of the number of Kerbals, base it on the mission cost. Heck, maybe instead of a low-mass sub-challenge, do a low-cost sub-challenge and open the challenge up to as many designs as possible. It would be really impressive to see an OPM Grand Tour, and it should be possible with ISRU.

If your mission plan is based on using elliptical orbits for the mothership or a tug to shuttle around the landers, then it should be enough since you are a master at gravity assists. Sarnus can cost a lot of dV for a circular orbit. Caveat Emptor: I haven't played OPM in a long while, so my input is based on an older version. I used to budget 3,200 m/s for Sarnus orbit in case I couldn't get a good gravity assist.

I just can't get over the budget without using ISRU, which was never defined by the OP. That might be because I have never been able to pull of an efficient SSTO flight profile. Now, if recovered funds don't count against the 250k, the mission becomes much more manageable since the cost of getting a payload into orbit is only fuel. With Slate, you can use any single-stage lawn chair lander that can almost do Tylo. With a little work, and a Clamp-o-tron Jr, that lander can be used for all non-atmospheric moons with a couple of disposable LFO tanks for refueling and a Tylo descent assist stage. Tekto isn't as much of an issue if you use a lawn chair inside a fairing, but I always considered that "cheating" since there is no visual way in or out of the faring. However, using a command pod really ups the total payload to haul. Can you even still do a lawn chair lander for Laythe? Last time I put a kerbal in a chair inside a service bay, he went *poof* at about 30km.

Solar panels are as effective as they are on Eeloo, so not very. Slate is not quite as bad as Tylo, but very close. Tekto is Laythe without Oxygen for air-breathers. Here is an older (1.1.3) dV map OPM delta V 1.1.3

The funds rule is a real constraint. RTGs are almost a necessity for Sarnus, and just one is 10% of your budget. What about info mods, part mods, ISRU, etc?

This is my minimalist winged design. It is not the lightest or cheapest I have built, but it is the best compromise between cost and weight while being easy to land. It has enough thrust and lift reserves for a small payload. 10 parts 2390 funds Mass: 0.763t Height: 1.3m Width: 2.5m Length: 2.3m Min Speed to maintain altitude at 15o AoA: 59m/s Max Speed below 1000m: mach 0.97 Max Speed in level flight: mach 1.07 Range: 800-1000 km at 20% throttle, 500 km at mach 1 Imgur Album

@Tex_NL, very similar to my minimalist design. Pics later today.

So are we going for lightest & cheapest? I have a wingless design at just under 700 Kg and around 2040 funds that will make it to the island with plenty of fuel to spare. It relies on reaction wheels for takeoff, steering, and landing on one gear. There is no lift, it is kept airborne by thrust and attitude control alone. This one is really tricky to land. I also have a winged trike landing gear version that weights 763 Kg and costs 2390 funds that is a whole lot easier to fly and land. Both can get up to mach 0.97 below 1000m and are perhaps the most maneuverable aircraft I have ever built in KSP due to the reaction wheels being completely overpowered for the craft's mass

I would love to see a science probe with a sample return via the new Experiment Storage Unit. For complexity, it should have ComNet engaged so you have to use relays to maintain control which is absolutely necessary during ascent. Hmmm, I think I have my next mission...

Thanks! I will say that if I did it again with the Mk-1 pod, I would use the small nose cone instead of the Clamp-o-tron Jr on the pod. The utility of the second docking port was limited when compared to the drag that design caused on Eve. Also, I would do Eve first and enclose the rear docking port in a faring. If stock had a 5-way RCS block that was a little more heat tolerant, or pods had integrated RCS like some RL spacecraft, I really wouldn't have needed any part mods except for the fuel switcher. I plan to try again sometime in the future with a probe core/command chair combo and a Mk-1 Lander Can as the interplanetary habitat.

I already have the Jool, Eeloo, Dres leg up as an album of over 100 pictures for my Jool 5 Submission: Jool 5, Eeloo, Dres I can create a "highlight" album for the rest. EDIT: Okay, even the "highlight" album for everything after Dres was still 97 images. I must have taken over 400 screencaps. Everything else Launches: Six Informational Mods used: MJ, KER, DPAI, Precise Node Parts Mods: Modular Fuel Tanks (to switch LFO tanks to LF only), Near Future Spacecraft (for the low-profile lander engine, and 5-way RCS blocks), Near Future Construction (for a single adapter), and the Official 1.25M parts pack for the pretty new Mk1 Pod. *Eve ascent might have an image from a different attempt

Interestingly, while I was running this mission, TWO more UC's popped up as contracts. One was a flyby, and the other was another landing contract. However they both were met by running this mission. imgur of the contracts Challenge is completed, but I still have over 200 screenshots left to upload. Six launches in total, but I could have done it in four if I didn't make two stupid mistakes. Uploads should be done after class tonight.

It should be since saves that existed before 1.2 do not have CommNet.

Well, something broke between the VAB and Eve orbit on my 1st lander, so I am sending a second lander instead of going back to an earlier save. The first lander's transfer stage also acted as a tanker for the inner system mothership. It was an older design that hadn't been tested since 1.05 anyway. Just Eve, Moho, Minmus, and the Mun left. Mission report with 200-300 screen caps either today or tomorrow.