Reusable Lifter Challenge

[Ultimate Steve]

This is a challenge all about creating a re-usable rocket. A lot of people already build re-usable rockets, then recover them. Here's the catch for this challenge: You must actually re-use any rockets you launch. This means no using that "recover" button, and it means no one use parts, like fairings of decouplers.

Rules:

1: All crafts must be completely stock. No mods, except for informational and visual mods.

2: No Cheating! This means no cheat toolbar, no mods that are considered cheating (Hyperedit) and no editing the save file.

3: In order to count as a valid submission, you must launch a rocket to a location beyond Kerbin's atmosphere and safely land all parts of the rocket (except for the payload, if there was one). Then, you must re-assemble the pieces of that same rocket, re-fuel that rocket, and fly that rocket back to whatever location you flew it to earlier, and return all pieces to Kerbin again.

4: You may use any number of vehicles to transport the rocket back to the launch site, re-assemble it, and refuel it. These crafts do not need to be re-usable.

5: No using the recover button, except for support craft.

6: No spaceplanes! This is a rocket challenge. I define a spaceplane as something that takes off horizontally, and uses lift from wings in a major manner to fly.

7: Provide screenshots, or a video.

 

I'll probably think of more later, but here is the scoring system:

1: There will be separate leaderboards for different destinations (eg: Suborbital, Orbit, Mun, etc)

2: You start with a base score of 1.

3: You earn more multipliers and additions to your score by doing impressive things. Scores are added, then multiplied by the cumulative multiplier.

List of Impressive things:

+1 point for any additional re-usable parts of the rocket.

+0.5x multiplier for additional times you fly the rocket to its destination.

+1x multiplier for not using parachutes. Go SpaceX!

+1.5x multiplier for re-launching within 10km of the KSC

I might add more later.

 

Leaderboards:

Suborbital:

1. @Ultimate Steve 5 points with the Grasshopper IB, a tail-landing rocket.

2.

3.

Orbital:

1. @Jhawk1099 3.5 points with a RAPIER powered rocket SSTO!

2.

3.

Mun Landing

1. @gchristopher 9 points with a rocket SSTO carrier and a lander!

2.

3.

More coming when people reach more destinations!

Edited April 15, 2016 by Ultimate Steve
scoreboard update.

[Nich]

please define a space plane.  Ya nor nay on rappiers and lifting surfaces.  A lot of gray area here.

[Ultimate Steve]

The rocket must take off vertically, from the Launchpad, and look more like a rocket than a spaceplane. This is where common sense comes into play, it is pretty easy to land and refuel an SSTO spaceplane. This challenge is about re-using a rocket. Yes, you can use rapiers, and I don't see why you couldn't use control surfaces. Just try and keep it rocket-like.

[parzr]

Short of KAS, how would one put the rocket back upright? This feels more like a challenge of building the support vehicles, unless I'm misreading your intent.

[Jetski]

So I made a lovely little ship that is all set for reuse.

 

The refueler on the other hand, was a complete fail.

 

[Jhawk1099]

Here ya go. I think I got 2.5 points

 

[gchristopher]

A prior challenge: An Affordable Space Program: making the reusable spacecraft pay off. was around nearly the same idea, but was a little less restrictive and tasked entrants with building a space station with multiple launches of their vehicle, which added the difficulty of somehow attaching a new payload to the rocket each time. Both spaceplanes and rockets (and sometimes weird stupid-looking hybrid vehicles like a rocket to launch and a spaceplane that splits down the middle then sockets onto either side of the rocket to deorbit it...) were part of the challenge. 

That one had quite a few entries covering this topic. One lesson learned was that doing it all stock is possible, but quite tedious. With Infernal Robotics and/or KAS, it's a lot less annoying. 

I'd consider the challenge marginally less fun in 1.0.5 than in prior KSP versions, now that rocket shapes are more restricted by the more realistic aero. I admit I had more fun with the ridiculous designs, somehow they felt more "Kerbal" than yet another realistic-looking rocket. 

[Ultimate Steve]

@Jhawk1099 Nicely done! lets see...

1.5x multiplier for ksc

0.5x for launch 1

0.5x for launch 2

Yep! 2.5 points for orbital!

