Ions, Ions Everywhere

[HoloYolo]

Story:

After receiving extremly generous funding by Ionic, with the addition of running out of nuclear engines, the KSC has decided on using Ion engines as their main space propulsion.

They want to fly out and explore, but the Ion engines aren't exactly essential. The thrist for electricity is difficult enough, but the low thrust is rage-inducing.

MAIN MISSION: Land on the Mun and return.

Bye Kerbin!:Flyby Duna and/or Eve

Let's get Focused:Flyby Dres, Jool or Eeloo

For the Veterans:Moho Orbit (Yes, ORBIT)

For the person who is nuts: Land on Moho, Dres, or Eeloo

For the Person who has infinite time on their hands: Fly-by of ALL Planets and Moons (YES, EVERYTHING)

Side Missions

Land on Minmus and return

Land on Duna and Return

(All Optional)

Rules

Visual and Info mods ONLY

No modding configs and debug menu

No Power-Genarator MODS (Stock Solars and RTGS)

No Ion Engine mods (Stock Ions)

Launch-stage must be stock(NO KW or NovaPunch etc.)

Bye Kerbin!:

1

2

3

4

5

Let's Get Focused

1

2

3

4

5

For the Veterans

1 Maolagin, 1,925,000 funds

2

3

4

5

For the person who is Nuts

1 Camaron, Landed on Dres and Moho (unknown funds)

2 Purplevain, Landed on Dres and Moho (About 239,000 funds each)

3 Astrobound, Landed on Moho (88,691 Funds)

4

5

For the person who has infinite time on their hands

1

2

3

4

5

I am basing this on cost in-game.

Happy Flying!

Whoops. Forgot to add a scoreboard for the main mission.

MAIN MISSION

1 purpleivan: 67,234 Funds

2

3

4

5

Shoutout to purpleivan for reviving this year old challenge.

Also, Jetski did every category basically, so he gets to stay down here! IF only I had the cost. (cost is 311468 funds)

Edited March 30, 2016 by HoloYolo

[GoSlash27]

Kaboom,

Some of this is flat-out impossible. For example, you can't make an Ion powered craft with a 2.0 t/w on Eve. Tylo isn't going to happen either, I don't think. You can't make 1:1 t/w with enough DV to land.

Should be a fun challenge for those that have the patience for it.

Have fun!

-Slashy

[Tank Buddy]

I would recommend looking at the Challenge Submission Guide

Also, Moho orbit is probably easiest to achieve with ion engines because of the availability of solar power and the high Delta V of ion craft. I have done it several times myself.

[HoloYolo]

Kaboom,

Some of this is flat-out impossible. For example, you can't make an Ion powered craft with a 2.0 t/w on Eve. Tylo isn't going to happen either, I don't think. You can't make 1:1 t/w with enough DV to land.

Should be a fun challenge for those that have the patience for it.

Have fun!

-Slashy

Thanks for the help. I'll fix this in an instant.

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I would recommend looking at the Challenge Submission Guide

Also, Moho orbit is probably easiest to achieve with ion engines because of the availability of solar power and the high Delta V of ion craft. I have done it several times myself.

*coughs* 2kn thrust with a planet that takes anywhere from 2 to 8km a second to slow down? Hours of burning? Patience is a challenge itself.

[Tank Buddy]

*coughs* 2kn thrust with a planet that takes anywhere from 2 to 8km a second to slow down? Hours of burning? Patience is a challenge itself.

At 4x time acceleration it only took 5 or 6 minutes at most...

[HoloYolo]

At 4x time acceleration it only took 5 or 6 minutes at most...

You got it pretty well, but 90% of the KSP community gets stuck with the 6km slow down trajectory

[bakanando]

Is this challenge for manned spacecraft or for probes mostly?

[HoloYolo]

Is this challenge for manned spacecraft or for probes mostly?

Whatever way you wish.

[bakanando]

I have some designs, of which two are currently in high velocity intercepts to Duna and Eve. I'll post pics later of both probes plus the solid fuel booster(s) launcher.

Spoiler alert: It's just a SRB-KD25K plus a RT-10 and a small SAS module.

[HoloYolo]

I have some designs, of which two are currently in high velocity intercepts to Duna and Eve. I'll post pics later of both probes plus the solid fuel booster(s) launcher.

Spoiler alert: It's just a SRB-KD25K plus a RT-10 and a small SAS module.

As long as it didn't break the rules I don't care.

[Camaron]

Here are some Ion crafts on Dres and Moho.

I made this Ion craft as a test of the new Ion engines when they were rebalanced in 23.5. My main design requirement with the Kruphix series is to carry the Lander Can along, as a true standalone spacecraft and lander manned by a Kerbal.

I like these pics cause they show how drastically different the solar conditions are between the two planets. Also, they're really good pics anyway

Kruphix III - Moho Edition

Kruphix III on Dres

Kruphix V is under development to reliably target Vall.

[Astrofox]

Is it okay to have Remote Tech installed for this?

[bakanando]

Is it okay to have Remote Tech installed for this?

Remote tech doesn't affect ION engines or other performance differences, but you'll have to wait for Kaboom!'s reply.

