[Stock] Fly me to Minmus... for cheap!

[Indy]

Backstory:

Scrooge McKermin wants to put Jebediah on Minmus, but he does not want to spend a lot of money to get him there. So, he's crowd-sourcing ideas, looking for the cheapest way to get a Kerbal to Minmus!

GOAL:

It's fairly simple: Get Jebediah to Minmus for as CHEAP AS POSSIBLE

RULES:

1) No mods of any kind, including Mechjeb.

2) As seen from title, all stock parts

3) You do not have to return from Minmus, just get Jeb on the ground. Bonus points awarded to those who bring him back alive. (Bringing him back alive rewards a 20% Discount on all part costs)

4) Take lots of picture!

REWARD:

If anyone actually does this challenge, I made a pretty (ugly) coin for your sig! I promise I'll work on a better one

SCOREBOARD:

-Rank, Name, Cost

1) zarakon, 3,762, 3,009 WITH REFUND. Wow. I have no words. I doubt anyone can beat this.

2)waterlubber, 5,353, 4,282 WITH REFUND. I legitimately did not think it could be done, but it was. NICELY DONE

3)ticalc2014, 5,975, 4,780! WITH REFUND. NOICE

4)MadChris48, 6,087, 4,869.6 WITH REFUND. Good God, I didn't think it could be done, congrats!

5)jaddbo, 6,735 NOICE

6) spacecookie, 16,050! Nicely done, also the first submission!

Edited May 13, 2015 by Indy

[spacecookie]

Here is my entry with a clean gamedata, I am aware that my rocket must not be the lightest possible, I am not really used to build light anyway.. I just wanted to participate so here we go for the screenshots .

My rocket is the " KOSMOTRON 1 " and cost 16 050

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Yup, Jeb changed the flag position, juste because he is too proud of it to let him in the shadow.

I am interested to see how people are going to Send jeb on minmus for fewer than 10 000

[Bob_Saget54]

I am interested to see how people are going to Send jeb on minmus for fewer than 10 000

Challenge Accepted XD

[Indy]

Here is my entry with a clean gamedata, I am aware that my rocket must not be the lightest possible, I am not really used to build light anyway.. I just wanted to participate so here we go for the screenshots .

My rocket is the " KOSMOTRON 1 " and cost 16 050

http://i.imgur.com/6U1XGHQ.png

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

http://imgur.com/a/IbPJ6

Yup, Jeb changed the flag position, juste because he is too proud of it to let him in the shadow.

I am interested to see how people are going to Send jeb on minmus for fewer than 10 000

Nicely done! Thanks for participating, I too would love to see someone try for under 10,000

[MadChris48]

Here's an 'entry' (caveat quotes). Land and return. 6087 funds in the VAB , 4869.6 with the return refund. Its not a truly vanilla install as I have Kerbal Engineer, but I wasn't going to remove that just for this. If it doesn't earn me a badge its all good, I just enjoyed the challenge. Plenty of misson photos, VAB and F3 screenshots. that was a fun one to do!

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Edited May 11, 2015 by MadChris48

[ticalc2014]

It certainly isn't the cheapest you can get, but I made it to Minmus with a cost of 9,683, just trying to get it under 10,000. Can probably squeeze more out of it, perhaps for a return, but I don't know if I'll try it.

EDIT: Of course, I didn't refresh, and somebody had me beat by the time I posted it. Nice job!

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Edited May 11, 2015 by ticalc2014

[jaddbo]

I too would love to see someone try for under 10,000

you rang?

ah yes here i am!

the rocket cost 8419, and a -20% discount for returning him alive=6735.2 kerbal dolars.

here are the screenshots. I ended up sending jeb down without the craft, but it turned out that the craft had the fuel for it. But jeb is a bad-s (read my sig ), so yea. I also had trouble with the craft flipping over in re-entry, but it did not overheat.

here is a link to the screenshots: http://imgur.com/a/tjIJT#18

and here is the craft file if you need it: http://www./download/zqogrb4t1t101r1/Untitled+Space+Craft.craft

any ideas for names?

thanks, jaddbo

edit: whops, wrong number down! total fixed

Edited May 11, 2015 by jaddbo

[Indy]

For those thus-far who've participated, thanks and congrats, I've been blown away so far by the submissions! If you really want a crap-tastic coin as a badge on your signature, go for it, y'all earned it

[MadChris48]

Thruth be told, I had some extra dV after I made my return burn so I'm sure you could drop enough fuel out of the craft to get it under 6k. But I'll leave that for someone else to do so they have something to beat.

