The No Contract Career Challenge

[Watermel00n]

@Superfluous J I am participating in this challenge. Stock normal. Self imposed rule: Kerbals may not visit mun or minmus but have to go Jool 5 on first interplanetary mission!\

 

 

Edited January 1, 2022 by Watermel00n
Egap wen kool yeh

[Superfluous J]

Time for my Post-Duna Mun Mission!

Spoiler

MUN

Okay looking at this critically, knowing I don't care about plane parts (except perhaps as more fuel tanks for nukes, which I'm cool not using this playthrough) I need 7950 science points to unlock the "tier 3" research, 9 550-point nodes and 3 1000-point nodes. Currently, I've unlocked everything in tiers 1 and 2 except plane parts from "Aerodynamics" out, and also have not unlocked nukes. I have 3354.6 science points, so if I can get about 4600 more science points I'll have everything I'll ever want. And likely, I don't even need that much. Also, of course, I'll need the roughly 283k more to unlock R&D and then whatever I need for building ships.

This is my goal for my Mun run. Why? Because after that, I'm hoping to make an "almost grand tour" ship (well, 2 ships, a lander and an orbiter/mothership) that can get to and land on every world except Eve (and Jool, and maybe Tylo) and has ISRU to boot. Then all I need do is cruise the system raking in cash.

But first, I need a very profitable Mun trip. Is that even possible considering I already "built a station" there? Only one way to find out! Other than doing math which I'm not going to do. So, I launch "Mun Lander", a ship destined to land - well - on the Mun. Its launch stage gets it almost into orbit, and it does the rest for itself.

This ship can land on Mun, take off, and get back to Kerbin. But how do I get it there? And what about that sweet sweet "Build a base on the surface" money? That's where the Mun Transfer Car ship comes in!

Here they are docked together. neither ship has proper RCS and the car had no reaction wheels, even. So, I had to dock with the Lander ship backwards, hence the Verniers you can see on the top fuel tank, in front of the Science Jr.

I know by heart several of the Mun landmarks, including this well-known arch on the rims of both a very large crater and one of the smaller procedural craters. From experience, I know the smaller crater has a fairly flat floor so I aimed for that.

Here's Mun Base 1, the first and only base to be on the Mun. In the distance you can see the fuel/science hat rolling away. It will do so for quite some time even after this picture.

I didn't know how far I'd have to drive the car, to then drive back for it to count as "building a base." So, I started with 100m to see if that would count. It does! I don't know the minimum, but the maximum is at most 100m. Also in this image: Proof that I'm a huge cheater and don't actually go around checking every single piece of scatter for hours on end on each landing.

The return ship had 1122m/s at liftoff from Mun, which was enough to get into orbit and burn back to Kerbin.

I even had 264m/s left over on return to get this burn in, which made my re-entry downright sedate.

Anybody who thinks I tried for this landing doesn't know me well. This was 100% random chance. I don't know how much closer I'd have needed to be, but from this distance I didn't get the "discovered an abandoned airfield" money. Oh well.

For all that work I did, I made 128k funds net profit. Probably not worth it in the long run. Maybe I should have done the math?

Though I did get almost 1500 science which will come in handy whenever I manage to unlock R&D.

 

Edited January 2, 2022 by Superfluous J

[18Watt]

40 minutes ago, Superfluous J said:

For all that work I did, I made 128k funds net profit. Probably not worth it in the long run.

Hey, profit is profit.  I’ve lost track of which buildings you’ve upgraded, but in addition to recently realizing there’s money in surface outpost construction, there is also money for doing a crew transfer at each CB.  Near as I can tell, you would need two crew capsules for that, although I suspect crew storage containers would also work.

44 minutes ago, Superfluous J said:

Anybody who thinks I tried for this landing doesn't know me well.

See, whenever I get close to KSC I proudly wave my arms and admire my own greatness!  Even though it’s almost always blind luck..

46 minutes ago, Superfluous J said:

So, I started with 100m to see if that would count. It does!

