jshu

I'm most excited about finally having a more modern and stable version of KSP that doesn't need mods to look good (and be somewhat "complete", although the current early access version unfortunately seems far from it...).

Very interesting from a developers perspective, thanks for the insights!

Survey done

Nice! What about a native Linux version? Would really like to have that, and it seems like I'm not alone with this... Linux gaming may be a small market overall, but the KSP community apparently has a rather large number of active players and modders who use Linux (which is to be expected considering the type and target audience of the game ...).

Another +1 for Linux support from me!

Thanks a lot, especially for the Ground Anchor!

Very cool, thanks a lot! Would love to see more posts like this.

Nice, I especially like the creativity of making a mod collection a fruit kocktail, and even naming each mod accordingly.

Cool idea for a mod, and congratulations for TOTM!

Thanks a lot, always good to see bugfixes!

Gehöre auch dazu

Very nice, gives lots of new opportunities in the game! Probably one of the greatest additions to the game since the introduction of stock robotics in Breaking Ground! And that was a paid DLC, while this is a free update. Thanks a lot!

+1, would really like to have a Linux version!

Ah, ok, that makes sense. Thanks for the explanation. I'm still not sure whether I can construct something like that without adding to much weight and/or drag during launch, but I may try...

Thanks for helping me to optimize my craft @sevenperforce! KSP is great for learning about physics. So, do you think this craft is already worth being added to the leaderboard? I may try to optimize it further, but I can't promise anything... Sorry, but I don't understand this one. Do you really mean as much dry mass or as few dry mass as possible? If three of those SRBs die out sooner, then most of the mass (the fuel) is gone earlier, but I cannot actually reduce dry weight for the final burn because I can't think of any way to separate the empty SRBs without staging (or adding some other construction similar to the first stage, which would probably add far more weight than what is saved by separating three small empty SRBs...). The thrust limiter on the first stage is already turned down a little. However, the main reason for this is that it controls how fast the craft accelerates after launch, therefore how fast aerodynamic flow around the fins builds up and therefore how quickly the craft starts to pitch down. Also, I still need some aerodynamic flow around the fins on the second stage once the first stage separates (for stabilization, cause sometimes it gets a little kick if the first stage SRB doesn't fall down fast enough and slightly touches the craft, and also for making it continue to pitch down), so I may not be too high in the atmosphere at that point.

Do you mean symmetrically (to get a different thrust curve) or asymmetrically (to make the craft pitch down earlier)? The reason for the low thrust in the upper stage is that I may not use up all the fuel to early. I need to have some fuel left at apoapsis so that I actually reach orbit and don't just do a suborbital hop with a way too high apoapsis but a periapsis somewhere below the ground. About asymmetric thrust on the upper stage, I tried that, but the problem is that you can only set thrust limiters in steps of 0.5, which is way too much. I also tried leaving the thrust limiters equal and slightly changing the fuel levels in some of those SRBs to get asymmetric thrust, but that didn't work either. The ultimate problem with optimizing anything on the craft is that the first stage is rather wobbly and so you don't get reproducible results. Actually, thinking about it again while writing this reply, it needs to have the following thrust curve for maximum efficiency (assuming symmetric thrust): While the first stage is burning: [doesn't actually matter] After separating the first stage, we have an apoapsis of around 40 km and a periapsis of around -500km, so we need high thrust to quickly get the apoapsis above 70km. Once there we need low thrust to save fuel and stop raising our apoapsis. Once just a few seconds before apoapsis, we need high thrust again to raise our periapsis above 70km. I specifically didn't know how to achieve 4. since I cannot activate any new engines without staging, so I chose an average value that somehow (not very efficiently as you noted) works for both 3. and 4..

Thanks for mentioning me here! It took a long time (wow, almost 3 months...) because I had basically no time for KSP, but today I finally finished my entry for this challenge: The craft is fully stock and doesn't have any timers or other controllers. Thanks to @Starman4308 for the idea how to create multiple stages without using any modded parts. I simplified the construction a lot since I went for the lowest possible launchpad mass (probably at the cost of reduced reliability, though I have no idea how reliable the original construction is...). Craft file: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fFOfQmzMFiabnklVyHTF6klXHx_yysLc?usp=sharing (Please tell me if this works, I've never shared a craft file before. This link points to a folder holding the craft file and the loadmeta file. Do you need both, or is the craft file enough?) Craft stats: Launchpad mass: 10.618t Payload mass (weight in orbit): 0.81t Efficiency: 0.81t/10.681t=0.0758356 Apoapsis(*): 120.01km Periapsis(*): 80.17km Eccentricity(*): 0.0285 (*) Values are from the flight shown in the video below. Unfortunately, the craft is somewhat unreliable, so the values will most likely be different if you download the craft file above and do a test flight. It's not like "Fire and forget", more like "Fire and pray". Be prepared that you may need multiple tries to reach orbit. Thanks @Snark for the challenge!

Thanks a lot! Sorry, somehow forgot this rule when writing the mission report... Not trying to be nitpicking here, but I think that it earns the Meteorologist Ribbon as well, doesn't it?

Wow, thanks a lot to you all for so much overwhelmingly positive feedback! Really didn't expect that... I don't know exactly what kOS can or cannot do but if it can somehow read the current coordinates of the craft then you could actually guide it towards its target instead of simply using a timed sequence of control inputs, which should make it much more reliable. Also, you could probably get even better times because you can increase TWR even further without running into stability problems. Might give it a try next weekend, but no promises .

Is this challenge still open for submissions @vyznev? Since I am a programmer but a terrible pilot, I decided to try a different approach for this challenge: I automated the whole flight using robotic parts and a KAL controller. This allowed much more aggressive optimizations because you can precisely control the whole flight and do not have to account for pilot errors. By doing that, I got around the VAB in 16 seconds! The whole thing works by setting the probe SAS to Radial out and rotating the horizontal engine with a servo. You can see the KAL controller tracks at the beginning of the video. Additionally, here is an Imgur album showing the previous versions. Some of these used hinges instead of a servo: https://imgur.com/a/k45HViC Unfortunately, KSPs' physics calculations do not seem to be deterministic, so the whole thing is somewhat unreliable. Recording this video took about 5 tries. It often lands (or crashes) somewhere next to the launchpad. Also, while this entry does not seem to be against the rules of this challenge (this is neither scripting nor an autopilot mod, it's just stock SAS with some robotic parts) it does violate the spirit of a piloting challenge, so it's definitely OK for me if you don't want to put it onto the main leaderboard. But I like automation and I wanted to see if it could be done . Thanks for the challenge!

This one seemed like a good candidate for my very first challenge submission, so I decided to take part and submit an entry: Craft Stats: - Name: OrbitBootCamper - Parts: 10 - Crew seats: 2 - Launch cost: 9,942 No mods were used, but several parts from the Making History DLC. Parts with a total value of 8,498 were recovered, leading to a total mission cost of 1,444. If I understood the rules correctly, this should earn the following additional adornments: Silver Claw: Perform a science experiment (with Meteorologist Ribbon, Kelvin Ribbon and Observational Ribbon) Amber Leaves: 10 parts or less Vermilion Heart: Take more than one Kerbal Thanks for this beginner-friendly challenge @Chequers! Please tell me if I did anything wrong.

Wow, great cinematic! Really enjoyed watching it! Thanks a lot and congratulations for becoming TOTM!

Thanks!

Hello, I have just registered here and simply want to say hello to you all. I have been reading this forum frequently for more than a year by now, and now I have finally decided to register here to become part of this community and maybe participate in some challenges. So, hello KSP forums!