[Mods] Reusable Eve SSTO

[Richy teh space man]

The challenge is this. Make a craft capable of landing on Eve with Kerbal(s) inside and returning to stable orbit, without shedding any parts. Ideally the craft will have a docking port on it somewhere so it can be towed and refuelled once in orbit, and should also be reusable.

This is possible to do: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/23774-0-20-2-Hooligan-Labs-Airships-Party-Starters-Shields-SQUIDs?p=410860&viewfull=1#post410860

Use of mods is recommended, in particular Hooligans airship mod. Hyper edit and dev console are allowed for inserting the craft into Eves atmosphere and refuelling prior to entering the atmosphere. Once inside the atmosphere of Eve, they may not be used again.

Reasonable mods too, anyone can make a part that has massive thrust for 0 fuel usage, but that is not what this challenge is about. I'm leaving it fairly open as to what mods you can use, please don't abuse it by using mods that are OP'd.

Pics of successful craft should be posted. Craft files and info on how to get the craft to orbit are a must too.

Challenge will be passed when the craft is in a stable orbit around Eve, for a total of 100,000 points.

Bonus points:

Where's the challenge? Stock parts only - 1,000,000 points

Passenger service - Get 6 or more Kerbals to and from the surface - 50,000 points

High flier - periapsis above 1 million - 50,000 points

Roll of honour:

Richy teh space man - 100k

1096bimu - 150k

My entry:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/eyljgh6x9zis9mr/Eve%20SSTO%20%235c.craft

To land it enter the atmosphere of Eve fully fuelled, in a retrograde direction. Let the aero braking kill off speed, inflate balloon to about 1% when your speed gets low enough, then just increase it slightly as you get lower to the ground. Lower the landing struts when your low enough, then just gently place it down with fine altitude adjustment.

To take off, I'd recommend letting mechjeb 2 set the launch profile. Turn start 45 km, final turn 85 km , orbit altitude 110km, turn shape 36.6% works. Inflate the balloon steadily, don't let buoyancy exceed 20 000, I'd suggest lower until your out of the thickest atmosphere. Once there, punch buoyancy to max and let the inertia carry you to over 30 km up. Then, start your engines and wait until your over 42 km up, then set buoyancy to 0. Use manual control to help mechjeb 2 follow the nav beacons, as it may stray slightly. You may have to fine tune getting the perfect orbit at the end a little, but there should be enough fumes to circularize though.

Edit: There's also a docking part on the underside of it, for pushing it around, towing, etc.. which you will need for refuelling and putting it into Eve's atmosphere, engines disabled with 0 key.

Slide show of it in action: http://s448.photobucket.com/user/Richy_yvl/slideshow/Eve%20SSTO

Uses the following mods:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/23774-0-20-2-Hooligan-Labs-Airships-Party-Starters-Shields-SQUIDs

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/30472-KSPX-Kerbal-Stock-Part-eXpansion-mod-reposted

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/12384-PART-0-20-Anatid-Robotics-MuMech-MechJeb-Autopilot-v2-0-8

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/9396-0-20-ISA-MapSat-4-0-Dev-Build

Edited June 2, 2013 by Richy teh space man

[Stochasty]

Okay; multiple problems with this.

First, Challenge Forums Rule #1: where's your attempt?

Second, clarify what you mean by "reasonable mods." The Hooligan Labs airship mod changes gameplay substantially. As this is not doable without mods which similarly change gameplay, where do you draw the line between reasonable and unreasonable?

Third, what do you mean by stock parts only? I can build a craft with this capability using only "stock" parts by adding the ferram's FAR mod and ialdabaoth's Modular Fuel Tanks + