The Ultimate Skylon Challenge

[Misguided Kerbal]

The Ultimate Skylon Challenge

I was browsing the forums, and I thought, is there a skylon challenge? So I looked around, and yes, there is, but I decided that I wanted to make an improved version, and I wanted to make a challenge anyway, so here we go:

 

Rules: 

• Basic rule of thumb: it has to resemble a skylon. If you're really not sure, check the picture above, or do a search.
• It must be able to carry some sort of payload into orbit.
• It must have SSTO capabilities.
• No parts mods, autopilot mods, or cheat mods allowed. Graphic mods are okay.
• No cheats, reverts are okay.

 

The Challenge(s):

This is basically a bunch of challenges clumped together, for the skylon.

 

Basic Skylon:

Must get into Kerbin orbit and follow all the rules listed above. (+50 pts)

Extra points for:

• Docking 2 skylons together (+20 pts)
• Can carry a Rockomax X200-32 Fuel Tank as a payload without using any of the fuel in the tank (+20 pts)
• Can carry a Rockomax Jumbo-64 Fuel Tank as a payload without using any of the fuel in the tank (+30 pts)
• Landing at the KSC or Desert Airfield (+50 pts)

 

Mun Skylon:

Must get into Munar orbit and follow all the rules listed above. (+50 pts)

Prerequisite: Basic Skylon

Extra points for:

• Landing on the Mun (+50 pts)
• Docking 2 Skylons together in Munar orbit (+50 pts)
• Not using an ISRU (+50 pts)
• Can carry a Rockomax X200-32 Fuel Tank as a payload without using any of the fuel in the tank (+30 pts)
• Can carry a Rockomax Jumbo-64 Fuel Tank as a payload without using any of the fuel in the tank (+40 pts)
• Landing at the KSC or Desert Airfield (+50 pts)

 

Minmus Skylon:

Must get into Minmus orbit and follow all the rules listed above. (+50 pts)

Prerequisite: Basic Skylon

Extra points for:

• Landing on Minmus (+50 pts)
• Docking 2 Skylons together in Minmus orbit (+50 pts)
• Not using an ISRU (+50 pts)
• Can carry a Rockomax X200-32 Fuel Tank as a payload without using any of the fuel in the tank (+30 pts)
• Can carry a Rockomax Jumbo-64 Fuel Tank as a payload without using any of the fuel in the tank (+40 pts)
• Landing at the KSC or Desert Airfield (+50 pts)

 

Interplanetary Skylon:

Must orbit least 3 celestial bodies (other than the Mun, Minmus, or Kerbin), and follow all the rules listed above. (+50 pts)

Prerequisites: Basic Skylon, Mun or Minmus Skylon

Extra Points for:

• Orbiting a celestial body other than the Mun, Minmus, or Kerbin (+50 pts each)
• Landing on a celestial body other than the Mun, Minmus, Kerbin, Jool or Kerbol (+100 pts each)
• Not using an ISRU ((Excluding Jool or Kerbol) +50 pts for each planet landed on))
• "Land" on Jool ((Enter the atmosphere) + 100 pts)
• "Land" on Kerbol ((Same with Jool, but I don't really know if this is possible, congratulations if you do it) +200 pts)

 

How to enter:

• Have a picture of your Skylon on the runway, so most parts are visible.
• Have a picture of your Skylon completing each objective you decide to try, so extra points can be properly awarded.
• Calculate your point totals.
• Submit your entry (Post) before June 31, 2020 (The deadline).

 

Notes:

If you have any suggestions, or questions, feel free to ask or give them.

 

Leaderboard:

 

Basic Skylon:

1.ralanboyle, 120 pts.

2. vyznev, 50 pts.   

3. _

4. _

 

 

Mun Skylon:

1. _

2. _

3. _

4. _

 

 

Minmus Skylon:

1. _

2. _

3. _

4. _

 

 

Interplanetary Skylon:

1. _

2. _

3. _

4. _

 

 

Edited March 15, 2020 by Misguided_Kerbal
Added new entry

[Pds314]

What do you mean "land on Jool (enter the atmosphere)?" Do you mean reenter and slow down to subsonic? Do you mean aerobrake? Do you mean get down to 0? Do you mean get below -240?

[Misguided Kerbal]

3 hours ago, Pds314 said:

What do you mean "land on Jool (enter the atmosphere)?" Do you mean reenter and slow down to subsonic? Do you mean aerobrake? Do you mean get down to 0? Do you mean get below -240?

For that, just go below 91,554 m, and have your speed below 1000m/s

[vyznev]

Well, I made this thing:

Nothing very fancy, really — it's a medium Mk3 cargo bay, two fairings stuffed full of fuel tanks, a pair of stubby wings and Rapier engine pods on the end of each wing. Plus landing gear and canards and a tail fin and RCS ports and all the other usual stuff.

A single pair of Rapier engines wouldn't have anywhere near enough thrust to get this thing moving, so each "SABER" pod has seven Rapiers (and precoolers) clipped into it. That's the one slightly "cheaty" part of the design, and I consider it justifiable. it doesn't really cheat or exploit the drag model any more than is necessary to get the engines to look and work like they should.

Takeoff with a full fuel load is a bit awkward, as the canards are a bit undersized and don't have quite enough authority for proper takeoff rotation. Running off the end of the runway works, though. I might need to tweak the control surfaces a bit more to see if I can make it better. For landing, I recommend using the lift-augmenting flaps that can be toggled with action group 2. (Group 1 toggles engine mode.) In the latest version I also added some airbrakes, and made the ailerons double as lift spoilers when braking.