That is really handy to know!

[18Watt]

I'm finally getting some traction on my third run at this challenge.  I'm going to attempt not using any strategies in the admin building.  I'm also thinking I'll avoid using MPLs, but we shall see how that goes.

Starting out was 'standard'.  I gathered as much science around KSC and the surrounding area as I could.  The first launch was just an orbit of Kerbin.  Then I got Docking, Crew Transfer, and SFC Outpost bonuses with two crewed rovers.

Second and Third launches were both to Minmus.  Both ships are crewed landers, with rover wheels.  I considered using a probe for the second ship, but I want the crew transfer bonus, which requires a second capsule anyway.  Plus, the two ships are identical, which saved time on construction.

I'm currently docked on the surface of Minmus.  I have enough fuel to do a little biome hopping, but the fact that both landers have wheels opens up more biome possibilities.  I just need to decide wether driving around Minmus for the science is worth it.  The ships are not really suited for long-distance driving.

At this point (haven't returned from Minmus yet) I have upgraded the AC, Launchpad, and TS.  The VAB and R&D are high on my list of things to upgrade next, but I only have $244K.  When I return from Minmus (and probably a fly-by of Mun) I'll see how much money I have.  The R&D upgrade would give me surface samples, but also resource transfer.  The resource transfer would be really handy, would mean I could re-use one of my ships and save on launch costs.  

Unfortunately, I suspect I won't be able to do R&D until going to Eve or Duna.

[18Watt]

Update on attempt #3:

Ship #2 is in orbit of Mun, Ship #3 has returned to Kerbin from Minmus and (orbit only) Mun.

I didn't have quite enough DV to thoroughly biome-hop Minmus for science.  However, since both Minmus landers also had rover wheels I was able to get 7 biomes.  I did two surface hops, each time trying to land near the border of two biomes.  There was some driving involved.  I managed to get Greater Flats, Lowlands, Flats, Midlands, Highlands, Great Flats, and Lesser Flats.  I only brought a Thermometer and Press-Mat, and have not upgraded R&D so did not get surface samples.

I left ship 2 in orbit of Mun, to extract the last of Mun's bonuses (hopefully).  When ship 3 returned, I have $594K.  It's enough to upgrade R&D or the VAB, but not both.  I'm planning on upgrading R&D, so I'll have resource transfer at Mun when I go there next.

Although the ship currently orbiting Mun could function as a second ship to Eve or Duna, I think I'll retire it to Kerbin after I visit Mun.  I think I'll get more mileage out of a newer ship with more advanced parts, even though it will mean another launch.  Haven't decided yet.

Ship #3 splashed down a few km east of KSC.  It hit the water at ~7.3 m/s, but nothing was destroyed.  I skimped and only put one parachute on it, even though it probably needs two.  It's survival was a good sign, since Ship #3 is nearly identical.  Hopefully Ship #3 will also survive touchdown on Kerbin.  I'll need to aim for a water landing I think, 7+ m/s is kinda fast for a land touchdown.

[18Watt]

Another update on attempt #3, 5th ship to Eve and Gilly.

Just finished my 5th launch, which went to Eve and Gilly.  I had enough funds to unlock Launchpad Level 3 before launch (unlimited weight).  After entering Solar (Kerbol) orbit I also had enough funds to unlock second level Mission Control (maneuver nodes)- which didn't do me any good because I didn't bring a big antenna.  

Learned a few things.  First, I knew you needed rover wheels to complete a Surface Outpost bonus.  So I brought one wheel.  The bonus did not complete, and I scratched my head for a while.  Turns out, not only does the Outpost need to have a wheel, the wheel needs to be on the surface!  Doh!  Luckily, I had an engineer along, who was able to move the wheel so it was contacting the surface.

I found a surface feature, by pure accident, don't even know how I found it.  But by finding it the tech item 'Advanced Unmanned Tech' was unlocked!  That's pretty neat, because that node is in the last tier of the Tech Tree, but I haven't yet unlocked R&D level 3! 

