The Ultimate Jool 5 Challenge - 1.0 to 1.3

[McBalsam]

@sdj64 Thank you for accepting my submission and also for the feedback!

6 hours ago, sdj64 said:

Be careful with the clipping though (on the mothership "bridge" section).  This was really close to being disqualified but I don't think any drag tricks were abused, and your landers fit into the cargo bay without clipping.

I'll keep this in mind the next time.  The "bridge" actually does produce drag, and it's not the most efficient place to put the crew in. A mk3 cockpit in place of the current nose cone would have been a better solution. But hey, it's "Kerbal Space Program" not "Sensible Space Program".  

[astrobond]

Hi all,

A new try to The Ultimate Jool 5 Challenge... 

1st Level, Low weight ISRU SSTO, Just Bill and this space plane, KSP 1.3.1 stock + KER mod, 32481kg, 120273, 65parts, and a lot of fun 

Cost of the mission: 120273-118738 recovered = 1535

Craft File: J5C SSTO ISRU Light

Album: https://imgur.com/a/lrhCz

F5/F9 were used a lot... as usual 

Edited December 19, 2017 by astrobond
Added Craft File

[sdj64]

@astrobond Congratulations, you have completed the Jool 5 Challenge on Level 1!  And with 32.5 tons you have the lowest mass of any entrant in 1.2-1.3.  Those fancy spaceplane parts are costly, though, putting you in 3rd place for low cost.  I really liked the bird-like design of your plane, and the cockpit on the back was a unique choice.  It's a solid ISRU all-in-one craft, and was flown well too.

[astrobond]

3 hours ago, sdj64 said:

@astrobond Congratulations, you have completed the Jool 5 Challenge on Level 1!  And with 32.5 tons you have the lowest mass of any entrant in 1.2-1.3.  Those fancy spaceplane parts are costly, though, putting you in 3rd place for low cost.  I really liked the bird-like design of your plane, and the cockpit on the back was a unique choice.  It's a solid ISRU all-in-one craft, and was flown well too.

Thank's a lot @sdj64 :-)

And congrat's for keeping up this awesome challenge !

[PhoenixRise86]

I'll still around and getting back to the challenge. It's in a career mode game and I just played along my other missions while waiting for the Jool team to come home from attempt 1.

The new attempt is sporting a fully expendable FalconHeavy-esque LV with solid boosters, modified 2nd stage, and Laythe/Vall lander. I should get a chance to run it tomorrow and will be taking screenshots along the way.

[PhoenixRise86]

Kerbin to jool and tylo have gone well enough. Laythe hates me. My lander is a adapter cone plus short rockomax tank, 2 small solid boosters with winglets, powered by an aerospike and 2 twitches. Getting up through the atmosphere is terrible, usually between 6-8km it tries to flip and spiral. I've gotten out of the atmosphere by maintaining a lower thrust/TWR until reaching 25km, but then I can't really gain much from the gravity turn. I feel like the atmosphere is soupier than kerbin even though it's supposed to be thinner. What's the secret to getting off of laythe?

Edit - Nvm, I did it. I had to reload and perform more precise aerobraking and a final tumbling, Bob-toasting entry. It saved enough fuel to squeak back into orbit.

Now Vall will require the carrier to burn down into a much lower orbit. Cutting ever closer fuel margins...

Update - Vall complete after multiple terribly close calls (4dv left in lander upon rendezvous), many reloads, and a Rapid Planned Deconstruction - I had to intentionally smash off a part of the lander via lithobraking to lighten it for the return to orbit (and reduce the fuel needed to land). This game really teaches some creativity... 

2nd to last update - all moons complete, crew rendezvoused in Jool orbit and ready to burn home. Now to catch a slingshot and figure out how to make an imgur album...

Edited January 4, 2018 by PhoenixRise86

[PhoenixRise86]

 

Finally done!   

*Edit - finally some photo evidence*

 Played in version 1.2.2 with Normal settings plus maximum reentry heating (120%) and reduced science/fund rewards for career missions.

