The Ultimate Challenge Continued (originally by Just Jim)

[IncongruousGoat]

Quote

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this, but here goes nothing.

I was working on my career game yesterday for my fan-fiction project when I checked into mission control, and saw a contract offer that stunned me.  It's a challenge so huge it's given me an opportunity to totally change my story plot and add a whole new section.

I've searched everywhere in the challenge section, and I'm not finding this one. 
If it's out there, and I'm necro-ing an old challenge, then I apologize and ask this be taken down, OK?
It's called the Ultimate Challenge, and the rules are simple:

Visit all 14 bodies in the Kerbin solar system in one ship and return home to tell the tale. 

 

I looked at it... then looked again, closed my eyes, held my breath, and hit accept..... 

So here's the deal.  According to the forum rules, I can't really issue this as an official challenge unless I do it, or at least make a really good attempt at it, first.  Which is what I'm going to do.  It's probably the hardest thing I can think of doing in the game... and a marvelous opportunity to exploit for my fan-fiction story.
How can I say no???
Oh, and because I'm a sadist, I'm doing it stock.

If I can do this, I'll make it an official challenge, and make a badge and all that. 
Unless someone else has already done it and wants to take over.
Which makes me wonder, has anyone done this?  Has anyone attempted it?
Am I bringing up an old challenge I just can't find?

Comments?  Ideas???  Or perhaps just some insane laughter at the thought???

Link to the original Ultimate Challenge thread

Link to the first continuation thread

This is a continuation of the Ultimate Challenge, originally by Just Jim, for KSP 1.0 and up, as well as Making History and Breaking Ground.

Challenge Rules & Clarifications:
1. You can do as much orbital assembly as you want in LKO, but you can't launch any new vessels after any part of the mission leaves Kerbin's SOI, or (equivalently) after you conduct any landing. Additionally, after the last assembly mission you should only have 1 active vessel (i.e. you need to start off the mission with one big ship in LKO). The sole exception is launching a crew transport to retrieve your crew from LKO (and only LKO!) at the end of the mission.
2. No cheating (ladder drives, cheat menu, HyperEdit, etc). Using these for testing is fine, just so long as they don't show up in the mission.
3. There isn't a hard list of which mods are okay to use and which aren't, but try to stick to mods that are balanced against stock. If you're wondering if a mod is considered balanced, just ask.
4. You can have a crew of any size, but there must be at least one Kerbal that's landed on every body at the end of the mission.
5. You can use whatever planet packs you like so long as they don't modify the bodies of the stock system. If you do use any planet packs, put their names somewhere in your submission.
6. All of these rules are flexible. If you have something that you think warrants rule-bending, just run it by me first.

There aren't any points to be earned, nor are there tiers to the challenge. However, submissions will be labeled based on whether and which mods/planet packs/DLC were installed.

The official challenge badge, suitable for mounting in your signature:

 

Hall of Fame:

1.2.2: Kergarin - A fully re-usable mission, using an ISRU-equipped single-stage Eve lander docked to an arch-shaped transfer stage. No nukes or ion engines needed.

1.4.4/Making History: Mephisto81 - Used an ISRU spaceplane carrying an expendable Eve lander. Razor-thin fuel and TWR margins make for an exciting mission.

1.4.5: jinnantonix - Cage-like mothership around a reusable single-stage lander, with a separate asparagus lander for Eve. Lots of ISRU all around.

1.4.5/Making History/OPM/Apollo/More Gas Giants/Spud: JacobJHC - No-ISRU xenon-heavy tour of the stock system, plus planets and moons from 4 planet packs with much reserve fuel to spare. Overall excellent in both scope and execution. Also contains 3 Eeloo landings.

1.4.5: Xurkitree - Non-ISRU, monolithic, modular, centered around component re-use, planned to a tee, and executed with style. A tour de force of KSP mega-mission planning.

1.4.1: iAMtheWALRUS - Disposable landers for Tylo and Eve, and a very capable ISRU spaceplane for everything else. Completed the contract using a common capsule for the landers, and through clever navigation completed the mission in under 10 in-game years.

1.7/Making History/Anziephus/Tekcate/Trans Keptunian/Salus/Kronos Planet Expansion: GRS - Non-ISRU monolithic design centered around compact landers and a highly modular transfer stage. Notable for flexibility and generality of design, as demonstrated by the dozens of additional landings.

