HarrySeaward

The chutes are there because the ship has about a 1-in-3 chance of a rapid, unplanned disassembly on landing--even while performing landings that would be successful with other vessels. I spent a long time trying to find the weak link (various autostruts, actual struts, rigid/non) but settled for the compromised solution. If one were to attempt my version of the Jool-5/SSTO/Elkano, I highly recommend taking the time to land as near to the equator as possible. I wasted 4+ hrs on Tylo driving from 20°S latitude to cross into the northern hemisphere.

This is from my Jool-5 SSTO/Circumnavigation challenge, but I think it counts here. You guys should give it a shot; it's a real test of patience and perseverance. The badge below links to it. Part 1 Highlights: 30:55 Vall Rising (Tylo?) 1:07:07 Sketchy Laythe Takeoff Part 2 Highlights: 10:04 Vall Summit 16:58 Tylo Landing 25:25 Tylo Summit 28:46 Rendezvous in Tylo Orbit 2.5 hrs at 16x speed means that this mission took me 40 real life hours-not counting another 10-15hrs of testing.

Part 1 Highlights: 30:55 Vall Rising (Tylo?) 1:07:07 Sketchy Laythe Takeoff Part 2 Highlights: 10:04 Vall Summit 16:58 Tylo Landing 23:20 Driving Slideshow 25:25 Tylo Summit 28:46 Rendezvous in Tylo Orbit 2.5 hrs at 16x speed means that this mission took me 40 real life hours-not counting another 10-15hrs of testing.

Let us know if you are going to attempt. You can edit the post for your submission.

Jool-5 NAVIGATOR &/or SSTO Challenge Your challenge is to accomplish one or both of the following classic challenges during a standard Jool-5 trip: 1.) Elkano Circumnavigator Challenge of Jool's 5 moons. 2.) SSTO However, your circumnavigation only needs to satisfy 2 requirements, and can be accomplished in either order: 1.) Cross the equator at least once. 2.) Touch every degree of longitude. (This may be accomplished by heading for a pole and twirling around like your Kerbal may technically be an idiot) The difference is that you do not have to return to your landing location, although doing so may help. (I think this change adds a little strategy and speeds things up a little bit) Be sure to plant your bread crumb trail of flags as you go. No gameplay or part mods. Keep your resources tab open; other information mods are appreciated. Some part clipping is allowable, but let's not get ridiculous. We should be able to at least account for your fuel tanks. Post your submissions below and claim your badge. Videos are best; Imgur albums of important moments (takeoffs, landings, flag-plantings, etc.) are acceptable. If you've already done a SSTO that satisfies the Jool-5, go ahead and post it. Jool-5 Circumnavigator w/ SSTO 1.) Your Name Here! 2.) Harry Seaward 3.) Jool-5 Circumnavigator 1.) 2.) 3.) Jool-5 SSTO 1.) 2.) 3.) Let me know if you have any suggestions. I don't think that an identical challenge exists, but let me know if there is. My submission will be up in the next day or two. Good Luck!

damn.

19.116t

Nice use of the Ant. I don't think I've ever used one.

I think turbo-pumped does a bit too much part clipping. No?

But how do you get 2 in the air if one does not start with the second on the ground?

My mistake, just a brain fart. Meant to say Space Plane. I spent the last previous 50 hours working in various SSTOs and had it seared on my mind.

SSTO Space Plane-37.973t Room for improvement, especially if I had more patience for ions.

It's on.

Is this a challenge? Maybe who can get closest to the the target at the highest speed? How would you calculate the best score? I think it should be the tower on the SPH.

I don't see how this challenge can be completed without refueling either with extra missions or wiith IRSU. It's fine if there was a ban on IRSU, but I didn't see that anywhere. So it seems the way to win this challenge is to build a fully reusable SST-Laythe with refueling. With a SSTO, the entire cost of hardware is covered. If you then add refueling, you can put your ship back to its starting form when you return. Starting Cost: 231,249 Recovery Cost 231,250 (I recovered with my small ore tank full) I know I'm not the first to make a reusable Laythe craft, but does it count as a win for this challenge?