My ship cost 426,269, and had a mass of 1518.272 tonnes, 63.8 height, and 238 parts. It had no nuclear, *jet*, or ion stages, the launch vehicle and 2nd stage used all skipper engines, no more than one pair of asparagus/crossfed boosters per stage (only on LV and Tylo lander), and had a "Science Pod" that Bob piloted to the surfaces. *This required mostly free-hand maneuvering to rendezvous with the carrier*. This docked on top of a large multistage lander for Tylo, and a winged, solid boosted lander for Laythe, *a mistake I barely recovered from*. The Science Pod handled Vall by itself after bringing the carrier down into a terrifyingly low orbit, and doing a bit of lithobraking. Bop and Pol were easy even after smashing off one fuel tank at Vall. There was about 200 dV left in the service module upon returning to Kerbin which was used up to help slow it down.

Mods included - 

BetterBurnTime

BoulderCo

EVE

FSHangerExtender

KerbalJointReinforcement

ModularflightIntegrator

RealChute

Scatterer

SpaceY-Lifters (not used for much here)

VenStockRevamp -  I just love how it looks, I think I used a few of the intermediate (stock balanced) engines and fuel tanks from this one.

Craft file: https://kerbalx.com/PhoenixRise/Jool-5-2-a

Imgur album:    https://imgur.com/a/1AeAt

 

Edited January 15, 2018 by PhoenixRise86
Added photos finally.

[PhoenixRise86]

On 12/18/2017 at 6:26 PM, astrobond said:

 

That's an awesome little plane there. What navigation tricks were necessary with the rotated probe core and backwards command pod?

[astrobond]

3 hours ago, PhoenixRise86 said:

That's an awesome little plane there. What navigation tricks were necessary with the rotated probe core and backwards command pod?

Thank's a lot @PhoenixRise86

Nothing special, the main command unit is at the front of the plane (RC-001S), not rotated, the command pod is only used as kerbal pod ^^

[PhoenixRise86]

That thing on the front is a scanner isn't it? I thought it was a Hecs probe. I can see the probe core farther behind now...

[Empyrean]

Album a/pN2Pv will appear when post is submitted

I thought I'd share a work-in-progress.

 

I've been cultivating a Jool-5 mission for some time, based around an SSTO spaceplane, where I am trying to have a Kerbal on all five moons at the same time. I'm also not allowed to discard anything that I can't soft-land on a moon (read: one bit at Laythe, and a Tylo descent stage - I'm not mental). There are two identical Laythe and Tylo landers, with some accessories stowed elsewhere on the craft; two identical Bop/Pol ion landers, and an overpowered Vall lander in the cargo bay which should be able to land directly from a flyby.

 

Did I need more dV to escape Kerbin? Yes; and so I employed two huge nuclear boosters for the transfer burn. Because I need to recover everything, I used two ion scavenger tugs to bring them back into LKO while the mothership continued out of the Kerbin SOI. 

 

So I'm gravity-braking into an elliptical Jool orbit as we speak, and I'm planning on entering Tylo orbit soon for the hardest part of the journey, which may well test that 'soft landing' I just spoke about. Then I'm going to look for a Vall encounter (shedding the Vall lander enroute) and orbit Laythe (I've got an inflatable heatshield if I decide I need to aerobrake on the way in). Simultaneously, my Bop and Pol landers will be on the long sojourn out to the moons.  

 

So... there are about a million things that can go wrong, and I can't wait.

Edited January 6, 2018 by Empyrean
<edit to fix an image link>

[astrobond]

9 hours ago, PhoenixRise86 said:

That thing on the front is a scanner isn't it? I thought it was a Hecs probe. I can see the probe core farther behind now...

Yes, scanner for ISRU

[PhoenixRise86]

Can somehow help explain how to post the images? All I've gotten is the hyperlink posted but no pictures...