The bonuses I racked up with Ship 5 really add up.  For Kerbol I gained $357,200.  For Eve, $552,640.  And for Gilly I gained $760,000.  I think I managed to get every bonus possible for Gilly.  For Eve, I did not build a Surface Outpost, or return from the surface.  I also didn't send a Kerbal down to Eve, so didn't get Walk on Surface or Plant Flag.  I did send a tiny probe to the surface, so got landing (splash actually), suborbital, and atmospheric flight bonuses.

After returning to Kerbin, I have $1,693K.  It's enough to unlock R&D, but then I'd only have $3K to go to Duna, which is next.

I'm still doing this without Admin strategies, so there's plenty of money out there.  I think.

[Superfluous J]

43 minutes ago, 18Watt said:

 First, I knew you needed rover wheels to complete a Surface Outpost bonus.

I did not know this. (scribbles down notes)

43 minutes ago, 18Watt said:

Turns out, not only does the Outpost need to have a wheel, the wheel needs to be on the surface!

(scribbles more notes)

42 minutes ago, 18Watt said:

I found a surface feature, by pure accident, don't even know how I found it.  But by finding it the tech item 'Advanced Unmanned Tech' was unlocked!  That's pretty neat, because that node is in the last tier of the Tech Tree, but I haven't yet unlocked R&D level 3! 

That's awesome! I was thinking about scanning planets as I got to them for anomalies. Gilly has none inherently and if I find one, it should be an arch (unless something's changed) and that extra science (plus I assume some cash) could come in handy.

[Watermel00n]

Spoiler

Just went out of kerbins soi for sun science.

Spoiler

mun and minmus too. TIME TO ASSEMBLE THE FLOOR HERE IS MADE OUT OF FLOOR

[18Watt]

17 hours ago, Superfluous J said:

I did not know this. (scribbles down notes)

 

17 hours ago, Superfluous J said:

(scribbles more notes)

Actually, I wasn’t really sure if a wheel was required or not, just suspected.  So I tacked a rover wheel on to one of the ships in a random location- chosen for its low effect on COM rather than the ability to actually be useful.

As you can imagine, I did not look forward to actually driving on wheels on Gilly, and planned to dock the second ship vertically to the first lander.  Vertically, and upside down using RCS thrusters.

It looks like to build a Surface Outpost, you need roughly the same requirements as the contracts for outposts would require.

• Separately launched crafts, which are controllable and can generate electricity.
• Looks like just one rover wheel is required, but it apparently has to be in contact with the surface for the bonus to complete.
• Note- Just moving the rover wheel did not complete the bonus requirements.  After moving the rover wheel to the correct location, I had to again back off (up, in my case) 100 m, and re-dock.
• Not sure about the 100 m distance, I’m using that distance because it worked for you..
• I’m not sure if an antenna is required or not.  I had one, but not sure if it was needed.

 

[18Watt]

Attempt #3 is progressing well:

Here's an update, along with a few screenshots from my third run at this challenge.

Minmus, Mun, Eve/Gilly:

Spoiler

This was my second ship, which managed to get to Minmus.  The rover wheels do offset the COM a little, but it was manageable.  I upgraded the AC after reaching Minmus, so I could plant a flag.  But couldn't get surface samples yet.

Third ship, which also went to Minmus so I could get the Surface Outpost bonus.  The two ships are essentially identical, with one small change.  Val and Jeb are flying the early missions, because the probe cores I have at this point aren't spectacular.

On the way back to Kerbin, both ships entered orbit of Mun.  Then, ship 3 (the one with the Spark engine..) returned to Kerbin, while Ship 2 (terrier engine) waited at Mun.  I sent Ship 4 to Mun, to get Surface outpost bonuses.  I've gotten some good mileage out of Ship 4 (the one on the right).  After doing the Mun mission, it also went to Eve/Gilly, and also Duna/Ike.  It's currently in orbit of Kerbin, waiting for the next mission!

