Lightest Mission to the Mun!

[Redshift OTF]

What is the lightest craft you can make to take a Kerbal to the Mun and back?

I have an entry of course however I don't want to spoil the contest so I will post it later. The thing is, I don't actually know if it is that light or not and would like to see other peoples entries to see if I have done well or am falling short of the bar.

Rules: Take 1 Kerbal from Kerbin to the surface of Mun and back again with the lightest vehicle. Vehicle mass is determined on the launch pad before take off. For version 1.02. Separate Leaderboard for version 1.0.

1) The Kerbal must be in a command pod of some description. No use of seats!

2) No debug menu cheats.

3) No Ion engines! I know some of you like the old Ion landers so if you want that in a separate category then I can do that.

4) No mods except things like MechJeb, Kerbal Engineer, Editor Extension etc.

5) Things are allowed to blow up so you wont be disqualified if the heat Kraken decides to pay you a visit.

Screenshots, videos and craft files will all be useful in determining your entry.

I can't think of anything else right now but I may add things if they break the challenge.

Leaderboard v1.02:

1) Maccollo - 8.75 tons

2) Kelderek - 38.75 tons

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Leaderboard v1.0:

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Edited May 5, 2015 by Redshift OTF

[Jeb Coleman]

I will give it a shot. I will keep you posted.

[Redshift OTF]

Thank you! I believe I have a unique design but I look forward to seeing if it can be beaten.

[Othuyeg]

I am going to be competing with a very simple design.

[Kelderek]

I'll give it a shot. I'm sure this will be far from the lightest, but I don't care, it was a fun challenge to try with the new aero model - especially with the changes to engine ISP.

38.75t mass on the launch pad.

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[Redshift OTF]

Impressive Kelderek, most impressive! Although I don't think the heatshield is actually needed in 1.02. Can anyone beat this?

[Jeb Coleman]

I have a 29.9t spacecraft prototype. It will be tested.

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Can we use KSP 1.0 I don't have 1.02.

[Redshift OTF]

I have a 29.9t spacecraft prototype. It will be tested.

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Can we use KSP 1.0 I don't have 1.02.

I have created a separate leaderboard for v1.0 as the DeltaV differences will be large.

[Kelderek]

Impressive Kelderek, most impressive! Although I don't think the heatshield is actually needed in 1.02. Can anyone beat this?

Well you can see how much of the ablator burned off in my resources window, not sure if the pod would have survived or not.

Thanks for the challenge!

[Redshift OTF]

Well you can see how much of the ablator burned off in my resources window, not sure if the pod would have survived or not.

Thanks for the challenge!

I managed to return from the moon with a Mk1 lander can with a periapsis of -161km. Without a heat shield the lander never went above a temp of 300 during re-entry so I think they are dispensable right now.

[maccollo]

Did it with 8.75 tonnes on the pad. Will post video

I had to quick save once because I was careless and smashed into the surface of the moon while time accelerating X_X

Edited May 5, 2015 by maccollo

[StainX]

Haha, this was a very kerbal mission... you can disqualify me if you like, but it was sooo much fun i wanted to share

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Also i have modified my 1.0.2 airodynamics to the middle between 1.0.0 and 1.0.2... soooo forget it

[Redshift OTF]

Did it with 8.75 tonnes on the pad. Will post video

I had to quick save once because I was careless and smashed into the surface of the moon while time accelerating X_X

Extremely impressive! You have the same idea as me, (using jets for the lower stage), although mine weighed in at 23 tons. The biggest trick I found was getting the right launch profile through the atmosphere to maximise the rest of the ship DeltaV. I'm not sure if the fairings helped though.

Haha, this was a very kerbal mission... you can disqualify me if you like, but it was sooo much fun i wanted to share

http://imgur.com/a/de4yF

Also i have modified my 1.0.2 airodynamics to the middle between 1.0.0 and 1.0.2... soooo forget it

Well nice try. This looks like a similar idea as well. Consider it a practise run!

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Even if people don't think they can beat the best post your designs anyway. The more on the Leaderboard the merrier!

[maccollo]

Even if people don't think they can beat the best post your designs anyway. The more on the Leaderboard the merrier!

My design is certainly beatable if you can just a little bit further than I did on jet power. Other than that it's going to be pretty difficult to improve I think. With the deltaV to go down to the munar surface and back to Kerbin being as low as it is, it simply doesn't make sense to bring a dedicated lander unless you use seats.

BTW, minor nitpick. A "ton" can mean any of several units of measurement. A "tonne" is a metric ton everywhere.

Edited May 5, 2015 by maccollo