Testing

Edited January 15, 2018 by PhoenixRise86

[Cpt Kerbalkrunch]

7 hours ago, PhoenixRise86 said:

Can somehow help explain how to post the images? All I've gotten is the hyperlink posted but no pictures...

On imgur, when you click on one of your pics, you wanna copy the Direct Link (second one down), not the Image Link. Then, when you paste it to your post here, the pic itself will actually appear instead of just a link.

[foobar]

My latest Jool 5 craft ... 69 parts, 28,835 kg and 63,606 kerbucks ISRU SSTO with a minimal Tylo lander:

Challenge: 1st Level STOCK, Low Mass/Cost

Version and mods: KSP 1.3.1 with KER, TAC Fuel Balancer, Trajectories, Better Burn Time and Chatterer

Full album: https://imgur.com/a/YM3tc

[McQuacker]

After trying this challenge on and off for the last two years or so, I've finally completed it!

So here's my entry fo the Level 1 challenge:

Ship info: 415 parts, 2,038 tons on the lauch pad, costs 877,860 units.

Kerbals on board: Jeb and Bob. Jeb lands on all the moons, Bob resets his science experiments for him. And cleans the ship.

Version and mods: KSP 1.3.1.1891, KER, Trajectories, [X] Science, some visual stuff. Yes, HyperEdit was installed as evidenced by the big "H" for testing landers but was not used during the mission and I couldn't be bothered to uninstall it. Screenshots in the linked album should provide ample evidence that everything was done clean.

Science returned: 9,131

Imgur album: https://imgur.com/a/wEMW5

Short strategy description: All is done with one big launch. There are two small landers: a dedicated Laythe lander with RAPIER's and a generic vacuum lander with about 4,200 m/s Delta-V. The vacuum lander starts off with an additional 4,000 m/s booster for Tylo. The mothership has enough fuel to refill the vacuum lander three times; the booster brings it (full) to Tylo's surface. 4,200 m/s is enough to take it back to the mothership. It refuels, flies to Vall and back, refuels, flies to Bop and back, refuels, flies to Pol and back. In between moon visits, Bob resets the science experiments for maximum science yield.

All in all it could probably have been a bit more efficient still - my transfers from Laythe to Bop and to Pol were a bit sloppy, and the return from Laythe to Kerbin was horrible. But still, I managed it. Hurray!

 

[GRS]

to go to orbit = around 4000 m/s

get to jool system = around 2000 m/s

jool capturing = gravity assists + less than 1000m/s (hopefully)

tylo capturing = around 3000 m/s (maybe)

D'Lander = around 22000 m/s

TOTAL = 32000 m/s = holy SHIP

guess i need some nerva (and don't list me on the leaderboards.....YET)

[PhoenixRise86]

2 hours ago, GRS said:

jool capturing = gravity assists + less than 1000m/s (hopefully)

tylo capturing = around 3000 m/s (maybe)

D'Lander = around 22000 m/s

TOTAL = 32000 m/s = holy SHIP

guess i need some nerva (and don't list me on the leaderboards.....YET)

I was able to capture into a parking orbit at Jool with a 6 dV nudge upon entry to the system, making a braking slingshot around Tylo, followed by a Vall braking slingshot for <20 dV. The next Tylo encounter allowed capture for <1000 dV.

My Tylo lander had about 8000 dV, plus the small return pod. The separate Laythe lander had about 4000 dV and aerobraked/parachutes all the way down.

The pod that handled Vall/Bop/Pol had 2000+ (tiny service bay pod) and refueled from the orbital carrier. 

Maneuvering between the inner moons is fairly cheap as long as you park in high orbits and/or stage away the landers. Best wishes.

[GRS]

On 2/4/2018 at 9:20 PM, PhoenixRise86 said:

I was able to capture into a parking orbit at Jool with a 6 dV nudge upon entry to the system, making a braking slingshot around Tylo, followed by a Vall braking slingshot for <20 dV. The next Tylo encounter allowed capture for <1000 dV.

My Tylo lander had about 8000 dV, plus the small return pod. The separate Laythe lander had about 4000 dV and aerobraked/parachutes all the way down.

