CrashTestDanny

Thanks - I like it! Danny. Ad Astra per Delta-V!

Thanks! Danny

Thanks! More Fuel! More Engines! Bigger Explosions! That's the name of the game, right? Danny

Ok, I know you're out there; some skeptic looking at my post and saying 1.2M kg?!? No way! So rather than let my claim just sit out there, I decided that three hours was plenty of time for me to have already proven it and that's exactly what I did... Ok it's really like 1,170,000 kg on orbit, but close enough, right? Download this craft on KerbalX! Danny. Have fun y'all!

I don't think I've ever seen a craft's maiden voyage go quite so smoothly as this one did. Whether it was my steady hand on the controls (not) or just a fantastic design, who can say? The latest in the SexyLifters series is here! This modular and expandable asparagus-staged beast in its baseline configuration (2 asp stages, 2 stacked stages) provides 45,000 kN of thrust at launch and can lift 400,000kg into an 80km orbit with some delta-V to spare. Of course, with that much thrust, she could easily lift 1,200,000kg, but you would need to add asparagus stages to provide the delta-V to get that to orbit, and we all know about that tyrant Tsiolkovsky (more fuel means more mass which means more fuel and more engines maybe, which also means more fuel). Anyhow, 400,000kg, as it turns out, is quite a bit of mass, so here's some shots of the reference payload (375,000kg) being launched - and it was beautiful! Download the craft from KerbalX! As always, YMMV and all warranties are void if the craft leaves the VAB. Danny. Thanks for downloading and upvoting my crafts!

Very cool, MJ! Still, it seems like every stock hinge out there has the same issue - they end up separating the craft into two pieces. I wish Squad would take note of the number of hoops people are jumping through to make moving parts and just give us a few stock hinge parts that allow us to keep the craft together... Danny

Honestly, if you slap a pair of kickbacks on her wingtips, there's no problem getting any size payload to orbit! Danny

That it is... thought you were totally liquided at me... Danny

In my opinion, the biggest obstacle to people advancing to interplanetary flight in this game is that it's hard and those who don't advance don't find enough enjoyment in that type of challenge to make it worth their while to do it. As an aero engineer, I find it fun because sending up planes and rockets was all I ever wanted to do as long as I can remember. I was willing to endure any amount of higher math in order to attain that goal - and calculus took several attempts for me before it finally clicked. When I hear people complain that "xxxxx is too hard", what I really hear is "I don't enjoy xxxxx enough to invest the time required for me to learn it". Of course, I believe that nearly anyone can learn nearly anything, if they have the correct motivation, and no, that isn't a threat. Some of us you guys learned how to dock real easy and never looked back, some of us too a bit longer, but clearly some others have never really mastered it, and I would wager that many of those are very smart individuals who are very capable in some other things that some people who can dock in their sleep are not. As a side note to those having trouble with docking, I highly recommend the built-in docking tutorial. Made things a lot easier for me once I realized how much docking guidance was already built into the nav ball. Like many others, I think that some of the mods should have been features, but my particular challenge is not docking - it's time management. KAC (Kerbal Alarm Clock) helps me with this a ton! KER, obviously makes it much easier to build a ship by performing all of the mundane calculations of delta-V for you, and MechJeb provides some basic automation that existed in the US space program since day one, so it would be nice if KSP included some of these features. Of course, Squad says they left these things for the community to improve, and obviously the community has really stepped up, but maybe Squad could do something to make installing mods easier? Oh - we have CKAN for that... but seems like half the modders out there are really down on CKAN. Well anyway - I think that fun is really the bottom line - after all, it is a game, right? Danny

Sorry man - didn't mean to irritate you (or worse...)... Danny

Quick testing report: There don't seem to be enough radiators to handle the ISRU with one conversion active. I suspect this will get even worse if we get it on the ground and try to start the drills. Danny

Perhaps, but I'm too lazy... err - you're much better at it than I am! Danny. Ad Astra per Probitas!

I did see that note. Thanks for giving me a new low to shoot for... I was already very happy about getting down from 3400 to 3200, so I think I'm going to be even happier now! Thanks for all your work on this! Danny

I was tinkering with turning the current box into a bottom-loading glider, so she goes up like a rocket, uses a intermediate stage for transfer, and then aerocaptures Duna and lands. I don't have a working craft for either the ascent or the landing phase yet though... Danny

So @Rune... Have you got a solution for deploying this to someplace like Duna? Danny

Hi @Kowgan. Love your map - it is definitely one of my go-to resources for mission planning. I've been noticing since 1.1 came out, that my ships are really getting to LKO on about 3200 delta-V. I almost never use 3400 anymore unless I designed some really draggy monstrocity. Am I the only one finding that Kerbin atmosphere is taking less delta-V than before? Danny

