lunait

I think it would be nice to have rescue missions where you have to rescue kerbals from various places on Kerbin itself, and bring them back to the KSC/runway. It might be difficult to implement game-wise, though, since you can recover a craft from anywhere on Kerbin, meaning that you don't have to fly the kerbal back to KSC again once you've landed and picked them up.

Here's a 100% recoverable Mun lander that I made. Features full science equipment and space for 2 kerbals. The launch stage has its own probe and can be landed on Kerbin (semi-powered). Craft file: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24407836/2K%20Rec%20Mun%20Lander.craft

Thanks everyone! I'm glad you like it. .craft files are basically text files that are read by the game and converted into 3D models. If you right-click and select "Save as" you should be able to download the file.

This is not the first car I've made, but it's the one I'm the most satisfied with so far. As for the name, maybe the engineer had a cold or something while naming it. Who knows. Anyway, the Jeeb is a classic 4x4 jeep, inspired by the Willys WW2 one. Seats four kerbals, has about 130 parts, and weighs roughly 4 tons. It also features extendable landing legs for taking the weight off a particular wheel when repairing it, as it will break immediately otherwise. The four kerbals are not included, but it can drive itself since it has a probe core as well. I had to use quite a lot of part clipping to make it, so if you don't like that, then maybe the Jeeb is not your cup of tea. 100% stock parts, though. Craft file (Mk3): https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24407836/Jeeb%204x4%20Mk3.craft Images:

Ah, sorry about that. I didn't read the OP carefully enough. (and also failed to notice that this thread was four months old... yay me)

OK, here's my submission. 100% stock parts except Kerbal Engineer Redux, and using FAR. Number of stages in launch system: 4 Payload mass = 15380 kg Ship mass at launch = 64695 kg Payload fraction = 15380 kg / 64695 kg = 23.77% I don't have MechJeb installed, so here's the craft file of the payload: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24407836/Payload%20Challenger%20%28payload%29.craft

I return! I accidentally built a plane with 100% stock parts, capable of Mach >2 under 1 km (689 m/s, using FAR, but no fairings). I didn't have speed in mind when I built it, I was just looking to build a nice-looking two-seater plane, but hey, I'm not complaining! Here's some pictures.

Even though this is a stock craft thread, mods can help in investigation, so I applied Kerbal Engineer Redux to see if there is actually any gain in dV when using this method compared to normal asparagus staging. This is the result. If you want to verify that my craft are indeed identical apart from the extra staging, you can click on the images below to see the craft that each dV table represents. You can also download each craft file if you wish to compare them in detail (or use them for other purposes - feel free to do so! I'm quite pleased with the Mün lander on top of the launch stage). The circled red number is the last stage in the launch system, the stage that circularizes the orbit. In order to minimize extra weight, I used only one sepratron per stage, and used the 0.625m stack separators. (Also note that I'm using FAR, so my dV to orbit is a bit lower than would be expected for an entirely stock game.) With experimental staging (link to craft file): Identical craft but with asparagus staging (link to craft file): So, it would seem that there is a small gain in dV, but at the cost of added complexity and parts. Perhaps someone could get a higher gain than I did, though. This is a relatively small craft, so as kidolvski said earlier, I think the gain would be higher with larger crafts. Anyway, I think it's a cool staging method!

Cool use of staging! I think you could make it even lighter though, by only using one sepratron per "stage" instead of two. EDIT: Like this:

I designed a single-engined unmanned ion plane that works with FAR. 74 parts, 830 kg. Craft file: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24407836/Evion%20Mk2.craft

I don't know, I like the RAPIERs better I guess. Feel free to change them to SABREs if you want.

The Kylon (obviously inspired by its real-life counterpart with an added S) can take 10 tons to LKO and land back at the KSC runway. The plane weighs 17 tons with full fuel and without payload, giving a payload fraction of 37%. Requires B9 and KSPX to load, and probably FAR to fly. Action groups: 1) Switches engine mode and toggles air intakes 2) Opens/closes cargo hold 3) Toggles air brakes (hidden in wings) Craft files: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24407836/Kylon%20M%20%28empty%29.craft (with empty cargo hold) https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24407836/Kylon%20M.craft (with 10-ton dummy payload)

Thanks! Yeah, I imagine FAR is necessary. Actually I think the torque from the two cockpits provides quite a lot of steering, plus the thrust vectoring of the RAPIER engine of course. I haven't tried flying without cockpit torque, maybe I should... Also, I made a revised version with a junior docking port just behind the Mk2 cockpit, so that you can do this:

I was inspired by the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter to make a small, dual-seat SSTO. The result can be seen below! It has 68 parts. It uses all stock parts but was designed with FAR so I'm not sure how it'll work without it (but you're very welcome to try - if so, please report back!). It takes off at about 150 m/s from the runway. I recommend to gain about 2000-2100 m/s in air-breathing mode before switching to closed-cycle, to minimize fuel usage. It's stable with minor corrections throughout atmospheric descent. The landing speed is quite high, but there is a parachute at the back (between the four engine nozzles) for quicker braking. To use it, land at high speed, lift off just a foot or so from the runway, activate the chute, and brake normally when you touch down again. There are some action groups: 1 - close/open air intakes 2 - toggle R.A.P.I.E.R. engine mode 3 - extend/retract ladders Craft file: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24407836/Starfighter%20SSTO.craft

How do you get the rotatrons to spin that fast? You don't seem to be using physics warp, and mine only spin very slowly.