The pod that handled Vall/Bop/Pol had 2000+ (tiny service bay pod) and refueled from the orbital carrier. 

Maneuvering between the inner moons is fairly cheap as long as you park in high orbits and/or stage away the landers. Best wishes.

Kerbiting = 4000 m/s

Joolar transfer = 2000 m/s

Capture to tylo = 1000 m/s

D'Lander (tylo to return stage) = 22000m/s

Total = 29000 m/s

It will be dockless which made me work really hard, i made a new one with 30050 m/s delta-v exactly, that should be enough

Thnx mate

[sdj64]

@PhoenixRise86 Congratulations, you have completed the Jool 5 Challenge on Level 1!  I like your Falcon Heavy-style launch and your mission was above and beyond the minimum for level 1 with 3 crew and science.  It's rare to see a Jool 5 without nuclear engines but yours was efficiently done with just Terriers for your transfer stage.

@foobar Congratulations, you have completed the Jool 5 Challenge on Level 1!  And you are now the low-mass and low-cost record holder for 1.2-1.3!  You had a great low-mass entry with an efficient spaceplane.  Controlling that Tylo lander must have been a great feat of piloting!  How did you get off the ground with the tipped-over lander, without a reaction wheel?

@McQuacker Looks like a great mission, but can you put your pictures in order?  It's hard to follow such a large album out of order!

 

Thanks for your patience, everyone.  As you can probably tell I've been getting slower to reply over the past couple of months.  Since I started a new job and moved to live on my own, I have much less time for KSP and I think that it would be best for someone with more time to take over the Jool 5 Challenge.  I'm officially closing for new entries on the release day of the Making History expansion (March 13).  With all of the new features I think the Jool 5 will need some significant updates, and could even have a mission from the mission builder!  Thanks everyone for the continued support and ongoing entries to the challenge.  You all have pushed the boundaries and delivered with creativity and quality.

If you are interested in taking over or contributing in the future, please let me know.

[foobar]

54 minutes ago, sdj64 said:

@foobar Congratulations, you have completed the Jool 5 Challenge on Level 1!  And you are now the low-mass and low-cost record holder for 1.2-1.3!  You had a great low-mass entry with an efficient spaceplane.  Controlling that Tylo lander must have been a great feat of piloting!  How did you get off the ground with the tipped-over lander, without a reaction wheel?

Thanks! I think not having a reaction wheel was definitely a mistake, but Bill survived. Thrust vectoring from the Spark and a TWR of 4 got me off the ground without much fuss.

[DAL59]

2 hours ago, sdj64 said:

If you are interested in taking over or contributing in the future, please let me know.

I'll do it!

[JacobJHC]

5 hours ago, sdj64 said:

If you are interested in taking over or contributing in the future, please let me know

I have done this mission twice, and have a grand tour entry that won't be complete before the release date of the Making History pack. I have followed this challenge for over a year and poured so many hours into it, and because of it I am a better KSP player than I was before I attempted it.  If you are looking for someone to take over the mission, I would love to

Edited February 10, 2018 by JacobJHC

[McQuacker]

4 hours ago, sdj64 said:

 

@McQuacker Looks like a great mission, but can you put your pictures in order?  It's hard to follow such a large album out of order!

I honestly haven't a clue how, but when I select "sort by original filename" it works just fine.

[PhoenixRise86]

6 hours ago, sdj64 said:

@PhoenixRise86 Congratulations, you have completed the Jool 5 Challenge on Level 1!  I like your Falcon Heavy-style launch and your mission was above and beyond the minimum for level 1 with 3 crew and science.  It's rare to see a Jool 5 without nuclear engines but yours was efficiently done with just Terriers for your transfer stage.

Thank you, I wanted to challenge myself with just standard rocket engines and what I had available in career mode at the time - lots of skippers, terriers, and sparks. I learned a lot of tricks to making efficient use of what's available and glad to finally do this.

Best wishes on your new endeavors...