The K Prize - 100% reusable spaceplane to orbit and back

[British_Rover]

Good luck with Laythe numerobis, its a long way! It can be done but there are only an elite few K-Prize winners who have. Just Ctrl-F "Laythe" on the first page to see them.

British_Rover, am I right that you have completed a K_Prize mission with MINI_CANER? (Screenies not in order fyi.) Assuming so then congratulations and welcome back to the roll of honour though it looks like your Kerbal just missed the runway.

nah don't count that. kind of hard to be reusable with plane parts scattered across the runway. that was more for nikkyd's benefit. testing my can vs me cockpit. will use this to develop my new Laythe lander. won't be for a while though as I have a new not quite 24 hour old daughter as of yesterday.

[boolybooly]

Oh sorry British_Rover I didn't notice the missing parts first time through, I can move the link to the gatecrashers roll. Congratulations on the birth of your daughter.

[NikkyD]

FLT400 without oxi is more efficient than the mk1 fuselage

[Spartwo]

Trying to make R.A.P.I.E.Rs useful.

Edited January 13, 2014 by Spartwo

[RTK]

Gatecrasher entry as FAR user here....lol was fun to do though

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Edited January 13, 2014 by RTK

[Spartwo]

Put [ imgur ] album code(eg:gire7F) [ /imgur ] without spaces on both sides if it's an album.

EDIT:Not sure if quick response of it this post was meaningless.

[boolybooly]

Pro tip there from Spartwo, thanks for your mission report video with Sabre, nice paintjob. Also good piloting despite an apparently low FPS which earned an Advanced Pilot Precision Award. Welcome back to the K-Prize roll of honour.

RTK thanks for showing your craft and mission report. Your penchant for rulebreaking has been noted in the gatecrashers list !

[broman]

Hey there, my first actual ssto has worked , but due to my ineffective piloting, I had like no fuel left at the end. The pictures later on of IVA are to show how slowly it descends under no power. My probe is now on its way to god knows where, but I got back in one piece, and landed, albeit not at the space center

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[Mesklin]

Let me introduce to you "Mun Goblin" - SSTO with innovative easy space landing system (ESLS) - only one rocket engine under craft. No more fast rotation at the last moment in time of landing sequence. No more overturned crafts after landing, this craft is stable as rock on the surface after landing.

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[boolybooly]

Congratulations to Broman for successfully completing the K-Prize challenge and launching a satellite into orbit which has earned the illustrious Utilitarial Commendation and an invite to the K-Prize party which promises to be a very popular event.

Welcome back to Mesklin who successfully landed a finely balanced craft on the Mün and returned to brag about it at KSC runway no less. A remarkable feat considering the humble rocket in question and modest fuel payload, but yes it is possible... I checked . Congratulations on earning a much sought after Astrokerbal Distinction along with an highly regarded Advanced Pilot Precision Award. May I ask what the grey bulge between the two uppermost air intakes is, is it a Stayputnik Mk1 ?

Edited January 17, 2014 by boolybooly

[Mesklin]

May I ask what the grey bulge between the two uppermost air intakes is, is it a Stayputnik Mk1 ?

Yep, it is Stayputnik Mk1, for easy using bottom engine.

[Mesklin]

Here is some Bob's photos from his vacation on the beaches of Laythe

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[boolybooly]

Congratulations Mesklin (and thanks for your mission report), your successful mission to Laythe, making adept use of aerobraking to save fuel, qualifies for the highly prestigious Expeditionary Astrokerbal Distinction and the landing at KSC runway earns an Advanced Pilot Precision Award. Good going! That is quite an achievement.

Edited January 19, 2014 by boolybooly

[jmiki8]

I have built a minimalistic (I know, there are much smaller ones) SSTO, called "Puli Micron" (Puli is a hungarian dog breed). Here is the .craft file, if interested. I guess one FL-T400 or T200 tank and one mk1 fuselage instead of T800 would reduce the weight even more, while maintaining SSTO capability.

