One does not simply... add moar boosters.

[UnusualAttitude]

Or maybe one does...

To cut a long story short, I've been looking for a way to launch my extra-wide 20-tonne Mun Truck for a while. By the way, I'm playing a FAR career game on a tight budget. It's waaaay too wide to fit in a Mk3 spaceplane, and any attempt to slap it on top of a rocket, even a very big one, ended in disaster. Waaay too top-heavy, or top-draggy rather (which tends to make your rocket want to fly backwards in FAR).

So in despair, and for Science, I sandwiched the offending hardware between four of the biggest boosters the game has to offer. I added a couple of deluxe winglets, more for peace of mind than out of real conviction that my ploy might actually work. Then I hit Launch.... Guess what happened next...

Nice staging...

And an apoapsis of nearly 250 klicks; one huge circularization later I was ready to re-fuel and head off to rove the Mun...

Share your booster-related stories!

UA:D

[Wanderfound]

Non-traditional SRB use has been a theme lately; for example...

&

[UnusualAttitude]

Indeed, the only thing cooler than a booster-launched heavy rover is a booster-launched spaceplane with lots of Sepratrons!!!

PS: I love how your vertical speed indicator is stuck on eleven...

Edited February 26, 2015 by UnusualAttitude

[eddiew]

Heh, yeah, FAR doesn't necessarily stop you launching unwieldy things, it just forces you to compensate with a lot of control surfaces and a non-aggressive ascent profile

[SRV Ron]

A couple of mid career mun landers.

[FishInferno]

A couple of mid career mun landers.

http://i.imgur.com/Kcv4kGj.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/04gSxAt.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ItTWB0R.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/DZu8GPk.jpg

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

http://i.imgur.com/ch5mjsF.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/LRDAgX0.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/4B75lb5.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/QapsQH8.jpg

Nice ship, but why are the landing legs on radial decouplers?

[cantab]

Nice ship, but why are the landing legs on radial decouplers?

Probably just to get a wider stance. I've used that decoupler in a similar way, just to get a part further away from the fuselage/body without intending on ever decoupling it.

It also lets you drop the weight of the legs when you take off, but that's usually not much of a saving.

[-Velocity-]

Yea, I was never a fan of SRBs- until limited funds came into effect! My small rocket designs in career mode now frequently use SRBs for the ENTIRE thrust of the first stage, and sometimes even for the second stage too. I even have one small rocket that uses SRBs for the first THREE stages (it's actually a four stage rocket, and the first stage is kinda inefficient with a low TWR, but SRBs are so cheap it doesn't matter). It makes getting into space very cheap. This is especially true for those "put a satellite in an specific orbit around _____" contracts.

[Wanderfound]

Yea, I was never a fan of SRBs- until limited funds came into effect! My small rocket designs in career mode now frequently use SRBs for the ENTIRE thrust of the first stage, and sometimes even for the second stage too. I even have one small rocket that uses SRBs for the first THREE stages (it's actually a four stage rocket, and the first stage is kinda inefficient with a low TWR, but SRBs are so cheap it doesn't matter). It makes getting into space very cheap. This is especially true for those "put a satellite in an specific orbit around _____" contracts.

Like this...

Full demo at http://s1378.photobucket.com/user/craigmotbey/Kerbal/Beta/Kerbodyne%20Showroom/Satshot/story

Edited February 26, 2015 by Wanderfound

[Laie]

Non-traditional SRB use

Just posted this elsewhere, but what the hell. Needed sepratrons, while trying to make do with as few parts as possible. I don't know if it's really non-traditional, but I certainly like the looks:

[SRV Ron]

Yea, I was never a fan of SRBs- until limited funds came into effect! My small rocket designs in career mode now frequently use SRBs for the ENTIRE thrust of the first stage, and sometimes even for the second stage too. I even have one small rocket that uses SRBs for the first THREE stages (it's actually a four stage rocket, and the first stage is kinda inefficient with a low TWR, but SRBs are so cheap it doesn't matter). It makes getting into space very cheap. This is especially true for those "put a satellite in an specific orbit around _____" contracts.

This experimental Kerb Fu design uses two stages of gunpowder rockets, then the large Whale Oil stage to orbit and head for Mun, Minmus, or Duna and return.

In orbit

Ready to land on Minmus

Landed where even the lower stage survived.

Stock SRBs can be mixed and tweaked to give onion staging with an ideal TWR. With an extra SAS and fins, you can get a good start on an orbital turn before they burn out.

[Wanderfound]

More fun with SRBs:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1699318&viewfull=1#post1699318

- - - Updated - - -

Or this one:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1721422&viewfull=1#post1721422

Edited February 27, 2015 by Wanderfound

[Acet]

That's a really excessive lower stage for career mode just to get to the Mun and Minmus. Explains why that Mun-transfer stage was still practically full in Mun orbit.

You can get to Minmus, land and come back with that capsule AND Materials Bay plus 2 Goo Containers (all of which capable of safely landing back on Kerbin) for about 16k in parts.

Consider using 4 boosters instead of 3, staged to drop in pairs (just set them up with different thrust percentages) and getting rid of that triple engine lower stage core for a single line of engine + fuel tanks. In fact, if I remember correctly you can even use BACCs instead of those S1 SRB-KD25ks.

As it is, it looks like you're spending a ton of fuel and credits to get a large middle stage (with 3 engines and several half-full fuel tanks) into orbit and then a near-full transit stage to Mun orbit.

Just try and send something ridiculously small to Minmus and back: it takes all of 2x RT-10, 1 LV-909 and 1 FL-T400 to put in orbit a probe capable of going to Minmus, landing and getting back WITHOUT ion engines. Grow from there. That mk1 command pod is just 0.6t heavier than the probe and doesn't require that much ship to go anywhere in the Kerbin area.

Edited February 27, 2015 by Acet
Misplaced parentesis

[megatiger78]

old story:

he survived, but space in that thing?

[SRV Ron]

Tweak the thrust down and you will greatly improve the performance of that powder keg.