The little lander challenge: Complete

[BallistX]

I didn't check my forum in a while, so i didn't see all of this happening, but i had took a better shot for my flagship

Take this one instead

The coma should be a rough estimate as to where to cut it, the one you've already made is fine if you're too lazy but i would rather use this one.

On 8/9/2020 at 9:58 PM, The Doodling Astronaut said:

So what I am thinking is:

Round 4: There and back again - Sept/Oct

You and maybe another forum user have the task of landing a rover to collect science, and send that science back. Based on how hard the planet/moon is, the more points it is. Flagship would be meaning to do a huge rover with a lot of science, then a return craft with an optional orbiter. 

Use this from @Matt Lowne for reference (since I discovered it has a lot in common with what I hope round 4 to be)

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Round 5: Underwater Understudy - Nov/Dec

You have the task of landing a submarine capable of collecting science from the water surface, underwater, and at the underwater surface. To do so, you must be able to create something that well... sinks! Based on capabilities the sub can do will equal more points. A sample return would mean flagship depending on destination.

For reference on how to make a sub take this from @hazard-ish (since it can tell how to sink!)

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

I don't think sending a huge rover for flagship would be within the spirit of the challenge, so i would rate flagship by the amount of science experiments taken on the surface, with all of them minus one or two making a flagship and the return vessel required, orbiter recommended for planets like Eve.

Edited August 16, 2020 by BallistX

[BallistX]

Also you can see a bit of my orbital insertion and escape stage behind the asteroid in the image you chose

[Guest]

10 hours ago, BallistX said:

I didn't check my forum in a while, so i didn't see all of this happening, but i had took a better shot for my flagship

Take this one instead

The coma should be a rough estimate as to where to cut it, the one you've already made is fine if you're too lazy but i would rather use this one.

I don't think sending a huge rover for flagship would be within the spirit of the challenge, so i would rate flagship by the amount of science experiments taken on the surface, with all of them minus one or two making a flagship and the return vessel required, orbiter recommended for planets like Eve.

Yeah so it's not concrete yet so I can change your photo...

There (also, thanks for the feedback):

You might also notice that like mine your's is a little bit smaller than the others, this is because of what I have to work with resolution wise.

Also your feedback on round 4:

I think that would be better than huge rover, what I was thinking was making sample return cases your replicated with stock parts and one you choose is flagship (I just had no ideas...)

 

[BallistX]

1 hour ago, The Doodling Astronaut said:

Yeah so it's not concrete yet so I can change your photo...

There (also, thanks for the feedback):

You might also notice that like mine your's is a little bit smaller than the others, this is because of what I have to work with resolution wise.

Also your feedback on round 4:

I think that would be better than huge rover, what I was thinking was making sample return cases your replicated with stock parts and one you choose is flagship (I just had no ideas...)

 

I'm okay with the fact it's smaller because it's going in my signature and i have to downscale it to 107px anyway.

More ideas for the round 4 Flagship: You have to land your sample return craft within 5km of the rover and the destination cannot be within the Kerbin system.

[Guest]

Usually happen to be the rules change dramatically when I fly a mission. I fly the mission then look at the preset rules and find if some are too difficult for beginners and if some are too easy. 

In fact, I am doing the patch today to and checking out what should be the rules. You will have a week to prepare hopefully

Edited August 16, 2020 by Guest

[Guest]

Round 4: Beta is out!

Please give feedback on the current rules and if you think they may be too hard or easy please talk about it. I am also working on the patch which has no spacecraft or science parts on it yet! When it comes out I will make sure to send it out to y'all. But out of curiosity, who hasn't started on a mission but plans too! If so you have two weeks too! Thank you very much!

Also I am working on a patch for if you have done more than 5 rounds and want to save space on signature!

Edited August 16, 2020 by Guest
Weird words mixing up with photo

[BallistX]

I think retrieving the whole probe that went to the surface might be a bit complicated, so only the science data should be recovered

[Guest]

16 minutes ago, BallistX said:

I think retrieving the whole probe that went to the surface might be a bit complicated, so only the science data should be recovered

I meant the probe part actually..