1.7/Making History/Anziephus/Tekcate/Trans Keptunian/Salus/Kronos Planet Expansion/Plod/Vulkan: GRS - Non-ISRU monolithic design once again centered around compact landers and a highly modular transfer stage. Bigger, better, more flexible, more general, and with even more landings than the last one.

1.10.1: camacju - Single launch, no ISRU, and no ion engines, using a highly parallelized divide-and-conquer mission profile to work around the delta-V and payload limits imposed by being stuck with nuclear and chemical rockets and a limited fuel supply.

1.11/Kerbalism: king of nowhere - Radiation, solar storms, mental breakdowns, component failures, and limited life support turn an otherwise fairly standard modular ISRU approach into a tense mission whose plan had to be re-evaluated several times over as ships broke down and Kerbal health declined.

1.11/Kerbalism: king of nowhere - A fitting follow-up to the previous Kerbalism entry, this time with less ISRU, more radiation, and by far the most long-distance rover driving of any entry to date.

 

Edited June 19, 2021 by IncongruousGoat
Hall of Fame update

[Alpha 360]

You know what, I think I will take up this challenge. It looks interesting, and I have tons of spare time. I think I will also do a fan-fiction of it as well. 

To put it simply, 

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

Happy Explosions!

[qzgy]

I'll have to have a go too. Is it ok though if its a 1.3 run?

Edited June 30, 2018 by qzgy
wow speeling

[IncongruousGoat]

6 hours ago, qzgy said:

I'll have to have a go too. Is it ok though if its a 1.3 run?

1.3 is fine, yes.

[Just Jim]

7 hours ago, IncongruousGoat said:

This is a continuation of the Ultimate Challenge, originally by Just Jim, for KSP 1.4.X and beyond as well as Making History.

Fantastic! I'll try and visit as often as I can... thank you for maintaining it!  

[JacobJHC]

In time, my mission will be finished. I just have to get to the Jool moons, Eeloo, and a few others.

[Kernel Kraken]

Holy schnikes... This looks interesting to say the least. Is this possible? Mabye if I assembled a 2000- part mothership in orbit of minmus while getting there by way of Mün gravity assist...

Ill try it. I haven't even landed on the Min in my 250+ hours but I'll do it.

[The Minmus Derp]

12 minutes ago, Kernel Kraken said:

Holy schnikes... This looks interesting to say the least. Is this possible? Mabye if I assembled a 2000- part mothership in orbit of minmus while getting there by way of Mün gravity assist...

Ill try it. I haven't even landed on the Min in my 250+ hours but I'll do it.

Done! Not to advertise myself or anything...

[JacobJHC]

1 hour ago, Kernel Kraken said:

Is this possible?

It is, assuming you have the patience.

Edited July 2, 2018 by JacobJHC

[JacobJHC]

1 hour ago, The Minmus Derp said:

Done! Not to advertise myself or anything...

You finished your grand tour? May we see it?

[The Minmus Derp]

8 hours ago, JacobJHC said:

You finished your grand tour? May we see it?

I meant I finished the ship. It will be posted in the Kerbol Extended grand tour thread. Take a look at the rules if you wish.

[IncongruousGoat]

11 hours ago, Kernel Kraken said:

Holy schnikes... This looks interesting to say the least. Is this possible? Mabye if I assembled a 2000- part mothership in orbit of minmus while getting there by way of Mün gravity assist...

Ill try it. I haven't even landed on the Min in my 250+ hours but I'll do it.

I can confirm this is possible from personal experience. I do have to ask, though - why assemble a mothership in Minmus orbit, of all places? Even if you're planning an ISRU-heavy approach, assembling in LKO would still be easier. And also more compliant with the rules.

If you've got a legitimate reason to do it that way, by all means, go ahead. I'm just curious.

[Kernel Kraken]

42 minutes ago, IncongruousGoat said:

I can confirm this is possible from personal experience. I do have to ask, though - why assemble a mothership in Minmus orbit, of all places? Even if you're planning an ISRU-heavy approach, assembling in LKO would still be easier. And also more compliant with the rules.

If you've got a legitimate reason to do it that way, by all means, go ahead. I'm just curious.

