Efficient and low part eve lander/ssto.

[davidy12]

Hey guys! I’ve gotta challenge for you that will REAL CHALLENGE YOU. That I don't think anyone has done before. And, in my opinion much harder then replicating "The Martian" (which was my previous challenge) in KSP.

Whenever I see landers on eve, they have so many parts they affect my frame rates so badly I can’t enjoy my game. Plus, all landers carry one kerbal in a small capsule or in a couple of seats. I’m used to at this point to colonizing Duna and putting 3-6 kerbals on Duna. I’m following KAA’s plan for space flight and it always puts Eve before Duna which makes no sense. Is there some mod that makes landers exclusively for Eve? So here’s my challenge for you. Make an efficient lander that can land at Eve and return to orbit.

-Limit for me is 100 parts, but are free to go above that

-Must be greater than one kerbal

-Must be kept in a capsule or in a cockpit

-As stated above, no seats are allowed. The kerbals much watch their violent death-I-I mean graceful ascent from eve from a pressurized capsule/lander cabin.

-Only jettison able parts are stages and landing legs.

-Must be capable of launching inside a rocket to eve and landing safely.

-IMPORTANT: For the sake of the community, POST YOUR CRAFT ENTRIES ON DROPBOX SO EVERYONE CAN DL THE CRAFT. If someone has done this before I want you to post your craft files here. An efficient eve lander is something that everyone wants. If you can land 3 Kerbals on Eve, you can land (and colonize) anywhere.

-NO SSTO's/spaceplanes. It's the lazy way out, a real KSP player uses capsules/landing cans.

-Has to ascend from anywhere with ease. When I colonize Eve, I don't want my kerbals to trek across oceans or up mountains to get to their ascent point.

-no modifying engines to make them more efficient. (Something I did, but I want to see if someone can do this legitimately.)

Points:

• +50 points for every kerbal added
  
• +100 points for a craft under 100 parts
  
• -50 points for every 25 parts added above 100
  

I hope you guys enjoy this challenge because in KSP, nothing is impossible. Or is it...???

Good luck and go crazy and build a lander. (Might wanna get some coffee or Coke going too. )

PS: I’d recommend looking at KAA Integrated Space Plan. Very nice steps for a person who wants to set up a long term space program in KSP.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/109821-KISP-KAA-Integrated-Space-Plan-A-Vision-of-the-Future-of-Kerbalkind

Edited September 21, 2015 by davidy12

[xebx]

Is it from Eve sea level or from 7500m ?

Is it a full mission from KSC to Eve to KSC or from Low Eve Orbit to Low Eve Orbit ?

It makes a huge difference.

Any mod and low part ? something like heavy lifter tweakscaled will do the thing.

I'll try when someone post a valid entry. (i hope the first one to post will be davidy12)

[davidy12]

From any level.

- - - Updated - - -

Also I got inspiration when I was playing around with isp settings on Tygoo's Space X Dragon V2 pack. I made it into a functional lander that can ascend from eve from any place.

However, this time I want to see if anyone can do this legitimately.

[Foxster]

-Any mod, from engines, to capsules, to landing gear, to ladders are allowed, to Airlocks

You lost me there. If you can use any part, including self-modded config files, then it makes this challenge pointless.

[davidy12]

No, I want you guys to do it legitimately. PS: Are you saying you can make one without modifying configs?

[Red Iron Crown]

I’m following KAA’s plan for space flight and it always puts Eve before Duna which makes no sense.

The reasons given for going for Eve rather than Duna as the first interplanetary target make perfect sense to me.

Also, stock parts Eve SSTOs are now a thing.

[davidy12]

Why would you say that? I've never been able to return from a mission to eve legitimately, without infinite fuel. Plus they only carry one. (SSTOs)

[tseitsei]

No, I want you guys to do it legitimately. PS: Are you saying you can make one without modifying configs?

Using mods (other informative/visual) is definitely NOT "doing it legitimately". You can just mod yourself an engine with 10000000Isp and 1000000 thrust and do anything you want with it.

on another note IIRC that one guy (don't remember the name) did Eve SSTO that probably was <100 parts with only stock parts...

This guy:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/132211-Eve-SSTO-Limbo?p=2167429&viewfull=1#post2167429

part count is only 38. It is unmanned tough :/ Not sure if doing Eve SSTO with kerbal(s) in it is possible in stock. It hasn't been done yet anyway

Edited September 21, 2015 by tseitsei

[astrobond]

Using mods (other informative/visual) is definitely NOT "doing it legitimately". You can just mod yourself an engine with 10000000Isp and 1000000 thrust and do anything you want with it.

on another note IIRC that one guy (don't remember the name) did Eve SSTO that probably was <100 parts with only stock parts...

This guy:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/132211-Eve-SSTO-Limbo?p=2167429&viewfull=1#post2167429

part count is only 38. It is unmanned tough :/ Not sure if doing Eve SSTO with kerbal(s) in it is possible in stock. It hasn't been done yet anyway

It IS manned ^^

But with only one Kerbal.

Jeb was the only guy to accept to test this ship xD

[Foxster]

I'd say it is possible to make a one-man rocket SSTO that can return from Eve's highest point (about 7.5km). I spent a while trying over a couple of days and got it so I was just 58dV short of making orbit. It's amazing though that I just couldn't find 58dV no matter what! It's like some evil sod at Squad designed the whole system around it.

I'd also say a sea-level two-man craft is quite do-able with stock but I'm not going to try it for a challenge that allows mods.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Foxster

[tseitsei]

It IS manned ^^

But with only one Kerbal.

Jeb was the only guy to accept to test this ship xD

Oops... Yeah it is. Sorry my bad

[davidy12]

Re read post edited rules.

[tseitsei]

Re read post edited rules.

What is it that you want us to do?

Title says "Efficient-and-low-part-eve-lander-ssto" but in the rules you say no say "no spaceplanes/ssto's"

Also SSTO from Eve sea level is probably impossible or at least insanely hard (+ it has to have more than 1 kerbal aboard...)

[Robet.G]

This is impossible, you can't build a sea level SSTO from EVE, engine efficiency limits the amount of DV that is possible even with an infinitely large rocket, which is lower than what is required.

[EvermoreAlpaca]

To be frank, I think the rules for this particular challenge are silly and limiting in needless ways. That being said, this is not a challenge submission, but you might be interested in my minimalist eve mission. The goal was to do a manned mission to eve, with a rover, while being very cost efficient. I used two launches from Kerbin, a conventional rocket SSTO and a Spaceplane SSTO.

Video playlist: