Duke MelTdoWn Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 (edited) Today a representative of Kerbodyne announced in front of an assembly of students and scientist of Kamut University that they plan to send a Kerbal to the Mun before the decade is out. Can you beat Kerbodyne to it and plant your flag on the Mun before them? Rules Entries will be ranked on the elapsed time from launch to the moment you plant a flag on the Mun. This challenge has to be played in a fresh sandbox game on normal difficulty. (Same position of the Mun for everyone to make it fair.) Therefore the elapsed time will be measured in UT. Please provide a screenshot from the moment the "Name Site" window opens with UT showing. You can enter multiple designs or tries into the contest, which will be tracked in the Leader Board. Only the fastest entry of each player will be counted for the ranking. (I.e. a player with the 2nd and 3rd fastest times would be ranked 2nd, while the player with the next fastest entry after that would be third.) You can showcase the forum badge for the highest ranking you have ever achieved. (E.g. if you held the fastest time at some point, you can continue to use the '1st' badge, even if your record is broken later on.) In case that times are tied, launch mass will be used as tiebreaker (lighter is better). The Kerbal does not need to come back. The landing stage does not need to survive impact. You are allowed to load an already tested craft for the launch. (This is a design challenge.) Launch site must be KSC Launchpad or Runway. Please indicate if you are using any part mods. Modded designs will run in their own category. Using automation like Mechjeb or KAL controllers will put the run into the "Tool Assisted Speed Run (TAS)" category. Vessels that use game breaking exploits like Kraken Drive™ or zero drag will run in their own category "//evil floating point hack - what the f?". Saving and loading to optimize the flight path is allowed. No Alt-F12 cheat menu! No changing the orbit of the Mun! Leader Board Stock designs - [30 minutes 20 seconds - Scott Manley on "Record Breaker Rebuild" (127 kilotons) - 2018] 1. 32 minutes 11 seconds - Meltdown on "MunExpress CA" (2,339 tons) - 2025-03-31 2. 36 minutes 01 seconds - Ultimate Steve on "Delta V" (474 tons) - 2025-03-28 - 48 minutes 31 seconds - Meltdown on "MunExpress BH" (2,238 tons) - 2025-03-27 3. 54 minutes 53 seconds - Royale37 on "MunBus 737" (833 tons) - 2025-03-29 Badges Edited March 31 by Duke MelTdoWn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke MelTdoWn Posted March 26 Author Share Posted March 26 I'll start, you can use this as template 'MunExpress BH' Time: 48 minutes 31 seconds (UT Y01, D01, 00:48:31) Mods: stock parts; only visual mods Launch Mass: 2,238 tons Price: 751,921 Picture proof: Mission report: This design has too little TWR. I kept accelerating to 8000 m/s relative to the Mun Surface, then started to brake immediatly. After ditching the last Nerva (that still had 4000 m/s in it), I had to coast for 3 minutes with the lander stage. Lander stage crashed with ~ 50 m/s and destroyed its (empty) fuel tanks. Valentina is stranded. More pics: https://imgur.com/gallery/race-to-mun-speed-run-NU9AnuY Even more pics: Spoiler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottadges Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 (edited) I absolutely LOVE this lander. Buckle up honey, you're going to the MUN! Edited March 27 by scottadges Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke MelTdoWn Posted March 27 Author Share Posted March 27 (edited) 7 hours ago, scottadges said: I absolutely LOVE this lander. Buckle up honey, you're going to the MUN! I used extreme staging (17 stages) on this build because it is a race and I need every drop of delta-v I can get. Having an extremely light final stage helps a lot. This puppy weights in at 1.1 tons and has everything you need if you just plan to plant a flag and never go back. Edited March 27 by Duke MelTdoWn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottadges Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 3 hours ago, Duke MelTdoWn said: just plan to plant a flag and never go back Wait, so the kerbal does (or doesn't) have to return to Kerbin for this challenge? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke MelTdoWn Posted March 27 Author Share Posted March 27 4 hours ago, scottadges said: Wait, so the kerbal does (or doesn't) have to return to Kerbin for this challenge? No the Kerbal has not to go back. One way trip to hell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimera Industries Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 7 hours ago, scottadges said: Wait, so the kerbal does (or doesn't) have to return to Kerbin for this challenge? What do you think rescue missions are for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottadges Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 11 minutes ago, Kimera Industries said: What do you think rescue missions are for? That's the thing, this is a "speed run"... ain't nobody got time for rescuin' no kerbals!