[EveMaster]

On 4/30/2020 at 4:58 AM, The Doodling Astronaut said:

First user:

-Launch the lander on the pad

-Fly to Kerbin orbit (Periapsis and Apoapsis has to be between 70,000-84,000,000)

-Encounter the destination and send the lander to the surface

-Collect X amount of science

-Return to orbiter

-Have some kind of image/video for each step to prove you did this mission

Second user

-Launch the orbiter on the pad on the pad

-Fly to Kerbin orbit (Periapsis and Apoapsis has to be between 70,000-84,000,000)

-Encounter the destination and orbit (Periapsis and Apoapsis has to be between 10,000 meters above surface/atmosphere to SOI)

-Retrieve science and probe that went to surface

-Return to Kerbin with science and probe intact

-Have some kind of image/video for each step to prove you did this mission

It's a good idea to allow two-user submissions.

I suggest to remove the requirement of the orbit to be 10km above the surface or atmosphere from the rules. It adds nothing to the challenge and if someone orbits at a height where the craft crashes into the terrain or is autodeleted, it is their fault. For cases where the margins are very thin (e.g. Eve) or where there are no high mountains (e.g. Eeloo) it should be allowed to have the orbiter at a lower height. It should also be allowed that the orbiter performs the rendezvous with lander return vessel instead of the other way round.

 

On 4/30/2020 at 4:58 AM, The Doodling Astronaut said:

-No going higher than 90,000 funds solo OR No going higher than 150,000 funds duo

...

Eve - Hardest (automatic flagship 2 user only)

...

1. Penatlies: If you broke rules you will lose 10 points for each broken rule.

So I can do a mission to Eve for 90,000 funds for flagship as a single user if I accept a 10 point penalty for the broken 2 user rule?

Alternatively is anyone interested in doing a coop submission with me and retrieving the sample from Eve orbit? I'm planning to launch from the highest point on Eve. So this person would have to build a craft that can retrieve the sample from low Eve orbit with 25° inclination.

[Space Nerd]

I am thinking about Eve too!

Building a cheap orbited is pretty trivial, and because you are better at KSP than me, can you build the Eve lander?

[EveMaster]

15 hours ago, Space Nerd said:

I am thinking about Eve too!

Building a cheap orbited is pretty trivial, and because you are better at KSP than me, can you build the Eve lander?

I'd be happy to do the mission together with you. My suggestion: You can do the surface operations on Eve in addition to the orbiter and I can build the Eve lander and do the Eve landing and ascent. So you don't only have to do the trivial parts.

I already tested a pretty cheap Eve ascent craft that would be within the budget limits. You can discuss with me your ideas about bringing the lander down and bringing the science to the lander, especially science from the robotic arm that requires to be close to a surface feature. I suggest we do the planning of our mission via private messages, so we don't spoil the fun for other participants that want do do an Eve mission.

Do you have the DLCs?

[Guest]

18 hours ago, EveMaster said:

So I can do a mission to Eve for 90,000 funds for flagship as a single user if I accept a 10 point penalty for the broken 2 user rule?

Alternatively is anyone interested in doing a coop submission with me and retrieving the sample from Eve orbit? I'm planning to launch from the highest point on Eve. So this person would have to build a craft that can retrieve the sample from low Eve orbit with 25° inclination.

Again the point of this round is to co-op but if you are like me and don’t have any friends nearby that play KSP, I wanted to make sure there was some destinations. Usually penalty means no flagship but that rule was dropped in round 3. The alternative of a hardest destination would be to surface return from a gas giant which I am still making rules on.

But from what I am hearing, you have a possible co-player.

Me personally, I on my have one close friend who plays KSP and he likes using mods (nuclear spaceships)

I’m looking at Jool return craft

 

Since people are starting, I have opened up round 4 with no example yet. Will try to ASAP.

Edited August 17, 2020 by Guest

[EveMaster]

23 minutes ago, The Doodling Astronaut said:

Oh also before you start make sure that rules are not final. I could start the round now if there is no one left doing round 3

I'm aware that the rules are not final yet. I'm OK with it, if you stick to your original schedule.

[Guest]

21 minutes ago, EveMaster said:

I'm aware that the rules are not final yet. I'm OK with it, if you stick to your original schedule.

I am going to overlap it, so that people can start preparing and also edited the OG post so that you know what might change.

