Mk3 SSTA

[Xyphos]

My very first Mk3 SSTA cruising above Kerbin's clouds after re-entry, bringing the crew back home safe and sound after a voyage around interplanetary space, while testing the vessel's capabilities. I thought the scenery was beautiful so I made it my desktop wallpaper.

 

Edited August 11, 2016 by Xyphos

[mrmcp1]

Looks good but did you mean SSTO?

[Fearless Son]

59 minutes ago, mrmcp1 said:

Looks good but did you mean SSTO?

I was wondering what the "A" stood for.  There are no planets or moons that start with "A," so I was thinking "asteroid," maybe?    

[_stilgar_]

4 minutes ago, Fearless Son said:

I was wondering what the "A" stood for.  There are no planets or moons that start with "A," so I was thinking "asteroid," maybe?    

SSTA stands for Single Stage To Anywhere. 

[pandaman]

I was thinking the A meant apoapsis.  As in it will get your payload to a suitable Ap such that it can circularise under its own power while the launch stage returns.

[GluttonyReaper]

Single Stage to Air?

[Curveball Anders]

18 minutes ago, GluttonyReaper said:

Single Stage to Air?

Even I've done that

[klgraham1013]

Single Stage to Awesome?

[Guest]

Single Stage to Aster

Someday I should try flying a plane in Kerbol's atmosphere with heat disabled.

 

That's a cool engine layout, OP. Is the central engine an NTR?

Edited August 11, 2016 by Guest

[Deddly]

Looks lovely, @Xyphos.

I moved the thread to Fan Works for you.

[Xyphos]

On 8/11/2016 at 3:52 PM, Fearless Son said:

I was wondering what the "A" stood for.  There are no planets or moons that start with "A," so I was thinking "asteroid," maybe?    

Indeed. the "A" stands for "Anywhere" or "Asteroid" - it's an acronym not recognized by the forums, I just naturally assumed it would define it for me.
anyway, this vessel is a Single-Stage-To-Asteroid, it flies out past Kerbin's SOI and with 2500+ dV left in the tank to intercept interplanetary asteroids and redirect them for lithobraking manuvers in Kerbin's atmosphere. (the redirect maneuver is done in interplanetary space, where the dV requirement is significantly less than what it would take to redirect inside Kerbins' SOI)
 

Edited August 12, 2016 by Xyphos

[Xyphos]

22 hours ago, String Witch said:

That's a cool engine layout, OP. Is the central engine an NTR?

It's all stock, the central is a Rhino.
I'll post a video later, you'll get to see it in action soon.