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimate Steve Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Bill Kerman has been launched to the Mun in 36:01. In short, my strategy relied on 2 main ideas. Firstly, minimize the mass of the final stage. Secondly, focus on high TWR stages. It doesn't matter much if you get up to, say, 10km/s if you only achieve that briefly in the middle. This ship is designed to get up to 6.6km/s in 6-7 minutes and slow down to zero in three. Its top speed isn't near the practical limit but it spends the majority of its journey at that speed. Not sure if this approach will win out in the long term though. The mission could easily be 1-1.5 minutes faster if I had been quicker on the draw clicking on the VAB when I started the save, more aggressive with my top speed (I had a few hundred m/s left), and if I had managed my suicide burn better (I EVA'd out of the ship to land because I undershot and the ship didn't have reaction wheels to turn around with). The center of thrust was also not properly aligned, adding complexity and inefficiency to the descent. It is called the Delta-V, it costs 246,135, and masses 474.168 tons. This idea can be further pursued, there is plenty of room for moar boosters. More pictures: Spoiler Liftoff. At this point we are already 23 seconds into the save mostly as I didn't click on the VAB super fast when the save started. Boosters decoupled. The gravity turn could be significantly optimized as I lost a lot to aero here due to the sharp turn. Third stage is a rhino. I had to flip around and wait for like 20 seconds here as Bill almost died due to overheating. Seven asparagus staged Skiffs are next. And here is towards the end of the acceleration burn. I dipped into a little of the seven asparagused terriers, originally the dividing line was supposed to be in the middle but I miscalculated a bit, and I could have pushed it 1-200m/s faster in retrospect. It is a little hard to judge exactly how much fuel you need. There were many different attempts at engine start timings, this is probably not the correct one. The last two boosters are jettisoned going 3.5km/s. And the final stage is one twitch. There is easily 30 seconds to be saved by not fumbling the suicide burn. I shot back into the sky here. So I jetpacked down to the surface to go faster. Flag planted and the remains of the final stage in the back. And, time! 36:01. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke MelTdoWn Posted March 28 Author Share Posted March 28 1 hour ago, Ultimate Steve said: Bill Kerman has been launched to the Mun in 36:01. Gratz on taking the lead! 12.5 minutes is quite a drastic improvement. I will fiddle around with switching the Nervas on the cruise stage to Darts for better TWR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royale37 Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 I'm working on my entry right now, but just wanted to say, you should totally make a badge! First place, second place, third place, participation, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royale37 Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 (edited) Alright, here's my entry! This is my ship, the MunBus 737. It weighs 833.138t, with about 14,000m/s of vaccuum dV. MunBus on takeoff: ETA at Mun: Slow down burn: Landing: Flag! So I landed and planted the flag at 54:53. My main strategy was a minimal final stage; Jeb doesn't need to come home or survive in the long run, which means no electrics or comms. The final stage was a pod, fuel and an engine. My other strategy was making each stage as fuel efficient as possible, meaning 1.03 twr is fine as long as I get 500 more dV out of it. This meant my launch vehicle could be smaller and therefor the four SRBs could push as smaller mass faster. I think that I could easily make this 5 minutes faster if I was faster going into VAB, launch, etc, and also optimizing how close I fly by the Mun. Edited March 29 by Royale37 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke MelTdoWn Posted March 30 Author Share Posted March 30 (edited) A very nice entry, but it seems you and me both need better TWR if we want to beat Ultimate Steve. On 3/28/2025 at 11:16 PM, Royale37 said: I'm working on my entry right now, but just wanted to say, you should totally make a badge! First place, second place, third place, participation, etc. I also took you up on your idea and dusted off my GIMP skills: https://imgur.com/gallery/race-to-mun-badges-gUjrRUN Edited March 30 by Duke MelTdoWn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royale37 Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 8 hours ago, Duke MelTdoWn said: also took you up on your idea and dusted off my GIMP skills: Wow! Far better than anything I could ever do! Now just need to wait for my power to come back on to put it into my signature. So I would assume that if you EVER were in second, for example, you could keep using the second place badge, even if someone beats your time? Or would you switch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke MelTdoWn Posted March 30 Author Share Posted March 30 (edited) 52 minutes ago, Royale37 said: So I would assume that if you EVER were in second, for example, you could keep using the second place badge, even if someone beats your time? Or would you switch? Good question. Are there other challenges were there is a clear overall 1st and how do they handle it? E.g. Jool 5 most science points My gut