Vulpine Kerbospace presents... the Nova Mark Two! (MONSTER ROCKET!)

[rdfox]

Vulpine Kerbospace and Jeb's Auto Salvage & Spacecraft are proud to announce the introduction of a new booster for all your super-heavy-lift needs, the VK Nova Mark Two! (Development model VK Nova Mark One, offered to select customers as an interim super-heavy-lift solution, is now obsolete. All orders for VK Nova Mark One will be converted to VK Nova Mark Two.)

Following a successful test flight, VK is now offering the Nova Mark Two as the solution to all super-heavy-lift needs, be they putting large space stations into low Kerbin orbit in a single throw, or placing smaller spacecraft on escape trajectories to explore the Mun or even more distant bodies. Nova Mark Two is available in four-stage, five-stage, and six-stage versions, depending on the client's exact needs.

Nova Mark Two four-stage will place a large payload such as a major space station component into low Kerbin orbit. Nova Mark Two five-stage will place a heavier payload into low Kerbin orbit, or offers direct injection to Kerbosynchronous orbit or a trajectory to the Mun with lighter payloads. Nova Mark Two six-stage will place medium payloads on escape trajectories suitable for Mun missions or exploring the Kerbal system. (Nova Mark Two six-stage not recommended for orbital missions due to reduced payload compared to four-stage.)

On its recent test flight, the booster performed near-flawlessly, inserting a Mark 1 Command Pod with heat shield and Mark 16-3 parachute pack into an escape trajectory, with a simulated three-Kerbal crew. The only anomalies were longer delays than planned between stage separations and stage firings, and instability after second-stage separation but before third-stage ignition; the latter has been traced to the guidance officer not recognizing the greatly reduced rotational inertia following second stage jettison, and is thus attributable to Kerbal error. Trajectory parameters at fifth stage cutout were: Heading 352 degrees, velocity vector +46 degrees above horizon, altitude 410,000 meters, velocity 4,804.7 meters per second.

Contact your Vulpine Kerbospace representative for sales information, including options packages available to rate the booster for Kerbal spaceflight requirements, and strap-on booster options for further increases in payload capacity.

Nova Mark Two engine data:

VKN-I (first stage): 7 Kerbaldyne General M-50 kerosene/oxygen engines, 6 Kerbaldyne General SAS-2 vernier pods

VKN-IIC (second stage): 1 Vaccerspace BFE-3 hydrogen/oxygen engine, 6 Kerbaldyne General SAS-2 vernier pods

VKN-III (third stage): 1 Doubledown Construction Ltd. LB-1 'Large Bertha' hydrogen/oxygen engine, 3 Slugspace RUB-1 ullage engines, 6 Kerbaldyne General SAS-2 vernier pods

VKN-IV (fourth stage): 1 Doubledown Construction Ltd. TB-1L 'Twin Bertha Lite' hydrogen/oxygen engine, 3 Slugspace RUB-1 ullage engines, 6 Kerbaldyne General SAS-2 vernier pods

VKN-V (fifth stage): 1 Kerbaldyne General K-2X hydrogen/oxygen engine, 3 Slugspace RUB-1 ullage engines

VKN-VI (sixth stage): 1 Kerbaldyne General SPS-10 hypergolic engine, 4 Kerbaldyne General SAS-2 vernier pods

Test flight photos:

The VK Nova Mark Two six-stage presents an impressive profile on the launch pad.

Liftoff comes immediately after ignition, with no need to burn off fuel or otherwise reduce weight.

First stage acceleration is strong, but not excessive. Stability is good; no steering inputs are required with SAS activated.

First stage burnout comes at approximately 8700 meters and 220 meters per second

Staging is completed successfully; note that second stage acceleration is lower than first stage, a bonus for payloads sensitive to acceleration loads.

First pitchover maneuver started at 10km altitude, and was complete by 15km

Second pitchover commenced at 22.5km, and completion coincided with second stage burnout at 27.5 km altitude and approximately 600 meters per second

Due to Kerbal error, stability following second stage jettison was not recovered for ten seconds

Third stage ignition, however, then proceeded nominally

Third pitchover maneuver commenced immediately after third stage ignition at 33km altitude, and was complete at 35km

Fourth pitchover maneuver commenced at 40km altitude, and was complete by 42km. Note the slight downward trajectory used to gain gravity assist, now that the booster is clear of Kerbin's atmosphere, an efficiency innovation not used by any competitive super-heavy-lift solution.

