Cranium

Ah, you're right, I had neglected that one. I actually ignored it, because it was not really a serious entry. Yeah, I just really don't like firespitter at all. The torque issues weren't too bad. Since it's a free spinning washer, none of the torque saw the rest of my craft. The SAS modules were there to actually control the darn thing. Since there's no conventional means of turning the thing, I had to add the SAS modules to rotate the body, and hope the blades come with it. It was a large gamble, but it seems it worked out quite well. I'm happy to provide a .craft file if anyone is interested in tinkering with it.http://puu.sh/9qiA8/a8ce590491.craft

So, I didn't get an answer yet, but who cares. As far as I can tell, this craft qualifies. It's the only serious entry so far that does not use the Firespitter parts. I give you, the HELO X2 Only mods used are Infernal Robotics, and FAR. Yes, it works with FAR, take that! It can't really fly fast, because the blades want to flip the craft as the air gets under them. I'm going to do some tweaking and see if I can get the blades to be a little more stable. It does have a mechjeb module, if you want, but it's not utilized in this mission. So this craft qualifies for the Precision award.

I've tried it with both full(I have a refuel station in orbit) and dry, and the same thing happens; I'm making my entry as shallow as possible to avoid overpressure, and as soon as the flames start hitting it, it just pitches up and over, and stays backwards.

Does this challenge absolutely, and exclusively require Firespitter? I despise the textures and the models in that mod, because it's so ridiculously cartooney. I'd like to see if I can make something with just stock parts, and maybe something from infernal robotics.

I've been working a lor with FAR lately. Tweaking this spaceplan for aesthetics and functionality both is difficult as heck. So far, it gets to space, but re-entry is a bit...dangerous. Dunno why, but it really wants to fly backwards on re-entry.

Your links to the mods are broken. Other than that, nice job! Can the Cyclotron deploy while the plane is under power?

Well, for the Cyclotron(Yes, I googled to look up the proper name), you could use aircraft gear while landing to protect the drive wheels from exploding. Apparently, the rear cockpit actually comes down with the bike, and then pieces retract to make it an open air vehicle. Mid Deployment: Deployed: Not sure how you're going to manage that, but it'd be cool if you did. Also, it seems that the bike can actually hold both pilots, which is strange, because there seems to be two different versions. We have the two seater version here: and the single seater here: I AM ALL SORTS OF CONFUSED NOW.

Early design on my first FAR powered SSTO spaceplane. Breaking the sound barrier is more difficult than I thought, and approaching hypersonic speeds is a pain. Still, seems like FAR is more fun and interesting, at least for spaceplanes so far. On a more recent version, i've been able to actually make it to space, and actually dock with my orbiting space station. Next up is being able to make it to Duna, and see if it has enough lift to land there safely.

Fourty-four engines. YOU ARE MAD! MAAAAAAD!!!!

You might be talking about imgur albums. Just use the [imgur] tags like you would with anything else, but use the imgur album code in between. For example, my album at http://imgur.com/a/ca3A2 would use the code ca3A2 (make sure you do not include anything after it, such as a #0, or some such). This will display an imgur album in your post.

Wow, great planes. I especially love the more experimental ones, particularily the oblique wing design you have there. I recognize almost all of them, but all very nice nonetheless.

Well, after taking a closer look at your design, I hadn't noticed the landing legs in the first place. But one thing I did notice, is that there are no toes. Yes, toes....I know it sounds silly to put such a small thing as toes on a robot, but they mean a lot when you're dealing with robots with a large stride. You'll see that as you stride forward, the leg you are putting the most weight on will flex your toes down, allowing you to have a longer platform for your weight to contact the ground with. This is especially important when you're running, and even more important when you've got a leg structure like a raptor. Most of their weight is on the balls of their feet, and if you look at your model, once the flat part of the feet roll to the "toe" section of the feet, the landing legs no longer are touching, and you slip for the rest of the stride. TL;DR: I'd suggest moving your forward pointing landing legs past the edge of the strut you have there, so that when the weight shifts to the front of the foot, you still have traction.

I could make a bit of a suggestion. I've noticed that your robots don't get much traction while running fast, or moving any speed, for that matter. You could actually add the landing gear in the deployed, brakes on position, and it gives you so much more traction while running. I found this out while making a rolling cage. moving parts tend to slide on the ground, but the deployed, braked wheels really grip the road.

