Ultimate Steve Posted July 2, 2022 Share Posted July 2, 2022 (edited) Inspired by the Dude Perfect series of the same name, here is short construction/optimization challenge: Fly as high as possible with only a small solid rocket engine. To prevent the designs from being brain dead obvious, there are some restrictions: The only two allowed control inputs are the ignition of the rocket engine and the deployment of the parachute, no moving of fins, no RCS, no SAS, etc. These rockets should be unguided. The rocket must return to the surface of Kerbin intact with no damage The rocket must carry a Kerbal The only allowed source of propulsion is the listed solid rocket booster (adjusting fuel content and thrust limiter is allowed) There are 3 classes: Class 1: One Sepratron Allowed @swjr-swis, 1469m @HB Stratos, 1318m Class 2: One Mite Allowed @HB Stratos, 26102m @camacju, 14236m @swjr-swis, 9728m @Ultimate Steve, 2341m Class 3: One Shrimp Allowed @HB Stratos, 75635m @swjr-swis, 52148m @Jack Joseph Kerman, 38315m DLCs are allowed, and the standard reasonable mod restrictions and no cheating boilerplate applies. Altitude is measured above sea level, and launch from the launch pad without launch clamps. If the couple meter height of the rockets ends up mattering, I'll be very surprised. Here is my first class 2 entry: Highest point, 2341 meters largely due to improper balance Parachute deployment And successful recovery! Good luck! Edited July 13, 2022 by Ultimate Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rutabaga22 Posted July 2, 2022 Share Posted July 2, 2022 326 on separatron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rutabaga22 Posted July 2, 2022 Share Posted July 2, 2022 (edited) Nevermind Edited July 3, 2022 by Rutabaga22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camacju Posted July 2, 2022 Share Posted July 2, 2022 Here's my Class 2 entry - 14236 m: On runway. A Kerbal has unreasonably high drag so that's why I included the fairing - I can actually get better height with the extra mass. I tried to balance this craft but for some reason a command seat's center of mass changes when a Kerbal is in it, and this change isn't reflected in the VAB. This means that Kerbal Engineer's thrust torque readout doesn't work either, so I had to do this with pure trial and error. Mite burns out 14236 meter max height I rearranged the staging on the fly so a single staging event deploys both the fairing and parachute. Chute deployed Landed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MythicalHeFF Posted July 3, 2022 Share Posted July 3, 2022 Class 3 Entry- 55,731m 38,315m. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swjr-swis Posted July 4, 2022 Share Posted July 4, 2022 (edited) Entry for class 1: the sepratwist, 1469 m. Spoiler safe landing through deployment of the kerbal personal chute Entry for class 2: themiteyone, 11674 m. Please ignore, see corrected no-damage entry. Spoiler Safe-ish landing through deployment of the kerbal personal chute (fins crumpled) Entry for class 3: the sifu-dwan, 88128 m. Please ignore, see corrected no-damage entry. Spoiler landed with personal chute, rip fins Edited July 4, 2022 by swjr-swis class 2 & 3 entries replaced, see link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swjr-swis Posted July 4, 2022 Share Posted July 4, 2022 On 7/2/2022 at 7:40 PM, Ultimate Steve said: The rocket must return to the surface of Kerbin intact with no damage I need to stop doing these challenges when I'm having trouble sleeping - just now realized this means the entire rocket, not just the kerbal. I'll have to redo the class 2 and 3 entries, since they lost their fins on landing. I assume this also means no fairing shroud deployment? Correction coming up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swjr-swis Posted July 4, 2022 Share Posted July 4, 2022 Corrected entry for class 2: themiteyone c, 9728 m. Spoiler Corrected entry for class 3: the sifu-dawn b, 52148 m. Spoiler The sepratwist did not need correction, it landed with all parts intact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HB Stratos Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 Entry for Class 3, 75635m Spoiler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HB Stratos Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 Entry for class 2, 26102m Spoiler The ksp team made it so all parts attached to all but the bottom node have no drag so engines inside the plate would have no drag if interstage. Just they forgot that the top node ontop of the plate is also not the bottom node. That means one has now two free nodes that force attached parts to have zero drag. and if you attach two plates to each other they make each other have no drag while leaving two free nodes for parts to attach with zero drag on them too. This should explain why the aeroGUI shows drag zero. That is no cheats used, that is just a few tricks in game abused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HB Stratos Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 Class 1 Entry, 1318m It certainly stretches how much one should use the offset too, but at four parts and this height such measures are necessary Spoiler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimate Steve Posted July 13, 2022 Author Share Posted July 13, 2022 Good job everyone! Sorry for the large delay, I got into a big slump and didn't really want to do anything for a while. Leaderboards are now updated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swjr-swis Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 (edited) Seeing as the fairing base/engine plate drag shielding are accepted, I'd like to enter themiteytoo for class 2. It combines both parts in the design for an optimal compromise between drag and weight reduction, reaching a new record of 27199 m. Spoiler Side-effect: it sinks, with open chute. So I took an F3 shot to show it landed intact before letting Val bail out. Edited July 13, 2022 by swjr-swis forgot craft link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swjr-swis Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 And of course also the class 3 equivalent: the sifu-dree, reaching a new record altitude of 113951 m. Spoiler No sinking this time, so the previous one must've been a fluke? Val's happy to wait for recovery this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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