Third stage burnout occurred at 40.7km altitude and 1875 m/sec

Staging proceeded nominally, with the ullage engines working perfectly on all stages

Fourth stage ignition followed promptly with no anomalies

Fourth stage burnout occurred at 40.2km altitude and 3170 m/sec; note that the relatively light payload is already nearly at escape velocity with two more stages remaining

Nominal staging and separation of fifth stage

Fifth stage ignition came at the initial nose-high attitude from fourth-stage burnout

Kerbin escape velocity was acheived halfway through fifth-stage burn, at an altitude of 65.5km. Note the fifth pitchover maneuver completed, to align the thrust vector directly with the velocity vector now that Kerbin can no longer reclaim the vehicle.

Fifth stage burnout occurred at approximately 123km altitude and 4150m/sec

Staging again proceeded nominally with no anomalies

Sixth stage ignition was clean and successful

Sixth stage burnout occured at approximately 330km altitude and a confirmed speed of 4,804.7 m/sec

Following burnout, the command pod was separated to test payload ejection, again with no anomalies

As can be seen, peak acceleration was limited to 3.6g, easily within safety limits for all payloads, including live crews

(OK, everyone, now the part you wanted to know... it uses the Mk16-3 parachute, the thermal management pack, Moach's heatshield, Sunday Punch's Wobbly Rockets 1.09, Vaccer's Big Effen Engine from his Junk Parts pack, the Saturn V Instrument Unit from KingTramp's Saturn V parts pack, the 'big red' SAS from Il Carnefice's tuned SAS pack, NovaSilisko's SIDR&SD pack 1.1, and Captain Slug's Radial-Mount Booster pack. It also *absolutely requires* version 0.9, because liberal use of struts is made to stiffen connections, at each decoupler and to make sure that the M-50s don't shake themselves off the first stage. I expect a higher total delta-vee is possible if you're a more competent pilot than I am and you don't wait to get screenshots each step of the way; let me know if you pull it off! Anyone who wants to try the Nova Mark One, just pull off the Big Effen Engine from the second stage and replace it with a 4x800 cluster, since that was my original version; I made the swap because the Mark One's second stage was severely underpowered, and my inital attempt at replacing it with five M-50s wouldn't hold together on launch, even using straps to stabilize them...)

[Redneck]

very nice rocket indeed. Would like to see it goto a moon. Where can I download it?

[rdfox]

The .craft file is an attachment on the original post.

[Wonderboy]

reload model for ver. 0.11.1 and nev packs, please

[rdfox]

I\'m going to do a full rebuild of it when 0.12 comes out, which is hopefully after my renewed interest in other games calmed down to the point of letting me get into KSP again.

So I\'ll get back to you with a fully updated VK Nova family in a few weeks.

[Guest Flixxbeatz]

And I thought that Saturn V was massive enough...

[RedRockets]

That is Titanic huge.

What was your inspiration?

The Nova rockets of von Braun and direct assent mission profile in the early days of NASA and the moon mission?

I do not own this picture. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nova_(rocket)

[rdfox]

What was your inspiration?

The Nova rockets of von Braun and direct assent mission profile in the early days of NASA and the moon mission?

That\'s it, exactly. Hence the name, and the general shape (essentially, a five-stage rocket with CSM on top--the SM is also used as a kicker in the 'six-stage' version.

For those interested, the version seen here weighs in at 132.5 tons on the launch pad, and can put roughly 28.2 tons of payload into a 100km circular orbit. (It would also cost $80,300, and cost just under $2850 per ton to LKO.)

Yeah, I\'m developing the Nova now as a full modular family, so I\'m working out specs for a couple hundred versions, depending on what payload and orbit you need... it\'s amazing how quickly versions multiply with that many stages to play with! The delta-V budget gets pretty impressive, too... I have several versions that could theoretically reach LEO, albeit without any payload. Given the relatively low mass fractions of KSP rockets... that\'s pretty impressive!)

[Tim_Barrett]

It\'s big, but it seems like that you could get to the same point in space with the same amount of fuel and the same amount of speed with half of it cut off.

At a certain point the rocket\'s efficiency starts to get low again if you build it higher.

But yeah, that is a giant-ass rocket of yours.

[RedRockets]

I like bigger rockets with more stages I think the complexity of the design and staging is a big part of the challenge and accomplishment of KSP.

Does this big rocket have a larger margin for pilot error and can still limp its way to LKO?

[Tim_Barrett]

I like bigger rockets with more stages I think the complexity of the design and staging is a big part of the challenge and accomplishment of KSP.

Does this big rocket have a larger margin for pilot error and can still limp its way to LKO?

It may be some sort of \'challenge\' controlling and piloting wise for its height, but rockets can be simple and complex regardless of their size, provided that it would have enough room for more parts, but I don\'t think that is particularly the point here. In short, you can have one engine and one huge tall tank, or have a miniature lunar lander made up of dozens of pieces.