At Eve I brought a very small probe to send to the surface.  No science collected (didn't bring any big antennas), just wanted the bonuses for suborbital, atmospheric, and landing (splashed in this case).  The probe doesn't even have an engine- to enter the atmosphere the mothership has to get a suborbital trajectory, release the probe, and burn back to get the PE above 90 km.

Preparing the Duna/Ike Ships:

Spoiler

Testing some rover/lander configurations.  Those wheels cost $200 more per wheel than the tiny rover wheels.  However, they do offer two advantages:  They actually weigh a tad less than the tiny rover wheels, and they are much more robust- both in impact resistance and top speed.  Both will be important at Duna.  Notice my lander has Lawn Chairs instead of a capsule- I'll eventually realize that won't work.

I actually launched this thing and got it to orbit before realizing I would need a Crew Capsule to get the Crew Transfer bonus.  So this isn't the ship I ended up using.  But you get the idea, it's big and expensive.

Next, on the right is the re-designed ship, with a capsule instead of Lawn chairs.  Yep, that's ship 4 on the left.  Bill is making some modifications, covering the Terrier engine up with a docking port.

Here's the rover.  The rocket just needs to get it to orbit, where it will catch a ride to Duna with the other two ships.

Reaching orbit, I realized I still had a few drops of fuel in the rover's booster.  I knew I could dock the rover without RCS, but docking something this big without RCS?  What kind of nut job would try that?  This guy!  

After sucking the last few drops of fuel out of the rover's booster, I dump the booster.  I considered keeping the rover's booster and dropping the other one, but the main booster's Skipper has a little better vacuum DV than the rover's Bobcat.  Then again, the Skipper weighs more, so I might have actually made the wrong choice.  Didn't feel like crunching numbers to save a few DV, so I just went with my gut instinct.

Duna and Ike:

Spoiler

At Ike, I brought the trusty old Ship 4 to the surface, instead of the Duna lander.  That ended up being a mistake, but I wouldn't figure out that part until I got back to Kerbin..

Trying to hit a few extra biomes.  Kinda goofy looking, but functional.

Why bring one ship when you can bring three at triple the cost?  Preparing to drop the booster.

I debated how to get the ship and rover to the surface, and have them end up close together.  Landing them together makes for a tall, wobbly ship to land on Duna, but I decided to try it anyway.  Bill moved the rover's parachute to the bottom of the rover, and we gave it a go.

It actually worked, I kept the ships upright.  Then, the rover decouples, and kinda flops over to the ground.

This was about the most welcome error message I've ever seen!  I had set a maneuver node departing Kerbin.  Turns out, when you are no longer in contact with KSC, you can't delete the maneuver node.  So I was stuck with an annoying maneuver node and orbital paths all the way to Ike and Duna.  Finally the game gave up!  Hooray!

The three ships preparing to head back to Kerbin.  I wasn't sure if I'd have enough fuel to bring them all back home, but it looks like I will.  On the left is the Duna lander.  Center is Ship 4, which has now been to Mun, Eve, Gilly, Ike, and Duna.  On the right is the rover, with the parachute moved back to the upper side.  Lots of spare docking ports, you can never have too many docking ports.  

After returning from Duna and Ike, I discovered that I did not get credit for Return From Surface of Ike.  I only brought the Duna lander back to the surface of Kerbin, and left Ship 4 and the rover in LKO.  After some head scratching I think I figured out why I didn't get credit for Returning From the Surface of Ike.  @Superfluous J, if you're still taking notes:

Apparently you only get the Return From Surface credit if a ship goes to the surface and returns to Kerbin.  The Kerbals themselves don't satisfy that requirement.

Anyway, after returning from Duna and Ike, I had enough funds to fully upgrade R&D, with a little over $1M leftover.  That's not enough to upgrade the rest of the buildings.  But I did have enough science to unlock all the ISRU equipment, so my next launch will have unlimited range.

