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

[Overfloater]

Astounding! I've built only 2 of those ssto to laythe craft, but not one that can carry CARGO!

PS: The design for the craft at the end of your video (after you landed) looks similar to mine.

Other than that, phenomenal job and I look forward to what you can come up with next! (Duna ssto with cargo??)

I'm glad you liked it xD ...and "NEXT"??? "DUNA"?? u're nuts..! but... I think the same one could make it, but nevertheless, I AM working on something new... o -O

But in the meantime, I'd like to contend for one of those 1st class precision awards... :I

And of course, what is a space flight worth without paying a little visit to other celestial bodies... xD

Astroliner:

1. Puts 8 scientists on laythe

2. Retrieves the 3 test pilots from there

3. De-orbits a small space station from LKO

[Naten]

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Well, the mission went better than expected.

I hope that this counts.

The Aquarius-C was my perfect spaceplane that I chose for the challenge.

It's not a modded engine, that's HotRockets. No part.cfg edits were done, it uses ModuleManager. It is only eyecandy. Please don't disqualify me for it, it's beautiful!

On a fairly more serious note, here's my entry.

Cheers.

[mythic_fci]

I've compiled a list of mods that can be used without disqualification (Rule 3 in OP). PM me to add more as this list is incomplete.

RasterPropMonitor/KSI MFD (Changes IVA Only)

KerbPaint (Changes Textures)

HotRockets (Changes engine effects only)

PrecisionNode (Allows precision control of burn nodes)

MissionController (Contract system for Career mode)

RCS Build Aid (Assists optimal placement of RCS in SPH/VAB)

Kerbal Engineer (Assists in optimal usage of D/V)

[mythic_fci]

This is the revamped Phoenix after a long flight. The mods used in this run (which should still qualify it) are: HotRockets (New engine trail effects), RCS Build Aid (Optimal placement of RCS in SPH) and RasterPropMonitor/KSI MFD (IVA View Mod)

This time, it should get an Astrokerbal Commendation for orbiting the Mun. Please clarify if this achievement can combine with the previous Advanced Pilot Precision Award.

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[Shna_na]

I plan to do this when 0.24 is released. The plan is to use ion engines to power it with solar panels and a metric kerbtonne of batteries, slap it in an orbit, and whack it back down onto the runway. I'd day it'll be done with less force than is inferred here, but I can't guarantee that...

[Hejnfelt]

WASP SSTO 2.1 tonnes

Around Kerbin in 41 minutes with only 45 fuel and 22 oxidizer.

Does it matter I used B9 landing gear?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG3B-0DyLWo

[jqhullekes]

I made a Nuclear SSTO

Only 12 parts!

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Edited April 1, 2014 by jqhullekes

[Damaske]

Does it matter I used B9 landing gear?

I think you MUST have the following stock "ALL Wings, Engines, and the mod MUST NOT change any physic's for example using FAR is a gatecrasher."

As far as i know landing gear is fine.

[PUNiSH3R]

My 2.7t SSTO entry (with runway landing): See Below for new gallery

Edited April 2, 2014 by PUNiSH3R

[Shna_na]

So, the new update is out...

Time to work on that Ion SSTO*

*as soon as I unlock ion propulsion, that is.

[boolybooly]

TeeGee the question is did they do the K-Prize mission? Its not a question of proof, your word is good enough, but if you look at what you posted you have not stated that they did complete the mission. My psychic skills are not always 100% reliable so you are either going to have to say it out loud, or provide proof, if you would prefer.

jqhullekes similar question for you, did it ever land... safely ie intact ?

PUNiSH3R likewise. Thanks for your mission report, interesting lightweight craft. Did it actually make orbit ? I have to ask before adding it to either of the lists if it made orbit with PE oer 70km because the screens don't show a complete mission and you didnt state this any other way. Problem is the screens dont show a PE shot and show the craft at close to AP travelling at 2272.2m/s, the penultimate screen shows a max altitude (AP) of 76533m, this works out with a PE of 62km. So if it made orbit with a PE over 70km in between screenies just say so and I can add it to the roll of honour. Else I can link it as a gatecrasher if it didnt and if you would prefer this, otherwise linking can wait for a completed mission.

FCISuperguy thanks for you mission report and congratulations on your Kosmokerbal Commendation for orbiting the Mün with the revamped KSV Phoenix. You will find it added beneath your previous mission record.

Overfloater thanks for you video of Astroliners extraordinary adventures which earned an Expeditionary Astrokerbal Distinction for landing on Laythe along with and Advanced Pilot Precision Award 1stClass for docking with a space station and bringing it back to KSC runway, that is quite a feat considering how high it must have made the CoM but I guess the docking port was centrally placed and the station capsule would have helped with torque. Well flown.

Naten thanks for your mission report and congratulations on earning an Advanced Pilot Precision Award for completing the K-Prize mission and landing the Aquarius-C safely at the KSC runway. I am pretty sure those mods are all fine. Welcome to the K-Prize roll of honour.

