ihtoit

tail chute rig.

bigger wheels. Those dinky little things are fragile, you want the crawler wheels.

nope, you don't *have* to do all ten, but it might improve chances of interception the more cores you have up. So far I've got 152 cores up from 2 launches (my second launch is an upgrade with 128 cores, took 45 minutes to get into orbit (while my laptop was busy rendering video at the same time!) and another 10 to deploy - I think I might have thought of a way to reducing part count somewhat without using partwelder, watch this space!) The Baby Kessler II:

Pretty! Though, having some experience with heavy bombers, I must say that the large B9 wings are more suited (not to mention about twice the span of those things you have there), with stock engines on the large intakes mounted under the wing rather than in the ass - like so: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/70445-Kerbal-Dynamics-Behemoth-52-Global-Heavylifter This particular puppy has 6 unguided rockets and 6 fuel-air bombs mounted on the wings, and six MOABs mounted in the bay. Easily fitted out with any combination of weaponry up to a runway launch weight of 95 tons. Oh, and even with that load, she still handles like a Spitfire.

192 cores in orbit is top of the leaderboard right there, 1920 would be pretty damn hard to beat. (BTW, I *might* extend the challenge if there's enough takeup on it, to include effectiveness testing - LKO launches of something with a large face, like say a "stock" Spacedock: ...into prograde orbit with ap=100 pe=70 to see whose Kessler cloud can do most damage... and yes, I know that isn't a stock Spacedock in the image, it's just as easy to build one around a Rockomax Jumbo64)

that's a shot from your entry in the Planetes challenge, isn't it?

No problem, I am working out an improved design with independent core-guided warheads and perhaps a larger vessel with a cluster of MechJeb-guided antimatter bombs.

Mine goes one step further: I can swap out the probe core mines for sepratron-propelled independently core-guided missiles (ooh, that's the next step up), kinetic rockets for hard ASAT operations, even small antimatter containers (would need a nuclear generator onboard the launcher to maintain cooling as well as a collector - this is one for a much larger vessel) for area denial and tactical destruction, AM would even obliterate the largest, most hardened vessels when it detonates.

sweet! Fixed

I've just made a challenge for a passive SDS (Space Denial System) using a specified retrograde orbit (to maximise the chances of a high speed impact). My example uses 24 probe cores and a scatter deployment in the launcher's orbital track. I'm pretty sure I can go bigger... (think about it, a mutual closing speed from a "normal" launch into a 75km orbit (you don't know what your enemy's thrown up there yet, right?) of nearly 4.6km/sec. That's a mission ender no matter how big or well armoured your spacecraft is, if that hits a fuel tank...)

reread the challenge: decouplers do not count. Even my paltry dual core can throw a 1500-part decoupler bird up there with little problem. It's more difficult when you've got n probe cores all with their own gyros all fighting to stabilise their own little universe... when there's 20 that's 6kN of torque in several different directions at once. Not an entry, this is just a little experiment in deployment. (yep. Never done an album embed before.)

OK, short challenge: using just TEN launches, place as many pieces of "debris" into LKO as you can to act as a Kessler space denial system. RULES: - TEN launches is what you get. - "Debris" defined: 1 Stayputnik probe core in independent ballistic flight. Of course, you can mount as many of these per launch as you want. Go NUTS. NOTE: Stages, SRBs, radial decouplers, etc., do NOT count. - Launches MUST be into a retrograde equatorial orbit (between 135 and -135 degrees inclination, ie East-West at 45 degrees or less instead of the normal West-East) to maximise impact probability. - For this challenge, LKO is BELOW 100km at apoapse. - Normal physics rules apply. Scoring: +1pt for each piece of persistent debris in LKO (which is pretty much probe count on the orbital map selection dropdown). (Challenger's Note: Yes, this was inspired by the Kerbal Warfare thread. I have a platform already, it's just a case of getting it mounted and launched.) EDIT: For the My Computer Is Bigger Than Yours Award, use QBE cores instead of Stayputniks, but you won't score - you're competing on part count! (Challengers Note: Reducing part counts is soooo easy, and you don't even need octagonal struts! Just mount two Stayputniks (or three QBEs) onto a radial decoupler which slaps straight onto the side of the tank! Instant 67% part count reduction! You're welcome!)

