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

[boolybooly]

I launched again and made a fully successfull laning (no damage) because the wheels actually hit the ground that time!

So no, the ship did not lose parts on the second landing, and on the first only becasue the Wheel parts need work.....

zekes, thanks for explaining, I know the terrain outside KSC is almost impossible to land on in v16 as I have tried and watched many craft disintegrate myself, so you have my sympathies for the first attempt and congratulations on completing the K-Prize mission successfully with your 100% reusable craft on your second. You are the right stuff! Your name is on the guest list, aka Roll of Honour, welcome to the party. (btw mechjeb is allowed by the rules see below.)

It does indeed reach an orbit of much higher than the required, I was just tired and trying to shorten the video, so I did not really think about the fact I might have cut out parts you wanted to see for factual info, and it does come to a complete stop as well, at the end of the video it is barely going 40 m/s so I think you can find that easy enough to believe. Either way I will record a new video in a day or two of it going and landing on Mun and then coming back just for ****s and giggles.

Exclipse, thanks for clarifyin. Would be interested by a Mün or Minmus mission, X-Wing looks capable. I understand tired, I get very tired and confused sometimes due to an illness I have so I can sympathise with that. And in a way because of that tiredness my dilemma remains. Obviously the apogee is much higher than required and I cannot see the parts cut from the video and I do believe whatever you tell me but when you say it reached much higher then required I am not quite sure if you understand about the rule that the PE also has to be above 70,000m as well as the AP. (Alternatively leaving Kerbin SOI and entering another also qualifies.)

I feel I should explain to make sure there is no doubt.

Rules

1. The craft may not lose any parts in flight, no decoupling allowed.

2. The craft must lift off horizontally, reach orbit (PE > 70,000m) and land intact ready for 'refuelling'.

3. All fuel tanks, wings (lift generators) and engine parts must be stock, for fairness.

Its just that from 11 mins onwards the velocity, altitude and elapsed time numbers in the vid of the X-Wing's orbit all correspond with a 62,000m PE, according to the elliptical orbit tab in KSP calculator! Hence my dilemma. So I am not sure if you understood the PE rule or whether you made a burn and retro burn, in the 5 mins you cut, which cancelled each other out but raised the PE briefly, or even whether you successfully landed another mission where the PE was above 70,000m. Either of the last two is a K Prize whereas the first is an unintentional gate crash ! Sorry if I seem pedantic, its just I tend to have to force myself to think clearly to counter my illness and I hate to make mistakes where other people are concerned, its almost an obsession!!

Edited September 12, 2012 by boolybooly

[Exclipse]

Haha, no I did two burns, I can post the bit with my initial PE being above 70km. I had retro'd out of my first orbit not really thinking about wanting to land near KSC, and then realized my blunder and climbed back up to orbit to get over to the KSC and then start final descent. Part of why I cut it is I felt stupid for going down and then up again...

[zekes]

To right all my half-right flying, I've made the Zokesia Precision Lifter 1.

I think I get the "precision pilot" award as I managed to land on the KSP runway without damage..... Awesome flyer!

This plane is my first without chutes!

EDIT: One needs to deny fuel drain from the forward tank to keep it form draining first (or the plane is tail heavy on landing) I normally use it only for retrograde burn for reentry, or emergencies..... in all an efficient flyer!

Actually later im ging to post the .craft, but only with a complete manual of how to fly it..... It is a B**CH if you didn't design it..... Tail heavy all the time if you don't know how to fix it.

Edited September 13, 2012 by zekes

[boolybooly]

djnekkid, sorry I missed out your entertaining video set to the strains of "Mario Kart 7 - Rainbow World" ! That was an intriguing workaround you used to disable the aerospike without decoupling it, well played. You did indeed complete the K Prize mission and earned the coveted advanced pilot precision award for landing at runway 27 (the other end of runway 09). While there is no prize specifically for this, the fact that you set it as your goal and did not give up until you achieved it deserves recognition and since you requested recognition for it I made a unique mention of it on the Roll of Honour aka the guest list. Thanks for posting your video and congratulations to you and your team!