Hejnfelt, as long as the B9 landing gear doesn't alter flight characteristics as per the OP rules it will be fine. Welcome back to the K-Prize and thanks for your mission report on the diminutive but effective WASP SSTO, which earned an Advanced Pilot Precision Award for landing on the KSC runway.

[PUNiSH3R]

PUNiSH3R likewise. Thanks for your mission report, interesting lightweight craft. Did it actually make orbit ? I have to ask before adding it to either of the lists if it made orbit with PE oer 70km because the screens don't show a complete mission and you didnt state this any other way. Problem is the screens dont show a PE shot and show the craft at close to AP travelling at 2272.2m/s, the penultimate screen shows a max altitude (AP) of 76533m, this works out with a PE of 62km. So if it made orbit with a PE over 70km in between screenies just say so and I can add it to the roll of honour. Else I can link it as a gatecrasher if it didnt and if you would prefer this, otherwise linking can wait for a completed mission.

OK, I'll run it again now. Edit forthcoming...

EDIT:

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Edited April 2, 2014 by PUNiSH3R

[boolybooly]

PUNiSH3R, thanks for your completed mission report showing the poetically named Fallingleaf emphatically achieving the K-Prize mission objectives and earning the highly regarded Advanced Pilot Precision Award for landing at KSC runway. Welcome to the K-Prize roll of honour aka the guest list for the K-Prize party.

PS I hope you enjoyed contributing the 1337th post in the thread!

[PUNiSH3R]

Thanks boolybooly, it's an honor to join the list!

And yes, despite the forum rule against it, D4 PUNiSH3R iZ Sup3R 1337Z0R! (See, now you've got me reminiscing about Jolt cola and the harmony of an acoustic coupler SYN/ACK...)

[GROOV3ST3R]

250 THOUSAND views and I still haven't made my own entry... And I keep seeing Elite Circumnavigators wearing the K-Prize badge at the same time xD Goddamnit, I need to get with the times.

(I was counting how many threads beat this one for views, but stopped when I realized Anatid Robotics MechJeb has 2 million....) But this is one of the TOP 50 threads on the ENTIRE forum.

I would like to propose new score bonuses:

- Payload To Asteroid (or PTA Meeting) - deliver a payload to an asteroid and return to Kerbin or continue with your Tour.

- Astro-Club - deliver a functioning lab to an Asteroid

- Armageddon Incident - Move an asteroid from Kerbin collision trajectory with your craft when within 200.000km of kerbin (or something like that, I just made it up to be honest, thought it would sound cool), Return to Kerbin

- Dr K. Strangelove - Return to Kerbin ON an asteroid, fly back to KSC and land on the runway

Well, I'll be honest, I made these up on the fly. But it would be great to see ANY new categories reflecting the addition of Asteroids to the game Makes reuseable engineering that much more challenging now.

Edited April 5, 2014 by GROOV3ST3R

[Mecha Pants]

I'm actually working on the Affordable Space Program challenge with this craft, but I haven't had any feedback as to the legality of my initial Payload configuration. So here I am.

I present the very blandly named Arrow V Cargo SSTO, with a piggyback'd station core assembly weighing 11.2 tons.

I suspect I don't get marks for docking with a station if I bring it with me in the first place.

(Sorry for the night screenshots)

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I can't stress enough how squirrely this got without a payload. There aren't any shots of the actual landing because I was too busy trying not to spin wildly out of control. The nose wants to climb even with all the remaining fuel moved as far forward as possible. it actually did back flips from about 20km to around 17km before I got it back under control.

Edit: Fourth mission Docked! Now that I'm used to how it handles, it's not so bad to fly empty or unloaded. I do still abuse quicksaves a little though, because it likes to flip out at unexpected moments.

Edited April 14, 2014 by Mecha Pants
Mission Four complete!

[Redwizard000]

Here is my entry. The Space Moth MK I

Flown by official test pilot Jeb Kerbman.

Plane flies just fine right up until reentry when our test pilot decided to get a little wild on the stick...

I may have used one or two tiny parachutes to help in the landing.

(I guess some of those numbers are hard to read... The ship DID make it to 70k PE. I can post high res screen shots instead if necessary!)

[LordFjord]

I'm actually working on the Affordable Space Program challenge with this craft, but I haven't had any feedback as to the legality of my initial Payload configuration. So here I am.

I present the very blandly named Arrow V Cargo SSTO, with a piggyback'd station core assembly weighing 11.2 tons.

<<snip>>

Can't see a reason why it shouldnt qualify for the affordable space program challenge. You have found a way to re-module and refuel the craft, assembled several parts in space without resetting the plane, so perfectly fine in my opinion. Show this to SirJoab, I think he wouldnt think differently. The entry fits to the spirit of the challenge and you pulled it off, that's what matters.

I wonder how your SSTO can fly in such extremely different center of mass configurations

I mean, you have a tail-loader and can take the most heavy part piggyback on the front?

[Mecha Pants]

To be honest, I built it with the piggyback module as the only measuring stick of lift capacity. Its cargo bay capacity and balance never even crossed my mind until after the first section was in orbit.

It came down to starting fuel load, and a couple of "simulations" (quickloads) to see what I could do to get payload two off the ground.