Wait, massless parts act as radiators? Since when?

Two words: STRUT YO ROCKETS

My accidental SSTO was able to eventually make it to Duna. I say accidental, because I was just playing around with wing and body designs, and found that this thing is capable of proper orbit with tons of fuel left. I eventually pimped it out with some extra intake spam for some performance(I know, I know, I'm a cheater), and after refuelling at LKO, I was able to insert myself into Duna's atmosphere. After getting nice and straight on what I thought was a smooth canyon bottom, I made my final descent, using up almost all of my oxidizer trying to pop myself over too-high hills. I Eventually found a somewhat smooth patch, but unfortunately, soon after touching down, the terrain pitched left, and threw my left wing into the dirt, which broke it off, and spun me out of control, resulting in a spectacularily slow demolition. My new version has emergency chutes on it, and I'm thinking installing Real Chutes to emulate proper drag chutes for landing.

Here's my Talon SSTO. I think we can all agree that MechJeb is close enough to stock to count. EDIT: Bah, don't worry about the KAS plugs as well. They also don't mean much to the craft other than for refueling without docking at a runway. It's capable of making it to LKO, refueling, then making its way to Duna. Unfortunately, landing on Duna is a problem for spaceplanes, because I haven't found a good, flat plot of land to slow to a stop. Here's a version before I added emergency parachutes, just before landing. I was able to touch down with a fairly decent speed, nice and soft, but due to the rough terrain, my wings got clipped, and I crashed.

Well, if that's the case then, here's my SOEIV: As I said before, probably the only thing going for it right now is the fact that it looks like the pods. It's pretty darn uncontrollable when plummeting to the ground. Since it's so heavy and all.

Here's my version of drop pods. Not as...utilitarian or useful as andrew123's is, but it does match the look a little closer. EDIT: Strike that, I had not noticed the [stock Craft] tag.

The fine folks at Kerbal Space Center have decided to help our hard-working Kerbs and Kerbettes on the ground. They never ask for anything more than to be able to provide assistance to get our brave Kerbonauts into space in (mostly) one piece. Recently, they haven't been getting any help, and are starting to grow ragged and tired. This is affecting their work, and the higher ups are plotting replacing them. Unfortunately, when Irwina Kerbolo was cleaning out the offices at night, she saw the notes they had left behind, and informed her coworkers. Now they're on strike. This means, that for the foreseeable future, there cannot be any more launches. What this means, is that we must take on their responsibilities until the management sorts out the demands being made of them. Your goal now is to build crafts capable of bringing a rocket from the various areas of the complex, and assemble it on the rocket launchpad. Any crafts are allowed, as well as any mods. The rocket must be capable of at least Low Kerbin Orbit, with the ability to land back on the planet safely. The number of stages aren't important, and you can have as many as you wish. The only stipulation being that the stages actually be useful. This includes stages composed entirely of physics exploiting bugs, such as stack decouplers arranged to create force to achieve orbit. Points will not be awarded, nor tracked. Since this is just a challenge to test your building skills and your creativity, the fact that you can accomplish this goal will be the achievement. I will update an achievement board, including the names of all those who are able to complete the challenge. Very few things will disqualify you from this, as I am aware it may be required that you install one or more mods. I will not include crafts that use the exploits in the KSP physics, such as infinigliders, or other such things. Now, to prove that it can be done, this is my entry, the Behemoth: Successful challengers: Cranium

I'd definitely recommend watching their more recent videos. Much more "modern" if I may. Also, MoCap fights are awesome.

Wouldn't the rocket/guidance system burn up on reentry? It was my impression that once launched from the orbital platform, that they were on a completely ballistic trajectory...

Seems like you could get rid of the ugly RCS plumes with judicious application of SAS modules... Other than that, I fear our new robot overlords, yet I also respect and encourage them.

Stop with your incessant part limit nonsense! THIS ISN'T ROCKET SCIENCE!It's KERBAL SCIENCE!

Not so much. Since you'd be firing directly at the atmosphere in a perpendicular fashion, you'd require more dV in order to even de-orbit. A higher amount of push from the satellite means that you'd likely reorient the satellite just by pushing the giant rod.