Monopalooza

[patfree14094]

I screwed up, and glossed over the 100ton requirement. Oops. Guess this didn't count then. My bad. Was still fun, and will redesign.

Take 3, with a somewhat nicer rocket, weighing in at 164.835 tons, and with 392 parts on launch pad, resulting in 30+fps while launching from the KSC... Much better, as Kerbals don't like it when they lag, since it forces them to eat their snacks in slow motion. 

I think I can safely claim all of these points, had a perfectly safe landing this time around. Did have slight mishap on mun, just shy of the delta-v required in landing stage, but the return stage did the job. And fell over, but, since Kerbal safety is the absolute last priority... eh

I'm disappointed in myself, I didn't take the screenshot of the return stage rolling away when I planted the flag... I thought it was funny. Oh well, my plaque basically said: Uh/Crap, my ship is running away!

 

Edited June 25, 2020 by patfree14094

[jimmymcgoochie]

@patfree14094 you did see the part where the launch mass couldn’t exceed 100 tons, right?

[patfree14094]

Jimmymcgoochie, you know what? I glossed right over that... Oops. Back to the drawing board for me then, thanks for pointing that out. And even my 1st attempt was a no go then, that came in at 159 tons. 

I think I know how to fix the design to lower the weight, and will post an under 100 ton craft when ready.

Edited June 25, 2020 by patfree14094

[sevenperforce]

On 6/24/2020 at 5:51 PM, jimmymcgoochie said:

Jeb wanted a second try after the parachute fiasco last time. This time I stuck 5 relays on the top and dropped them off part-way to the Mun so they could be deployed them into a keostationary network. Unfortunately, the relays had a bit too much fuel and Jeb's ship had a bit too little; fortunately, EVA propellant is allowed... This one is called (Ker)Manopalooza, and the only other way I can do it is ‘Menopalooza’ which would logically mean taking a second crew member with me.

https://imgur.com/a/r6agrVV full album is here, I even got a shot of the rocket in LKO this time.

Turns out this sandbox I'm using has re-entry heat set to 10% so Jeb could re-enter directly from the Mun return, doing an EVA, head first, and survive completely unharmed. Any landing you can walk (or in this case, swim) away from and all that! And then I remembered that extra fuel on the relays, and put it to use scoring as many bonus points as I could- slingshots from the Mun to escape Kerbin's SOI.

Points:
KSC (15) > LKO (50) > Mun SOI (35) > Mun orbit (20) > crewed Mun landing (80) > crewed with 'safe' return (40) > 5 relays to keostationary orbit (20 + 5x5 = 45) > 5x Mun encounters with those relays several days after putting them in place (35x5 = 175) > 4x Kerbin SOI escapes (40x4 = 160) = 620 points; or 580 if the return was deemed as  'unsafe', although Jeb didn't complain...

So I am going to have to call foul on the re-entry heat setting; that just makes it too easy (like turning gravity down or something). And points are only multiplicative for the number of relays dropped in; otherwise you only score once for each achievement. You would have been better off sending one to Minmus and one outside Kerbin's SOI.

[patfree14094]

So, this is my next entry, and this time, I am under 100 tons. Soon, I will decide to launch a monoprop powered rescue mission, probably incorporating 2 external command seats, a heat shield, and a parachute, seeing as I accidentally colonized the mun with this mission. This mission was meant to just be a test, but, things looked promising, and I decided to just go for it. Annnd... I was short at least 400 dV, and am unable to return to Kerbin at this time. Stelory Kerman has enough snacks for a while though, so, all is good. 

• Launch from KSC: 15 pts
• Reach LKO orbit: 50 pts
• Enter Munar SOI: 35 pts
• Mun orbit: 20 pts
• Crewed Mun landing: 80 pts

This was 200 Points.

96.819 Ton craft.

268 Parts, so the Kerbals can still eat their snacks in near real time.

Also, each RCS tank in the lower stage is it's own stage. There are a lot of them. I did not take pictures of every single staging, nor would I post them all if I did. That would be horrendous.

