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

[boolybooly]

Absolutely Columbia. If you take a look at a few of the successful designs which are linked in the first post you will see that is exactly what they do and the rules are there also FYI.

[Columbia]

Oh, thanks! I'll see if I can build a decent SSTO..

My history with attempting to make one isn't so.. good.

[hazard-ish]

Do videos count?

Whilst obviously the additional planets are not stock, the actual SSTO itself is 100% mod-free. I only added the additional destinations for the extra challenge

It has 240 parts and it weighs 45.3 tonnes at launch. It only has a crew capacity of 1 (in the video the mission took 17 years so Bill got quite lonely!). The craft has such a wide back end in order to harbor an additional aerospace. Tekto, a Titan analogue, has a very thick atmosphere so aerospace high specific impulse was was necessary. Ultimately the craft has 2 turbojet engines, 2 nuclear engines and 1 aerospike.

[boolybooly]

Thanks hazard-ish for the video report of Bob's mission to Tekto. Congratulations on completing the K-Prize challenge with Dart 2.5.2, completely within the rules. I am guessing Tekto is below Laythe gravity, so is a planetoid hence the well earned Exploratory Astrokerbal Distinction, which also includes the Kosmokerbal Commendation for passing by Eve on one of the fuel saving slingshot maneuvers which comprised an interestingly intricate flight plan. Well played and welcome to the guest list for the K-Prize party aka the roll of honour.

[hazard-ish]

Thanks hazard-ish for the video report of Bob's mission to Tekto. Congratulations on completing the K-Prize challenge with Dart 2.5.2, completely within the rules. I am guessing Tekto is below Laythe gravity, so is a planetoid hence the well earned Exploratory Astrokerbal Distinction, which also includes the Kosmokerbal Commendation for passing by Eve on one of the fuel saving slingshot maneuvers which comprised an interestingly intricate flight plan. Well played and welcome to the guest list for the K-Prize party aka the roll of honour.

Awesome, thanks! I just wish I ended up naming the craft something more interesting!

I probably should have mentioned this in the first post but, being an analogue for Saturn's moon Titan, Tekto has gravity between the Mun and Duna (roughly 75% of Duna's gravity since Titan has roughly that percentage of Mar's surface gravity) and an atmosphere 50% thicker than Kerbins! Again, this is analogous to Titan which is obscured by thick clouds covering the entire surface. Oh, and the mod that adds this moon as well and the new gas giants is the Outer Planets mod - a really fantastic creation.

Thanks again

Edited April 3, 2015 by hazard-ish

[Cupcake...]

Heh all, got another entry right here. I've used my little Sprite SSTO Dropship again, though this time I managed to get it to Duna and back.

Cupcake...

[TrainEngie]

Let's have a go at it!

RAMSES 1 light SSTO

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I didn't aim for any awards except for the Advanced Pilot Precision award (hah, get it? Aim, precision? hahahaha puns)

Also, there were no rules against Kerbal Engineer Redux.

Edited April 6, 2015 by TrainEngie
How could I forget the name of the craft???

[Maelstrom Vortex]

I just made 2370 meters/second in an aircraft, something I didn't even think possible in KSP using base parts.. I was just using a trubo jet engine. I'm going to see if I can tweak it slightly for this challenge

That's it at a slightly lower altitude down from apogee.

That's it near max speed. It should definitely make space with a little bit of LOX fuel and a rapier. I like simple, clean designs.

Edited April 7, 2015 by Maelstrom Vortex

[Randazzo]

Well, here's my entry. I believe there are two things that might disqualify it, but I'm not sure. It took a long dang time, so here it is anyway.

Potential Disqualifiers:

1. I switched control from the spaceplane to the docking target for alignment purposes
   
2. Once docked, .03 units of RCS fuel got used from the lander can on the target by SAS before I switched off RCS. I didn't take on any fuel, so I'm not sure if this matters.
   

Kestrel launched into a 100km orbit, then made a few burns to rendezvous with the target can (put into orbit just for this purpose) at 75km. Inside the can, Sherman Kerman awaits rescue. I ran out of mixed fuel at the rendezvous, and was on monoprop engines (have four installed for sufficient power) alone, along with the thruster blocks. It was enough to dock and recover Sherman, but I ran totally out on the de-orbiting burn. This actually worked to my benefit as I would have come up a lot shorter if I had finished the burn. Once back in the atmosphere the Kestrel has a ~200 unit surplus of liquid fuel for returning to base, and I used a little over half of that to land.