All the Duna bonuses added up to $737,440.  At Ike I only gained $616,000, missed out on $79,200 for the Return from Ike's surface bonus.  Should be fine though, and if I really need the funds I can always de-orbit the rover to get that credit.  I think.

[18Watt]

@Superfluous J, here's another gem:  On bodies with oceans (Eve and Laythe), the bonuses for landing and splashing are separate.  And it's a big bonus.  The base at Eve is 52,800.  Pretty easy to build simple probes for Eve for under $3K.  That's about $100K profit if you drop two probes to the surface of Eve.

I haven't confirmed the Laythe bonus, but it looks like the bonus for landing and splashing at Lathe will be $74,400.  Each.  Of course, building something that can reliably hit land at Laythe takes a little more planning, but again that's a big return.

Edit:  I can confirm the Laythe bonus is $74.4K for both landing and splashing.  Even better, if you manage to hit land with something, and later roll it into the water, you get both bonuses.  I built a drone for $3,605 which is capable of entry (barely) and landing.  It can even take-off and land in water if needed.

The tricky part is the small jet intake (Mk0 part) is not heat resistant.  All the heat resistant intakes are pretty big for the Mk0 size drone I can build cheap.  I found a range of entry profiles that worked, but it's a little dicey.  Also, to make drones work, I'm going to have to do remote probe control, which has been my nemesis.  Should be fun!

Edited January 6, 2022 by 18Watt

[king of nowhere]

On 1/4/2022 at 2:12 AM, Superfluous J said:

That's awesome! I was thinking about scanning planets as I got to them for anomalies. Gilly has none inherently and if I find one, it should be an arch (unless something's changed) and that extra science (plus I assume some cash) could come in handy.

gilly has a green monolith, same as everywhere else.

the wiki has a list of anomalies, so for places with lots of anomalies you can check the position of those you find against those already known, and you'll find the green monolith

[Superfluous J]

13 hours ago, king of nowhere said:

gilly has a green monolith, same as everywhere else.

Sorry I mistyped. I said "arch" when I mean "monolith"

 

[18Watt]

Attempt #3 complete!

I just brought home Ship 8, which visited Dres, the Jool-5, and Eeloo.  Ship 4 and the rover from the recent Duna mission went along to assist with docking and station bonuses.  Took a lot of screenshots.

Ship 8, Starting Out and Dres:

Spoiler

Ship 8 in the VAB.  Just a tad under $450K, 124 parts, and over 1,000 t.  The main ship actually launches with tanks about half-full.  Once it gets to orbit it just needs to get to Minmus for refueling.  The thing at the top is a lander for Tylo.  The plane is for Laythe.

Ship 8 in LKO.  There are a few additions now.  On the right is Ship 4, which has already been to Mun, Eve, Gilly, Ike, and Duna.  Left of that is the rover from the Duna/Ike mission.  I brought parts in the mothership to add RCS to the rover if needed, but it ended up working just fine without RCS.  I also brought a lot of parachutes and docking ports, just in case.

Ship 8 under way.  With the plane hanging off the side, and dissimilar masses added to the nacelles, it was difficult to keep balanced.  I had to accept that my burns would not be super precise, just good enough to get the job done.

Landed on Dres.  I bring the rover to the surface attached to the mothership.  On the surface, it flops over to the ground, so I can get the Surface Outpost bonus.  I never attempted getting back to orbit with the rover hanging off the side, it might have worked.  However, I also wanted the rendezvous/docking/station bonus, so it made sense to just launch the rover to orbit separately anyway.  The rover does not have RCS, but is very easy to dock.

Laythe:

Spoiler

After Dres I head to Jool.  I'll visit Laythe first, then see what my fuel status looks like before deciding which moon to visit next.  Here Val is inspecting the plane before heading to the surface.  I added two RCS blocks to the plane.  Normally I would dispose of the plane after Laythe, but I also want the Return From Surface bonus.  At Ike I learned that the return from bonuses only count for ships, not Kerbals.  I also attached a probe core to the plane.

