Build a two or all rockets from X-Prize.

[Sky Kerman]

http://www.astronautix.com/x/x-prize.html

I think this will be fun because of obscure rockets. Moded parts are not aloud.

Have fun!

[QF9E]

Among the rather mundane (at least KSP-wise) ballistic suborbital rockets, mothership launched rocket planes and jet / rocket plane hybrids I found one that is so weirdly different from the others that I just had to build it in KSP: http://www.astronautix.com/w/wildfire.html. Wild fire is a rockoon, a rocket that is carried to the stratosphere by a balloon before lighting its engine.

The craft is described as

Quote

The Wild Fire crew capsule was a 1.42 meter diameter sphere [...] The propulsion system consisted of two gimbaled (3-axis), pressure fed 2,300 kgf thrust rocket engines, burning kerosene and liquid oxygen [...] Reentry and landing was achieved through the deployment of an inflated shuttlecock to increase surface area and maintain passive static stability. An inflated blunt conical cone was deployed at the base to protect the engines on re-entry and to provide an airbag effect for landing. A parachute was deployed to slow the vehicle for final landing.

To replicate this I used the 3-man Soviet style capsule; Some airbrakes were used to replicate a shuttlecock in form and function. As the landing speed is a bit too high to be survivable, I had to use the engine to slow down just before splashdown. I decided against using the inflatable heatshield to replicate the "inflated shuttlecock" and "inflated blunt conical cone", as the stock inflatable heat shield, while a better fit, is too big for this rocket.

As to how I managed to build a stock balloon: it's not a balloon, it just looks like one. Technically it is an octocopter drone, with the propellers clipped inside the cone at the base. The balloon itself is a massive payload fairing on a 5 meter base, with a large stack of reaction wheels inside to keep it stable during ascent.

Edited July 24, 2022 by QF9E

[Sky Kerman]

3 hours ago, QF9E said:

Among the rather mundane (at least KSP-wise) ballistic suborbital rockets, mothership launched rocket planes and jet / rocket plane hybrids I found one that is so weirdly different from the others that I just had to build it in KSP: http://www.astronautix.com/w/wildfire.html. Wild fire is a rockoon, a rocket that is carried to the stratosphere by a balloon before lighting its engine.

The craft is described as

To replicate this I used the 3-man Soviet style capsule; Some airbrakes were used to replicate a shuttlecock in form and function. As the landing speed is a bit too high to be survivable, I had to use the engine to slow down just before splashdown. I decided against using the inflatable heatshield to replicate the "inflated shuttlecock" and "inflated blunt conical cone", as the stock inflatable heat shield, while a better fit, is too big for this rocket.

As to how I managed to build a stock balloon: it's not a balloon, it just looks like one. Technically it is an octocopter drone, with the propellers clipped inside the cone at the base. The balloon itself is a massive payload fairing on a 5 meter base, with a large stack of reaction wheels inside to keep it stable during ascent.

Thats awesome!  Nice job! I really like how you did the balloon!