"Oh, groan," I hear you all groan, "yet another asteroid capture challenge." OK, I'll try and shake this one up a little. We're going for numbers here, and maybe a little Kessler Bends, too. This is your standard "Capture-A-Rock-Into-Kerbin-Orbit" challenge, with a bit of a twist: - You may use ONE launcher type for capturing, and it MUST be an SSTO. One launcher per rock. - You MAY use an orbital refueling platform only BEFORE your SSTO moves for capture. The platform MUST orbit in a circular 250km equatorial orbit. - Captures MUST end in an equatorial low Kerbin orbit (70-100km +/-5km apoapse/periapse, NO higher!) and the ships MUST remain attached to their rocks. - Any structural mod valid. MechJeb OK if you got it. - No violating the laws of physics. Chemical/nuclear engines MUST use propellants, and your resources tab must show consumption. Also, your ship systems MUST use electricity so you're gonna need a power system. Throw a radio antenna on or something. - Scoring is on the number of rocks you have in LKO by the time you throw in the towel. Bonus points for precise co-orbiting. SCORING: +1pt for each rock captured. +10pt for each rock inserted into LKO. +1pt for each ROCK TON inserted into LKO. +5pt for each rock captured and inserted into LKO WITHOUT refueling. +5pt for each rock inserted into a PRECISE 100kmx100km LKO. By "PRECISE" I mean "Within 100m" and "at 0.00 degrees inclination". (Challenger's Note: I've got 2 so far in LKO using an SSTO short 2nd (which I have as yet not had to use, hence the SSTO rule) and no refueling station in MKO as yet. So, definitely doable, if maybe a bit time consuming waiting for "perfect" Kerbin encounters. I suggest you launch several SSTOs then scan for roids.)

omg, space denial systems here we come!

I'm gonna have a go with a micro lithobraker later... we'll see if I can keep it under a ton!

I think it might have been my Planetes challenge that spawned the Claw as a stock part... there again I might be wrong.

meh, we dun need no steenkin' 23.5 claw part... not when one of my old .22 challenges was answered with a MIRV equipped with landing legs for clawfingers! HAVING SAID THAT, I wonder, if NASA know what's up there, they'll also be able to make a fairly educated guess as to its precise dimensions and be able to send up specific missions to retrieve those specific birds using specifically-shaped shrouds/frames (if they really want to preserve the condition of the bird, that's the best way with a robot, to enclose it in a snug-fitting shroud) which in an ideal world will even act as a heatshield (assuming that no comsat was sent up with a heatshield!)

Two more engines, a rolling action group pair toggle on all and slightly longer fuselage, and I had a plane that wasn't that much heavier dry, yet holds 14t more payload and is actually orbit capable (130x72km) with the addition of a pair of wingtip LFO radial-mount rockets!

I just thought of a potentially awesome weapon. What's the blast radius of a full 2.5m antimatter container when it goes critical?

I could show you my strike spaceplane and global heavy bomber designs... but then I'd have to kill you.

it should be pretty simple to add this in KSP (not that I'll even attempt it, having never built a mod part ever - I'm just referring to the complexity of some other mods I've seen). Basically, you've got an attachment for the arm which is a camera and a capture mechanism combined, or a complete arm and capture mechanism as a single articulated part. The trick is to align the target in the camera (which'll have an aiming reticle as the real thing does), and use RCS and elbowing manoeuvres in a combined effort to make capture (some sort of "smart reach" thing going here? Too much for KSP? Or should it be down to the pilots' manoeuvering skills (or lack thereof!) to within manipulation range, locking relative velocity and orientation and terminal elbowing into position?). The satellite module is completely passive and looks and functions precisely as the Hubble module does - a pin and boltholes, basically, which attaches to any outward facing part of the superstructure. This could even be a KAS-equippable stow part, which'd be useful on larger pieces. EVA with a tube of Krazy Glue and a module, slap it on the side of the tank, grab the thing and drag it on home.

Decoupler spam?

Re: point 5: real LEO birds do/did have capture ports for the Canadarm for shuttle capture - famous example: Hubble. The ISS also has various points along its superstructure where a visiting spacecraft can literally latch on, but safely. It'd not be a great idea, for example, to latch on anywhere along the array truss - it's designed to hold the mass of the solar array (which is what, three or four tons?) in place, not a forty ton return capsule. (yeah it's tiny, but that's a shot of the soft capture mechanism on Hubble, which is basically a pin the receiving craft enshrouds then three steel cables retract behind it to centralise the entire mechanism, which then retracts back toward the receiving craft pulling the pin with it and allows tapered shoot bolts to align and achieve a hard lock on the ring receivers in any axial orientation. It's really a much smaller version of the softdock mechanism used since the Apollo-Soyuz days).

I think you might be posting this in the wrong forum.

...and that is how we do that! I must learn how to do those slingshots, they must save a LOT of fuel...