I'd start at Kerbin, then visit the Mün on a gravity assist, then visit minmus. I could send down Landers as I build in minmus orbit. That'd be two bodies down and I haven't assembled my ship yet!

[The Minmus Derp]

I can do it single launch, if you wish.

[TheDestroyer111]

buut yu alsou hav too land on joul

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WriMi5R72Pc

Edited July 2, 2018 by TheDestroyer111

[qzgy]

3 minutes ago, TheDestroyer111 said:

buut yu alsou hav too land on joul

Yes land on the gas giant..... totally reasonable.

Also.... can you like.. spell normally?

[JacobJHC]

6 hours ago, The Minmus Derp said:

I meant I finished the ship. It will be posted in the Kerbol Extended grand tour thread. Take a look at the rules if you wish.

Was it one launch or did you finish designing it in the VAB?

[Alpha 360]

Whew, finished designing the ship(s) which will carry out the mission! The total mothership consists of a transfer-stage, an Eve lander, and an 'everything else' lander which I have test landed on Tylo, and reached orbit of Kerbin. This SSTO, while not pretty, is necessary. That's the report for now!

Happy Explosions!

[The Minmus Derp]

3 hours ago, JacobJHC said:

Was it one launch or did you finish designing it in the VAB?

1 launch. It had to be heavily rearranged.

[IncongruousGoat]

8 hours ago, Kernel Kraken said:

I'd start at Kerbin, then visit the Mün on a gravity assist, then visit minmus. I could send down Landers as I build in minmus orbit. That'd be two bodies down and I haven't assembled my ship yet!

I can't really accept that. I've gone and clarified rule #1 in the OP, but the gist is that you start the mission with one single big ship in LKO. It doesn't matter how you assemble said ship, nor how many pieces you split it into once you actually start flying the mission, so long as you end the assembly process with one single big ship in LKO. The point of the challenge is to land on every body with a surface in one big mission, not in several small independently-flown missions that happen to share some hardware.

7 hours ago, TheDestroyer111 said:

buut yu alsou hav too land on joul

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WriMi5R72Pc

I understand you're probably joking, but just to set the record straight: You don't have to land on Jool, because you can't land on Jool, because it doesn't have a surface. You don't even have to enter Jool's atmosphere. Land on Jool's moons? Yes. Land on (or even enter the atmosphere of) Jool itself? No.

Edited July 2, 2018 by IncongruousGoat

[JacobJHC]

On 6/30/2018 at 1:05 PM, IncongruousGoat said:

4. You can have a crew of any size, but there must be at least one Kerbal that's landed on every body at the end of the mission.

Well darn. My grand tour was half way done when this thread was made, now I have only Eeloo left, and I've been dividing the landings between the pilots on the mission. Is there any hope for me? (A gatecrasher category perhaps?)

[IncongruousGoat]

1 minute ago, JacobJHC said:

Well darn. My grand tour was half way done when this thread was made, now I have only Eeloo left, and I've been dividing the landings between the pilots on the mission. Is there any hope for me? (A gatecrasher category perhaps?)

Could the mission (hypothetically speaking) have been flown with just one pilot doing all the landings? If so, I'll probably put it in the hall of fame. If not, I'll think about a gatecrasher category. The thing about the latter case is that it kinda resembles just flying a few "regular" interplanetary missions, which isn't the point of the challenge.

[JacobJHC]

Just now, IncongruousGoat said:

Could the mission (hypothetically speaking) have been flown with just one pilot doing all the landings? If so, I'll probably put it in the hall of fame. If not, I'll think about a gatecrasher category. The thing about the latter case is that it kinda resembles just flying a few "regular" interplanetary missions, which isn't the point of the challenge.

Oh yeah, a single pilot could have definitely done the mission by themselves.

[IncongruousGoat]

Just now, JacobJHC said:

Oh yeah, a single pilot could have definitely done the mission by themselves.

Nifty! You're all good. Carry on.

In fact, I commend you for bringing several Kerbals along and giving them all a chance to join in the fun. I certainly wasn't that ambitious (or kind) back when I did my submission to this challenge.

[Alpha 360]

@IncongruousGoat, just so you know, my entry for this challenge is linked just below. 

Will this count?

Happy Explosions!