The Mun and back Cheapskate Challenge

[ManEatingApe]

Fly at least one Kerbal to the surface of the Mun, plant a flag, and bring them safely back to Kerbin for the lowest possible cost.

(Following on from the discussion on this thread)

 

There are 3 categories:

(1) Command chair...for the stingiest of space programs! Score is based on the VAB/SPH cost.

(2) Pods...feeling slightly more luxurious. Score is based on the VAB/SPH cost.

(3) Re-usable. The recovered value of your craft (the value reported in "Mission Summary" dialog) is deducted from your initial cost to yield the final score.

 

Category 1 and 2 entries can also be be submitted for the re-usable category, but I suspect spaceplane designs with only fuel costs will dominate this section.

If there's enough interest then I'll also split each category into two to include both the lowest overall cost and the lowest per-Kerbal-cost.

 

Rules:

• Stock only, version 1.1.3 or later (show-offs can use 1.2 if they like ) Any version is fine.
  EDIT: DLC is ok too
• Wheaton's Rule - No HyperEdit, debug menu, kraken drives, save file editing or other shenanigans
• No mining or refueling (as it's possible to actually make money, props to @String Witch for linking to this great video)
• Camacju's Rule: No ISRU to convert Ore (as it's also possible to make a profit)
• No excessive clipping of functional parts into each other
• No mods that alter gameplay, with the exception of Take Command for command chair entries. Informational only mods like KER are ok, as well as audio and visual only mods like Chatterer or Scatterer)
• Link to a photo album or video, showing your mission as well as the cost in the VAB/SPH and the recovered cost (if applicable.)

 

Scoreboards:

 

Command Chair 

(1) @camacju 1,738 funds. SRB to orbit and a barebones lander. Not even the luxury of  parachute for the intrepid Kerbal.

(2) @jinnantonix 2,094 funds. Minimal part count and costs. Stylish lander comprised of a bundle of baguettes.

(3) @Pds314 2,360 funds (Making History). Evolution of the previous design, pre-tilting the solid fuel booster to create an automatic gravity turn.

(4) @camacju2,643 funds. Streamlined entry fitting entirely into the 1.25m profile.

(5) @Pds314 3,110 funds (Making History). Single solid fuel booster and an unconventional upside down 2nd stage.

(6) @camacju 3,457 funds. Minalmist design with clean lines, using the Kerbal's personal parachute for a safe landing.

(7) @aubranium 4,666 funds. Whittled down variant of the entry below, ditching the luxurious service bay to save even more.

(8) @mabdi36 5,435 funds. Re-using a design from another challenge for creative costing savings, 2 challenges for the price of one.

(9) @aubranium 6,568 funds. Stuffed an Kerbal into a service bay but then to make up for it brought them to Minmus as an added bonus.

 

Pods

(1) @5thHorseman 4,829 funds. Ingenious sideways mounting of a fuel tank to act as a landing wheel and a slickly produced video.

(2) @Der Anfang 9,735 funds. The 1st entry to use an airbreathing engine as the 1st stage.

 

Re-usable

(1) @camacju 142 funds. Further refinement of the two part design, designed for version 1.11.

(2) @camacju 180 funds. Two part design featuring at tiny lander. SSTO launcher orbits once to land at KSC.

(3) @jinnantonix 221 funds. Refinement of the previous entry below. A very Kerbal approach to cost savings had the pilot push the craft several kilometers onto the runway after landing for maximum cost recovery.

(4) @camacju 238 funds. Three part design, comprising rapier, nuke and spark, each stage optimised for its role.

(5) @camacju 406 funds. Two part design demonstrating austere budgetary restraint. Nuke/Rapier spaceplane boosted a Kerbal in a service bay 2nd stage.

(6) @Armisael  818 funds. A nifty design recovering the launcher and lander separately.

(7) @jinnantonix1,209 funds. Sleek Rapier SSTO launching a minimal command chair lander.

(8) @jinnantonix 1,517 funds. Nice use of 2 Spiders and 1 Ant to boost ISP of the tiny lander design while retaining gimbal control.