It's worth noting that the craft was not designed to do any of this, I built it to do suborbital hops to the poles. I just slapped a docking port on the top and gave it the old college try. The craft is all stock with the exception of the heavy landing gear from the Kerbal Aircraft Expansion mod.

"Kestrel"

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Edited April 7, 2015 by Randazzo

[boolybooly]

Thanks Cupcake for another beautifully crafted video complete with rockadelic music and slapstick comedy montage, thanks also to TrainEngie and Randazzo for your well documented mission reports. Congratulations on successfully completing the K-Prize challenge and welcome to the K-Prize party guest list where your respective awards are listed and reports linked on the first page of this thread.

Randazzo thanks for your questions, switching control is not an issue, I accept the monoprop used when docking was simply used for stabilisation of the station and sufficiently small that it did not contribute to the flight of the mission craft, was not transferred to the mission craft and so did not break the stated rules. However for future reference this does not set a precedent meaning its OK to dock with and use a booster, that would definitely be gatecrashing!

Thanks for your interim report Maelstrom Vortex, good luck with turning high altitude air speed into an orbit and returning safely to complete the K-Prize challenge. I expect you have noticed the first page is full of links to example craft as well as the challenge rules fyi.

[ghostbuzzer7]

Compacted all of those images into this an album

Enjoy

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[Cupcake...]

Thanks Cupcake for another beautifully crafted video complete with rockadelic music and slapstick comedy montage, thanks also to TrainEngie and Randazzo for your well documented mission reports. Congratulations on successfully completing the K-Prize challenge and welcome to the K-Prize party guest list where your respective awards are listed and reports linked on the first page of this thread.

Randazzo thanks for your questions, switching control is not an issue, I accept the monoprop used when docking was simply used for stabilisation of the station and sufficiently small that it did not contribute to the flight of the mission craft, was not transferred to the mission craft and so did not break the stated rules. However for future reference this does not set a precedent meaning its OK to dock with and use a booster, that would definitely be gatecrashing!

Thanks for your interim report Maelstrom Vortex, good luck with turning high altitude air speed into an orbit and returning safely to complete the K-Prize challenge. I expect you have noticed the first page is full of links to example craft as well as the challenge rules fyi.

Sweet! Cheers again for running such a great challenge, really apreciate it.

Cupcake...

[GoSlash27]

I may as well throw this one in.

http://s52.photobucket.com/user/GoSlash27/slideshow/KSP/WindWalkerIII

The WindWalker was an experiment to see how much mass I could push into orbit using just a single turbojet and single short tank of jet fuel.

The final craft weighs nearly 22 tonnes at launch and delivers 13.5 tonnes of LF&O to LKO at $27/ tonne. It's also the best looking and nicest flying spaceplane I've ever made.

http://wikisend.com/download/513446/WindWalker3.craft

Best,

-Slashy

[Maelstrom Vortex]

Welp, I went with an extended flying wing, but I couldn't keep it simple for this. I went for utility. The space plane I have assembled can perform every scientific mission at least twice and carries a probe payload which it can carry into orbit. More interesting, the probe payload can make its descent from the space plane to the surface of the moon from 500KM altitude. I was testing it last night so I could do the missions and take photos today and confirmed its capabilities. It can also land precisely anywhere somewhat flat on Kerbin.

I have been forced to rediscover Imgur.

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(Thanks to all who gave me imgur info!)

I think I may have made the most useful spacecraft in the history of Kerbal. It also has an inline docking port behind the cockpit and can dock with orbital stations and bodies.

Craft file:

The Dart

So is there a prize for delivery probe to and recovering same probe from a surface in a foreign sphere of influence and then returning with it and docking without the aid of thrusters on an internal bay?

Craft action groups: 1: Ion engines 2: Turobjet 3: Rocket

Ascent pattern: Run turbojets to 40-44k meters, engage rocket and keep turobjet on and run on low thrust power until about 50k feet then kick over to pure rocket and throttle up. Ions may be used for additional kick to conserve oxidizer. Be sure to turn off the probe's ion engines at launch or you'll be wasting precious xenon!

