Comfortable Ride Challenge

[determinationmaster]

COMFORTABLE RIDE CHALLENGE

Kerbal space tourists are getting fed up with rockets that break their necks and make loads of space junk! This is why we need YOU to design a single stage rocket that can get to orbit and back without giving our tourists a bumpy ride.

RULES

1. Rocket must launch from the launchpad and land vertically.

2.Rocket must return in one piece. This means that it must be single staged. engine switching is allowed.

3. Refueling in orbit is not required, but i can't see a way for this challenge to be completed without it.

4. At 5 times Kerbin's gravity, your tourists will most likely pass out, which is Not Optimal^TM . Keep your kerbals under this threshold at all times*, or you will be disqualified. Also, try not to make your kerbals withstand G forces over 3 Gs for more that 5 seconds.

5. Your rocket must be able to:

• Launch vertically (remember to stay under 4 Gs!)
• Reach low Kerbin orbit. You get points for style, i.e smooth launch profile. Don't just burn straight up and then burn prograde at apoapsis, try to make it pretty.
• Accommodate at least 5 tourists. Any more gets you bonus points!
• Powered landing back on kerbin. Speed below 1 m/s so the tourists dont get jolted.

6.  No Kraken drives. Come on people.

MODS

Near Future Suite (optional but recommended)

Kerbal Atomics (optional)

Cryogenic engines (optional)

SSPX Redux (optional)

Mechjeb- this is a piloting challenge, so for obvious reasons this is not allowed.

Any planet pack: banned, unless it is only there to make the game better looking (aka Stock Visual Terrain)

You can use other mods, but please check with me first. 

SETTINGS (NEW SANDBOX SAVE)

Stock settings: Normal difficulty, turn on Kerbal g force limits.

POINTS:

1 point for each extra tourist you bring along.

Your score is doubled if you land on another celestial body before landing on Kerbin. Remember, all landings must be below 1 m/s.

Bonus style points if you have a beautiful ship/nice launch profile!

LEADERBOARD:

Spoiler

 

 

I will also be trying this challenge out to make sure it's possible  

[Pds314]

"Refueling in orbit isn't required but I can't see how to complete it otherwise"

I'm slightly confused. Why would you need to refuel in orbit? Won't reentry slow you down? Or is the dV really that marginal that you won't be able to afford landing fuel without hurting the tourists? This challenge doesn't *seem* that bad.

 

Edited October 18, 2022 by Pds314

[Thundrevv]

When you say powered landing, can I use parachutes to slow down to, say, 10m/s and then the touchdown be powered or must there be no chutes at all?

[determinationmaster]

 

On 10/18/2022 at 7:49 AM, Pds314 said:

"Refueling in orbit isn't required but I can't see how to complete it otherwise"

I'm slightly confused. Why would you need to refuel in orbit? Won't reentry slow you down? Or is the dV really that marginal that you won't be able to afford landing fuel without hurting the tourists? This challenge doesn't *seem* that bad.

 

yeah, i guess it's probably not an issue, i'll change it to a points objective (you get extra points for if you don't refuel in orbit)

2 hours ago, Thundrevv said:

When you say powered landing, can I use parachutes to slow down to, say, 10m/s and then the touchdown be powered or must there be no chutes at all?

Nope! No chutes allowed, I'm wanting this to be more like starship than a traditional rocket landing. you get extra points if you land back on the same pad afterwards!

[WaveyD]

Not really a submission because i can't do the video but...

https://kerbalx.com/WaveyD/Vertical-Orbiter

Full throttle, SAS on, custom action 2...as soon as craft lifts hit pro grade follow. Should take you into orbit on its own, just needs the throttle cutting as it gets circular (roughly).

Re-entry needs a minimum peri of 30k. Any lower will produce too many G's. Deploy the air brakes for re-entry, custom 1.

Toggle the vectors off, custom 10.

Toggle the panthers on, custom  9.

As soon as you can full throttle and use the panthers to control rate of descent. Plenty of fuel so take your time, start early, it takes a while to kill the speed.

Below 100m/s might be good to switch from retograde follow to radial out. Helps with hills.

How to time the re-entry is tricky.

Max G should be around 3, room for 5 kerbals.

Edited October 24, 2022 by WaveyD

[determinationmaster]

On 10/24/2022 at 5:49 PM, WaveyD said:

Not really a submission because i can't do the video but...

https://kerbalx.com/WaveyD/Vertical-Orbiter

Full throttle, SAS on, custom action 2...as soon as craft lifts hit pro grade follow. Should take you into orbit on its own, just needs the throttle cutting as it gets circular (roughly).

Re-entry needs a minimum peri of 30k. Any lower will produce too many G's. Deploy the air brakes for re-entry, custom 1.

Toggle the vectors off, custom 10.

Toggle the panthers on, custom  9.

As soon as you can full throttle and use the panthers to control rate of descent. Plenty of fuel so take your time, start early, it takes a while to kill the speed.

Below 100m/s might be good to switch from retograde follow to radial out. Helps with hills.

How to time the re-entry is tricky.

Max G should be around 3, room for 5 kerbals.

Wow! i didn't think anyone would actually do this challenge! if you ever get a chance, please try making a video, i would love to see it!

 

[WaveyD]

10 hours ago, determinationmaster said:

Wow! i didn't think anyone would actually do this challenge! if you ever get a chance, please try making a video, i would love to see it!

I don't have a youtube account, I don't have this that or the other. Sorry. I tihnk I can make a video with the nvid game thing. Not sure where to upload it though. Maybe it is finally time to make a youtube account haha.

The craft is kinda....well lets say it works half the time. There's some random factor in the ascent. Sometimes the two burns work out nice...you do have to stop the second burn and you will find yourself in a nice circular orbit...other times it's the offspring of a giant chicken. I think the tank priority can be played with. Currentlly the bottom tanks go last, which is great for re-entry but tends to make the landing phase a bit wobbly. Let me consider how to do a vid...

Edited November 3, 2022 by WaveyD

[farmerben]

This is fun!  I thought I needed mechjeb to pull it off, but I managed it manually.  My vessel had 8 panthers which handled the entire landing.  I also had 16 aerospikes and 1 vector.  A cupola, and hitchhiker storage module had room for 5 kerbals.  I used airbrakes and reaction wheels.  

I forgot how to post screenshots.  If I'm reminded how I will post a few.