How Low Can You Go?

[Dman979]

The goal of this challenge is simple: obtain the lowest possible stable orbit around Kerbin.

Rules:

1. NO MODS! It is unfair to everyone else if you have a mod on your craft.

2. NO CONFIG CHANGES! The point is not to see if you can edit the save file, it's to test your piloting skills.

3. NO CHEATS/DEBUGGING! Again, test your engineering, not hacking.

3. Post photos of:

jjjjjA. The entire craft in the VAB or SPH with Craft Info in the lower corner

jjjjjB. Launch

jjjjjC. Any important events

jjjjjD. Your final orbit with the MET in the corner and Apo and Peri visible

jjjjjE. The final ship

4. Scoring is as follows:

10(your time in seconds)+ 20((Apo height+Peri height in Km)/2)+(Tonnage of craft on launch)

5. The lowest score wins.

Scoring:

1. 4,381.757- Foxster

2.

3.

4.

5.

Edited February 21, 2015 by Dman979
Rules clarification

[jman508]

just to throw this out there the lowest orbit without it degenerating is 69.something

[Dman979]

Saved for my attempt

- - - Updated - - -

just to throw this out there the lowest orbit without it degenerating is 69.something

That is correct:

"roughly 69,078 meters" from the Wiki.

[jman508]

reserved for later entry.

gonna try this with my skylon ssto.

its not an issue of getting the lowest its the issue of making the smallest craft imaginable. that can still reach lko.

[Starwhip]

What's this about a tiny craft?

[Dman979]

What's this about a tiny craft?

http://i.imgur.com/V9b7zRM.png

I think you've broken a rule, but I'm not sure....

[Noname117]

Though if a craft is unloaded and is above a certain height in the atmosphere, but still in the atmosphere, the game will not delete it and, I believe, not simulate atmospheric drag for it. Now including these orbits would make an even more interesting challenge, because it is going to be a lot harder to get the pinpoint orbit you want when you have to deal with atmospheric drag, and you cannot just simply leave your spacecraft up at that altitude (I think) without it being deleted, so you would have to have a second spacecraft separate and get out of loading range. Engineering and piloting skills would be a lot more prevalent in that type of challenge.

Just my 2 cents, this challenge is pretty easy as it is, and I think has been done before. Just making a suggestion to spice it up a little bit.

[Foxster]

Here's a quick go...

Wasted a lot of time fine-tuning the orbit then swinging around the orbit for sunlight to get a decent screenshot before I remembered there were points for getting there quick. Oh well.

Think the score is something like:

(your time in seconds)+ 20((Apo height+Peri height)/2)+(Tonnage of craft on launch) = 685 + 20(69.4075) + 0.674 = 2073.824

-------------

Update:

Here's one more go where I didn't mess about as much. Can barely make out the craft but its on the left...

(your time in seconds)+ 20((Apo height+Peri height)/2)+(Tonnage of craft on launch) = 298 + 20(70.0755) + 0.674 = 1700.184

Edited February 20, 2015 by Foxster

[Dman979]

Here's a quick go...

http://i.imgur.com/49XiWz1.png

http://i.imgur.com/G98H9KJ.jpg

Wasted a lot of time fine-tuning the orbit then swinging around the orbit for sunlight to get a decent screenshot before I remembered there were points for getting there quick. Oh well.

Think the score is something like:

(your time in seconds)+ 20((Apo height+Peri height)/2)+(Tonnage of craft on launch) = 685 + 20(69.4075) + 0.674 = 2073.824

-------------

Update:

Here's one more go where I didn't mess about as much. Can barely make out the craft but its on the left...

http://i.imgur.com/efU5bBb.png

(your time in seconds)+ 20((Apo height+Peri height)/2)+(Tonnage of craft on launch) = 298 + 20(70.0755) + 0.674 = 1700.184

Foxster, the end probe looks good, but where's the rest of the ship? I like the entry, but it breaks rules 1 and 3.

Try a different launcher.

[Foxster]

Foxster, the end probe looks good, but where's the rest of the ship? I like the entry, but it breaks rules 1 and 3.

Try a different launcher.