Exclipse, thanks for explaining and in the light of that explanation there can be no doubt that you take your rightful place on the Roll of Honour and are a very welcome guest at the K-Prize party. Thanks again for the vid and participating in the challenge and would be interested to watch any further records of the adventures of EX0-1.

zekes, well done with your latest mission and thanks for the screenies. Since the magnificent Zokesia Precision Lifter 1 made a precise landing on the runway before taxiing off you have earned the prestigious Advanced Pilot Precision Award... yaaay!

Edited September 13, 2012 by boolybooly

[TheHengeProphet]

Hmm, I seem to not be on the list...

Well, looks like it's time to build a space plane that doesn't focus on the fuel glitch!

[iplop]

I'll probably re-tweak this ship/post the requirements later but this is my go-to spaceplane:

[boolybooly]

TheHengeProphet, sorry about that, entirely forgot to add you to the list, though you were clearly awarded the K Prize above so I hope you saw that and did not think it was related to the fuel bug. I have already said more than once that the fuel bug is fair game in v16 to counter the landing issues.

Personally I am disappointed that both those bugs remain outstanding when there is a good patching system in place. IMHO current version play experience should be given a higher priority. Suffice to say I am waiting for v17 and occupying myself beta testing other games so I apologise for being a bit distracted. At the end of the day I am only human and occasionally I am slightly incompetent, which goes for us all I rather suspect!!

iplop, that's a handsome craft and a good orbit. Does it have a name and have you managed to land it in one piece?

Edited September 14, 2012 by boolybooly

[TheHengeProphet]

TheHengeProphet, sorry about that, entirely forgot to add you to the list, though you were clearly awarded the K Prize above so I hope you saw that and did not think it was related to the fuel bug. I have already said more than once that the fuel bug is fair game in v16 to counter the landing issues.

Sorry! I really need to think about how what I type sounds. XD I did see it, but was confused why I wasn't on the list. I was planning on making a plane for this challenge that used the hacky fuel bug fix, so I didn't feel like I was cheating to get this done!

A few smileys can go a long way, when text seems so very serious.

[iplop]

I remade my ship to make it easier to get off the ground/control while tanks empty.

This is the new ship with the required screenshots:

(I know, not the most creative of names )

File: [ATTACH]32971[/ATTACH]

[boolybooly]

Congratulations and thanks for your K-Prize mission report iplop. These images told the story of your successful K Prize flight concisely showing an unambiguously circular 100km orbit was clearly achieved as was a safe landing, all the more remarkable for apparently being outside KSC terrain which in this version is quite a feat! You have earned your place on the roll of honour aka invitation list for the party at the Dog and Booster.

[razgriz86er]

http://i.imgur.com/HiK6a.jpg http://i.imgur.com/916qP.jpg http://i.imgur.com/WsMqJ.jpg http://i.imgur.com/weTZ7.jpg http://i.imgur.com/RyTFB.png http://i.imgur.com/zOfxb.png http://i.imgur.com/Qyh1D.jpg http://i.imgur.com/zUZNn.jpg http://i.imgur.com/fZB8x.png http://i.imgur.com/sMnQB.jpg

please oh please for the love of jeb could the spoilers work. With that being said i present to you the star ship noob prize. It flies it lands and finds time to bench press other planes.

[EndlessWaves]

Here you go:

Your spoiler worked fine, you just used it to hide a load of links, tags, rather than images, tags. On Imgur copy the BB code links rather than the direct links to the pictures.

Edited September 15, 2012 by EndlessWaves

[Archangel Lucifer]

Here is my Submission, The White Raven.

In the hanger.

Takeoff.

Leaving KSC.

Successful Kerbin orbit.

Preparing to go to the Mun.

Journey to the Mun.

Successful Mun orbit.

In orbit around the Mun.

Returning to Kerbin.

Back in orbit around Kerbin.

Re-entry burn complete.

