FedEx CHALLENGE

[Superfluous J]

7 minutes ago, FleshJeb said:

No one who flies planes should be without TAC Fuel Balancer.

And no one with a refueling outpost should be without GPO fuel pumps

 

 

[roboslacker]

Why bother with refueling spaceplanes in the first place? Using a dedicated interplanetary transport is more efficient, and you can use the big tanks.

[AeroGav]

8 hours ago, roboslacker said:

Why bother with refueling spaceplanes in the first place? Using a dedicated interplanetary transport is more efficient, and you can use the big tanks.

Because I think the OP does not want the cargo to be transferred.  It stays in same vehicle from surface of kerbin to surface of laythe.   Also my spaceplane doesn't have that much extra dry mass compared with a dedicated transport - 2 rapiers, 3 panthers, and a bunch of wings - but you'll need to add mass to the interplanetary ship to make it landable.

[Kernel Kraken]

On 10/9/2018 at 8:32 AM, Rover6428 said:

 

Matt Lowne mode: impress me

God mode: impress Matt Lowne

God Mode: Impress Matt Lowne

Impossible. Challenges have to be possible to be legitimate, you know.

EDIT: here's the guidelines:

 

Edited October 12, 2018 by Kernel Kraken

[Rover 6428]

2 hours ago, AeroGav said:

Because I think the OP does not want the cargo to be transferred.  It stays in same vehicle from surface of kerbin to surface of laythe.   Also my spaceplane doesn't have that much extra dry mass compared with a dedicated transport - 2 rapiers, 3 panthers, and a bunch of wings - but you'll need to add mass to the interplanetary ship to make it landable.

Actually, in one of my replies it is said that you can detach the cargo from the ship at LLO to land it, with the main ship staying in orbit

[AeroGav]

I 'm rubbish at gravity assists.   Had about 880dv left coming into jool system. a combo of aerobraking and grav assists should be possible,  but i spent 4 hours bouncing back and forward.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tj0lq19a0njhyjv/POCKET BILLIARDS.sfs?dl=0

That's the save file if anyone can do better.    Eventually did a laythe-tylo-laythe braking manoeuvre that drops my PE about 10km inside jool atmosphere and has my AP halfway out to Vall,   used the cheezy technique of going to the reacking station when i didn't want more aerobraking off jool,   and riding the plane when i did, gradually dropping my orbit bit by bit till finally got a laythe encounter at a speed i could aerorake into the atmosphere from.  

When it came to landing, i discovered this craft isn't really robust enough to land on uneven terrain with 60 tons of ore aboard.  My designs usually have no problem setting down on laythe, but this took a dozen attempts and a bit of luck.   I used hyperedit to bring a rover with a resource converter onboard to our airplane so as to unload the ore and refill the fuel, and set off for home.  Without ore aboard, takeoff was easy and we still had 4800dv left after getting into orbit around Laythe.    A simple direct burn back to Kerbin was done,   upon entering Kerbin SOI we had over 2000 remaining.   We were too fast to aerobrake all that off, and could only drop to 57km without damage,  so i could have used a resonant orbit to get a second nibble at aerobraking at a more reasonable speed - but that would have added 20 years to the mission !  So I just retro burned shortly before dropping into KErbin's atmosphere, about 1000  m/s worth, which in turn let us drop deeper and aerobrake more without blowing up.     3 or 4 passes later, we get down.  Will ad vids, but feel burned out by this .

 

Edit - video

 

Well, did the Krebin to Laythe leg in under 3 years and that was 60t of ore, (departed day 226 of year 2) but  not really so practical, i should have used a mk3 airplane for this payload, and it wasn't all that much fun beyond constructing the aircraft !  Better luck for the rest of you!

 

Edited October 12, 2018 by AeroGav

[AeroGav]

Damn, after rewatching that video i realised i took off with the parking brake set.  Thought it was sluggish :-/

[Guest]

On 10/11/2018 at 11:46 AM, Snark said:

Various posts have been removed, which completely derailed the thread into a lengthy and somewhat acerbic off-topic debate about, of all things, Google image searching.

Folks, this is a challenge thread; let's try to keep the conversation here at least reasonably related to the challenge?  And, if it's not too much to hope for, in a reasonably friendly fashion, without criticism of our fellow forum members?

