Minmus and Back

[HypersonicPlaneGAMe]

This Challenge is to see who can get to Minmus and back in the fastest time with the smallest amount of fuel. Rules are as follows

1. You may only use unmodded engines, but as for stock engines: All fair play

2. You may only use engines that have been on the craft since launch (I.E. No planting a booster on Minmus and using it to get an extra boost of speed)

3. You must land on Minmus.

4.Time is based on the Kerbal clock in the upper left- hand corner (not time irl)

5. You may refuel, but only in orbit.

6. Flight must be manned.

7. You may use space guns, as long as no mods are present.

8. SRB may only be used for launch. (From Minmus, or Kerbin)

9. No F12, of course.

10. Only aerodynamic and visual mods are permitted. (Aerodynamics MUST still exist)

 

Post your times below, as well as a link to your run (Or PM me the link just in case). Have a fun (and hopefully casualty- free) flight! Points are on an Amount of fuel/ Time (Hours[6/ Kerbin Day])plus another factor at my discretion. Lowest Score wins.

Edited January 3, 2018 by HypersonicPlaneGAMe

[Piatzin]

7 minutes ago, HypersonicPlaneGAMe said:

10. Only aerodynamic mods are permitted.

What about visual mods and things like KER?

[HypersonicPlaneGAMe]

Sure

[Gordon Fecyk]

I've managed it in 20 days, 4 hours, 25 minutes with a 40 tonne space plane and lander deployed from LKO. This is from an older challenge. Ferram Aerospace was used per Rule 10.

 

[sevenperforce]

Hmm.

You said "with the smallest amount of fuel" but I see nothing constraining fuel amounts. This is going to come down to who is willing to pack the biggest number of boosters on a ginormous asparagus-staged monstrosity for an LV-N brachistochrone.

[HypersonicPlaneGAMe]

 The smallest amount of fuel means i will give points to whoever does it with the smallest amount of fuel. Challenge ends last day of this month.

[DoctorDavinci]

5 minutes ago, HypersonicPlaneGAMe said:

 The smallest amount of fuel means i will give points to whoever does it with the smallest amount of fuel. Challenge ends last day of this month.

Suggestion ... Divide the time by the cost of the amount of fuel used, lowest score wins?

This way you aren't subjectively assigning points and instead have a calculable equation ... I figure cost of fuel should be what is used as there are a few types of fuel one can use to get to minmus

[HypersonicPlaneGAMe]

2 minutes ago, DoctorDavinci said:

Suggestion ... Divide the time by the cost of the amount of fuel used, lowest score wins?

This way you aren't subjectively assigning points and instead have a calculable equation ... I figure cost of fuel should be what is used as there are a few types of fuel one can use to get to minmus

Yeah, I was planning on doing something like that.

40 minutes ago, Gordon Fecyk said:

I've managed it in 20 days, 4 hours, 25 minutes with a 40 tonne space plane and lander deployed from LKO. This is from an older challenge. Ferram Aerospace was used per Rule 10.

 

38.7 Points

[Gordon Fecyk]

This might be something about my piloting, but I found 20 days seems to be the limit for an 'efficient' craft to and from Minmus. This happened with the Minmus Tree via SSTO I did for the Kerismus 2017 challenge. Any faster and you're burning a lot more fuel to close your Minmus orbit and land.

I wonder if Bradley Whistance could pull off faster times with this little craft:

 

[sevenperforce]

The trouble is that this comes down to simple math at some point. By physics, the slowest transfer is the lowest-energy transfer, and the fastest transfer is the highest-energy transfer. So to say "fastest there and back with the lowest amount of fuel" is a little like saying "how quickly can you drive to the store while driving as slowly as possible?" Sure, you can select an optimal route, but beyond that you have to choose one or the other -- slower driving, or faster arrival.

Picking something like "total time divided by fuel use" gives an optimization function, but then you just end up solving a system of differential equations and figuring out exactly what combination of fuel amounts and transfer times produces the ideal result. Which isn't quite as much fun.

Fuel cost vs isp is not perfectly balanced, either, so the multivariable equation space would end up never crossing between fuel types. So you'd end up with only one possible fuel type being able to be competitive, which again is rather boring.

One option would be to put a launch mass limit into play. For example, you can get to Minmus and back however you desire, but your launch mass must be no more than 150 tonnes, and you cannot use jet engines. That would make optimization a little more interesting.

[DoctorDavinci]

I now present for your approval the CANUKWurks Minmus1 ... Surface Sample taken, EVA Report done and Flag planted

DRY MASS: 24.415t
DRY COST: $36 861.00

WET MASS: 84.41t
WET COST: $42 369.00

Total fuel cost: 42369 - 36861 = $5 508.00
Total round trip time: 16 Days, 4 Hours, 49 Minutes, 55 Seconds

Quote

 

 

[HypersonicPlaneGAMe]

18 minutes ago, DoctorDavinci said:

I now present for your approval the CANUKWurks Minmus1 ... Surface Sample taken, EVA Report done and Flag planted

DRY MASS: 24.415t
DRY COST: $36 861.00

WET MASS: 84.41t
WET COST: $42 369.00

Total fuel cost: 42369 - 36861 = $5 508.00
Total round trip time: 16 Days, 4 Hours, 49 Minutes, 55 Seconds

 

How much fuel was that?

[DoctorDavinci]

8 minutes ago, HypersonicPlaneGAMe said:

How much fuel was that?

5400 Liquid Fuel + 6600 Oxidizer

Post updated

[HypersonicPlaneGAMe]

23.8 Points

[LightBender]

I'm in!