KerputKerbin

The Delta-V for transferring prisoners would be ridiculous there... I sent a ship with 20k+ dv and didn't get very close. Experimenting to see how low you can go / how hard a return is from Kerbol (using HyperEdit to refuel the ship several times) - it's roughly 27k dv to return (I spent much more to getting there). It's taking ages to get very low near the sun, due to no time warping allowed under 3.27Mm. Currently at 17km. Okay, so I ended up overheating at exactly 1337m over the surface

Progress on the Challenge: Added the KOS Bifröst Orbital Construction Station Added Planetary Operations equipment (still under development) (Images, etc. updated in first post)

Yeah, if anything I might consider an upgraded engine module after the mission is complete... something like asparagus staging adapted for Nuclear engines & spherical tanks ~ would look more like a blackberry and be obscenely massive. Depends on how everything else goes. My orbital construction station is in working order (I still have a few parts to add, but can resume building the Leviathan now). While I wait for the laggy docking, work started on the planetary bits. After flying some of the hooligans parts, I think Laythe is a more reasonable option for the design I have in mind. The main colony is coming along nicely - houses 54 and flies. I'll post up some details later - It's going to carry around a Kethane mining rig and a large crew-transfer lander.

Had to see what hitting that 20,000 m/s would require... Bob's in for a one-way trip.

You hold shift while pressing the normal rotate keys and it rotates in 5 degree increments (or something like that)

I'll just leave this here...

You're welcome to. I appreciate the thought that went into this one (and do like the idea of setting your own difficulty, within limits, with the launch criteria). For example, I'm planning to use orbital construction for the largest parts, but compromising by adding the challenge of building a large orbital station to support it + it takes a ton of materials launches to even get that working. Might be a bit easier than trying to strap an oddly shaped piece onto a set of rockets, but it's all I have the time/commitment to do... so this challenge works.

I meant in relation to your own work. He definitely put a lot of time and effort into that build / launch / mission, so it seems reasonable to use those rockets to get it into orbit. I doubt he would consider it cheating & I certainly don't. It's enough of a pain to get things into orbit sometimes... no point in making a challenge like this miserable by putting stronger limits on launches. Seems like the challenge is more about the colonization aspect anyway. Just my two cents.

How about: this is a game... if it feels like cheating to you, then it is? As long as the Challenge is, erm, challenging (which his build clearly was) I don't see any issue with it being somewhat vague.

Awesome news! It'll be fun to create airborne rovers.

Keep us updated, Arrowhead! Some mutual motivation would be awesome.. this is going to be a long journey. Still trying to get my Orbital Assembly station into orbit. NGTOne: Our Kerbin skyentists tell us that the atmosphere of Jool is prime for colonization with Hooligans airship mod... do you think that's worth any points as a planetary destination? Rovers would have to be flying and the outposts should hover as well.

Count me in! Our best Kerbin scientists and engineers are hard at work on the KMS Leviathan. Here's the Command Module under development (will change pic as progress is made):

Adding the KOS (Kerbin Orbital Station) Morningstar to this section, though it is still under construction. Currently, she sits at 942 parts (including the two orbital tugs hard at work on the assembly). Unless KSP is miraculously optimized in the near future, all add-ons to this craft will be done via MechJeb... when I have something else to do... The journey may be long, but the achievement all the sweeter. Why two tugs? Construction is currently plagued by a docking glitch, which forces the middle tug to pull the solar panels away before the second tug can undock.

Decided to take on The Colony Ship Challenge... this Thread will chronicle development as it takes place. The KMS Leviathan Current Status: Command Module: Complete Command Module Launch: Success - In LKO Orbital Construction Station: Functional in LKO Next Step: Build and test Satellites (ISA Map, Kethane and Communications) and the Orbital Stations. Command Module Designed as a multi-purpose core module for numerous extra-Kerbal missions, the Command Module is designed with extensibility in mind. Four main modules can be docked using a total of 11 Docking Port Sr. connectors, depending on the ship's needs; 14 additional Docking Ports allow for attachment of Satellites / Probes / etc. As befits a ship of this scale, the Command Module provides Viewports covering many angles of the ship. To provide long-term viability, power is provided by 12 Thermoelectric Generators. Module Stats: Crew: 40 Parts: 651 Weight: 293.13t The KOS Bifröst The bridge between planet Kerbal and the realm of the gods (or at least LKO). This project will require numerous large, awkward objects - rather than launching them all from Kerbal, this station allows launches of parts & final assembly in orbit. Though our Kerbin scientists tell us this comes at a cost of lifting more mass into orbit, the time savings was a requirement to keep this build on track. Planetary Operations Numerous structures and mobile craft will be required to meet the mission objectives. Current Vehicles and Facilities: Large Crew Transfer Rover: Complete Kethane Mining Rig: Pending Final Details (Lights, etc.) Floating Colony: Development version in testing with 50+ Kerbal capacity