Chrono

I see a few issues with this set up, the first is what you have there is not a Missile, that is a Rocket. Missiles have guidance packages, and can be controlled. What your asking us to build is a rocket, light fuse, run away. [/Terminology soapbox] The other big problems here and it is even present in your build there, you said we had to run the science, with what power supply exactly? Or is it only intended to take data then be recovered? Why specify a coordinate requirement? Why not just use the mission results window and check out the distance traveled? If your goal is to "science anyway" why do we have to be IVO the equator?

SR-71 Model, I'm a fan You've been logged into the Modded Non-Air breathing bracket. What mod parts are those anyway? They look spiffy. My pictures are up in the first post, stock air-breathing craft can hit the 1,710m/s mark and then some! Now to develop something obnoxiously fast!

ihtoit... I would LOVE to see your X-Wing go fast! nli2work, congratulations on the first Section 3 entry! I feel like I should have a prize for you or something... Maybe I'll make up a small graphic or something. Also, I love your aircraft, they are so simple in their design. True they lack massive explosions and things flying off, but single phase aircraft at this speed are just as cool. Kokanee, well you went faster then my first try, and with a simpler design. Stock Air-breathing Hypersonic, can be done! I was just successful! I'll be posting soon with some pics that are a little more photogenic.

A valiant effort Voculus, but Hypersonic speeds begin around 1,710m/s. Your not far from the mark, keep at it!

I apologize if this part of the Challenge was unclear. Its not that you have to be going that speed at that altitude, but rather that's your mission ceiling, no going above it. Othuyeg while your reentry speed is quite impressive, that is kinda to be expected from reentry, here on Earth Mach 25+ is simply categorized as reentry. What you have there is not an Aircraft, rather a space shuttle on reentry. I do thank you for on ensuring my challenge requirements are more specific. As for why no VAB? To discourage anyone from simply creating a rocket that goes 5,000 m/s before 20,000m.Not as much of a challenge there I think we can all agree. Now if you have a creative idea that uses the VAB as your launch site while still being an Aircraft please surprise me.

Oh I love your Aircraft design! It looks like a crane, such a pretty bird

I would say creativity counts, but if you specify how many Kerbals you take with you I'll add it into the Record tag for number of crew In the case of a tie I would say the larger crew would win. More dead weight... or live weight?

Do you like to go fast? Good, here is my challenge to you, achieve Hypersonic speeds at or under 20,000m (No exceeding 20,000m during the mission). For those who do not know (these numbers realistically change depending on altitude) Supersonic start around 410m/s, Supersonic effects on Kerbil begin to manifest around 450m/s. Hypersonic speeds begin around 1,710m/s. All entry's will require an image of the aircraft (because pictures are fun and your aircraft are cool) The image should include your altitude and your speed (see below) and please specify if you used mods and if the aircraft is unmanned. The challenge is specific to Aircraft, so no rockets/missiles out of the VAB please. I chose 20,000m because that's roughly the altitude most air intakes drop off at. There will be two main brackets and two classes under those brackets. The only caveat to the modded vs. un-modded is that you can use mods so long as they do not alter the performance of the aircraft. So any parts are changes to how aircraft perform are all mods. Things that just make the game pretty or engineering details are not counted under the Mods section. Non Air Breathing includes hybrids that use both air breathing and non air breathing engines. Finally Section 3, for the superbly insane. These are the "High-hypersonic" performers with speeds in excess of 3,415m/s, modded or not, those speeds on Kerbin are just crazy. Brownie points for crazy pilots. Have fun! Now with a Flag Reward! Anyone who has met the Hypersonic Challenge, this flag is for you! Sorry I'm no artiest. :3 Un-modded -Air Breathing 1: Redshift OTF / 1,984m/s / Crew 1 / Madman Pilot 2: nli2work / 1,850m/s 3: Darkasantion / 1800.4m/s / Crew 1 4: Kokanee / 1,760m/s / Crew 1 Chrono / 1,720m/s / Crew 1 / Safe Landing -Non Air Breathing 1: Fendleton / 2,342m/s / Crew 1 / Kudos for a safe landing! Modded -Air Breathing 1: nli2work / 2,501m/s / Crew 1 / FAR Mod /13 parts 2: Voculus / 1,896m/s / Crew 1 -Non Air Breathing 1: Darren9 / 1,789m/s / SR-71 Model - Cool Points Section 3 - High Hypersonic 1: nli2work / 5599.6m/s / MW Thermal Turbojet @ ~35GW power input This was my first aircraft attempting this feat, the one that lead to this challenge, it achieved roughly 1300m/s wobbling around 19-20,000m It is a manned aircraft, un-modded other then some navigation and world prettying. Poor Herman's face, he took it like a champ. Side note, we lost control later in flight and ended up at 80,000m Herman insisted he could hold his breath long enough to get back down to altitude with air. After some time running bench tests on the runway, flying a few prototypes and making adjustments, this is what I came up with. May I present our first Air-Breathing Stock Hypersonic Aircraft! On the Runway Hypersonic I could have gone faster, but I was concerned I would not have the fuel to land. Turns out, this thing glides like a champ, I'll do a flat out run later. The Gauntlet is thrown, have fun Everyone!