Glide to KSC begins.

KSC sighted.

So close to home.

Touch down and mission results.

The crew.

Sorry for all the images, I don't know how to do the spoiler thing.

But they do tell the story well.

[iplop]

No problem :>

Click "reply with quote" on my post, remove the

tags, and edit this into your post:

Here is my Submission, The White Raven.

In the hanger.

Takeoff.

Leaving KSC.

Successful Kerbin orbit.

Preparing to go to the Mun.

Journey to the Mun.

Successful Mun orbit.

In orbit around the Mun.

Returning to Kerbin.

Back in orbit around Kerbin.

Re-entry burn complete.

Glide to KSC begins.

KSC sighted.

So close to home.

Touch down and mission results.

The crew.

Sorry for all the images, I don't know how to do the spoiler thing.

But they do tell the story well.

[boolybooly]

Congratulations on completing the K Prize challenge mission razgriz86er and thanks for your screenshot record of the flight, your muscular craft made the demands of the K prize and high precision landing look easy and you are fully entitled to the kudos of an advanced pilot precision award. Well done and welcome to the Roll of Honour aka the guest list.

Archangel Lucifer, "pleased to meet you" (hope you guessed the reference) what an artful craft the White Raven is, since it does look like a large bird and appeared to fly like one, even to the point of reaching orbit around Mün which has earned you the rare accolade of a Kosmokerbal Commendation to go with your skillfully earned advanced pilot precision award, on the Roll of Honour. Well played and thanks for your mission report. Welcome to the K Prize party.

[Matticus88]

Archangel Lucifer, That looks fantastic! I've never thought of using the tail part as a nose like that! i will now! Is it capable of landing on the Mun?

[Archangel Lucifer]

Thanks Boolybooly, its a pleasure to be inducted onto the Roll of Honour. With some better mission planning I'm sure I sure I could visit Minmus aswell but I didn't budget my fuel well enough for that on that particular run.

@Iplop - Thanks for the help but I still couldn't get it to work. Clicking on reply with quote copied your post but not the spoiler part

@Matticus88 - Thanks man, using the tail part like that had crossed my mind a few times before but I couldn't figure out a cool design for it. However it worked great on this ship. It can kind of land on the Mun but its really hard. I land it like you would a normal rocket and at the last minute use RCS to tilt the nose down but currently I have more failures than successes (damn the lack of atmposhpere ). I'm working on using seperate downwards facing rockets but this is easier said than done.

[RogueMason]

After hours of toying around with designs for SSTO (I'm assuming that stands for Single Stage To Orbit) spaceplanes for this challenge, I've FINALLY managed to complete it.

The design, Heavy 1 (imaginative name, I know) isn't my favourite, but it gets the job done.

<a href="/image_zoom.php?id=/user_images/9763/1347823005m"><img src="http://images.mocpages.com/user_images/9763/1347823005m_SPLASH.jpg" border="0" width="500" height="281" alt=""></a>

Front view

<a href="/image_zoom.php?id=/user_images/9763/1347823012m"><img src="http://images.mocpages.com/user_images/9763/1347823012m_SPLASH.jpg" border="0" width="500" height="281" alt=""></a>

Rear view

<a href="/image_zoom.php?id=/user_images/9763/1347823018m"><img src="http://images.mocpages.com/user_images/9763/1347823018m_SPLASH.jpg" border="0" width="500" height="281" alt=""></a>

Orbital view, with a roughly 85,000km Periapsis clearly visible. The Apoapsis was around 140,000km.

<a href="/image_zoom.php?id=/user_images/9763/1347823026m"><img src="http://images.mocpages.com/user_images/9763/1347823026m_SPLASH.jpg" border="0" width="500" height="281" alt=""></a>

Still enough fuel in the tanks to de-orbit and bring this thing down safely.

<a href="/image_zoom.php?id=/user_images/9763/1347823031m"><img src="http://images.mocpages.com/user_images/9763/1347823031m_SPLASH.jpg" border="0" width="500" height="281" alt=""></a>

Sherrey Kerman, undoubtedly my most veteran Kerbonaut, has the honour of flying the first orbit-capable spaceplane.

