soranno

found an old mechjeb version that at least still works in part, also I didn`t see that you asked for craft files and images, I was thinking to keep the design secret for the challenge hah! refined down to 1.874 anyway, here on the launchpad for real and into orbit, for some reason all the other ascent stats are bugged out.. I guess it`s just the old version or something

I see your 4.3 and raise you a 1.966 I don`t have a mechjeb to show those windows, but I have two images taken with engineer open.. and the navball used to cunningly conceal my craft design. Rest assured it is all stock. Into orbit with over .3 also I panicked right at the end and ended up with a hugely elliptical orbit, as the only panel on the thing is right on the front, and taking off the sun was behind me. As I reached apo the charge was like 0.12 or something, so I just burned and then flipped it around to get some sunlight There is a lot of refinement to be done on this little design. Methinks I`m not finished..

in its default setting after you install the plugin, your physics loading range goes up to something like 96km, so even things in orbit overhead will load and can cause your fps to drop. there should however be a control window in the top left corner of the space center screen in which you can input what distances you would like things to both load, and unload at.

More of concern for me is trying to place a maneuver when two paths are very close.. because I really don`t want to be planning a maneuver for 150 days away when the burn should be taking place in 7 hours. At least this is keeping us occupied while we await the next step of the challenge

Yes, that`s the very one I watched. It seems having it on 3 shows me everything I need, but maybe turning up the limiter will keep the chain from ending somewhere prematurely.

Back again for take 2, and the mission to Duna! Maneuvers complete, on course for Duna aerobrake. Would go straight into a double dip entry off the one aerobrake, and so use no fuel. The approach had been going so well.. Ike decided to .. step in as it were But with a quick correction we were back on course for an 11.6km periapsis... however, Ike wasn`t quite finished. Damnit Ike get out of the way, nobody likes you Following a parachute assisted landing, the probe sleeps on Duna.. perhaps dreaming of electric probe-sheep.. Day 205 of the mission, and the one opportunity this little probe had at making a return to Kerbin. As the sun set, his little engine spurted to life, and towards the stars we crawled... Alas, it was not to be, and at 36km our fuel is spent. Farewell sweet prince-probe, sorry my burn for Duna encounter was so horribly in-efficient Full gallery here: http://imgur.com/a/LHtku

I had to look up a video to find out what those are Without having made any changes, both values are set to 3 in my settings file. Having watched the rest of that video, I might turn the limit up to 4.. that`s interesting. and thank you for the comments on my insectoid probe hah

very creative design there, I particularly like the engine array and the cockpits/pods positioning. Which one is the parent part? and to idan, has your ship sailed yet? still planning to head for eeloo? I haven`t tried there yet. I think next I have to head for Vall. An older ship design ended up stranded out there and managed to limp into an elliptical orbit of vall on RCS. Been there for 3 years now and badly in need of rescue

I`ll get my foot back in the door moments before it closes The valiant probe lifts off from the Mun And after but a kerbally day of waiting minmus aligns for transfer That was the first time I ever used multiple maneuver nodes at the one time Tension mounted as the sun disappeard behind minmus.. our probe on escape trajectory.. Praise the Sun! Touch down.. ah Minmus how I love you

Finally a success! All in all a relatively straightforward minmus landing, nevermind that I was aiming for Duna. After bursting out of Kerbin`s atmosphere and to escape velocity, I found myself with a double encounter, both Mun and minmus, with the Mun sending me into an odd sort of polar collision trajectory with minmus. On the launch pad in all her glory: Abandoned the ion plan in favour of an ANT powered probe! Just like on my Duna glider design, it turned out much preferable to trying to go ion powered. Second stage spent, and at escape velocity. You`ll see I`m running engineer, but well I figure if you`Re allowing Mechjeb then it should be a given that engineer is fine. Into low minmus orbit, and looking for a landing site, this large peak caught my eye Touch down My biggest concern at this stage, was the very real possibility (in fact I was just sure) that deadly reentry was going to make it impossible for me to land this thing back on kerbin.. as I was never going to weight it down with a heat shield.. nevertheless I started down into the atmosphere, using what fuel I had left to try and lower velocity while keeping my entry angle shallow. and perhaps miraculously, one leg and one solar panel lighter, 2 days and 5 hours after take off parachutes deploy After spending so much time (sooo much time) playing around with giant ships and stations etc, I have had more fun flying this little thing than anything else in kerbal for quite some time. You have my thanks for putting up this challenge! Now to try again for Duna, and then to Gilly!!! Full gallery of this trip has a few additional images here: http://imgur.com/a/e6rRV

I`ve abandoned the ions, and went for a new design. Manage to break Kerbin SOI on every launch now, only I don`t want to haha! trying to make a mun or minmus landing. I`ll play with this some more and post a few images when I have a result

I like it, but I`d love to see more images perhaps of the engine section, and a closer shot of the docking arrays?

with a third stage ion probe it is only a matter of time, but I`m really trying to get more out of the first 2. My best so far is only 1000km apo after the solid booster burns out

game on!

I`ve convinced myself that the best way of getting from eve sea level to orbit is to do it not with one craft, but with two. One landed on a high point and the other at sea level. The one craft ascends to the plateau where the second is waiting. Probably the first would have to be a winged craft capable of powered flight in the atmosphere of eve. This assumes naturally, that you`re not simply in a position to drive up to the waiting launch vehicle on the higher plateau. I`m not familiar with the history so far of winged flight on eve, hopefully it hasn`t all been lost in the calamity. I`ll have to go look some up.

