Need Advice For Refueling My Space Station

[Jhawk1099]

On Monday, January 25, 2016 at 11:47 AM, Plaxo1 said:

If it's not to much work.

Not at all. I must admit I am sick at the moment so my voice will be a bit croaky

[Nich]

Also I don't see the allure of asteroids.  kraken klaws and 50+ passes through kerbals ATM when I can launch equivalent fuel in 4 launches

[suicidejunkie]

This is what I use for fuel to LKO, though it is outdated and a not terribly efficient multirole vehicle.

Needs a hearty boost to get into space, but once there, it can:

1) Travel to Minmus surface.

2) Hover slowly up to the mining rig on minmus slopes, and then land on the LV-Ns.

3) Tank up to full. (KAS fuel lines hookup by the engineer on the miner)

4) Travel direct to LKO with no aerobraking.

5) Dump the full 3 popsicles into the orbital depot, plus all the monoprop.

6) Goto 1

 

The LF stacks are dedicated to the nuke engines to go the full cycle with about 15-25% reserve.  The popsicles, KIS saddlebags, and any Kerbals in the lander cans are pure payload.  Gigantors were for cooling the nukes (before radiators were a thing) but also assist the mining rig when it is loading.

96 tons of LFO per cycle with one docking, one hose hookup and not a lot of maneuvering.

Edited January 30, 2016 by suicidejunkie
Picture not attached

[SR]

On ‎26‎/‎01‎/‎2016 at 7:32 PM, Fearless Son said:

 

Being pedantic, SSTOs are not necessarily spaceplanes.  A liquid fuel booster that can de-orbit and land near KSC ah-la a Space X Falcon also counts as an SSTO, and can still be fairly cost effective.  Not always as cost effective as a spaceplane in all circumstances, but the simplicity can be a benefit (easier to consistently pull off, quicker times to orbit, etc.)  

The Falcon is 2 stage. What you are thinking is many rocket stages, including the falcon 9 upper stage could theoretically do SSTO.  Nobody has ever tried it though. SSTO means single stage to orbit.

Edited January 31, 2016 by SR