The strategy I figured out is to F5 when you are midair on a long jump. Warnings!: 1) Make sure it is a jump you can land. Tips below. 2) Stop and do a traditional "ESC" -> "Save Game" every once in a while because if you F5 too low to the ground the reload will be an instant-splosion. Jumping (landing (successfully)) tips: 1. RCS is critical. Spread it out on your rover. Heavy on bow and stern, heavy on sides...so heavy all around. This also means lots of monopro on board. You'll need to turn it on and off a lot so you can control the wheels when you're safely on the ground to avoid wasting the monopro. 2. Long-ish body, wide too, but longer than wide. You prefer to roll 60° right or left, go up on the wheels and save it with Q or E rather than rolling forward with a crunchy tumbling. 3. Wheels to the corners. Try to make it so that the wheels are the first thing that contact the oncoming incline. 4. Set SAS to prograde (unless you decide your rover works better in reverse after you arrive-it happens to the best of us). This lets the RCS do its thing well, especially during the bounce. 5. Try to land on a downhill with your front wheels landing slightly before the rears. If you have the SAS on prograde, you may need to lift the nose up a little right before you touch. Be ready with Q and E to keep the rubber side down. Hopefully this helps.

Minmus and Mun in 1 trip. The mun is so much larger than I had previously thought. I ended up driving my rover backwards for the mun trip because the liquid fueled engine worked great as an emergency brake, even though that left me with the land I'd covered more well lighted than the land in front of me. The trip was feeling quite tedious when I met the canyons and was rejuvenated. Having completed this relatively long land circuit has made me realize that the point of this whole thing is to become more intimately acquainted with these bodies. I had been on the mun dozens of times and never been in the canyons. http://imgur.com/a/DEmiv I used my Intro to Photoshop skills to make this. Enjoy.

No categories. Just speed.

Well, good luck. I'm interested to see the results.

So, on my longest stretch around Laythe, I did it at 7.5m/s which used 0.02units/second of liquid fuel. I worked a long time on creating an efficient design and strategy, and this was the best I came up with. If you maintained these figures (and my math is correct), to travel a distance equal to the equatorial circumference of Kerbin at 4x physics warp, it would take nearly 3 (Earth) months and would require 10,000 units of liquid fuel. Of course, efficiency would vary and your sea path would be different than a true equatorial path, but these numbers are daunting. Do you have an ace up your sleeve?

Good call. My first through was that flying/floating sort of went against the definition of a driving circumnavigation. But I guess that constant contact with the ground is impossible so it seems that the definition is just having propulsion from the wheels. The sea path around Kerbin is pretty clear. Any tips for a sea path around Eve? Just follow the coast? Is the Eve trip only supposed to be land-based? polar?

Yeah...so...driving on Minmus is friggin' hard. Wow. Good luck. These missions have really given me an appreciation for how large these bodies are. Are you doing some sort solar powered system? Paddle wheel?

Laythe Sea Voyage Done. http://imgur.com/a/4Xuzd The last stretch was a crossing of the ocean that covers nearly half of the surface. To maximize fuel efficiency, I had to do most of it at 7.5m/s. Even with 4x physics warp, it literally took 8.5 human hours. Next trip: Mun & Minmus. I am looking forward to a land voyage where I don't have to worry about fuel. [+ Kerbin loop https://imgur.com/a/1ImDw = Master Mariner]

http://imgur.com/a/1ImDw It took me 14 days to travel (mostly) by sea. I started out planing to stay on the equator for the entire trip, but then I realized how much attention land travel requires. So, I switched to a (mostly) sea voyage. Then I discovered how tedious endless cruising and refueling is. I figured 30m/s gave me the best combination of speed and efficiency.

Great Job! Should be a tough time to beat. Going west is genius. I don't consider autopilot a gameplay mod, but I think it should be noted. Quickloading is a no-go. It's a relatively short challenge and there's something elegant about doing it in a single shot. Plus, an accurate and complete F3 screen is a nice bookend to the Engineer's Report from the SPH.