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I've also developed a Minmus-capable one, but I forgot to take pics on its successful maiden mission, so I'll post that later.

Edited January 19, 2014 by jmiki8

[Kingtj44]

Am I allowed to use a rover/jet/rocket/SSTO/lander/ hybrid all-purpose creation? It technically is an SSTO...I never decouple anything and it can very easily make orbit with quite a bit of fuel to spare.

[Xeo]

The following album is my newest (the last one dates back to 0.21 IIRC) submission for the K Prize contest. I used an upgraded version of my trustworthy Swift SSTO which is intended to be used as a small ground-to-space-station one-kerbal shuttle (there exists a two-seater version where the inline docking port is replaced by a second cockpit). The main difference with its predecessor is that it uses two rapier engines instead of a turbojet coupled with two lv-909. This gives it a very welcome thrust boost, both in atmosphere and in space, at the expense of fuel efficiency. Given its intended role and the fact that it propels itself mainly with RCS once in orbit, this is a more than acceptable trade-off.

It is however worth noting that this flight was not exactly a routine one : it was my first attempt at delivering a functional payload in orbit with the Swift. The payload in question is the modular space scooter which I am currently working on. I weights 1.5 tons, can seat a Kerbal or be used unmanned and come with a full set of scientific instrumentation.

Without further ado, here is my submission :

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As you can see, the atmospheric climb was not the most stable ever and I was a bit short on fuel in the end. I think I can safely assume that 1.5 tons is the maximum recommended payload weight for the Swift. But still, this was a success on the first try and I am more than satisfied with this iteration of the plane.

As a side note, the Swift follows my personal design guidelines so it doesn't rely on intake spam or debug part clipping.

Edited January 19, 2014 by Xeo

[boolybooly]

Congratulations jmiki8 on successfully completing the K-Prize mission with Puli Micron, earning an Advanced Pilot Precision Award for landing back at the KSC runway. Thanks for your mission report and welcome to the K-Prize party guest list aka roll of honour.

Kingtj44, you can fly the K-Prize mission any way you want and the K-Prize will be awarded as long as it follows the rules held to be self evident by the K-Prize commitee, which are in the first post, which is a copy of the master rules enshrined in biro on the back of a beer mat from the Dog & Booster. In the case of your multi-role vehicle the only thing I can think of is that if it is VTOL you may need to make a special effort to make sure the craft begins the take off by moving horizontally. The rule is intended to ensure K-Prize launches are space plane launches, if the craft can move horizontally at all then that satisfies the rule, even if it needs to deploy vertical engines to lift off due to the limitations on rover wheel speeds it will satisfy the rule if it is able to start by moving horizontally.

Xeo thanks for your mission report. Thanks in particular for taking the trouble to provide a screeny showing how the scooter fuel complied with the rules. The craft is clearly K-Prize capable and the Kerbal scooter is a great idea and looks cool. Unfortunately while I am sure you can solve this issue, there is still one slight snag which shows up in the screenshot entitled "Engaging RCS to help with attitude control." In this image the RCS thrusters on the scooter appear to be actively helping the craft to maintain attitude during lift off. I am sorry to say this contrvenes Rule 1 Proviso A.

Provisos to rule 1.

A. Payloads may decouple from the craft providing all payload tanks are full on decoupling and any thrust generators on the payload were not used prior to decoupling.

The original copy of the rules is smudged by an unfortunate beer stain but its still legible, just. Apparently the rule is intended to distinguish staged vehicles from K-Prize space planes. I am also seeing two pairs of LV-1R radial rockets on the scooter which obviously were not used inadvertantly in the lift off because they were not activated which is in keeping with the other efforts made to stay within the rules. So its clear that the use of the RCS blocks was an oversight and was not intentional. I hope you understand this would set a precedent which could then be abused. So how do you want to play it? Would you like the mission linked as a gatecrasher or would you prefer to do the mission in such a way it qualifies. As the mission stands there are two things that can be done to make sure it qualifies, you could deactivate the RCS blocks during the launch until after decoupling or you could use the RCS blocks but complete the mission without leaving the scooter in orbit. Up to you.