(9) @mabdi362,863 funds. Above command chair entry less recoverd costs.

(10) @ralanboyle 4,268 funds. Recovered the booster separately New Glenn/Starship style at KSC.

(11) @Der Anfang 7,583 funds. The above jet entry, less recovered costs. 

 

Rogue's Gallery

This category is for folks who decided to go their own way. Entries here don't count on the leaderboard but especially creative mischief may earn an honorary mention.

• @camacju Demonstrated a loophole in the rules by launching an ore filled ship, converting the ore into Monoprop then recovering the vessel for a profit.

 

As is customary here's my own entry in the Command chair category

Spoiler

Link to rest of album

and an honorary mention to @Red Iron Crown who went to the Mun and Minmus in 1.0.4 for a mere 7295 funds (album)

Edited February 17, 2021 by ManEatingApe

[Armisael]

Good to see this actually happen.

On the recovery side: 818 spesos

 

 

Edited September 15, 2016 by Armisael

[W. Kerman]

What if we recover parts of our craft? 

[Superfluous J]

7 minutes ago, W. Kerman said:

What if we recover parts of our craft? 

I personally would made it cut-and-dried, "recoverable" means you recover at least one part.

Actually I personally would say cost of ship in VAB, period and the end. But it's not my challenge. Based on the above, though, I'd say that's a reasonable division.

[W. Kerman]

2 minutes ago, 5thHorseman said:

I personally would made it cut-and-dried, "recoverable" means you recover at least one part.

Actually I personally would say cost of ship in VAB, period and the end. But it's not my challenge. Based on the above, though, I'd say that's a reasonable division.

Good job on the munian, I had to ditch it because of lack of KSP time. (From having real life to deal with)

[tseitsei89]

I have 4932 run for pod category but I need to fly that again to get screenshots

[ManEatingApe]

37 minutes ago, W. Kerman said:

What if we recover parts of our craft? 

27 minutes ago, 5thHorseman said:

I personally would made it cut-and-dried, "recoverable" means you recover at least one part.

Good point, I'll allow you to also submit your Command Chair or Pod entry in the re-usable category.

So for example if you make to the Mun in a pod for 5000 funds and recover 1000 funds, then you'll have 2 entries

* Category 2: Score of 5000 (total cost)

* Category 3: Score of 4000 (cost less recovery)

 

@Armisael Leaderboard updated with your entry

Edited September 16, 2016 by ManEatingApe

[Superfluous J]

3 hours ago, tseitsei89 said:

I have 4932 run for pod category but I need to fly that again to get screenshots

Can't wait to see it I'm having the darndest time keeping it under 5k. I've got one that's 4988 and it can land on Mun, but doesn't have the dV to get back. I'm hoping I can shave some cost with explosive decoupling to be able to afford a little more fuel.

[Superfluous J]

EDIT THAT SUPERCEDES THE BELOW EDIT: All right. I swapped out a part for another part that serves the same function in a slightly different (and more funny) way, and added a single other part for reasons which will be obvious when you see the video. And now I can actually get out of the ship on Mun. Hopefully I'll be able to recreate my test run when I have time to record!

EDIT: Not so fast HMV. I just realized I had to plant a flag! That could make this a right bit more difficult, as the ship won't stand upright on Mun. I did NOT plant a flag in my video so I'm recusing myself for now. For NOW.

Okay I hope I'm setting the mark on the Pods category. I have a video of me completing this in pure stock 1.2 prerelease with a rocket costing 4813 kerbucks. I didn't fly it perfectly so there's a tiny bit of room for optimization, but not much.

I hope to have the video up tomorrow but here's a quick pic of the ship in the VAB. The only thing it doesn't show (though you could deduce it I suppose) is the drogue chute on the very top of the command pod. That, plus a tiny smidgen of leftover fuel (and some non-lethal lithobraking for good measure) was how the craft landed safely back on Kerbin.