Oh, in what way? There is no more ship, that ship is orbit-capable from the launchpad and has about 5000dV.

Rule 1 says no mods - only mod I used was Mechjeb to display the stats, otherwise it was built and flown stock.

Rule 3 says no cheats - in what way did I 'cheat'? Its a stock craft flown to a stable low orbit.

Here's the craft file for you to try: https://www.dropbox.com/s/racf5bmv96dn7in/Light%202.craft?dl=0 I'd suggest upping the fuel to the max (80t+80t) in both tanks for your first try at reaching orbit - only adds 0.1t to the total mass.

Here's some in-flight shots...

It's not the size - its what you do with it!

Edited February 21, 2015 by Foxster

[GoSlash27]

^ Foxster's craft isn't "cheaty", it's just efficient. Not sure he calculated the score correctly, tho'.

Speaking of, the score formula seems a bit wonky. 10(time in seconds)+20(mean orbit altitude in??)+ vehicle mass in tonnes.

If this is correct, then the tonnage will have negligible impact on the final score.

If orbit altitude is in meters, then time to orbit will be negligible as well.

Best,

-Slashy

Edited February 21, 2015 by GoSlash27

[Flixxbeatz]

It's not the size - its what you do with it!

"It's not the length of vector that counts, but the force and direction it's applied..."

wait what?

[Dman979]

Oh, in what way? There is no more ship, that ship is orbit-capable from the launchpad and has about 5000dV.

Rule 1 says no mods - only mod I used was Mechjeb to display the stats, otherwise it was built and flown stock.

Rule 3 says no cheats - in what way did I 'cheat'? Its a stock craft flown to a stable low orbit.

Here's the craft file for you to try: https://www.dropbox.com/s/racf5bmv96dn7in/Light%202.craft?dl=0 I'd suggest upping the fuel to the max (80t+80t) in both tanks for your first try at reaching orbit - only adds 0.1t to the total mass.

Here's some in-flight shots...

http://i.imgur.com/bMw3gcV.png

http://i.imgur.com/KoPXNB3.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/64Of90E.png

It's not the size - its what you do with it!

Foxster: Ok. I will try the craft. At a glance, though, it looks like 5000 delta-V is a little much. Until I try it, your entry will go on hold. The point of rule 1 is to make participants use map view to pilot and their engineering skills to build, instead of having the calculations done for them. Rule 3 refers to the Debug menu- I'll change that in the OP.

^ Foxster's craft isn't "cheaty", it's just efficient. Not sure he calculated the score correctly, tho'.

Speaking of, the score formula seems a bit wonky. 10(time in seconds)+20(mean orbit altitude in??)+ vehicle mass in tonnes.

If this is correct, then the tonnage will have negligible impact on the final score.

If orbit altitude is in meters, then time to orbit will be negligible as well.

Best,

-Slashy

The tonnage is not supposed to have a large impact on score. It's mainly to see how quickly you can get to the lowest possible stable orbit. The only time the mass will really come into play is if there are two crafts with equal times and orbits- a tie-breaker. The altitude is in Km, and x20 to make it have an effect on the score.

The importance is 1) Altitude 1.5) Time 2) Size.

[Foxster]

Foxster: Ok. I will try the craft. At a glance, though, it looks like 5000 delta-V is a little much.

5000dV is plenty. You can get a minimum stable orbit with 4700 or so.

But, to be honest, I'm not really terribly bothered whether you like my entry. I did it for the challenge - not your approval.

[Dman979]

5000dV is plenty. You can get a minimum stable orbit with 4700 or so.

But, to be honest, I'm not really terribly bothered whether you like my entry. I did it for the challenge - not your approval.

yeah, 4500 is roughly the lower limit.

I hope you haven't been taking my comments as criticism. They were intended in a friendly spirit, and without testing the craft yet, I found it slightly hard to believe it could make orbit. That's a problem I've got with the interweb- there is no "tone" in comments, like the way you convey meaning face to face- a smiling raised eyebrow, for example. I'll double check your score, but I think you've got it right. So, 1st place to you! For now... who else is gonna try?

EDIT: your score is 4,381.757. I think you forgot to multiply the seconds by 10.

Edited February 21, 2015 by Dman979