View from the cockpit.

Entry was iffy.  As you can see, one part (either the nose gear or the cockpit) is extremely close to overheating.

Looking for a flat-ish place to land.

Landed on a beach.  Afterwards, Vall drives the plane into the water so I can get both Landing and Splashing bonuses.  Then the plane powers back to land, and takes off.

The engine is way too powerful for a plane this size, so takeoffs are a breeze.  I'll head north a bit before going for orbit, to get matched up with the inclination of the mothership.

Getting to orbit involves getting as much speed as I can out of the jet engine.  I'm actually able to get my AP into space with the jet engine alone.

To circularize, I drop the back half of the plane, and two little Spark engines get me to orbit.  I added the probe core because I considered only bringing the probe core back to Kerbin.  I was not sure if just bringing the probe core back to Kerbin would give me the 'return from' bonuses.

While I decide wether or not to just bring the probe core home, I'll keep the nose of the airplane.  The RCS came in handy, this would have been a tricky docking without RCS.

Docked.

Vall and Tylo:

Spoiler

Landed at Vall.  I like the Inflatable Airlock.  Not only does it work as a docking port, it can also be used to get Kerbals back into the ship, instead of using jetpack fuel or lots of ladders.

Here's the Tylo lander burning to get to the surface.  

I try to not let my vertical velocity get too high at Tylo, so much of the burn is aimed above retrograde.

Landed.  The game did not give me the 'Walk on Tylo' bonus, even though I'm clearly walking on it.  I suspect that bringing a Kerbal in a Lawn Chair instead of a capsule is the reason- that's the only thing I can see different about this ship.  @Superfluous J, might want to get your notepad out..  Not 100% sure, but you might not get the 'Walk On..' bonus if you bring Kerbals to the surface in a lawn chair.

Again, I would normally just ditch the lander.  However, I want the 'Return From' bonuses.  So I need to reconfigure the lander, while it is free-floating.  I move the Lawn Chair off to the side, and add a docking port to the top.  Then I dock it to the mothership.

Here it's docked.  Hard to see in the photo, but the Lawn Chair is tacked to the side of the Tylo lander now.

Bop, Pol, and Eeloo:

Spoiler

Landed at Bop, rover wandering away from the mothership a little.  I'm surprised the mothership didn't slide down this slope, it's pretty steep.  I am not great at choosing landing sites..

Here's the rover being deployed at Pol.  I decouple it, then extend the wheels (these are retractable).  Then I try to gently let it flop over and drop to the surface.

On heavier bodies like Vall the rover picks up a little more speed.  These rover wheels can take a pretty good impact and not be damaged. 

At every CB, the rover returned to orbit separately from the mothership.  

Arriving at Eeloo, looking for a flat place to land.

The rover preparing to dock with the mothership.

After Eeloo, I burn directly for Kerbin.

Return to Kerbin:

Spoiler

My first attempt at bringing the Laythe cockpit back to Kerbin.  I've attached a parachute to it, and Val is burning retrograde to limit overheating issues.  This attempt did survive the reentry, no heating issues.  Unfortunately, when I hit the lower atmosphere, it was not possible to prevent the cockpit from pointing prograde.  I never achieved a safe speed to deploy the parachute, so the cockpit lawn-darted into the ocean at about 400 m/s.  Hmm.  Need to try something different.

While I scratched my head thinking about how to get the Laythe cockpit to the surface, I brought the Tylo lander back home.  Again, the engineer tacked a parachute on to the lander.  This one had an easy entry and arrival, no problems at all.

I was bringing the 3-Kerbal pod back home anyway, and it seemed like a good way to add drag to the Laythe cockpit.  It got a little hot, but survived the reentry.

I landed a tad fast, about 7 m/s I think.  So it's a good thing I landed in the water.  But everyone was fine.

After returning from Jool and Eeloo I was able to upgrade all buildings, and have $3.5M left over.  I did not use any admin strategies, nor did I use a MPL.  Also, I never visited Moho at all, and there were several bonus items I did not bother with.  Although I think I got most of them..