Also, whats your currant "Stardate" / Games start on Year 1, Day - 0h My longest Stardate so far is Year 52, Day 124 - 1h So if I compared this to the start of the Mercury program... It would be 2011 in KSP for me right now.

There works the mind of a true engineer.

I just hit the 400 hours mark in KSP, and still exploring! I was wondering ho many hours others have put into the game. Also, whats your currant "Stardate" / Games start on Year 1, Day - 0h My longest Stardate so far is Year 52, Day 124 - 1h So if I compared this to the start of the Mercury program... It would be 2011 in KSP for me right now.

Of course it does, I wouldn't have strapped Jeb onto the outside of a ship and then shot him into the atmo at over 1000m/s if we where worried about exposure... His skin is already green after all. In-fact the chair disconnected when the ship lurched when the parachutes opened in low atmo. Surprisingly he survived the encounter and the chair did not fall off the roof. Naturally, once I shot Jeb into orbit, I had to try it out on a spaceplane. This is the Whitewing, an aircraft I built biased off of NASA's Helios aircraft. In short, a small engine, maximum wingspan for a massive amount of lift, throttle up and it flies itself...

So, i've been experimenting with new and... Jeb here may disagree, but innovative methods of flying spacecraft. I believe the external control seat offers the pilot an outstanding view of his surroundings and improves overall situational awareness. I also believe we have successfully cornered the market on what we are now calling "Flash Tanning"

I'm going to go out on a limb here, considering the topic, and say, if light was instantaneous, then there would be no red shifting, and if there was no red shifting then the sky would be white with light with all of the stars in the sky, no matter how far they are, and if that was true I would also say the same applies to the entire EM spectrum then if that was true... we would all die from massive radiation. Or at the very least would have evolved differently and then by that point this conversation would be a moot point.

I regulatory prototype and test all manner of, well, sometimes bad ideas. Being the Spacecraft exchange I figure this is the best place to contain/showcase my harebrained ideas, perhaps to inspire and get feedback from the community. That way I minimize the amount of crazy I'm spilling all over the forums. And with that! WADE The few of you who have met me may recognize the Wade from a post or two of mine. Wade is my mobile "base" the big guy is the product of my frustration with small, flimsy (efficient) rovers flipping over and crashing at the slightest alteration in the wind. The main difference between 01 and 02 is some communications antenna's and the addition of some thrusters in the back to improve driving up slopes. Here's Doodman, Wade 02's Official Pilot, when he was stranded on Eeloo, a daring rescue by all of you on the forums got his mission back up and running. The return and rescue craft is still on route to rendezvous with Wade 02 and extract Doodman once his mission is complete. WINSTON Wade now has a little brother who is serving on Eve, Winston. The landing gear on the sides where very helpful absorbing the shock of landing on the high G planet. I am presently in agreement with much of the forum concerning these new wheels, they're control is a little bit doddgy and tend to jerk when you maneuver. However I think I can attribute this to what I believe is intended to be very high traction. In addition I discovered that you can mount lights inside trusses (with a little rotational trickery) and they will still provide all the light they normally would, slims down the design a little. One of the best features about Winston, the new Cab (which will be implemented in Wade 03), rove around all day from the driver's seat! The on-board "laser" cameras add to the field of view, and the laser targeter is mounted just below the cab. Thats all for now! I hope you enjoyed them and please if you have any feedback lay it on me right here! Its a really creative community here and you've got some fun ideas. I'll be periodically uploading new pictures of various creations as time goes on.