[jimmymcgoochie]

After a failed attempt to get to Duna (I got to Duna, just didn't have the fuel to get back off Duna and would only be worth 205 points) I'm going to switch tactics a bit and use @bayesian_acolyte's mini lander idea. I might need to take multiple Kerbals though as I want to try and land on as many planets/moons as I can to get more flag points- @sevenperforce you get 100 points per planet/moon you plant a flag on, right?

[sevenperforce]

7 minutes ago, jimmymcgoochie said:

After a failed attempt to get to Duna (I got to Duna, just didn't have the fuel to get back off Duna and would only be worth 205 points) I'm going to switch tactics a bit and use @bayesian_acolyte's mini lander idea. I might need to take multiple Kerbals though as I want to try and land on as many planets/moons as I can to get more flag points- @sevenperforce you get 100 points per planet/moon you plant a flag on, right?

100 per planet; 80 per moon. I have updated the rules to add more point opportunities. Also @bayesian_acolyte now has more points.

Edited June 26, 2020 by sevenperforce

[dvader]

A couple of questions:

There are no points for uncrewed landings ? (I don't mind, just asking)

Do uncrewed ships have to return to Kerbin? What if I just shoot a probe core past Jool/Eeloo never to be seen again?

The "Cross orbit" points, is that just for crossing the orbit or does it require a flyby (please, say flyby )?

[Bej Kerman]

On 6/19/2020 at 7:24 PM, sevenperforce said:

"What's that smell? Is something leaking?"

Knob Kerman looked up at Val with an innocent expression.

 

[jimmymcgoochie]

@sevenperforce Three Kerbals, three little spaceships, three different bodies with flags on them- Duna, Eve and Gilly. Total mission time was about 16 game years and I did about twenty aerobraking runs in Eve's upper atmosphere- couldn't go lower than 88.5km or poor Bill got cooked! I blew up six nearly full fuel tanks and lost about 100 monoprop doing the Eve braking burn, that really hurt the delta-V and forced me to do some really long and repetitive aerobraking to get to Gilly and even then Bill had fumes left in his EVA pack.

Spoiler

https://imgur.com/a/NZz1Ubl for the full album. Screenshots from LKO are missing unfortunately, I suspect I just forgot to take them

POINTS:

Launch from KSC (15) (who actually launches from Woomerang, ever?) > LKO (50) > leave Kerbin SOI (40) > cross Eve orbit (100) > cross Duna orbit (100) > flag on Duna (100) > flag on Eve (100) > flag on Gilly (80) = 585 points.

[Pds314]

Hmm is a Jool 5 viable I wonder?

Edited June 28, 2020 by Pds314

[sevenperforce]

On 6/28/2020 at 9:42 AM, Pds314 said:

Hmm is a Jool 5 viable I wonder?

Possibly. Getting off of Tylo would be tough.

[sevenperforce]

UPDATE: I was able to make Tylo orbit with ease using a 1.5-stage, 4-tonne lawn chair ascent vehicle so something smaller is probably doable. Definitely if you use the jetpack.

[Pds314]

21 hours ago, sevenperforce said:

UPDATE: I was able to make Tylo orbit with ease using a 1.5-stage, 4-tonne lawn chair ascent vehicle so something smaller is probably doable. Definitely if you use the jetpack.

4 tonnes is kinda worryingly high though. If you figure you're gonna need four landers/transferers that size. That's 16 tonnes to low Tylo and Laythe orbit plus the return craft.

Edited June 30, 2020 by Pds314

[sevenperforce]

1 minute ago, Pds314 said:

4 tonnes is kinda worryingly high though. If you figure you're gonna need four landers/transferers that size. That's 16 tonnes to low Tylo orbit plus the return craft.

You definitely don't need four that size -- Tylo is the biggest challenge in the Jool system. And you can drop it lower by more parallel staging and using the jetpack for the final circularization. So perhaps doable.

Given the single-engine-design constraints, I may write a script to identify the maximally efficient parallel staging design for a monoprop Tylo KLV. It's a balance between dropping empty stages as fast as possible and having too many decouplers.