When hauling the station core module it needs to be fully fueled at the start, and it's basically a constant game of moving liquid fuel as far forward as it will go, otherwise it starts doing unrecoverable backflips at around the time the MK2 to MK3 adapter empties. It's still not easy, and that's the absolute heaviest payload it can lift, but it's manageable.

With tail loaded cargo, it will not fly with full fuel. Full Stop. At the end of the runway it flips over backwards and is almost recoverable. It just recovers upside down and pointed the wrong direction. Any attempts to do much more than crash a little more slowly are hopeless at that point. Empty the rearmost Mk3 fuselage though, and it regains pitch control beautifully. It does lose payload to orbit capacity in this configuration though.

[Noname117]

The Caracara SSTO

An SSTO based off of the birddog roverplanes from Brotoro's Laythe series, designed to get into low orbit, then land at KSC and taxi to refuel again.

The imgur album is very image heavy, much of it I probably didn't need

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I'll eventually make her her own page if any of you want the craft download.

[Sean Mirrsen]

I haven't been here lately, mostly because I'm normally using Near Future Propulsion and any SSTOs I make would be gatecrashers at most.

Still, I think this one deserves being posted at least as a gatecrasher, because even though it cannot SSTO on stock engines alone (it would have qualified otherwise, if only for the SSTO bit), it does manage the capture of a difficultly angled A-class asteroid, while being rather compact.

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If you want to play around with it, here's the craft file:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4152380/AsterBuster%20Fairdyne.craft

Mods you will need: Near Future Propulsion (engines and electrics), Procedural Fairings (little nosecones on the boosters).

Mods you will want: Mk2 Cockpit Internal View

Special takeoff procedure: Enable SAS, step on the brakes, make sure throttle is zero. Stage. Right-click VASIMR thruster, set variable thrust to maximum. Press 0 to deactivate all electric engines. Release brake, throttle up and take off.

SSTO Instructions: Very much a temperamental craft, SAS tends to fail in keeping attitude. Get to 15k as fast as possible, then go level. Target flight parameters before air-breathing cutoff - 24km altitude, 1100m/s velocity, attitude 45 degrees. Push apoapsis to around 90km, and cut engines. Switch off RAPIERs, activate the PITs and the VASIMR, then coast. Once above 45k altitude, go full throttle along prograde, unfold solar array, roll to face it towards the sun. Use capacitor banks to keep the batteries from emptying. When capacitors are exhausted, turn off PITs and burn all the way to apoapsis on the VASIMR. Keep prograde. At apoapsis, reactivate RAPIERs to burn off any remaining oxidizer, then deactivate them again. If everything went right, the VASIMR working at half power from the solar panel's output should be enough to finish the circularization maneuver.

Action groups:

1: Toggle air intakes

2: Toggle RAPIER engines

3: Toggle PIT boosters

4: Toggle VASIMR thruster

5: Fold/Unfold solar array

6: Discharge capacitor group 1

7: Discharge capacitor group 2

8: Discharge capacitor group 3

9: Start/Stop recharge of non-full capacitors

0: Deactivate all electric engines

(edit: changed to imgur album embed. Thanks, noname117!)

Edited April 13, 2014 by Sean Mirrsen

[Noname117]

[ imgur] last 5 letters and/or numbers of the URL of the album [ /imgur] Also remove the spaces between the [ and the imgur.

[took]

The more I play the more I'm falling in love with efficient compact designs that achieve superior or similar results. I'm so tired of strapping rocko-jumbos. So I'm gonna try a smallest vessel design right now! Mind you I don't have many mods so it's all stock parts and some aren't unlocked from career so don't be too hard on me.

I guess I'm asking for a bit of clarification:

"The craft must lift off horizontally"

Does that mean it must be an aerospace plane with wheels? Or must have some "horizontal" velocity while lifting off? Most lifting off of anything I know is done vertically.

Edited April 13, 2014 by took

[Sean Mirrsen]

The more I play the more I'm falling in love with efficient compact designs that achieve superior or similar results. I'm so tired of strapping rocko-jumbos. So I'm gonna try a smallest vessel design right now! Mind you I don't have many mods so it's all stock parts and some aren't unlocked from career so don't be too hard on me.

I guess I'm asking for a bit of clarification:

"The craft must lift off horizontally"

Does that mean it must be an aerospace plane with wheels? Or must have some "horizontal" velocity while lifting off? Most lifting off of anything I know is done vertically.

It doesn't have to be a spaceplane with wheels, but the requirement is that it begins its takeoff completely horizontally, or more importantly with no engines giving it lift.(VTOL craft are allowed, but they must be able to take off like a plane as well) You can immediately turn to a vertical ascent once you lift off, but you must start off horizontal.

edit: It actually gave me a bit of a silly idea. What if you had a spaceplane that could land horizontally, but was built to take off vertically, and was equipped with a system to stand itself nose-up for launching?

Edited April 13, 2014 by Sean Mirrsen

[Mecha Pants]

if you look over in the Affordable space program thread you'll see exactly that in sdj64's entry, It even tips itself back up after loading cargo.