Welcome to the forum Maxmaps, I don't envy your task, opening yourself up for the online firing squad, good luck!

Oh I can see the reason for a compact rover, its very lightweight. In fact the rover in the Pic is fairly brilliant. My visual assessment, from the thrusters fuel cells and parachute I'm guessing it's return flight capable, using the rover base as a launch platform. This is great, but also lends to the problem your having, the vehicle is award and is slow. Sad reality, weight efficient rovers are slow and delicate, typically created from tissue paper and plastic straws.

I'm guessing that rover (in the pic) is return capable? Otherwise I'd wonder what the fuel tanks are for. My first rover was pretty fun, hit 90 m/s before it hit the edge of the crater and when rocketing off into a barrel roll. A few tips I'd give you is control your center of gravity, keep it low to the ground, you can drop your center of gravity by adding I-beams to the lower parts of your rover. Second, my most successful rover so far, Wade 02, is very wide, the more area your rover covers the less chance of a flip. Compare an H1, a vehicle that needs explosives to flip it over, to an H3 something I've seen do a barrel roll when rear-ended by a midsized sedan. Try recreating just the rover portion of your craft and use KSP's tools to see where your center of gravity is.

Yes the hitch hiker module will start empty, it will also start with 0/0 and be "full." I learned that when I tried to get Doodman into the "habitation" module under him. Poor guy had to sit in the command module. The mission is back on track by the way, thanks to everyone's help.

Oh its......... where are my notes..... ah yes, approximately 2868.4 km at a speed of 1008.9 m/s I believe.

Most excellent! I have no idea why I never tried that... You win this round Ockham's Razor! Edit: Oh yes and thank you everyone for your assistance, sorry forgot to say that, I can get... excited...

How do I make repairs in EVA? I've never seen this option, do I walk up to the wheel and right click it? (crew manifest will also be useful for building stations, and swapping out crews)

- In short: I need empty seats on my ship so I can recover an isolated Kerbal - In Long: DOODMAN NEEDS HELP! Doodman landed Wade mk2 on Eeloo,no problems, other then nearly the entire planet is an ice ball. Yes I know I should have seen it coming and I should have sent a probe first... yeah I sent Doodman out there more or less blind... But the mk2 had improved power, traction, and control. He covered over 50km before the tires gave out, the Wade mk2 can run on 3 wheels and still drive, but not 1... 1 is two less wheels then three and two to few. Using the thrusters on the back of Wade is much to risky. I can build a craft to retrieve him but I have a problem, all of the crew modules come fully loaded with Kerbals... How do I empty them out, without throwing Kerbals out the airlock on the launch pad. Please Help Doodman... he's taking isolation well... and he's even set up our new flag. Still smiling... for science...

oooOOOooo IndieDev Rocket man.... Fantastic! You also work with 3D games? Planning any mods to KSP? I'd love to see your work; but you probably have your own projects to work on of course... but still most fantastic, CHEERS! Oh yes and welcome to the Program.

Come on now Halocon, surely you can appreciate the style and moderation here, its not Hot pink with cupcakes and rainbows now is it? Granted Pink does not actuality exist in the natural color spectrum and Cupcakes and rainbows are always good, especially if your eating cupcakes at a picnic in view of a rainbow. That would be epic.