A few lessons learned in this third run though the challenge:

• To get the 'Return From' bonuses, the ship needs to return.  The Kerbals who return do not make you eligible for those bonuses.
• It looks like if you land a Kerbal on a Lawn Chair, you do not get the 'Walk On Tylo' bonus.  I did get the plant flag bonus though.
• On bodies with water (Eve and Laythe), the Landing and Splashing bonuses are separate!  If you can hit both it's extra cash.
• The bonus for 'Return from surface of Laythe' bonus is bigger than expected, it does not follow the same multiplier rules as other bodies.  I got $111,600 for Return from surface of Laythe.  I suspect Eve is like that also, but haven't confirmed that.

 

[18Watt]

Updated list of World's First bonuses:

The original list provided by @Cunjo Carl is accurate.  There are a few items which were not included in the original list, and possibly didn't exist when that list was created.  The values in the original table are accurate, although there are a few items I haven't personally confirmed.  Also, there are 3 exceptions to the values in the original list, the return sfc bonuses at Eve, Duna, and Laythe. 

Updated list:

Base Values:

Bonus Factor by CB:

25,000 - Fly-By 24,000 - Orbit 25,000 - Suborbital 30,000 - Land 30,000 - Splash * 12,000 - Science 12,000 - Walk 12,000 - Flag 24,000 - Rendezvous 36,000 - Start Station 16,000 - Docking  16,000 - Crew Transfer 36,000 - Surface Outpost 30,000 - Return Surface ** 25,000 - Return Fly-By 24,000 - Return Orbit 15,000 - Spacewalk 18,000 - Escape 24,000 - Atmospheric  * Splash bonus is separate from landing bonus, and is only available on Eve and Laythe. .

Varies on Kerbin.. 1.04 - Mun 1.16 - Minmus 1.52 - Kerbol (Sun) 2.24 - Moho 1.76 - Eve ** 2.00 - Gilly 1.76 - Duna ** 1.76 - Ike 2.00 - Dres 2.00 - Jool 2.48 - Laythe ** 2.48 - Vall 2.48 - Tylo 2.48 - Bop 2.48 - Pol 2.96 - Eeloo  ** The return from surface bonus is 50% higher on bodies with an atmosphere, Eve, Duna, and Laythe. For example, on Laythe the return bonus would normally be 2.48 X 30K.  However, it is 3.72 X 30K.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following items were added to the @Cunjo Carl's list:  Splashdown, Crew Transfer, and Surface Outpost.

Base amount available at each CB:

The following amounts assume the base values, no administrative strategies used.  I also excluded bonuses which are not possible, like planting a flag on Jool or Kerbol.  The values assume you achieve every possible bonus at the CB.

• Mun - 395,200
• Minmus - 440,800
• Kerbol - 357,200   *excludes some values, such as landing..
• Moho - 851,200
• Eve - 790,240   **includes splash bonus and higher return surface bonus.
• Gilly - 760,000
• Duna - 737,440   **includes the higher return surface bonus.
• Ike - 668,800
• Dres - 760,000
• Jool - 568,000   *excludes some values.
• Laythe - 1,113,440   **includes splash bonus and the higher return surface bonus.
• Vall - 942,400
• Tylo - 942,400
• Bop - 942,400
• Pol - 942, 400
• Eeloo - 1,124,800
• TOTAL - 12,336,720   

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by 18Watt
Updated return sfc bonus at Eve.

[18Watt]

Attempt #3 continued..

Although I completed all the building upgrades after returning from Dres, Jool, and Eeeloo, I decided to keep going.  There were a few bonus items I had not achieved.  

I'm still avoiding contracts, and have not implemented any Admin strategies, or used any MPLs.

The first item I had skipped was all of Moho.  So I sent a ship (Ship 9) to Moho, along with a Kerballed rover.  I was able to get every bonus at Moho, which added $851,200.  The two ships I sent cost about $215K total launch costs, so the gain at Moho was about $635K.