Although, technically, you should have landed it again, but the rules didn't really make that clear, so I'll count it.

@Jetski Yes, I'd agree that support craft are a tough thing to do. Try increasing the brake torque. I'm looking forward to seeing the working thing!

EDIT: Oops, I completely judged your score wrong. Sorry!

Lets try this again:

You actually have 1x to start with, so +2.5 means you actually have 3.5 points. I do agree with your definition of a spaceplane as something that uses "Lift" in a significant way. Sorry about the mix up!

Aaand, I just realized that I also scored mine wrong.

Edited April 10, 2016 by Ultimate Steve
Scored wrong.

[Jhawk1099]

@Ultimate Steve If I did a speed up of me landing and taking off around a million times would I get more points?

[Ultimate Steve]

@Jhawk1099 Yes, but I might cap it at 5 re-uses so people don't get incredibly bored or obligated to spend five hours doing something dull and repetitive.

Anyways, Here's my attempt at the "Suborbital" category:

Only one part, so one point there.

3 launches/landings, so 1.5x multiplier.

No chutes, so 1x multiplier,

and <10km from KSC, so 1.5x multiplier.

and 1x multiplier to start with.

I believe I have five points in the suborbital category. Orbital entry coming soon (maybe).

Edited April 10, 2016 by Ultimate Steve
Scored wrong.

[MoonMan22]

I made a video a few weeks back doing this, Only used mods for the cranes. Don't know if it qualifies. 

 

[gchristopher]

Okay, here's a fully reusable trip to Mun in 1.0.5. 

A reusable orbital rocket ferries a small vehicle that does Mun transfer, landing, and return. Once the Mun lander is docked back in the cargo bay, the craft deorbits and lands using rocket thrust. All stock parts, but KJR was used, because it's always used for large stuff nowadays. 

Reentry is by far the hardest part of the mission, and the diameter of the docking bay was the main limiting design factor. I wish stock parts provided more flexible design options for reentry! The main lesson learned was that reentry requires a steepish angle (periapsis at least below -60km?) to avoid spending too much time building up heat in the atmosphere. The obvious tradeoff there is a need for more rocket dv to land safely. Airbrake spam does help, especially at very low altitudes. 

The total launch weight is about 475 ton, ~5K vacuum dv at launch, some of which is reserved for the Mun lander. Total 34,470 LF, 42,130 Oxi. Rocket piloted by Valentina, Lander piloted by Jeb.

The refuelling truck "Stupid Fuel Truck" is just a claw sticking off a bunch of giant fuel tanks. Because the giant rover wheels can't actually handle the weight of proportionally giant rovers, I used "Stupid Wheels", which are small rover wheels with a pair of aircraft landing gear on either side to keep them from being crushed. The weight of the truck pushes the landing gear down far enough to give the rover wheels some purchase without crushing them. 

For scoring, there were:

2 reusable parts. (2)

2 round trips from KSC to Mun and back. (+1.0 multiplier)

No parachutes (+1.0 multiplier)

<10 km from KSC. (+1.5 multiplier)

I think that scores a 9 for Mun?

Challenge notes: Coming up with good scoring criteria for this kind of challenge is hard, and no one has done it really well. For example, if we're flying the exact same mission repeatedly, is doing it 3 times really substantively different than doing it 5 or 10 times? If we were ferrying a variety of payloads, then the number of missions might matter, because it'd demonstrate the flexibility of the lifter. 

 

[Ultimate Steve]

@gchristopher, nice job! Let's see: (also, I have been know to get scoring wrong)

2 parts, 2 points.

1x multiplier to start with, to prevent scores of zero.

2 trips, +1 multiplier.

no chutes, 1 multiplier.

<10km from KSC, +1.5 multiplier.

So, yep! nine points for Mun!

@MoonMan22, Great rocket/recovery system! However, it is modded (even if only a little bit) and I don't think you re-used the second stage (rule 3), so it doesn't qualify for this challenge. However, it is an impressive feat nonetheless!

[gchristopher]

Thanks for the fun challenge!

[max_creative]

I tried landing a fly back booster on an aircraft carrier yesterday... Not the smartest idea. Although the explosion was truly Kerbal. I'm trying again today. SpaceX style and not explosions style.