Edited April 9, 2015 by Maelstrom Vortex

[boolybooly]

Thanks everyone for your mission reports, GoSlash27 agree its a nice looking spaceplane but I have not added a link yet because I need to know whether you completed the K-Prize mission or not and what you achieved. Your photobucket listing is out of order fyi and doesn't show a landing and you didnt say.

Congratulations to ghostbuzzer7 and Maelstrom Vortex for completing the K-Prize mission successfully, your achievements are listed and linked on page 1. Welcome to the K-Prize party guest list aka the roll of honour.

Malstrom Vortex fyi, the utilitarial awards apply when the payload remains behind, if they land with the craft then they are indistinguishable from the craft. Where a payload conducts an independant mission the award applies at the point of separation.

[Torquimedes]

Scientist Bob: We need to deliver personnel to our orbital station, on the cheap.

Engineer Bill: Sure thing, doc. I can slap a pair of wings with RAPIER pods onto a fuel tank behind a Mk1 cockpit, instant spaceplane.

Scientist Bob: It needs to carry six pasengers.

Pilot Jeb: Hmmm... Let’s see what I have in the back lot... a lander can and a hitchhiker pod.

Engineer Bill: I can make those fit with some adapter sections, then it will need upper wings to balance that out. Funny how so many things naturally fall into a “K†shape.

Pilot Jeb: I’ll need more torque to hold a flight profile with that lawn dart.

Engineer Bill: I’ll add a big SAS ring and solar panels to power it here and here.

Scientist Bob: Then we won’t be able to open the passenger doors!

Engineer Bill: You don’t need doors. We'll load Neophyte Orbital Material Scientists (NOMS) up this ladder through the Manned Access Way (MAW), then they slide into the General Utility Transport (GUT) section for the ride to orbit. After Jeb docks with the station, they slide out the rear port here.

Pilot Jeb: That seems... wrong somehow.

Scientist Bob: Bill, have you participated in our dream interpretation studies? I’d swear I see more than one nightmare in your design.

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[Roflcopterkklol]

I am proud to present my 5th generation single stage to Mun craft

White Lightning mk5

Low altitude flight capabilities

Description:

White lightning is capable of reliably going to the Mun and safely returning whenever the need arises, it can carry 4 extra Kerbals or return some home if that is the mission it is needed for.

This plane is very easy to control in the atmosphere at any fuel level, SAS is simply a cruise control button for this aircraft so do not be afraid amateur pilots you should be safe to fly this plane.

Action groups:

1: Toggle turbo jet engines

2: Toggle nuclear engine

3: Toggle Rockomax engines

4: Toggle solar panels

Flight instructions:

On take off be careful not to break the tail section of the craft, once in the air pitch up at 30 degree and continue climbing until 12km, at 12km lower the pitch to 20 degree and continue until 32km, between 32km and 35km start the nuclear engine and lower the throttle as needed to avoid stalling the jet engines until 25% throttle, at 25% throttle engage the Rockomax engines and shut down the jet engines before throttling back up to 90%, from here you can continue until apoapsis reaches 100km then circularise your orbit in space, the rest is up to you, Good luck and have fun

Download link: Part count: 307

http://www./download/5k...ning+mk5.craft

Take off

12km

24km

34km, Nuclear engine is turned on

41km, jet engines are turned off and Rockomax engines turned on

56km, nearly in orbit engines are off.

Circular 132km orbit

Map view of orbit

Out to 1 million kilometer circular orbit

On path to the Mun

In circular 100km Munar orbit

Leaving the Mun and returning to Kerbin

In a circular 225km orbit

Back into the atmosphere

Nearly home

And back at base

Forum location:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/115988-White-lightning-mk5-SSTMun

[boolybooly]

Congratulations to Torquimedes and Roflcopterkklol on completing the K-Prize successfully. Thanks for your mission reports and welcome to the K-Prize party guest list aka the roll of honour.

[Commissioner Tadpole]

Umm... could you tell me what's the difference between the Guest List and the Gatecrashers? Because "Dodged the Bouncers" is not a really good explaination.

[hoioh]

It's for those spectacular failures. Just click a couple of the entrants.

[FlipNascar]

So I want to nominate my Fat Boy spaceplane. In fact it's so reusable I just used it to build a station for this challenge.