Next, I went back to Eve.  I took an Eve lander/ascender, an un-Kerbaled rover, and a probe.  The probe was to get the Surface Splashed bonus, I had previously gotten the Surface Landed bonus.  The lander and rover allowed me to get Walk, Flag, Sfc Outpost, and Return Sfc bonuses.  I mainly wanted to return to Eve to confirm the Return Surface bonus is 50% higher than normal, like it is for Duna and Laythe.  It is!  The bonuses I got for those extra items probably exceeded my launch costs, but not by much.  I used a previously launched ISRU ship to get the lander to Eve, so that did save me some launch costs.

Finally, I took a ship back to Jool, there were two bonuses at Jool I had omitted previously:  Suborbital and Atmospheric.  Val is currently circling Pol to refuel.  As I'm typing this, I realized that I didn't send an engineer, so the ISRU refueling is going to be very inefficient.  

Debating my next move.  I'd like to see if I can get Suborbital at Kerbol, and maybe Atmospheric as well.  Val will be departing Jool with about 8,000 m/s dv, which would make getting those items at Kerbol possible.  However, I think sending a probe to try to get the Atmospheric bonus at Kerbol would be much wiser.  I have no idea if atmospheric flight at Kerbol is survivable, or even possible.  I suspect I'll end up sending a probe to Jool, and have the ISRU ship refuel it before attempting a sun-dive.

[Watermel00n]

Im back and a post coming soon! 

[Death Engineering]

Jool Explorer Mission Launches!

This challenge was just too much fun to not come back to at some point! Retrieving the save and KSP install meant cracking open the dead laptop and hooking the HDD up to one of those USB things to drop into the new box. A spinning magnetic medium.. how quaint!

It has been almost two years since the last time I attempted to move forward in this career, so the version is a bit vintage (1.9.1), but at least it has the maneuver node tool!  I can live without the alarm clock, since stock's is approximate-at-best when it comes to planetary transfer windows.

As noted in the last post (June, 2020!), the Admin Building strategies were set too high and felt cheaty, so were set back to 25% commitment. Before the old laptop died a horrible death, some upgrades to the KSC and science purchases were made:

KSC Upgrade Status:

[■] [ ] Administration Building

[■] [ ] Astronaut Complex

[■] [ ] Mission Control

[■] [■] Launch Pad

[■] [ ] Research and Development

[ ] [ ] Runway

[ ] [ ] Spaceplane Hangar

[■] [ ] Tracking Station

[■] [ ] Vehicle Assembly Building

*New Upgrade

Admin Strategies:

• Patents Licensing - 25%
• Leadership Initiative - 25%

Funds in the Bank: 750,392

Science points available: 91.7

 

Great to see @Superfluous Jmaintaining this thread    

We've just launched a mission to Jool (top pic) which will land on Vall, Bop and Pol.  The mission was not cheap at 140k, with expendable SRB's and first stage, but kept the LFO first stage reasonably cheap by running a cluster of 4 Bobcats instead of the one Mainsail that the engineers called for. Those Mainsails are like 15k each!  Get outta town, man. Was able to recover the second LFO stage near the Island Runway, but that brought back only 11.4k. 

Also paying more attention to the little things like using the smallest radial monoprop tanks which give a much higher yield for the cost (but weigh more). No longer limited by Launch Pad mass and able to sustain 255 parts in the VAB should make the remainder of this challenge a bit more flexible. We'll be sending a Laythe spaceplane out on a separate flight and have the Eve launch window coming up soon so we'll shortly have multiple missions flying at once. Without Kerbal Alarm Clock, that could be a challenge in itself. 

More mission details and on the mission report thread here.

Recovered the second stage near the Island Runway

[Death Engineering]

Vall Mission Landing Success!

This was definitely the most Kerbally Vall landing I've ever attempted. However.. the lander's ascent stage will suffice as a Bop/Pol lander. Off the the Kraken we go..!