As planned I launched a second of my design, Higeta`s sister ship `Aydin`, tasked with transportation and establishment of a station to Duna orbit, it was every bit the orgy of orbital ballet and docking that I had imagined. parked in LKO with all modules stowed, 9 in all to reassemble upon arrival at Duna Maybe I`m crazy to enjoy it this way hah!

I must thank you.. as will the Kerbals of my ill fated magic boulder search. They sat in orbit of Ike for 2 kerbally years looking for that thing.. all the while unaware that it vanishes under time warp. *sigh* But we all know Kerbals are relentless. A new mission to find that elusive magic bastard is in the works even now!

I may have to try it out on my next large ship design. Until now I`ve been making use of rear facing docking ports to effectively drag cargo rather than push it, which seems to allow for greater stability. However it requires balanced loading, and frequently disassembly/loading/reassembly in orbit. Although I do quite enjoy that as I love the process of docking and maneuvering in close proximity

I`ve been meaning to try out some multi-docking port module designs such as that temstar. Do you find it adds to stability enough to make it worthwhile? I imagine an entire Eve ascent vehicle is weighty enough to show it clearly

Here is the craft file for my Higeta. http://www./download.php?2cmh4cd1nu0o4t0 I`ve edited it to remove all mod accessories like engineer/chatterer/protractor, as well as the lander and probes have no kethane components. If you intend to try and launch it with a configuration similar to mine, using tanks with engines on docking ports, my only advice is to disable fuel crossfeed on those ports before take off To further the discussion regarding design, rather than intending to be fancy or such, I`ve been thinking about ships in 3 ways. Firstly functionality, getting to wherever, secondly utility, in my case usually carrying home units, and lastly aesthetics. More recently I have moved to prioritize aesthetics almost as much as utility, with functionality being only a basic requirement. Not to say I can make anything that looks particularly nice, but where possible I try to keep my design to whatever feeling I have towards the ship. In this case it was all about the truss design creating a sort-of internal docking space for the lander, and the 4 pairs of nuclear engines.

remarkable balanced aircraft. Is the VTOL engine simply a basic jet clipped into the structure?] EDIT: took a look at the craft to see for myself do you operate it with FAR mod?

Thank you iDan! The ship is launched whole in this simple enough configuration: It uses its own mainsail engine along with the side mounted ones after the first stage tanks are emptied and drop, and upon leaving the atmosphere that is disabled and the nuclear rockets activated. I thought to then remove the mainsail maybe, but in the end I left it, as sometimes an emergency burn needs more than just the nuclear engines Also it can launch just fine with the landing craft already in place, and probes/satellites, if one doesn`t feel like launching them up separately.

hihi, I`ve long had a fascination with making something that could operate long term in deep space, while maintaining some utility and aesthetic quality. After 3 or 4 moderately unsuccessful designs I finally put this ship into service. I`ve named it Higeta, and it is the first of this class of cruiser I have deployed. The ship itself is stock, however operates with accessories like engineer etc, and on the mission shown in these images is transporting HOME colony modules to duna. As well as that, its landing craft was fitted with kethane extraction capabilites on this occasion. First, the Higeta commencing its burn for Duna in LKO. A closer view, showing more clearly the structural elements, lander and, on this occasion, kethane detection probes mounted. During this mission, the two probes fitted were used to provide a landing beacon at the duna pyramid, and then to locate an equatorial kethane deposit on ike. Finally a wider angle view, most of the key features of the ship`s construction can be seen. The ship makes orbit with ease, and has a part count low enough such that even after delivering all cargo, probes and landing craft, there is minimal frame rate reduction. All in all I was very pleased with its performance, and I`m delighted at last to have a deep space ship with an aesthetic I enjoy in operation. I will probably put up one more, and operate the two for a while before deciding what direction to go in next. I doubt my design will be as appealing to anyone else, but I`d be happy to post a craft file if anyone wanted to take a look. I`ll just have to pull off the accessories and such first.

My attempts at offword HOME bases so far: A pair of survey teams at the Duna pyramid. 2 Units, habitat and recon, 1160m apart, and both with demv ant. Each unit has 2 kerbaly scientists. Duna Survery A, with kerbals arguing over who gets to drive and survey B both units in a wide shot and finally, my first attempt, a triple home habit unit on minmus, also 2 occupants My calculation, each duna survey, with habitat, recon, ant and 2 kerbals, 37 points X2 = 74 2 distinct sites for 10X2= 20 points, plus duna bonus of 35, Total 129 for Duna. and on minmus, 3 habitats and 2 kerbals, for 47, plus minmus` 15 total 62 for minmus altogether 191 points. If I have calculated incorrectly please let me know Dropping those 2 duna units was hair raising to say the least, and kept me up to 2am on a work night haha, but a lot more to come. Next is the Duna station, followed by the Eve prison colony... mwahaha

I enjoyed reading , although I admit I skipped a little towards the end but anyway, I too have enjoyed working with hybrid rockets, ascending on a combination of all of solid boosters, jets and rockets. However, I wonder how your designs will need to be radically altered if you were to install the deadly re-entry mod, or similar entry heat was to be implemented in the stock game.