dnbattley

You could convert this save file into a scenario, meaning people just "run" the mission with the craft already in orbit. Scenarios, unlike missions, work even without DLC...

A few thoughts: 1. Having just submitted this for Jool 5 I humbly suggest this is a rather meagre bonus, particularly since the additional weight/cost demands will significantly count against the score. 2. Continuing the theme: the SSTO bonus also seems disproportionately high: particularly since it isn't required to actually complete the full mission. 3. May I also suggest a non ISRU bonus?

Thanks! Sadly not impressive enough however: I've been trying and failing to keep speeds reliably over 25m/s after take off, meaning I'm confined to bunny-hopping along the runway for now...

Very interesting. Thanks. I've also made further progress using my scanner powered engine: Flight! In fairness it was more of a long hop than true flight, but if it's good enough for the Wright brothers, then it's good enough for me.

I'm exploring all the moving parts that don't need electricity at the moment... the new 1.7.3 addition of self-interaction has opened up a wide range of possibilities for harnessing them directly for motion.

Amazing! Thanks for sharing this. How does the free energy turbine work? Do you have a craft file you would be willing to share?

Cross post from the challenge forums, having now started to explore the battery-less propulsive properties of airlocks...

I'll be honest: I only actually saw this today after @doggonemess posted his submission, but it tied very nicely into some work I have been doing recently on gearing, hence why I was able to submit something so quickly, but I'm glad you posted this challenge!

My first entry: the infini-tractor Mk1. While speed is nothing to write home about, this rear-wheel driven agricultural creation does have the advantage that it runs off the apparently magic power of airlocks, and thus requires no fuel/electricity to function. Craft file here: https://kerbalx.com/dnbattley/infini-tractor

Ooh this is interesting: I have some ideas for this I'd like to try out...

Today's status report: Made a infini-contra-prop engine. It's not yet producing enough speed to make flight viable, but with a top speed of around 30m/s on a bare-bone set-up it's getting closer The contra-prop rotor design is actually unrelated to the battery-less movement, and may have useful applications elsewhere.

This sounds a lot like this recent challenge. That being the case:

Further progress to report: A stable, perpetual motion, flying machine. It doesn't really "go" anywhere, but gently rises in a (mostly) stable manner. More details on the reddit forum: https://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/cf3efc/craft_file_provided_stock_perpetual_motion_flying/? Thanks! Not sure exactly, but they were going pretty fast. It wasn't stable, unlike my more recent offering. Re landing legs: I've been avoiding using any kraken-powered technology where possible.

Today's updates: 1. Gearing! 2. Flying!

Also, while I have not made any real progress in how to harness this, I note that the expanding airlock both 1) has a large movement, 2) doesn't require electricity, and 3) can be finely controlled by a KAL1000 (e.g. 0-100 "deployment"). The KAL also doesn't require electricity, FYI.

No it doesn't. And having had the opportunity to refine the concept a little further am now pleased to present the "infini-wheel mk1": a stabilised unicycle which, provided it doesn't tip over and remains on land, has no practical limit to its range. And its brother, the infini-rover:

The new same-craft part interaction in 1.7.3 permits a while range of promising possibilities, one of which is battery-free movement using existing stock parts and combining them with a DLC "housing" that moves with the part. As an example of this, I created a narrow-band scanner "motor" that has no electricity need, and has a very considerable torque. Although I haven't tested it's full capacity yet, the design is easy to emulate, with two structural plates attached to an unmotorised servo clamping onto a scanner which has been offset into position. I'm hoping that creating this thread will provide a place for fellow travellers to join me in exploring this further and providing a place to investigate the possibility of harnessing other "electricity-free" moving parts, such as air brakes, landing legs and satellite dishes.

Thank you @JacobJHC for your very generous review of the comedy of errors that this mission turned out to be! I'm particularly glad you liked my "Duna handbrake turn" manoeuvre: I can't imagine I would have been the first to use it, but am very happy to have brought it's effectiveness to wider awareness. It definitely needs the trajectories mod to use with any accuracy! @GRS I'm glad to have inspired you!

Cross post from https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/185825-the-direct-ascent-challenge/ Mission report: https://imgur.com/a/HL4XkiW My first official Jool5 submission, undertaken as a direct ascent, "in series" mission with no ISRU, whereby each landing had to be made using the ascent stage of the previous one. Turned out to be rather a fun twist on the mission profile.

Done! Jool5, and I even managed to get a cheeky Minmus landing on route home! This has been one of the most fun challenges I have attempted. Thanks OP! Full mission report: https://imgur.com/a/HL4XkiW

Thanks to OP for a fascinating challenge. I *think* I've managed to design a Jool5 capable craft, following the rules, which lifts some 18k dV into LKO. Now I just need to run it on my potato laptop... Watch this space. Mission report below...

Inspired by an apparently common complaint of craft veering left or right on the runway, which appear to often be the consequence of misaligned landing wheels (with some mods even made to help alleviate this common mistake), would it be possible to implement a simple addition to the engineers checklist showing a warning when wheels are not aligned to the root part or to other wheels?

As someone who always enjoys a good low cost mission challenge, I offer for your consideration a mission video of Jeb flying to Duna and back in a rocket, costing a mighty 4978 credits. Shot in a single take this evening, with no editing (other than time-acceleration to bring overall video time down to a manageable level), so apologies for any jerkiness. Edit: this video now fixes the audio sync issue.

FWIW I'd make some of these weightings much higher than others, and in general much, much more generous, something like: Single take: multiplies all reductions (below) by x2 Class 1 (Environment) No trajectories mod (-200m) No KER (-200m) No mods at all (Bonus -600m, which stacks with the above for a max -1000m from class 1) Class 2 (Design) No airbrakes (-100m) No aerodynamic control surfaces (-100m) No RCS (-100m) No Reaction Wheels (-100m - question: do you envisage needing in-built pod reaction wheels to be switched off?) Negative scores are allowed: maximum theoretical score is therefore -2800. Also, I suggest that players can choose any building rooftop or launchpad target to take their distance measurement from. Landing on the helipad should not be discouraged

I never realised KSP could be made to look so... sadistic! Congratulations on that achievement!