feeling tells me that you should switch badge if you loose your place. This would encourage people to keep on racing and refining their times. On the other hand this is hard to implement, you can't expect people to check this thread often to see whether the standings have changed and edit their signature all the time. In any case, I added the following rule for clarification that will be needed for both variants: "You can enter multiple craft or tries into the contest, which will be tracked in the Leader Board. Only the fastest entry of each player will be counted for the ranking. (I.e. a player can not be overall 2nd and 3rd, they would be 2nd.)" Edited March 30 by Duke MelTdoWn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royale37 Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 53 minutes ago, Duke MelTdoWn said: Are there other challenges were there is a clear overall 1st and how do they handle it? E.g. Jool 5 most science points All the other challenges I’ve seen are more like “you did it!” Not first, second, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke MelTdoWn Posted March 30 Author Share Posted March 30 Lets go the easy route, this is a game and should be fun after all. No need for forum busywork. "You can showcase the forum badge for the highest ranking you have ever achieved. E.g. if you held the fastest time at some point, you can continue to use the '1st' badge, even if you record is broken later on." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisB Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 4 hours ago, Duke MelTdoWn said: Good question. Are there other challenges were there is a clear overall 1st and how do they handle it? E.g. Jool 5 most science points The badges are normally just for completing a challenge, and the ranking is in the opening post of the challenge thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poppa Wheelie Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 13 hours ago, Duke MelTdoWn said: I also took you up on your idea I can't read the "Racer" badge text in dark mode. Cool contest. Might give it a go someday. Reminds me of this Scott Manley video. He did a speed run to the Mun and back. At minute 11:25 in the video he touches the Mun at just over 30 minutes of mission time. So, he might have an honorary 1st place in your contest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke MelTdoWn Posted March 30 Author Share Posted March 30 33 minutes ago, Poppa Wheelie said: I can't read the "Racer" badge text in dark mode. Cool contest. Might give it a go someday. Reminds me of this Scott Manley video. He did a speed run to the Mun and back. At minute 11:25 in the video he touches the Mun at just over 30 minutes of mission time. So, he might have an honorary 1st place in your contest. I made the color of the "Racer" text lighter, does that help? And I will add Scott as honorable mention Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poppa Wheelie Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 27 minutes ago, Duke MelTdoWn said: I made the color of the "Racer" text lighter, does that help? Yes, perfect! Thanks. At least Scott's time of 30:14 is a benchmark that shows what's doable. A time to shoot for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke MelTdoWn Posted March 30 Author Share Posted March 30 Just now, Poppa Wheelie said: At least Scott's time of 30:14 is a benchmark that shows what's doable. A time to shoot for. A time to cook some eggs on your CPU cooler. I added 6 seconds to his 30:14 to account for getting out of the space craft and the plant flag animation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Kerbin Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 Is restock okay for stock category?(visual mod after all) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke MelTdoWn Posted March 31 Author Share Posted March 31 9 hours ago, Mr. Kerbin said: Is restock okay for stock category?(visual mod after all) Yes restock can run in stock category. The "modded" category was introduced mainly because of alternative engines, which will make comparison to stock times hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke MelTdoWn Posted March 31 Author Share Posted March 31 (edited) So ... I copied the homework of the competition (as every good Racer should do) and came up with an improved MunExpress. MunExpress CA Time: 32 minutes 11 seconds Mods: stock parts; only visual mods Launch Mass: 2,339 tons Price: 754,975 Delta-V: 15,400 m/s Picture proof: Mission report: First 6 stages are mostly unchanged and still consist of Mammoths in asparagus config. The cruise stage now uses Darts instead of Nervas and the Rhino is kept until Mun arrival for much higher TWR. 8000 m/s relative to the Mun was reached after 08:41. Landing burn took 4 minutes and was initiated at 27:45. I iterated on the minimalist lander of @Ultimate Steve and added 2 extra detachable Oscar-B to the final Spark stage. The fastest way to get out of the seat is to crash into the Mun such that you are ejected. More pics: Spoiler Even more pics: https://imgur.com/gallery/race-to-mun-munexpress-ca-speed-run-lMnGs6F Edited March 31 by Duke MelTdoWn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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