And yes, it's tilted on launch and doesn't have a launch clamp holding it in place

 

Edited September 16, 2016 by 5thHorseman

[ManEatingApe]

@5thHorseman That is truly the most minimal of designs - you may be receiving a visit from 3 ghosts very shortly! 

That will be hard to beat - I look forward to watching your video to add you officially.

Edited September 16, 2016 by ManEatingApe

[Superfluous J]

Okay the reworked ship cost me 4829 funds and here's the totally uncut (though I may or may not need to restore from a quick save or two) video of my trip:

 

[ManEatingApe]

58 minutes ago, 5thHorseman said:

Okay the reworked ship cost me 4829 funds and here's the totally uncut (though I may or may not need to restore from a quick save or two) video of my trip

Outstanding! I love the single take video and only a single reload for a mission with such tiny margins is impressive.

Mounting the X200 sideways to use as a giant wheel was ingenious and made me chuckle.

You go straight to a well deserved top slot in the Pod category.

[Der Anfang]

http://imgur.com/a/7n9TP

I forgot how to post albums...  If anyone could tell me, I would really appreciate it.

Not exactly cheap cheap, but cheap enough, coming in at 13,212! I don't even think I needed the parachute, upper decoupler, or the heat shield even and I coulda knocked off a bit more funding. With some careful piloting, I coulda landed back on Kerbin engine assisted only. In the final picture, I recovered the craft without staging for the heat shield, and I power landed (chute assisted) and had 4 m/s left, lol. Since I was in sandbox, I couldn't see how much funding I recovered, so I used the VAB to hekp me determine what I would have recovered, with the little fuel left I had. It tells me I would recover just over a pinch of 2.505 funds.  Which makes the overall spendings 10.707.

Edited September 18, 2016 by Der Anfang

[ManEatingApe]

22 minutes ago, Der Anfang said:

I forgot how to post albums...  If anyone could tell me, I would really appreciate it.

 

The functionality to embed Imgur albums has been broken for a while, not sure when it's coming back.

 

22 minutes ago, Der Anfang said:

Not exactly cheap cheap, but cheap enough, coming in at 13,212! I don't even think I needed the parachute, upper decoupler, or the heat shield even and I coulda knocked off a bit more funding. With some careful piloting, I coulda landed back on Kerbin engine assisted only. In the final picture, I recovered the craft without staging for the heat shield, and I power landed (chute assisted) and had 4 m/s left, lol. Since I was in sandbox, I couldn't see how much funding I recovered, so I used the VAB to hekp me determine what I would have recovered, with the little fuel left I had. It tells me I would recover just over a pinch of 2.505 funds.  Which makes the overall spendings 10.707.

A Heat shield AND a parachute...such extravagance! 

But suitably restrained for these tough times and I can see that you're making every penny count.

Edited September 18, 2016 by ManEatingApe

[Der Anfang]

Just now, ManEatingApe said:

 

The functionality to embed Imgur albums has been broken for a while, not sure when it's coming back.

 

A Heat shield AND a parachute...such extravagance! 

But I can see you're making every penny count.

Thank you! I'm actually doing one other run without the chute and shield, and the design is a little cheaper and different overall. Do you accept re-entries?

[ManEatingApe]

13 minutes ago, Der Anfang said:

Thank you! I'm actually doing one other run without the chute and shield, and the design is a little cheaper and different overall. Do you accept re-entries?

But of course, slash that budget!

 

The cost of the fuel tanks is non-linear, so it can pay to take fewer larger tanks, even if the dV is a little less.

For example the FL-T200 and FL-T400 tanks costs 500 and 275 respectively, for a total cost of 775 funds for 3 tons of LF/OX.

But the FL-T800 is 800 funds for 4 tons of fuel, so effectively you get a ton of fuel for 25 funds.

Edited September 18, 2016 by ManEatingApe

[Der Anfang]

On 9/18/2016 at 3:16 PM, ManEatingApe said:

But of course, slash that budget!

 

The cost of the fuel tanks is non-linear, so it can pay to take fewer larger tanks, even if the dV is a little less.

For example the FL-T200 and FL-T400 tanks costs 500 and 275 respectively, for a total cost of 775 funds for 3 tons of LF/OX.

