Ultimate Steve

Correct. However, that was for up to 6 astronauts. Again, my point is not that it should be done, but that it could be done should the need arise.

This was made in KVV, right? A quick question, is there a feature in KVV that lets you take screenshots to the same scale, or did you have to rescale them manually later?

My point wasn't to say that it would be practical, but it is doable. The 300kg was for an internal habitat (think tiny metal cylinder with just enough room to take off your spacesuit) plus life support (its a bit of a stretch but probably workable). The X-37 was actually considered for crew at one point (X-37C) but it was dropped for some reason. And it doesn't have to be manned, actually. I was using the lander as an example. Any other payload (NRO moon satellites [why would you even need those]) is also doable with everything being reusable except for the second stage of Falcon Heavy.

So that's where it is... I was trying to go by the right click menu where all the other engines are upgraded... Many thanks! Improved version coming soon!

Neither did mine, but let's be honest, thousands of questions were asked and 20 were answered. Also I just had an idea. If circumlunar transport is needed and the BFR isn't ready for some reason, you could stick an X-37 on a Falcon heavy. If you were willing to deal with cramped quarters for a week or two, you could go to low lunar orbit and back, using 90% hardware that currently exists. Actually, if you were willing to go expendable, you could just use a Falcon 9! As far as math goes, FH can get 25mt to GTO. There's no mention of moon numbers, but the Mars numbers are 16mt, so somewhere around 20 to TLI seems right. The X-37, however, would be 5-6t, which is really light. X-37 has 4km/s in fuel on board (!) according to what we know about it. To go from TLI to LLO is about 1km/s. There and back is 2km/s, and you get 2km/s to brake into a lower orbit, meaning X-37 re-enters only 10% faster than it usually does. But, if you could make the X-37 able to re-enter at higher speeds, you could theoretically carry up to 1t of payload... I mean, let's see. A person with a spacesuit is, what, 200kg at worst? Optimizable to 150kg. If you build an incredibly barebones lander (like, EVA seat barebone) with a specific impulse of, say, 320, with 50kg for the tanks, engine, etc, you could have a dry mass of 200kg and a wet mass of 700kg, and be able to make a trip from LLO to the lunar surface and back... Plus 300kg for supplies and a living space aboard an X-37, there's your 1000kg. You could even leave the lander in LLO on the first flight and come back with just fuel on the second! If it wasn't late, I'd open RO and try to build this...

Also I downloaded Kronal Vessel Viewer, spent a while snapping away, resizing photos, and in general editing a lot of stuff. I wasn't able to get the scales exactly right, but here's what I've got after an hour and a half of effort: Hmm, I thought the sizes would be a lot different than they actually are. The payload capacities, however, are dramatically different, seeing as Mu 0 has a <1t capacity to LEO and Mu V has a 20t capacity... My plan is to eventually make a chart with all of my RO rockets on it. I was going to make one for the Gravity series next. However, the game crashed upon loading the file.

SpaceIL would be plausible, but no reason to use a new booster. Manned Crew Dragon before unmanned is probably not happening... Last I heard the CD's were still under construction. That would be amazing, though.

I was thinking more due to the fact that it was a lifter that had failed, but not recently. I had originally typed Atlas V, but Mu actually has failed before, but it has been reliable since then. Ariane 5's problem was that it got to level 255 of Pac-man.

It's been a while since my last update on RORP-0... Current plans: Send small fleet of ships to Mars Land humans on the moon a fourth time Collect 8 million funds from a contract Finish Lunar Space Station Supervise arrival of Jupiter/Saturn probes Build Mars or Venus mothership Go to Mars/Venus So, pictures: Another module of Eclipse Station. Unfortunately, due to a control problem I had to put people on that mission... Not the greatest idea, but necessary. The first crew was not supposed to arrive until after the station had been completed. However, having crew this early has some benefits, namely we can test the lander (not shown yet) manned. However, they do have return capability, Yonder 1 (the ship on the bottom) was supposed to be an unmanned test. Looks like the stakes just got a bit higher... Also, a Mu IV launched Planetoid 10, which will hopefully be the first Venus lander. Another Gravity III launching the utility module of Eclipse Station. This is module 5 of 7. Two Gravity IV rockets were launched with near identical payloads, the Mars and Venus communications networks, consisting of four satellites and in the case of Mars a Phobos/Demios lander. After that, Tranquility, the reusable lunar lander, was launched on a Gravity IB. This lander is unique in the fact that it is powered by 6 RTG rockets, giving a specific impulse of 650s. Also launched on a Gravity IB was Dream I - Planetoid 8. It is a super heavy Mars lander which was supposed to have a huge fuel margin but it actually doesn't. It might not work at all because I didn't leave at the optimal time. I also tried to build the smallest orbital rocket I could. I ended up at 1.9 tons, which is better than the IRL record, which is 2.6 tons. And lastly, on a Mu V, Planetoid 9, a tiny Mars probe which will serve as a backup for Planetoid 10. Unfortunately, the rocket strayed from its planned course. The fuel tank burnt up in the atmosphere (I call BS on that! I was at 77km doing 3km/s!) causing the rocket to collapse in on itself. This is the first failure of the Mu V - and the first failure of the Mu series in a very long time. This would be akin to seeing an Ariane 5 blowing up in real life. Unfortunately, this failure puts Mu V at either 75% or 80% reliability. I forget how many flights it has had, but it's relatively new. However, as the ideal transfer window is still 50-60 days away I can build another one in time for Mars, it will just arrive late.

