liorg1993

I think I've finally figured out what the orange dot is once and for all.(unless someone else already stated this before, I didn't bother to check every page). If you look closely you can see a big "L" shape between the pyramid and the orange dot, with one edge pointing to the bottom-middle part of the pyramid and the other towards the bottom of the orange dot(a.k.a Duna's south pole where the pyramid is located).

Are you planning on adding an interplanetary transfer autopilot soon? I think it whould be a great idea to even have a tool to help you time the transfer injection and help you point the ship in the right direction for people who like manual flying.

@EndlessWaves I'm sorry but I'm not gonna be home for the next two days and won't be able to test out your rocket. I'll be home Friday evening and I'll try to test it then if I find the time.

@Nori: Feel free to tweak it it as you see fit. @Apotheosist: I've been having serious issues launching your rocket into orbit. It's common that rockets wiggle a bit during takeoff in the game but with your design any slight movement during separation of the outer fuel tanks would mean complete and utter destruction of the middle section.

I don't think the devs will be taking out parts during this stage of development, it would break too many ships. As for the 200-300 m/s fall, the chutes will probably be assisted with a powered descent(I will be using Mechjeb for the first few landings to learn when to throttle). The Aerospikes are powerful and efficient enough to slow me down without wasting too much fuel.

@Apotheosist I think your design is very good although lacking in stability. In my tests the ship kept falling apart during takeoff, but I fixed this by adding more struts to the big liquid fuel tanks. The design does look promising and I'm certainly going to try it out once the next version comes out. I think the challenge will only be over once 0.17 is released and we are able to test all of the designs properly. Until then, keep sending them in!

I've never tried uploading files internally(not even sure if that's possible) but you can easily upload using sites like Dropbox or Mediafire.

I am aware of this problem. Fortunately the desert planet's gravity should be smaller than Kerbin's and my tests show that even if the parachutes don't slow the lander enough, you can always add a tiny bit of thrust at the very end of the landing to compensate and barely lose any fuel.

Thanks for the idea of rearranging the fuel lines! It really helps during the lander's ascent stage. However, I'm having problems using the aerospikes during liftoff from Kerbin because the lander's fuel tanks are being depleted no matter how I connect the fuel lines to the main rocket

Could you please clarify as to how the aerospikes are heavier than the other engines? Isn't it the other way round? And what do you mean by "payload stage"?

Sorry, I was using Mechjeb to see the weight of the lander. I'll re-upload it with only stock parts.

Since only the middle section of the lander is left after launching from Mars, i'm going to be using the small parachute to land the command pod after the rest of the ship is jettisoned. The 8 larger parachutes are the only way I could slow this beast down and keep it from crashing into the ground. Also, the aerospikes are the most powerful and economic engines in the game and help me keep my lander lighter and easier to land and launch back home.

As you all know, version 0.17 will be bringing us new planets to explore. So I have decided to start building a ship that will take me to the red desert planet(Mars) as a start. I have managed to build a relatively stable lander, capable of landing(as of now on Kerbin) using parachutes and later taking off and reaching orbit with enough fuel to make an interplanetary flight back home. <i>But here's my problem:</i> the lander is <b>VERY</b> heavy (40 tons!), and i'm not able to build a rocket stable enough to send it to mars. So i'm proposing a challenge: Build a rocket capable of launching the lander into low kerbin orbit(LKO) and having enough fuel to send it to mars and bring it for a landing trajectory(900-1000 d/v <b><i>should</i></b> be enough). <b><u>Rules:</u></b> a) The rocket should be stable and not break at any point during the flight. The rocket should be small enough to not make an astronomic lag during takeoff. I have a very powerful PC and I'm still getting some serious lag when it comes to huge ships c) Using <b>only</b> stock parts. <u>The lander:</u> <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/y2lh4vx6z5kbkrv/Heavy%20Lander.craft">Download Here</a> <u>Pics:</u> <b>Good Luck!</b>