Work in progress: the voltron fleet project

[farmerben]

The challenge or mission I've accepted is to develop a set of interlockable craft to do the Jool5 and possibly the grand tour, or the grand tour minus eve.  Including the following conditions.

No decoulers at all.  Not even on landers.  Not the structural ones.  

Only docking ports are allowed.  Staging and crossfeed switching of docking ports is allowed.

Any stages left along the way must be viable in terms of a electricity, antenna, probe core, and potentially refuelable.  They also must be left in controlled orbits or on a planets surface.  If anything is left on a planets surface it must be demonstrably refuelable.  (i.e. if the only way to refuel it is to land a refinery on the roof, demonstate the ability to do so).

 

 

Some of the ideas that go into this project are thanks to other members of this forum.  I can't remember exactly who to give credit to for some of these ideas.  But if you know who you are, then thank you.  

 

This top bike has mini docking ports in the front and back in line with the center of mass and center of thrust, so it can link up with any number of vessels exactly like itself.  It uses a fuel cell array to provide non stop power to 2 ion engines, and it has 2 twitch engines for emergencies.  At around 2.7t weight it can handle the smaller moons on ion power only.  It has been tested on Vall, Bop, Pol, and the Mun.  It might handle the three smallest planets and Ike, yet to be tested.

This giant rig has 16 crew and 41 docking ports, I think.  The legs are designed for crew acess without ladders, and 3 docking ports per leg both mini and medium for all rovers. 

The Nerva stages can be decoupled, each has 2 engines, 2 medium decouplers allong the center line, 2 mini decouplers and all the basic probe stuff.  The mining rig can land on Tylo with or without the Nerva stages.  It can land and take off from Laythe without the Nerva stages.  The Laythe landing has been tested as a power only landing on Rhinos, no parachutes.  And it can take off from Laythe, but not Kerbin on only Rhinos.  The picture is on Tylo.

I might be able to brute force it with just these.  But I want to develop a few more vessels and airplanes that are compatable.  It would be so much more awesome, if it had more stuff.

 

Also my computer heat sinks can't keep up with running huge part counts at my current settings.  What are some ways to relax the settings?

 

 

[Starhawk]

This report on a mission has been moved to the Mission Reports section of the forum.

KSP Moderation Team