<a href="/image_zoom.php?id=/user_images/9763/1347823037m"><img src="http://images.mocpages.com/user_images/9763/1347823037m_SPLASH.jpg" border="0" width="500" height="281" alt=""></a>

A nice picture that I thought I'd take because it was... well, nice

<a href="/image_zoom.php?id=/user_images/9763/1347823043m"><img src="http://images.mocpages.com/user_images/9763/1347823043m_SPLASH.jpg" border="0" width="500" height="281" alt=""></a>

...And it's safely down on the surface. Sure, it uses 'chutes to slow itself down, but I only deployed them once I had touchdown just to reduce speed quickly.

<a href="/image_zoom.php?id=/user_images/9763/1347823051m"><img src="http://images.mocpages.com/user_images/9763/1347823051m_SPLASH.jpg" border="0" width="500" height="281" alt=""></a>

I managed to bring it down not terribly far from the KSC as well.

<a href="/image_zoom.php?id=/user_images/9763/1347823061m"><img src="http://images.mocpages.com/user_images/9763/1347823061m_SPLASH.jpg" border="0" width="500" height="281" alt=""></a>

Mission statistics, for those who want to know.

I'd been wanting to test out the 'triple barrel' engine design on a spaceplane for a while, so I thought I'd use it when the previous attempt ultimately failed to get into orbit. It works well.

Just so you know, there is 1 decoupler, just behind the cockpit, but it is only used in an emergency, such as a Kraken attack.

Anyway, I hope you like it

[RogueMason]

Yeah, I just noticed that you can't really read the mission stats in the last picture. Oh well.

[boolybooly]

Looks good to me RogueMason, well done on building a bonafide Kerbal space plane and completing the K Prize mission, I know its harder than it looks. Thanks for your screenies and report. Heavy 1 does have a satisfyingly powerful C5 / Vulcan look to it and chutes are definitely allowed (is not decoupling, can be repacked!) Landing outside KSC terrain is a risky business so you have done well there too and fully deserve your place on the Roll of Honour and invitation to the K Prize party at the Dog and Booster...

[Foursh]

I have two submissions to this challenge.

Take-off!

Achieving orbit

Orbit achieved

SPAAAAAACE!!!

Re-entering the atmosphere

Final approach

Success! In spite of the runway's atempts to eat my plane, it survived in one piece!

Here's the flight statistics

But that's not all; with some minor modifications, it can also land on the Mun

Minmus too (much, much easier actually)

It can return easily from Minmus, but I think the Mun is a one-way trip.

It's not exactly pretty

But it makes up for it with RAW POWER!

Ascending into the heavens

Once again, orbit achieved

More space

My re-entry was a bit steep, but I needed to burn off some fuel anyways

If you leave some fuel for the turbojets, it can fly for quite a distance

In retrospect, this was a dangerously steep approach

Thankfully it's very nimble for a ship of its size (once it's used up all its fuel, that is)

And the flight stats

Unfortunately, the Delta Wing III uses up most of its fuel hauling its own bloated body though the atmosphere, so it can't really go very far past LKO. It can't even manage a munar fly-by. Still, for such a massive aircraft, it flies pretty well.

I think the Delta Wing is the new maximalist record holder

[Suzaku]

Wow, how much does Delta Wing weigh?

[Foursh]

I have no clue.

Edit: about 390 tons at launch

Edited September 17, 2012 by Foursh

[Archangel Lucifer]

I've been thinking - is there an award for the highest and perhaps most circular orbit with the smallest craft (by weight)? Kind of a mixture of both the altitudinalist and minimalist awards. Or perhaps one for the smallest craft to visit or land on both the mun and minmus and return safely.

[Hooligan Labs]

Here is my submittal for the K-Prize, a single stage spaceplane that goes to the Mun and Minimus without any mods!

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3Ktu49J7tIo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>