Well, I can understand the reasoning behind that. The reason why I said "technically it's within the rules" is because I anticipated some disagreement (but, technically it is, since it does have wings) If you change your mind, here's 2154 m/s. (using FAR, B9, fairings and KSPX)

I found out a neat trick. Technically it's within the rules of the challenge. The trick is to partially hide the wings within the fairing, so that they don't generate any drag (but also no lift - however, the plane can still take off from the runway). Then, when you ditch the fairing, the wings start generating drag and lift. Since I've noticed that wings are often the parts generating the most drag at high speeds, this can actually help you quite a lot. (NB: This method only seems to work with static wings, i.e. not canards or control surfaces.) Using this method together with the other tricks I've seen in this thread, I could get up to ~1400 m/s with this relatively simple plane seen below. I have not yet been able to land it, though. I've obviously seen people hide other things within fairings, but I don't know if anyone's using this trick specifically with wings yet, so I'm sharing it for the common goal of MORE SPEED!!!

I got Elfel Kerman once. For those of you who don't know Swedish, "elfel" basically means "electrical malfunction" which is perhaps not the first thing you want to think of when you see an astronaut... (click to enlarge)

I love dark chocolate, but I seem to be very sensitive to theobromine (and caffeine) because anything more than a few bites of dark chocolate (>70% or so) makes me feel anxious and hyperactive, and makes my heart race. So I tend to only eat it in very small amounts.

Just a simple, quite small, fighter jet. 28 parts, strictly requires only B9 Aerospace but I designed it with FAR and Kerbal Joint Reinforcement installed so it might help. One thing to note, though, is that these air intakes have very low drag, resulting in insane speeds at low altitudes. Basically you can go supersonic a few feet off the ground by the KSC, something that I haven't been able to acheive with the stock ram air intakes. Try it at your own risk Also, because of this, you really need the air brakes seen in the second picture in order to slow down enough to be able to land within a reasonable distance of the runway. (action group 1) Craft file: http://www.sendspace.com/file/1n8zaf

This made my day. What an awesome and beautiful story! It reminds me of why I love space and spaceflight. I hope to be able to see something like this one day. Regarding the thread topic, I guess I'm quite lucky to have friends who are just as nerdy as I am, and we appreciate each others' nerdy interests (space being one of them) and know enough about them that we can talk about it in a good way. Then again, I'm a PhD student in biochemistry, so I guess nerdiness comes with the territory. Most of my other friends and family don't understand what I do for a living anyway, so I'm quite used to it.

There is a great book called Aniara by Harry Martinson, published (in Swedish) in 1956. There should be an English translation, if you can find it. The full title is Aniara: A Review of Man in Time and Space (Aniara: en revy om människan i tid och rum in Swedish). It's maybe not a "generation ship" book in the traditional sense, but it's still something I think people should read. The book contributed heavily to Martinson receiving the Nobel Prize in literature in 1974. I don't think the text is available online, but perhaps you can find a new or used book somewhere. <Summary of the story - highlight the following text if you want to read it>It's a collection of 103 poems which together form the story of a transport ship (Aniara) leaving Earth, which has been severely damaged by pollution and nuclear war, bound for a Mars colony. Early in the book, while on their way to Mars, the ship is hit by a rogue asteroid and veers off course, with its directional control destroyed in the process while the rest of the ship is unharmed. The rest of the book is about the existential struggle of the passengers and the crew when they realize that being rescued is impossible and that they cannot prevent the ship from being ejected out of the solar system and drifting off into interstellar space. The only thing that remains for them is an existence onboard Aniara for eternity, or at least until the ship's supplies run out. </summary> I can in all seriousness say that it is the most beautiful thing I have ever read. Writing this summary while thinking about the book almost brought tears to my eyes. If you ever get the chance to read the English translation (or, if you know Swedish, the original), do it.

Awesome! This is a long-awaited mod for me. I'm definitely going to try the metal KSP theme as the intro music.

No worries, I see what you mean - and it might work, but even though it depends on a property of the CelestialBody, the code that gives the desired effect would still be "attached" to the part, right? That would be a neat solution if possible! The planets/moons that I'd like to convert to gas giants don't have any easter eggs or other such things on them that I'm aware of, so PQSCity issues shouldn't matter, right? Or is PQSCity used for anything else apart from placing static objects like easter eggs? (I'm quite new to the plugin coding thing as you can probably tell, so please forgive any stupid questions )

Well, I've never actually tried going into Jool's atmosphere deep enough to notice any such effects, but I've seen those videos as well. I looked at the API wiki for CelestialBody and couldn't see anything either. I guess it's not possible to change the planets' surfaces into Jool-like surfaces, so the "break apart at a certain altitude" option was more of a backup plan in case that wouldn't work. I would prefer if the property was bound to the CelestialBody and not to the vessel, but I guess that may not be possible in that case.