[BallistX]

6 hours ago, The Doodling Astronaut said:

Again the point of this round is to co-op but if you are like me and don’t have any friends nearby that play KSP, I wanted to make sure there was some destinations. Usually penalty means no flagship but that rule was dropped in round 3. The alternative of a hardest destination would be to surface return from a gas giant which I am still making rules on.

But from what I am hearing, you have a possible co-player.

Me personally, I on my have one close friend who plays KSP and he likes using mods (nuclear spaceships)

I’m looking at Jool return craft

 

Since people are starting, I have opened up round 4 with no example yet. Will try to ASAP.

What altitude for the Jool return craft? I know someone was able to return from Jool ASL but it cost way over 90000 funds and was the very definition of part clipping, i doubt Jool Sea Level is possible on 90k funds

[Guest]

1 hour ago, BallistX said:

What altitude for the Jool return craft? I know someone was able to return from Jool ASL but it cost way over 90000 funds and was the very definition of part clipping, i doubt Jool Sea Level is possible on 90k funds

Gonna test it before allowing it. I believe it's possible sea level, Just probably going to want to go low-tech or collab with someone else, which I would be glad to do if anyone wants to partner up with moi.

[xub313]

Alright, I think I'm gonna try my hand at this challenge. It's good to know that I've still got 'till the end of the month before round 3 ends. Round 4 looks interesting too. I've made a few unmanned sample return probes before and I thought they were really fun to build and fly. The collaboration part sounds fun too. 

[Guest]

14 hours ago, xub313 said:

Alright, I think I'm gonna try my hand at this challenge. It's good to know that I've still got 'till the end of the month before round 3 ends. Round 4 looks interesting too. I've made a few unmanned sample return probes before and I thought they were really fun to build and fly. The collaboration part sounds fun too. 

Glad you can participate! Well I got update from peeps in RL and I will only really have Friday-Saturday to get stuff done. So I might have to scale down participation by a lot.

Also anyone interested in co-oping on Jool sea lander probe return mission? I still think it's possible!

[BallistX]

150000 funds is still a very limiting factor for a Jool ASL return mission, as all chemical rocket engines will not work at all at Jool SL so propellers will be needed, and they will not be able to provide nearly enough dV to get you near orbital speed, it might not be possible on only 150k

[Guest]

3 hours ago, BallistX said:

150000 funds is still a very limiting factor for a Jool ASL return mission, as all chemical rocket engines will not work at all at Jool SL so propellers will be needed, and they will not be able to provide nearly enough dV to get you near orbital speed, it might not be possible on only 150k

Time to go to age before propellor 

reaction wheels!!!

I knew about the engine problem. Generally the most efficient way out of Jool is to fly up to space then ignite engines to escape Jool

[BallistX]

3 hours ago, The Doodling Astronaut said:

Time to go to age before propellor 

reaction wheels!!!

I knew about the engine problem. Generally the most efficient way out of Jool is to fly up to space then ignite engines to escape Jool

This is getting into some old and moderately cheesy stuff, i still doubt reaction wheel props will get you enough velocity to get to Jool orbit

[Guest]

11 hours ago, BallistX said:

This is getting into some old and moderately cheesy stuff, i still doubt reaction wheel props will get you enough velocity to get to Jool orbit

Bradley  Whistance did it Once but looks like he deleted that video recently...

[EveMaster]

4 hours ago, The Doodling Astronaut said:

Bradley  Whistance did it Once but looks like he deleted that video recently...

I think you are talking about this video:

Edit:

Oops, that was Eve and not Jool sea level.

Stratzenblitz did however do a Jool sea level mission:

 

Edited August 19, 2020 by EveMaster

[BallistX]

4 hours ago, EveMaster said:

I think you are talking about this video:

Edit:

Oops, that was Eve and not Jool sea level.

Stratzenblitz did however do a Jool sea level mission:

 

While Stratzen did build a Jool SL SSTO, it was full of part clipping and it's cost in NERVs was higher than the entire limit for a 2-player mission, i doubt this mission would have been possible otherwise

[moar ssto]

10 hours ago, BallistX said:

While Stratzen did build a Jool SL SSTO, it was full of part clipping and it's cost in NERVs was higher than the entire limit for a 2-player mission, i doubt this mission would have been possible otherwise

It's fully reusable and has isru, so the cost of it can be as low as that of the ion fuel used.