I made a test flight for a new probe yesterday, the ascent vehicle might be a little OP but it does its job very well (and cheaply).

Javascript is disabled. View full album

[HoloYolo]

Is it okay to have Remote Tech installed for this?

It wasn't a restircited mod. So yes

[Maolagin]

I'm still a little unclear on the rules and scoring.

For example, I just put a 150-ton station in Moho orbit with ion thrusters for another challenge:

Javascript is disabled. View full album

But I'm not sure if it counts here, because I didn't visit the Mun, and I didn't cut over to ion power until already on a Kerbin-escaping trajectory.

[HoloYolo]

I'm still a little unclear on the rules and scoring.

For example, I just put a 150-ton station in Moho orbit with ion thrusters for another challenge:

http://imgur.com/a/Mw9Sx

But I'm not sure if it counts here, because I didn't visit the Mun, and I didn't cut over to ion power until already on a Kerbin-escaping trajectory.

Mun was the main mission. The other missions were options and you didn't have to go to the Mun. Also, it's still ok. You didn't have to use them for everything, just the requirments. Before you go on the scoreboard how much was the station?

- - - Updated - - -

Here are some Ion crafts on Dres and Moho.

I made this Ion craft as a test of the new Ion engines when they were rebalanced in 23.5. My main design requirement with the Kruphix series is to carry the Lander Can along, as a true standalone spacecraft and lander manned by a Kerbal.

I like these pics cause they show how drastically different the solar conditions are between the two planets. Also, they're really good pics anyway

Kruphix III - Moho Edition

http://i.imgur.com/S7wLVPK.png

Kruphix III on Dres

http://i.imgur.com/KXeeAC1.png

Kruphix V is under development to reliably target Vall.

Total cost?

[Maolagin]

Mun was the main mission. The other missions were options and you didn't have to go to the Mun. Also, it's still ok. You didn't have to use them for everything, just the requirments. Before you go on the scoreboard how much was the station?

From squinting at the screenshot, 1,945,560

[purpleivan]

This isn't an entry for the challenge, just something I tried out as an experiment when working on my "Mün challenge" entries.

If I was going low cost (something I didn't think about at the time as I was playing Sandbox) instead of low mass, then I would have gone SRBs for the launcher instead of jets.

However the vehicle did have a separate CM, as that was a requirement of that challenge.

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[HoloYolo]

This isn't an entry for the challenge, just something I tried out as an experiment when working on my "Mün challenge" entries.

If I was going low cost (something I didn't think about at the time as I was playing Sandbox) instead of low mass, then I would have gone SRBs for the launcher instead of jets.

However the vehicle did have a separate CM, as that was a requirement of that challenge.

Well, all I need is a cost and you get a place on the board.

[Astrofox]

HOW DID YOU LAND THAT THING?!

Did you continuously burn, or what? (never have seen such a craft land on the mun)

[purpleivan]

HOW DID YOU LAND THAT THING?!

Did you continuously burn, or what? (never have seen such a craft land on the mun)

Errr... carefully

I remember that I landed when the sun was fairly low in the sky, so that I had good exposure of panels on the side of the ship (where most of them were located). The main issue was making sure that I didn't run out of electric power at important times in the decent, especially the landing.

Unfortunately I can't find the vehicle in the VAB (must have deleted it), but I think I'll recreate it and do the SRB launch for reduced cost... also no need for me to have the separate capsule in Mun obit this time, so more cost reduction.

[purpleivan]

Ok... spent this morning rebuilding the Electric Flyer and taking her to Mun and back.

The cost of the whole vehicle was 65,634, although as it turned out I over did it a bit with the solar panels this time (I had more of the 1x6 arrays than my previous vessel), which meant that I never dropped below about 50% of electrical reserves.

I kerbal'd the arrays a bit, as I forgot to turn on symmetry for a couple of them, so the panels are a bit lop sided.

Javascript is disabled. View full album' alt='script>'>

[Maolagin]

Ooh, pretty! Are you using a mod to add the lighting effects to the ion thrust, or is there a graphics option somewhere that I'm not turning on?

[HoloYolo]

Ooh, pretty! Are you using a mod to add the lighting effects to the ion thrust, or is there a graphics option somewhere that I'm not turning on?

The mod is HotRockets.

[purpleivan]

Yup... HotRockets it is.

I added a bunch of stuff from Astronomers Visual Pack a couple of days ago to spruce up my KSP experience, which is making things a little more fun to look at. However I thought that the clouds in the BoulderCo Environmental Visual Enhancements pack were a bit too bright to look at all the time, so I replaced the clouds texture for Kerbin with another I found, that had a lot less cloud in it.

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One thing I'm a bit unsure about with this challenge is at what point does the vehicle needs to be all ion powered to qualify for it.

With my Mun landing I used a liquid fueled launcher to get my ion powered vehicle into an orbit of a few hundred km of Kerbin, then did the TMI burn onwards on ion drive. So I'm assuming that for an attempt at the other planets that I'll need to be all ion powered for the escape from Kerbin orbit onwards, until finally splashing down again on Kerbin after visiting a planet/planets.

Is that correct?