-To Space!

[jaddbo]

EDIT: Of course, I didn't refresh, and somebody had me beat by the time I posted it. Nice job!

thanks!

[ticalc2014]

I added KER back for another game of mine, and forgot to remove it once I came back for a second try. Anyway, made it to Minmus, and back, safely, under 6k! 5,975 minus 20% = 4,780!! Of course, I ran out of fuel and had to use EVA to propel myself the last 20m/s or so to get a reentry trajectory, but that was probably just pilot error on my part, not following the most optimum path. Swapping out the decouplers for cheaper, lighter models could get that down to 5,775 / 4,620.

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Edited May 11, 2015 by ticalc2014

[Serassa]

You can do this with less than 3000 if you use seat instead of pod. If you use ladder propulsion you can do this for less than 1000.

[MadChris48]

You can do this with less than 3000 if you use seat instead of pod. If you use ladder propulsion you can do this for less than 1000.

You still need to start with a pod as a seat can't hold a kerbal straight out of the VAB. Less than 1000, huh? Bold claims, let's see you do it!!

[Geckogamer19]

Do we get extra refund when we bring extra parts back with us?

Edited May 11, 2015 by Geckogamer19
needs bit more info

[Indy]

Do we get extra refund when we bring extra parts back with us?

Nope, the 20% discount applies to the whole cost of your build IF you bring Jeb back alive. No moar refunds!

[waterlubber]

Here's my entry! New record, it's stupid cheap!

Cost: 5,353 funds.

Discount: 20%

Final Score: 4282.4 Funds!

The secret: No Parachute! Oh, and the massive SRB used to launch it straight to orbit.

I tried a powered landing, but it got spun around. Jeb jumped ship and survived, because now kerbals can survive hitting water. They bounce!

Imgur Album:

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This is probably the cheapest anyone can get it. I used all the cheapest parts available.

Edit:

Managed to get the price down to 5,253 by swapping the decoupler. Total score, new: 4202.4

Edited May 12, 2015 by waterlubber

[zarakon]

waterlubber, did you try using the smallest decoupler between your 909 and the solid booster?

[waterlubber]

waterlubber, did you try using the smallest decoupler between your 909 and the solid booster?

I could, if I wanted. That's pinching pennies. I guess I'll have to, unless someone else will steal my prize.

Oh, idea: Rocket Surgery Decoupling >

[zarakon]

I've got several crazy ideas in mind. Hopefully at least one of them will actually work. Should have some results tonight!

[zarakon]

I just did a return run for 4335 (3468), buuuut I didn't actually use Jeb, aaaaand it was really sloppy so I can do better!

I'm aiming for 3948 (3158)!

[MadChris48]

I just did a return run for 4335 (3468), buuuut I didn't actually use Jeb, aaaaand it was really sloppy so I can do better!

I'm aiming for 3948 (3158)!

I'm excited to see what you've come up with.

[zarakon]

Well, the 3948 attempt just barely came up short.

Here's one at 4023 (3218.4)

http://imgur.com/a/YMEBd

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Edited May 13, 2015 by zarakon

[zarakon]

Just had to do it again... 3762 (3009.6) this time after cutting out a sepratron and downgrading the 2nd stage engine

http://imgur.com/a/WPtuk

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[cryogen]

VAB price 4,726:

Well that can't be good...

What's a cheap way to control an SRB with unbalanced weights on it?

[waterlubber]

I have no idea how you did that. I guess I could go cheaper than that, but that would be kind of cheating, because all I'd do is empty the monoprop and a small amount of fuel. You beat me to the design, I guess. 1.0 nerfed the ISPS, making this challenge so much harder...anyway, good game! I had fun.