Possibly the smallest Rocket only SSTO to escape Kerbol (the sun) to date

[lump]

Edit: I have now halved the fuel, like i said last time, i don't think it can get much smaller

with only 2880 fuel this thing is ultra portable

a view from another angle, i actually clipped a areo-spike with a LV-N rocket(the game let me) to cut back on weight

the fuel requirements are so tight i may not be able to put a parachute on it >

the trajectory it is leaving Kerbol (THE SUN) at

I challenge you people to beet this rocket only SSTO.

if you want i will release the craft file

ONE LAST NOTE, it needs a name so if you want to name it go ahead.

Edited May 3, 2013 by lump

[ComradeGoat]

ISTM it should be able to be done in quite a bit less...

...tries...

Here we go: 4 aerospikes, 1 NERVA, 123*71k orbit, just enough fuel left to deorbit it. 2340 litres of fuel:

...edit... Ah, you wanted it to reach escape velocity. This one just reaches orbit.

[ComradeGoat]

Ah, gotit. Surface to Kerbin escape in 2520 litres:

And running on vapours:

...edit... And checked again, you wanted it to escape the solar system. OK, ignore me, it's late!

Edited April 29, 2013 by ComradeGoat

[HoY]

I thought you meant "Kerbol" escape... not Kerbin Escape

missing a little dV for Kerbol escape lol

[doggie015]

Oh boy... an SSTO pissing contest! BRB

[ComradeGoat]

I thought you meant "Kerbol" escape... not Kerbin Escape

missing a little dV for Kerbol escape lol

Yeah. It seems my reading comprehension goes to pot this early in the morning. Bed time, methinks

[doggie015]

Oh boy... an SSTO pissing contest! BRB

And here is the Micron. 6 parts to orbit and back

T - 00:00:30

Jeb: "Uhh... this thing WILL get off the ground right?"

CAPCOM: "Affirmative"

T + 00:00:05

Jeb: "NEEDS. MORE. BOOSTERS!!!"

T + 00:02:50

Jeb: "I am surprised that this hunk of junk got this far!"

T + 00:03:34

CAPCOM: "First cutoff"

Jeb: "Roger, first cutoff"

T + 00:03:56

CAPCOM: "We are transmitting vectors for your second burn now"

Jeb: "Roger, vectors received"

T + 00:04:55

Jeb: "Starting the burn now"

T + 00:05:59

Jeb: "Burn complete"

CAPCOM: "Confirmed. Stable orbit achieved"

Jeb: "I guess I owe the engineers $75 and a few six-packs now"

[Laughter is heard in the background]

CAPCOM: "Affirm"

T + 00:06:07

CAPCOM: "We are working on deorbit vectors now. How much fuel do you have?"

Jeb: "Uhh... 44.96 fuel, 54.96 oxy"

CAPCOM: "Roger"

T + 00:07:50

CAPCOM: "We have vectors for deorbit and are transmitting them now"

Jeb: "Roger. Vectors recieved"

T + 00:13:28

Jeb: "Cutoff"

CAPCOM: "Confirmed de-orbit"

T + 00:25:07

CAPCOM: "Jeb, the heat shield is supposed to be going INTO the airflow rather than paralell to it!"

Jeb: "[sighs] Roger that"

After splashdown

Jeb: "So, when's the ETA on the pickup?"

CAPCOM: "Not sure... the recovery ship still needs to be invented"

Jeb: "I guess I had better pull up a chair huh?"

CAPCOM: "Sounds like a good idea"

[lump]

Guys, when i said Kerbol i meant the SUN, not kerbin, if it was kerbin i wouldn't have posted this, try again , it's much harder than you think it is with the same fuel requirements (unless you copy ). half of your ships barely make it to orbit, after that you still need around 2500m/s delta-V to escape the sun, look at my picture, it has Jool, Dres e.c.t. in, last time i checked they were not orbiting kerbin

Edited April 29, 2013 by lump

[Stelith61]

It could be done even easier with a Jool encounter. The delta-v numbers become Intercept+ ~200m/s.

