boolybooly

Thought I would upload the screenies after all. These are numbered in sequence. 001 Escaping Kerbal 002 Liquid booster separation 003 Solid booster burn for the sun 004 Passing the sun A 005 Passing the sun B 006 Zero velocity beyond the sun 007 Adjusting periapsis for return 008 Aerobraking approach to Kerbal from escape vector 009 Resultant elliptical orbit after aerobraking and short retro burn 010 Reentry after fourth aerobraking manoevure 011 Approaching space centre 012 Splashdown As you can see in #012 there is a problem with a negative altitude record, probably a bug.

Too bad about the lost mission Iskierka, I had to aerobrake for four orbits with PE 40,000m. One of the screenies (007.jpg in fact) in the zip shows where I dropped out of warp at about 7600M because the PE was visible and using some back of envelope ready reckoning I adjusted ship vector using very short perpendicular burns at lowest setting so the PE figure was inside the atmosphere using very little fuel.

cool! 8)

Yes you can, I did it. You just cant go too far past. lol - I promise this isn\'t a Rick Roll. I have just completed the entire mission. I batch processed a few selected screenies showing the different stages of the last mission into the attached folder for anyone who is interested. Numbered in sequence fairly low res, 12 screenies total 412kb. Also the ship which did it (for 11x3) , but you have to fly that sucker, as I minimised the SAS.

Updated challenge. After the arrival of Mun and since Kerbin + Mun now orbit Kerbol the challenge is now to orbit the sun outside the Kerbin+Mun system for at least one full orbit and reach a periapsis of one half of Kerbin\'s distance from its star Kerbol or less during that orbit. Then you have to get back to the planet and aim for the Kerbal Space Centre terrain as per the original challenge. Thanks for reading and good luck... I know you cant tell from this if the ship is passing by close to the sun (as it was) or travelling 90° perpendicular to the direction of the sun and just very very far out from Kerbal. All I can say is I aimed for the sun and I am not hoaxing and you will have to check this out for yourselves because unless I am mistaken there is no screeny that will actually prove it. EDIT ok this wasnt very Kerbal (I was thinking of the golden age of sea exploration on planet Earth 18th - 19th centuries but this isnt Earth and its not the past and its not the sea) so I have changed it. Missions. The main challenge mission is to pass the sun (go as high as or higher than 13559M) and return to Kerbal to land as near to the KSC as you can. If you do that you earned the tag of star pilot dude SPD. Also minimising ship size and reducing mission time adds cool factor. Props for exclusive use of stock parts. [li]Anyone who can get out to the sun or thereabouts and return to Kerbin is undoubtedly a star pilot dude SPD.[/li] [li]Landing in launch pad terrain means you must be a pretty cool star spud CSS.[/li] [li]Making the outer ring of the launchpad means you are one slick star spud SSS.[/li] [li]Dropping into the center ring makes you are some kind of wiley star spud WSS.[/li] [li]Getting to land on the horizontal part of the launch platform earns you the title of unbelievable star spud USS.[/li] Post your proof. [EDIT a screeny showing the craft at >13000M with the ship pointed at the center of the navball sky and the sun past the nose cone is good enough for a mention.] Ticker Tape Parade. (Italicised script indicates v11 accomplishment). Returning astronauts ride in the back of Bill Kerman\'s pickup truck. Unbelievable Star Spud (Noone believes it ever happened, was filmed on a set in Kerbollywood.) boolybooly (smallest v11 & v14 stock parts ship) (though I say it myself ) Wiley Star Spud (Got inside the launch pad bullseye central circle.) Slick Star Spud (Got inside the launch pad bullseye outer circle.) Cool Star Spud (Landed on Kerbal Space Center Terrain.) One Winged Angel Star Pilot Dudes. (Made it back to land on planet Kerbin.) thorfinn (smallest v11 mod parts ship) Salda007 nivvydaskrl Ronox (fastest v11 non stock round trip) comradephil DeltaBravo Spiz102 Omnivore Arc Bedazzled bitbucket_ PackledHostage (fastest v14 round trip) Lost in space. Iskierka (should have added another booster) Winston (pending payment of Kerbal Space Centre bar tab) CarolRawley (missing, presumed lost, on account of having no engines) DeadlyPear (aka 'the dragon magnet')(going out for a walk, may be some time) Thirster (due back next century) Jebediah Kerman (slightly singed) Cannon_Fodder (going where the wild wind blows) Killernooby (running out of crew) Shedao (someone forgot to pack the parachute) Zeroignite (far far away with no fuel) Luigibro606 (well beyond the sun and no sign of slowing down) ScruffyMcDuffy (skimped on the duct tape) OtherDalfite (accidentally initiated cataclysmic event) NovaSilisko (missed the burn for Kerbin, suspected satnav malfunction) sagamore (space tourists didnt want to go home) sneakeypete (snuck out but didn\'t sneak back) Damonjay (lost by special request) KnightWhoSaisNi (cooked to a crisp, baked to a cinder, this is an ex-Kerman) Ignite A Light (a moon got in the way) Wernher Von Braun (pressed the big red button marked 'dont press this big red button') Flixxbeatz (double parked the space station on a star) zarakon (did the timewarp again and got lost in space in 1976) Raxael (whose ship was designed to spin out of control) witekin (lost while breaking speed record for solar powered popcorn makers) TLDR Go for 13559M altitude then land. Make one full orbit of the sun Kerbol, outside Kerbin+Mun, with a PE of half the altitude of Kerbin or less then land on Kerbin, aim for the launch pad as best you can. some olde version 11 challenge related tips.EDIT rewrite.

OK now I got it. Proof of landing. Flybe Four, the little ship that could.

LOL well default reentry manoevure is a lot like a Hohmann transfer. I like low quick orbits and smaller stacks pushing a single tank liquid fuel reentry stage and usually have zero fuel left after retro burn and have to rely on atmospheric drag on reentry to slow down over the target so timing final burn is critical and it all depends on that. There would never be enough left to move a significant distance in the atmosphere. Timing the final decouple matters a bit but its orientation seems to make little difference to capsule trajectory. Chute deployment adds drag but its really only a few meters worth as it only seems to deploy when the capsule has already slowed down enough to drop near vertically.

69° to be precise, I just landed within the islands reagion but it is a little achipelago and while I landed more or less in the middle I hit water, just another splashdown. But to orient that precisely at take off was definitely a challenge and it forced me to switch pitch axis controls so I could actually control the vehicle manually, which I did manage, with a stable design and a few extra booster sets to give me a little bit more leeway.

...at least, mine take 40 minutes + ! I am a total noob but I set myself the same challenge today (day 2) with stock 0.9 parts and just found this thread. I am looking in admiration & wonder at the screens above. I know mine is not much by comparison but its my best to date and I uploaded the jpg for another site so I thought I would link it. I used booly enterprises inc's 'Lone Ranger Five', basically liquid fuel 1x1+2x1+3x3+6SRBs and assorted stabilisers, bit sluggish mid lift but it keeps going.