[Pds314]

3 minutes ago, sevenperforce said:

You definitely don't need four that size -- Tylo is the biggest challenge in the Jool system. And you can drop it lower by more parallel staging and using the jetpack for the final circularization. So perhaps doable.

Given the single-engine-design constraints, I may write a script to identify the maximally efficient parallel staging design for a monoprop Tylo KLV. It's a balance between dropping empty stages as fast as possible and having too many decouplers.

Ah but can you really use EVA pack or lightweight landers? You still need to maneuver around the Jool system which means you're still putting a ridiculous amount of Delta-V even into a Pol/Bop lander. And EVA pack requires refilling between landings. Which means you have to have a 600+ kg cockpit with you.

Edited June 30, 2020 by Pds314

[sevenperforce]

4 minutes ago, Pds314 said:

Ah but can you really use EVA pack or lightweight landers? You still need to maneuver around the Jool system which means you're still putting a ridiculous amount of Delta-V even into a Pol/Bop lander. And EVA pack requires refilling between landings. Which means you have to have a 600+ kg cockpit with you.

That's what orbital rendezvous is for. Take only what you need to each surface.

I suck at gravity assists or I would give it a go.

[Pds314]

6 minutes ago, sevenperforce said:

That's what orbital rendezvous is for. Take only what you need to each surface.

I suck at gravity assists or I would give it a go.

Well yeah but I'm not talking about direct ascent. I'm talking about getting landers from Tylo to Vall and Pol/bop, with enough Delta-V left after a landing to get to wherever the next lander is orbiting. At least if you are not stranding Kerbals. (And if you are, or are sending a probe, just bring 5 and little sub-tonne microlanders, but you get hardly any points for that).

Edited June 30, 2020 by Pds314

[sevenperforce]

1 hour ago, Pds314 said:

Well yeah but I'm not talking about direct ascent. I'm talking about getting landers from Tylo to Vall and Pol/bop, with enough Delta-V left after a landing to get to wherever the next lander is orbiting. At least if you are not stranding Kerbals. (And if you are, or are sending a probe, just bring 5 and little sub-tonne microlanders, but you get hardly any points for that).

I'm thinking a reusable lawn chair ascent vehicle that takes drop tanks to the surface of Vall and then returns to meet an orbital transfer stage that refuels it (and has a Mk1 capsule to give the Kerbal a new flag). The transfer stage takes it to Bop and Pol in turn, where it lands on each in a single stage, returning to refuel and re-flag between. After those two, the orbital transfer stage takes it to Tylo, drops its empties, and drops the capsule in low Tylo orbit before acting as the descent stage and first ascent stage. The reusable ascent vehicle provides the second stage of ascent and the Kerbal circularizes and reaches the capsule on EVA props. 

Via a single linear monoprop thruster and a small extra tank, capsule has just enough dV onboard to leave Tylo's SOI, which with repeated gravity assists can get it on a Laythe-crossing trajectory. It brakes into low Laythe orbit to meet the Laythe lawn-chair sortie vehicle and refuel, which was placed at the start of the mission via aerobraking with the mission's only heat shield. That heat shield takes the Laythe sortie vehicle down to the surface and is dropped, and the ascent vehicle descends on chutes so the Kerbal can plant the flag. The ascent vehicle takes the Kerbal back up and he circularizes once more on EVA to reach the capsule, which has enough dV to leave Laythe's SOI and get gravity assists back to Kerbin.

[KingDominoIII]

https://imgur.com/gallery/MGGUukL album here

Launched from KSC: 15

Launch mass under 60 tons: 20

Reach LKO: 50

Crewed: 40

Total: 125

[ralanboyle]

I am quite sure I can do much better but I've run out of time for today. 

I believe my score is 400. 

Launch from KSC: 15 pts

Reach LKO orbit: 50 pts

Crewed (with safe return): 40 pts

Enter Munar SOI: 35 pts

Enter Minmus SOI: 45 pts

Leave Kerbin SOI: 40 pts

Mun orbit: 20 pts

Minmus orbit: 15 pts

Crewed Minmus landing: 40 pts

Cross Duna orbit: 100 pts

 

 

[KingDominoIII]

Are we allowed to do multiple launch missions?