[lump]

I actually was getting a Jool encounter as it was a new game and Jool was in a good position but Kerbol (the sun) escape is how i test all my SSTOs so i didn't want to be bias, i do want to land on laythe though so in a few hours expect to see this craft around a big green gas giant

[Frostiken]

Does the microprobe + linear RCS thrusters still work? Because I think that was the smallest, most efficient craft ever made. ****er could go interplanetary and weighed as much as a boot.

[RunningGloves]

Does the microprobe + linear RCS thrusters still work? Because I think that was the smallest, most efficient craft ever made. ****er could go interplanetary and weighed as much as a boot.

Nope, that got fixed a couple of patches ago and there was an immediate storm of "OMG RCS sucks now! Change it back!" threads.

[lump]

I have now halved the fuel, like i said last time, i don't think it can get much smaller

with only 2880 fuel this thing is ultra portable

a view from another angle, i actually clipped a areo-spike with a LV-N rocket(the game let me) to cut back on weight

the fuel requirements are so tight i may not be able to put a parachute on it >

the trajectory it is leaving Kerbol (THE SUN) at

I challenge you people to beet this rocket only SSTO.

if you want i will release the craft file

ONE LAST NOTE, it needs a name so if you want to name it go ahead.

[The Destroyer]

I'd like it.

It looks like a very nice interplaetary ship.

[tavert]

Nicely done. I reduced my SSTOMAB to 4500 liquid + 1732 solid and thought that was pretty good, but apparently not. I'd like to see how the fuel lines are routed and what kind of delta-V it has once in orbit.

[lump]

Nicely done. I reduced my SSTOMAB to 4500 liquid + 1732 solid and thought that was pretty good, but apparently not. I'd like to see how the fuel lines are routed and what kind of delta-V it has once in orbit.

It actually has no fuel lines on the small engines, only the separated external tanks and on to make the glitchy clipping suck up fuel, as it has enough delta-V to leave kerbol i imagine it has enough to get to the moon and back, although i have an even smaller one that may be able to do that.

[tavert]

Having tried to recreate this, I'm at a loss for how you get it to orbit with that much delta-V remaining. When do you switch off the aerospike? I ran the numbers based on the speeds and altitudes you showed, if the periapsis of your Kerbin escape was at 70 km then the velocity at periapsis looks like it was about 5179 m/s, or 2883 m/s higher than circular orbit speed at 70 km. So yes that's a comparable amount of delta-V to a Mun landing and return. I would replace the ASAS with a parachute for getting home, but I also usually fly with MechJeb so don't have much of a sense for whether the ASAS is a necessity.

[lump]

OK tavert, what i do is do a very shallow gravity turn, like almost to pointing up apposed 45 degrees, i turn of my areospike at around 600 fuel (this wont get you to escape velocity to do this you need to turn it off earlier,say 630-670 fuel) but continue on roughly the same trajectory, only slightly turning the ship, once your apo is above 130-140k you can need to tilt fully, it's not efficient at all but, this thing is just that slow.

as you may understand every morsel of fuel counts on this thing, 10 liters can be the difference between life and death, so keep experimenting at very shallow gravity turns and around a 600 fuel turn-off and you'll get into orbit, i recommendtrying with 600 fuel first and then stopping the areospike earlier and earlier until you get into fuel with a decent amount of fuel(i think around 320 is needed for escape)

[tavert]

Ah, thank you very much for the explanation. That's so very different from how I've gotten used to getting things to orbit. I'll keep playing with it.

[lump]

Ah, thank you very much for the explanation. That's so very different from how I've gotten used to getting things to orbit. I'll keep playing with it.

yeah it's a quite a strange little craft, the first time i used it i left it flying while i went to get a drink, came back to see i had gone past 10000, i turned off the areospike and started to get into orbit but only just, if it wasn't for that drink i may have never got it into orbit and would have probably considered it a failure

[Francesco]

can I has a craft file?

[Limited Infinity]

If I wanted to give this a try, how are you measuring small? Total weight, fuel, height, mass, etc.?

[lump]

hello everyone sorry for the late reply, my keyboard is broken so i have to share with my brother

Francesco, i will upload the craft file as soon as i can

Limited Infinity, i am measuring in fuel as most things are some scale to that anyway, 2880 fuel is how much it has bearing in mind it is a rocket only SSTO, no jets at all.