With no payload it can reach LKO with over 1600 m/s of delta-v left (probably even more with careful fuel/oxidizer allocation).

I haven't really flown any missions with this thing yet, beyond verifying that it can indeed get to orbit, re-enter and land, but with appropriate payloads it should be able to perform quite a few of the challenge tasks listed. It can't carry a Jumbo-64 fuel tank to orbit, though — while it has more than enough payload mass capacity, the cargo bay isn't big enough. Unless maybe I can count one of the two such tanks hidden inside the fairings?

More screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/2tfsPHl

Craft file: https://pastebin.com/mUP2LjLt

Edited March 11, 2020 by vyznev

[Misguided Kerbal]

1 hour ago, vyznev said:

Well, I made this thing:

Nothing very fancy, really — it's a medium Mk3 cargo bay, two fairings stuffed full of fuel tanks, a pair of stubby wings and Rapier engine pods on the end of each wing. Plus landing gear and canards and a tail fin and RCS ports and all the other usual stuff.

A single pair of Rapier engines wouldn't have anywhere near enough thrust to get this thing moving, so each "SABER" pod has seven Rapiers (and precoolers) clipped into it. That's the one slightly "cheaty" part of the design, and I consider it justifiable. it doesn't really cheat or exploit the drag model any more than is necessary to get the engines to look and work like they should.

Takeoff with a full fuel load is a bit awkward, as the canards are a bit undersized and don't have quite enough authority for proper takeoff rotation. Running off the end of the runway works, though. I might need to tweak the control surfaces a bit more to see if I can make it better. For landing, I recommend using the lift-augmenting flaps that can be toggled with action group 2. (Group 1 toggles engine mode.) In the latest version I also added some airbrakes, and made the ailerons double as lift spoilers when braking.

With no payload it can reach LKO with over 1600 m/s of delta-v left (probably even more with careful fuel/oxidizer allocation).

I haven't really flown any missions with this thing yet, beyond verifying that it can indeed get to orbit, re-enter and land, but with appropriate payloads it should be able to perform quite a few of the challenge tasks listed. It can't carry a Jumbo-64 fuel tank to orbit, though — while it has more than enough payload mass capacity, the cargo bay isn't big enough. Unless maybe I can count one of the two such tanks hidden inside the fairings?

More screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/2tfsPHl

Craft file: https://pastebin.com/mUP2LjLt

That's a pretty good entry, but it would really help if you list your accomplishments and calculate your point total. Your part clipping is justified, but I personally think that 4 rapier engines for each pod are enough. As for your question, no, because you can't use any of the fuel in the tanks, and the tanks have to be deployable, and that wouldn't be possible without popping the fairing, which breaks the first rule. So for the time being, the answer is no, unless you can justify it. I hope I'm not being too strict here.

[vyznev]

17 minutes ago, Misguided_Kerbal said:

That's a pretty good entry, but it would really help if you list your accomplishments and calculate your point total. Your part clipping is justified, but I personally think that 4 rapier engines for each pod are enough. As for your question, no, because you can't use any of the fuel in the tanks, and the tanks have to be deployable, and that wouldn't be possible without popping the fairing, which breaks the first rule. So for the time being, the answer is no, unless you can justify it. I hope I'm not being too strict here.

Technically, all I have right now is the 50 points for Basic Skylon, because that's the only objective I've actually completed so far. I may try to complete some more later when and if I have more time.

And I kind of expected the answer for the internal tank question to be "no", but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. I guess I could always design an "extended version" with a bigger cargo bay, but then it wouldn't look quite so much like the real Skylon designs any more.

 

[Misguided Kerbal]

You could make an "extended version", it would still look pretty similar.

[Misguided Kerbal]

I made some badges, but they need some more work.

[Misguided Kerbal]

I finished the Skylon Badges:

Small:

 

Small:

 

Small:

 

Small:

[ralanboyle]

Okay, here is my 120 point basic Skylon. I call it, Tiny Skylon. 

 

[Misguided Kerbal]

3 minutes ago, ralanboyle said:

Okay, here is my 120 point basic Skylon. I call it, Tiny Skylon. 

 

Pretty nice entry, could you please list your accomplishments. Also, two questions:

1. Why are you ejecting the nose cones? Unless that's the payload.

2. Is it just me or do the rapier engines look funky?

[ralanboyle]

37 minutes ago, Misguided_Kerbal said:

Pretty nice entry, could you please list your accomplishments. Also, two questions:

1. Why are you ejecting the nose cones? Unless that's the payload.

2. Is it just me or do the rapier engines look funky?

Yeah, the “nose cones” are two small payloads: command pod, RTG, fuel and engine with a nose cone. 
 

Yes, parts look a little funny because I use ReStock. 
 

Basic is worth 50, landing back at KSC is 50, docking in orbit is 20. So 120. 

[Misguided Kerbal]

1 minute ago, ralanboyle said:

Yeah, the “nose cones” are two small payloads: command pod, RTG, fuel and engine with a nose cone. 
 

Yes, parts look a little funny because I use ReStock. 
 

Basic is worth 50, landing back at KSC is 50, docking in orbit is 20. So 120. 

Ok, your entry is approved, happy flying!