Over on the actual SpaceX reddit, a new discussion has arisen. It seems like SpaceX has attained a launch permit for November 10 from the Cape for a Falcon 9 with an RTLS landing. The only thing is, there's no known payload that matches that description. CRS-13 isn't until late November. We know it's not FH, unfortunately. In the comments two people have revealed the leaked information that the codename of this launch is Zuma. We have no idea what it is, but it's probably NRO related. *dramatic*

So, yeah, everyone's doing BFR and stuff and seeing how big they can make rockets, but I thought I'd go the other direction. The smallest orbital rocket in real life is, in theory, the SS-520-4 at around 2600kg. It has a useful payload of around 3kg. Unfortunately, it failed in its first and only attempt to reach orbit. Now, I had one design that was about 1t and had 10km/s of Delta-V but it used the Star-37 as the first stage. Unfortunately, that has a pretty bad sea level specific impulse and wouldn't work. If I could tweak the nozzle, it would have gotten to orbit... However, what I did come up with... I present to you, the Solid Miniature Angled Lateral Launcher 1, or S.M.A.L.L. 1. On the launch pad it weighs about 1900kg not counting the launch clamps. Like the SS-520-4, it has four stages, all solid fueled, and has a useful payload basically nothing except an empty booster shell. I mean, you might be able to stick a few grams worth of paper notes on it... Maybe 200g? Anyways, this is in RP-0, so I have only done one launch so far. Like the SS-520-4, it was a failure, but unlike the SS-520-4 SMALL-1 technically made orbit. Liftoff! The first stage is a procedural solid rocket booster. Unfortunately, because of this, the specific impulse and mass ratios are abysmal. However, there was not a normal SRB that fit my needs so I had to bite the bullet and use the 230ns procedurals. This stage has control, however, with four movable winglets. These get the ship onto the optimal trajectory. On the first flight an error was made which caused the rocket to pitch down much farther than usual. Beauty shot. A closer view, mostly another beauty shot. Beauty shot with the moon. Sorry for all of the beauty shots. There's a reason I'm splurging, it's because due to Earth's axial tilt I've had to launch everything on the night side for the past third of a year in game (I've been launching a lot in that time) and this was the first non-ecliptic (is that the right word?) launch in a long time, and therefore the first daytime launch in a while. After about a minute, the first stage burns out. The second stage, an Altair II if I recall correctly, ignites immediately afterward. At this point the rocket was angled about 45 degrees. It should have been about ten degrees higher. It was this that led to the failure of the mission. The fairings are jettisoned shortly after the burnout of stage two. The final two stages are visible here, a Star 17 and a Baby Sergeant. These two stages fire at apogee. Usually apogee would be 150-160km. However, the apogee attained by the first flight was only 119km. RO ends the atmosphere at 140km. The tiny RCS system onboard spins the ship up in preparation for the apogee burn. Unfortunately, an oscillation in the spin up process led to the rocket facing below prograde. The last two stages have incredibly high TWR. The last stage is unguided, the avionics equipment being located on stage three to save mass. And... Unfortunately, the perigee is at 95km. Even though the apogee is at 3300km, the orbit still intersects the atmosphere (even by the IRL definition of 100km). It's technically in orbit and could have gotten to orbit with a different ascent profile. So, I wasted four hours on that...

Elon has admitted to drinking whiskey while doing the AMA. That might explain some of the answers...

He made a Harry Potter Reference.

He has said that at first the tanker will be an empty cargo ship, but later it will be a dedicated tanker which will look weird.

In total he's up to 13 gildings so far... I bet it will get above 20 if the AMA goes on much longer.

When asked what dev progress they will make in 5 years, he responded with "a lot" and 3 yes's, referring to the construction of a grasshopper BFR, that propellant plants will be tested, and that facilities will be built. Sort of vague. He also called someone a nerd before responding with an incredibly nerdy response, made a bob the builder reference, and when told the AMA was going oddly he said "just wait..."

He says the BFS now has 3 sea level engines. I think.

Raptor thrust was reduced because Elon "Chickened out..."

You can click on his user profile. So far he hasn't answered any yet. Also he's up to 6 gildings.

2800 comments... Yeah, I won't be noticed. I think he answered, like, 15 last year.

AMA is live! Unfortunately, it is in contest mode so he'll probably see everything equally, no point in upvoting things so they get seen. EDIT: We're only 15 minutes in and the post has already been gilded three times... EDIT 2: Four times at 16 minutes... EDIT 3: Five gildings at 17 minutes.

Thanks! I almost forgot. I should be ready-ish by then. In case I'm not, if you could ask about the possibility of recovering the ISS/Hubble/Space debris with the BFR that would be great!

Lucky you, you get more than 4fps in RO...