It will lift anything you can feasibly fit in it, however I'm yet to manage 42t without using some of the payload's fuel, but up to 36t it'll pass meet the requirements. Put things it, fly it to space. Throw things out. And hope you have a tug up there because it's got no RCS - don't have the patience to balance that, although pondering two separatrons in the cargo bay as a cargo ejection method. Leaves cargo in a circular orbit, plane gets shot away, flies home.

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[boolybooly]

Commissioner Tadpole, of course, I will explain. The K-Prize is predicated on equality and respect since if anyone takes the trouble to make a proper mission report to the thread they get a mention on the front page and a link to their report as a thankyou for contributing, even if they fail to complete the challenge. The gatecrasher section lists all those who broke the rules or did not complete the challenge and the lack of awards plus measured quip matches the disregard for the challenge rules and helps make the distinction between successfully completing the challenge and not, without the harshness of exclusion at the hands of a tyrannical martinet (me) based on completely made up rules (K-Prize), which is no fun and is unnecessary in a game like this with such a well mannered and thoughtful community. By avoiding that disincentive I hope it encourages people to have a go in the knowledge that their contribution will be appreciated.

In addition, by completing the K-Prize mission successfully in the same version, gatecrashers can if they wish wipe the slate clean and have their gatecrasher entry removed and a link on the guest list as a successful K-Prize winner. So their fate lies in their own hands.

FYI The gatecrasher list is named as a party themed joke but since that is the kind of life experience which is frequently gained at college I guess not everyone is in a position to appreciate that just yet. The time may come however ... ... and when it does I hope the experience of the K-Prize will help to convey the values that success is not the same as failure but that even failure can be forgiven and reversed if you are willing to have a go and do it right. Best to get it right first time though if you don't like quips !

[Commissioner Tadpole]

Commissioner Tadpole, of course, I will explain. The K-Prize is predicated on equality and respect since if anyone takes the trouble to make a proper mission report to the thread they get a mention on the front page and a link to their report as a thankyou for contributing, even if they fail to complete the challenge. The gatecrasher section lists all those who broke the rules or did not complete the challenge and the lack of awards plus measured quip matches the disregard for the challenge rules and helps make the distinction between successfully completing the challenge and not, without the harshness of exclusion at the hands of a tyrannical martinet (me) based on completely made up rules (K-Prize), which is no fun and is unnecessary in a game like this with such a well mannered and thoughtful community. By avoiding that disincentive I hope it encourages people to have a go in the knowledge that their contribution will be appreciated.

In addition, by completing the K-Prize mission successfully in the same version, gatecrashers can if they wish wipe the slate clean and have their gatecrasher entry removed and a link on the guest list as a successful K-Prize winner. So their fate lies in their own hands.

FYI The gatecrasher list is named as a party themed joke but since that is the kind of life experience which is frequently gained at college I guess not everyone is in a position to appreciate that just yet. The time may come however ... ... and when it does I hope the experience of the K-Prize will help to convey the values that success is not the same as failure but that even failure can be forgiven and reversed if you are willing to have a go and do it right. Best to get it right first time though if you don't like quips !

Ah, thanks for the explaination!

It's for those spectacular failures. Just click a couple of the entrants.

...I should've thought of that.

[boolybooly]

np Commisioner Tadpole

Congratulations to FlipNascar on completing multiple successful K-Prize missions hauling a research station into orbit bit by bit. Nicely done and welcome to the K-Prize party guest list. btw I didnt list the Kestrel because it wasnt shown landing, however if it has landed successfully then say so as the mission would deserve the highly regarded Advanced Pilot precision 1st Class.

Thanks all and good luck with release 1.0.0. Looks like it will be a lot of fun and change the spaceplane game considerably, so the K-Prize guest list will need a new section. Many thanks to Squad.

[FlipNascar]

Congratulations to FlipNascar on completing multiple successful K-Prize missions hauling a research station into orbit bit by bit. Nicely done and welcome to the K-Prize party guest list. btw I didnt list the Kestrel because it wasnt shown landing, however if it has landed successfully then say so as the mission would deserve the highly regarded Advanced Pilot precision 1st Class.

That particular Kestrel is still attached to the station, but on other occasions I've always brought it back to KSC. It is my go-to LKO Crew Transfer vehicle now. Oh, and thank you. Now excited to do this with real different aerodynamics.