But the FL-T800 is 800 funds for 4 tons of fuel, so effectively you get a ton of fuel for 25 funds.

Alright. Not significantly cheaper. BUT, cheaper nonetheless! Upon the recovery, based on the VAB prices, I would have recovered just over 2.152 munny. But the launch cost is 9.735! A bit cheaper than my original mun rocket. I'm actually I could go so cheaply, even with an expensive ol' jet engine. I could have gone with solid boosters... and I tried with them actually. I don't like 'em. Not a whole lot of control, and already so many people here have used them, mine would basically be the same entry, and I just wanted to try something different. I hope you like this one! 

http://imgur.com/a/fupXV

"Untitled Space Craft" Pardon me for the name of it, lol. I wasn't paying attention and I attempted this challenge so many times that I gave up caring about creative names. The pictures might be a little out of order, since I am still having a hard time understanding imgur.

[ManEatingApe]

50 minutes ago, Der Anfang said:

Alright. Not significantly cheaper. BUT, cheaper nonetheless!

Normally a rapid downwards trajectory is a sign of impending disaster, but in the case of cost it's a good thing!

13.2K to 9.7K is a significant savings, and you're also the 1st entry to use an air-breathing stage.

[aubranium]

On 9/16/2016 at 5:30 AM, Superfluous J said:

Okay the reworked ship cost me 4829 funds and here's the totally uncut (though I may or may not need to restore from a quick save or two) video of my trip:

 

I know I'm late to the party here, but I did both Mun and Minmus for 6568. I'm working on a how-to video for YouTube this week. In the meantime, here's the time lapse footage: 

 

[ManEatingApe]

15 hours ago, aubranium said:

I know I'm late to the party here...

No worries at all, this has unexpectedly become my longest running challenge at 3 years, 7 months and 17 days.

I'm delighted that there are still dedicated cheapskates out there.

After all I did originally say that versions later than 1.1.3 were acceptable!

16 hours ago, aubranium said:

...but I did both Mun and Minmus for 6568. I'm working on a how-to video for YouTube this week. In the meantime, here's the time lapse footage:

Nice video and mission. You are the first command chair entry. I've added you to the leader board in pole position.

[ralanboyle]

Okay, since somebody resurrected this challenge. Here is my entry. I decided to go a different direction with this and make it seriously over complicated. I did propulsive rocket landings at KSC with both the booster and the ship for a mission cost after recovery of 4268. Who doesn't like a nice boost-back burn?!

 

[ManEatingApe]

12 hours ago, ralanboyle said:

Okay, since somebody resurrected this challenge. Here is my entry. I decided to go a different direction with this and make it seriously over complicated. I did propulsive rocket landings at KSC with both the booster and the ship for a mission cost after recovery of 4268. Who doesn't like a nice boost-back burn?!

I like the SpaceX style booster recovery!  Didn't recognize the fuel tanks, were those modded parts on the rocket?

[ralanboyle]

No modded parts. I use ReStock and Planetshine to make my parts look better and shinier. The rocket is based on the 1.875 tanks. 

Also, I can't ever make the Falcon 9 return profile work well so this recovery has the aero-strakes of New Glenn and and the belly flop of Starship (and probably New Glenn)!

Edited May 6, 2020 by ralanboyle
added

[ManEatingApe]

53 minutes ago, ralanboyle said:

No modded parts. I use ReStock and Planetshine to make my parts look better and shinier. The rocket is based on the 1.875 tanks.

Great! Added you the leaderboard.

[aubranium]

I couldn't help but try without the Minmus segment. This vehicle came in at 4666 funds. And this time, I didn't even need to use EVA fuel to settle into aerobraking orbit! I'm pretty sure I could get it below 4600 if I drop one of the Oscar tanks and use EVA pack for the last 100 delta-v. Also, this first stage uses an extravagant three basic fins, where two would probably be enough. I tried one flight with just a single fin for aero stability, but it stabilizes with a weird attitude alignment and becomes yaw-sensitive.