[0.16] Fully reusable 1-man orbiter

[purple100]

After a little experimentation with some small designs, I have one pared down to 2 full fuel tanks, 1 aerospike engine, and a 1-man command module. MechJeb\'s ascent autopilot can take this up to a 71 km circular orbit. Return is performed with a tiny retrograde burn to lower the periapsis to ~8 km, followed by engaging MechJeb\'s landing autopilot 'land' button at about 15 km above Kerbin. Landing is fully powered - no need for parachutes. There\'s not much margin for error in terms of fuel usage.

I\'d love to see a smaller/lighter design if there is one.

No craft file provided - it\'s more trouble to download and install than it is to just build it

[Douglasdtlltd]

Launch and land it without being mod reliant, then talk. It\'s much cooler if you can do it by hand then by computer.

[sagethelolzer]

my patcher doesent work jsut comes up with failed to find context thread

[darnocslew]

Launch and land it without being mod reliant, then talk. It\'s much cooler if you can do it by hand then by computer.

They dont do that in real life they use automated computers, and btw i use mechjeb because i cba to spend about 5 mins making an orbit which i know i already can make without Mechjeb, so i use Mechjeb because i want to go do other things whilst my rocket gets into an orbit.

[hildegain]

Sounds a little bit like not wanting to play the game at all when you put it like that.

[Clotifoth]

They dont do that in real life they use automated computers, and btw i use mechjeb because i cba to spend about 5 mins making an orbit which i know i already can make without Mechjeb, so i use Mechjeb because i want to go do other things whilst my rocket gets into an orbit.

Actually, the Apollo astronauts (rough tech level of this game) figured out the course before hand, but did a LOT of correction by hand and by sight, and even astronauts today use sight and hand-control for arm manipulation, docking to ISS etc. Using MechJeb makes this about as much of an achievement as... throwing an engine onto a couple of fuel tanks and pressing a button.

[Aphox]

I dropped MechJeb when 0.16 hit. Dunno if it\'s updated yet, but I only used it for the Smart ASS module for ascent guidance, since it\'s a lot more reliable than the SAS keeping your stuff steady. Also having precise retro and prograde tracking is nice. Fun to do by hand though.

[Accelerando]

Actually, the Apollo astronauts (rough tech level of this game)

Apollo astronauts didn\'t have a 3D computer-rendered map of the solar system to consult when making orbits.

even astronauts today use sight and hand-control for arm manipulation, docking to ISS etc.

purple100\'s rocket does not use a robot arm and it certainly does not dock with anything. Since its only mission is to orbit Kerbin and land, this could be easily accomplished by autonomous systems. How would Curiosity make it to the surface of Mars if it needed human operators every second it executed a burn or a turn? Do NASA and the Air Force have a guy in Mission Control with a joystick and keyboard constantly regulating the thrust and directional changes of every Atlas V rocket they send into orbit? Does the DoD have someone on hand to control the precise movements of every Minuteman III outside of the silo?

[squat251]

there needs to be a way to add props to a comment.

[Commander Zoom]

Just FYI, there\'d probably be less complaining about MechJeb if you weren\'t using it to land perfectly on the tippy-tip of that aerospike. Replace that one part with a conventional engine bell - something that a human pilot could land and/or balance on - and people might shut up.

[casey28xxx]

I agree with the OP, his game, his way of playing, I use mechjeb too. Why do we all have to be doing it all by hand? For people who might not have the time to sit down to get 'right into it' and do it all manually as their time might be limited it lets them play the game. Perhaps when they have the time to put into their game they get more hands on.

Perhaps people get frustrated easily but still enjoy the game, or like me I don\'t get heavily involved into the piloting so much as the organising and designing and thinking ahead as to what i want to do with my game. I take the controls when I want to try something different and experiment...or as I\'m sure we have all experienced, when trying to get Bill Jeb and bob from coming to an untimely death!

Anyways why are we debating how to play it anyways...surely its not about how you play it but the fact that you ARE playing it.

Anyhooo....how heavy is it and what size rocket would i need to get that into space proper and take it to the mun or further?

[Phoenix Aerospace]

Calm it down, everyone. Let \'em play the way they want to play. If they want to use MechJeb, that\'s their loss.

[Apotheosist]

It\'s possible to take this rocket to the Mun, with the new fuel consumtion bug. The lower the throttle, higher the efficiency. I just flew this into orbit at about 30% thrust and still have almost a full tank left.

[purple100]

Interesting. Definitely needs to be fixed. I thought it was just the aerospike that was imbalanced.