Ok, if you've followed my Kerbal career at all, you know that though I may not say it often, I clearly have a preference for building ships to satisfy the mantra "Go Big or Go Home". SexyLifter36k follows this pattern while retaining all of the grace, sophistication, and good looks of my previous SexyLifter launchers. Unlike previous SexyLifters, this one has everything you need for a successful launch. No more worrying about adding your own aerodynamic surfaces, rcs, or reaction wheels, 36k even comes with the latest and greatest in probe core technology, the Probodobodyne HECS2. You can launch her empty and use her as a tanker (be sure to throttle back a little), or stick a payload on top and watch your concerns about how to get it on orbit vanish as she flies effortlessly to space. With no additional boosters, 36k can lift 2.5 big Kerbos full of fuel up to an 80km orbit and still have 100+ delta-V when she is done. 36kN of [vacuum] thrust will move most anything being built. Thank you for choosing SexyLifters for your next project! This fine launch vehicle can be downloaded from KerbalX! As always, thanks for looking at my craft! Danny. Go Big. Just Go Big!

Well, something like that - I really just wanted to upload a rar file that contained a group of subassemblies that I used to create and customize launch vehicles so that I could distribute it as a pack... I might try to make them a hangar I suppose... Danny.

Welcome to Empress of the Stars, the last word in luxury space cruises. This beauty lifts effortlessly (and without unintended explosions!!) from the pad to arrive on LKO with nearly 600 delta-V left over, while carrying 7500kg of ore. Attach a mining dropship to the front universal dock and this SSTO can truly take you and 35 of your favorite (or wealthiest) Kerbals anywhere you want to go! Now I know it may seem a tall tale given some of the other launches I posted screenies of, but this launch went exactly as shown here. No muss, no fuss, no unplanned rapid disassembly, straight to space! I didn't monitor the flight path, but I got the impression she was a little high, so might have got there a little more efficiently, but I'd be surprised since I started with about 3800 and arrived on orbit with almost 600 left. Anyhow, of course, YMMV. Exposition of the ship to simulated atmosphere or vacuum voids all warranties expressed or implied. Have fun and be safe! And also of course, this craft may be downloaded from KerbalX! Danny. Ad Astra in Luxuria!

Sweet! Excellent to hear that it's getting used! Check my next post to see what I did with the 18 this evening! Danny

No worries - I'm jazzed about getting there once! Danny.

And thanks for noticing! Always a pleasure to do a request! Danny

Wouldn't be nearly so fun if there wasn't magic involved! Danny. Ad Astra per Praecantatio!

Loving KerbalX! Have one suggestion and apologies if it's not original. It would be nice to have a way to upload multiple crafts as a group. Like a pack of subassemblies, or the Island pack that was featured on Spacecraft Friday... Thanks for all you do! Danny. Ad Astra per quaestio!

A few days ago I came across some of @Rune's new designs and @PointySideUp's stuff and was inspired by their pure awesomeness. I thought, how could I get just a little of their awesomeness into all of the ships that I launch? That's how the SexyLifter series was born. But then I was trying to loft up this behemoth fuel ring that the God's own firecrackers would just run and run from. The mammoth engine wouldn't even get me a TWR of 1 with the smallest S3 tank and I've been playing mostly without part mods lately, so I needed a new solution for a heavy lifter. Well, not really a new solution, clearly people have plastered lots of engines on the bottom of a tank before, but still I think there's a certain grace and elegance in these particular designs, heavily inspired by the aforementioned and my good friend @Cupcake... Anyhow, to cut this short, here is a pack of lifters and accessories stored as subassemblies for your building pleasure! From left to right, we have: 1 - MainSail+ Two Big Reds on top of a MainSail with struts, fuel hose, raidal decoupler, and two separatrons. Add tanks to the top to adjust per-stage TWR and add dV. 2 - Mammoth+ Two Big Kerbos on top of a Mammoth with struts, fuel hose, raidal decoupler, and six separatrons. Add tanks to the top to adjust per-stage TWR and add dV. 3 - SexyLifter9k Powered by a Mammoth 9 (another subassembly in this pack - not pictured separately), lots of fuel, stack attach. 4 - SexyLifter9kL More fuel... 5 - SexyLifter9kXL Still more fuel... 6 - SexyLifter18k I'm really proud of this... Building on the success of the 9k line, our engineers (ok, it was just me), decided that if we turned around the internal fuel hoses, we could split the side stacks of the SexyLifter and add a second Mammoth 9, providing a whopping 18kN of pure awesome THRUST! Stick that under a huge payload (I lifted about 400t to orbit today) and add radial asparagus stages and you're good to go! Well, KerbalX doesn't take anything but craft files and this is multiple craft files, so I put the SL18k on KerbalX, but the whole pack can be downloaded from my dropbox: Click here to download the archive! As always, thanks for looking! Danny. Ad Astra per Potentia!