Also, please do not "backseat moderate".  Don't tell other people how to post or how not to post; it's not your place, and it's against forum rules (specifically, 3.2).  You're not a moderator, so please don't try to moderate.  If you think someone is doing something so inappropriate that they're actually breaking forum rules, then please just report the post, which will ping the moderator team and we can have a look.  It's what we're for.

Thank you for your understanding.

Yeah. Sorry about that 

[Kulebron]

Almost made it the super-hard mode, but found out cosine losses eat up 500 m/s dV. Need moar tanks! Hold on a week or two, tank you!

Edited October 31, 2018 by Kulebron

[EvermoreAlpaca]

It should be noted that a standard Hohmann transfer from Kerbin to Jool will sometimes take more than three years, sometimes less, depending on which transfer window you use.  Make sure to check flight time if you are aiming for under 3 years =)

Edited October 31, 2018 by EvermoreAlpaca

[Kulebron]

On 10/31/2018 at 9:29 PM, EvermoreAlpaca said:

It should be noted that a standard Hohmann transfer from Kerbin to Jool will sometimes take more than three years, sometimes less, depending on which transfer window you use.  Make sure to check flight time if you are aiming for under 3 years =)

I do. Travel time was 1y ~150d.

Not sure if the intercept speed is manageable.

[jinnantonix]

I have a solution to this challenge, in super hard mode (delivery 60 tons in less than 3 years).

The craft is three stage, comprising (1) a fully re-usable "Superlifter" from KSC, (2) an interplanetary tug and (3) a manned Laythe lander with 4 x 15 ton drop ore containers.  The hybrid lander/tug delivery craft launches on the SuperLifter which stays in Kerbin orbit for the delivery craft to return.  The delivery craft transits Kerbin to Laythe orbit.  The craft's lander undocks with the tug, lands on Laythe, refuels, drops ore, and returns to orbit.  The tug refuels at Vall and returns to Laythe docking with the lander.  The delivery craft then returns to Kerbin (via Pol refuelling stop), docks with the SuperLifter, and lands intact at the KSC for full recovery.  Only consumables for the journey are fuel, chutes and heat shields, (no drop tanks).

Other notes:

• All stock parts, manually piloted, no mods
• ISRU uses RTG and fuel cell only – no solar.  Will work on all planets, including Eeloo. Heat dissipation designed to work on Moho and Eve
• 2 x engineers required, pilot used for launch and Kerbin re-entry, but is optional
• Hitchhiker included for maximum crew comfort
• For <3 year (rapid) transit, added heat shields and launch boosters.  Not required for 4 year transit

 

 

Edited November 6, 2018 by jinnantonix

[Rover 6428]

On 11/1/2018 at 11:57 PM, jinnantonix said:

I have a solution to this challenge, in super hard mode (delivery 60 tons in less than 3 years).

The craft is three stage, comprising (1) a fully re-usable "Superlifter" from KSC, (2) an interplanetary tug and (3) a manned Laythe lander with 4 x 15 ton drop ore containers.  The hybrid lander/tug delivery craft launches on the SuperLifter which stays in Kerbin orbit for the delivery craft to return.  The delivery craft transits Kerbin to Laythe orbit.  The craft's lander undocks with the tug, lands on Laythe, refuels, drops ore, and returns to orbit.  The tug refuels at Vall and returns to Laythe docking with the lander.  The delivery craft then returns to Kerbin (via Pol refuelling stop), docks with the SuperLifter, and lands intact at the KSC for full recovery.  Only consumables for the journey are fuel, chutes and heat shields, (no drop tanks).

Other notes:

• All stock parts, manually piloted, no mods
• ISRU uses RTG and fuel cell only – no solar.  Will work on all planets, including Eeloo. Heat dissipation designed to work on Moho and Eve
• 2 x engineers required, pilot used for launch and Kerbin re-entry, but is optional
• Hitchhiker included for maximum crew comfort
• For <3 year (rapid) transit, added heat shields and launch boosters.  Not required for 4 year transit

 

 

AWESOME!!! you did it

[jinnantonix]

Yes, but would Matt Lowne be impressed?  Considering there is no SSTO involved, perhaps not.

[Rover 6428]

7 hours ago, jinnantonix said:

Yes, but would Matt Lowne be impressed?  Considering there is no SSTO involved, perhaps not.

I am impressed though