rousseau

Ah, cantab you are correct, these points go away when set to optimal. Red Iron Crown these are the exact parameters i put in for the graph in the first post: Wonky orbital paths due to inclination seems reasonable. I'm tempted to open a new sandbox save and try out a launch at these points just to see.

I've found this launch window planner very helpful- much thanks to the creator http://alexmoon.github.io/ksp/ Something strange caught my eye though, when looking at expected dv to reach the interior planets. Moho and Eve both have these discontinuities at specific times. I can only zoom in so far, but this pattern appears to continue to a point. What this means practically, is that launching before this moment, has high energy costs for getting there slightly faster than ideal (and less substantial costs for getting there slower); while after this moment, has high energy costs for getting there slightly slower (and less substantial costs for getting there faster). So- is this an error in the utility, an error in ksp, or a real phenomenon? and if so- what is going on at that point?

Might try this. Fairly certain I can get at least 2. Since the scoring is confined to low integers, is there a tie break criteria? (like lowest starting mass, fewest number of parts, etc.)

@donfede Thanks for the laugh that was great. Bucket of kerbals is genius, shame you couldn't get it to work reliably :\ good luck! @zorque Some sort of ring to grab the tower is what i envisioned people trying, never thought of depositing kerbals directly onto the ring though, i had only thought of dropping them on top and then walking down (which is easier said than done). Also your speed is setting the bar really high for future attempts ;D I myself tried a 32 kerbal landing yesterday but sadly had to postpone further efforts before the kinks had been worked out. Also my intention was to deduct points from RCS in an attempt to balance the speed gained by using RCS. If everyone completely avoids RCS I might consider lowering the penalty.

The spotlight on the tower next to the launchpad has gone out! Well not really, but the kerbals have decided that in the case of such an emergency they should be prepared for drastic action. Just incase something goes terribly wrong it is probably better if there are as many kerbals present for the operation as possible. An important launch being postponed even a few seconds due to a sudden spotlight failure could be disastrous, so this drill has an emphasis on speed. Your challenge is to land as many kerbals on top of the tower as quickly as possible. Rules: 1. Land a craft on top of the tower. _a. To count as "on top of" no part of the craft may be below the ring platform (this means you cant just build a super tall rover and tip it onto the tower) 2. Multiple launches ARE allowed, but if at any point any craft falls off the tower, is recovered, or otherwise removed from the tower, no further launches (including the current launch) will count toward your score. _a. For multiple launches your time score is -the time for the first launch- plus -the average time of all subsequent launches- 3. No parachutes (they would get all tangled and in the way y'know?). 4. At least one kerbal must be EVAd to the ring platform in order to replace the bulb _a. All other kerbals must be able to exit the craft __i. while in contact with either the tower, or a craft landed on top of the tower __ii. without falling below the height of the ring platform 5. Stock parts only. 6. No MechJeb. 7. No Cheats (this includes clipping, hack-gravity, and infinite-fuel) Scoring: 1000 points per kerbal -400 points per kerbal if RCS thrusters are on your craft (because I found these made landing far easier) Time Multiplier: Convert your mission time at time of landing to decimal minutes and divide your score by this number. Screenshots: your craft on the launchpad before takeoff. (optional) your craft landed on top of the tower at 0 m/s. (the mission time in this screenshot is your time score) At least one kerbal standing on the ring platform. (all other kerbals must be visible and countable). Leaderboard: 1. donfede - 61538 2. zorque - 22857 3. rousseau - 735 4. My Entry / proof of concept: 1 kerbal * (1000-400) /(49/60) = 735 (round to nearest whole number) Notes: This was very frustrating at first, and is more about pilot skill than craft design, but soon had a lot of fun with this. I have yet to land on the tower without RCS. Just did a multi-kerbal landing (9 kerbals) won't post it until someone beats my proof of concept though (which just happened by a landslide so I guess i'll have to try again anyway c;). Edit: Had to adjust rules slightly as leaving kerbals on the ring platform and switching back to the craft sometimes made them fall through to the ground (making the challenge very annoying). Added some clarification for multiple launches i left out before.

Pretty sure you mean "tenuous" atmosphere not "tedious" but anyway, some of these are very cool. not so sure about the "column of air" thing with that moon...