[irongut]

The Stiletto 1a is my first successful SSTO spaceplane. The previous version was able to make it to space but didn't have enough fuel to circularise it's orbit. I used stock parts plus KER and MechJeb (not used for this mission). I had some problems with the RAPIERs in auto mode, they would switch mode at different times sending me out of control, so I bound them to an action group and switched them manually when the air got too thin.

Stiletto 1a, piloted by Bill Kerman, prepares to take off on my first SSTO mission.

A reasonably circular orbit was achieved with PE approx 73km and AP approx 75km. Bill performed acrobatics for the camera.

I tried to take a screenshot showing the AP & PE but apparently it didn't save. The Stiletto 1a performed several orbits until it was morning at KSC to make landing easier. The flight path brought it in over the mountains.

With the Stiletto coming in short of the KSC Bill engaged the engines and turned towards the runway.

Now on target Bill cut the engines and Stiletto 1a glided in.

Success! Bill and the Stiletto 1a returned safely to KSC, completing my first ever SSTO mission.

[Zack12345620]

Get the plane to orbit and back in one peace? I can't even land from 1,000m in one peace yet!

[Damaske]

wait a sec, I was reading some things and we are unable to use mechjeb? I am UNABLE to land without using it as a guild to find KSP once more after mission end. I am more than capable of flying without its autopilot features but i need its guidance features. Will this prevent my ships for entering this contest?

[vidboi]

Get the plane to orbit and back in one peace? I can't even land from 1,000m in one peace yet!

But can you land in anger instead? Practice makes perfect though. I really need to get around to making functional SSTOs again, I think my last entry here was in v0.20...

[Xeo]

Jeb, you failed me !

Well, I guess I will re-attempt it when I have some free time again. I will probably go for two smaller symmetrical payloads though, as it will make it much less hazardous during the climb. Maybe some liquid fuel cans for the scooter.

[boolybooly]

Hi irongut, welcome to the K-Prize and thanks for your mission report. Congratulations on completing the mission successfully and earning an Advanced Pilot Precision Award with Stiletto 1a, which has an intriguing long body design with lift surfaces at both ends and plenty of illumination for docking procedures!

Zack feel free to browse the first post for example missions to help you in your deliberations.

Damaske, I am happy to say you are definitely in receipt of misinformation regarding mechjeb and the K-Prize. The OP states the rules clearly and all mods are allowed except those which alter stock flight physics. Mechjeb is perfectly acceptable. Personally I would encourage anyone playing KSP to experiment with manual control as it is rewarding when you get the knack and you feel like you have learnt something when you begin to understand the relationship between navball and craft flight, though I admit it can be a long and quite explodey learning curve.

Xeo, OK I will leave the linking until the mission is completed. Good luck!

[irongut]

Hi irongut, welcome to the K-Prize and thanks for your mission report. Congratulations on completing the mission successfully and earning an Advanced Pilot Precision Award with Stiletto 1a, which has an intriguing long body design with lift surfaces at both ends and plenty of illumination for docking procedures!

Thanks. My first successful challenge! I'm hoping the Stiletto range will become workhorses for a future LKO station, hence the docking clamp, lights and MechJeb (I suck at docking so much).

wait a sec, I was reading some things and we are unable to use mechjeb? I am UNABLE to land without using it as a guild to find KSP once more after mission end. I am more than capable of flying without its autopilot features but i need its guidance features. Will this prevent my ships for entering this contest?

If you need help finding KSC you could get a Kerbal to plant a flag next to the runway. That should show on the map and give you a distance in flight view. I had debris from a recent prototype personal VTOL craft nearby which helped me judge the distance as I approached.

[jmiki8]

Here, I present my upgraded light SSTO, the Puli SAT, which is capable of sending a smaller satellite into orbit.

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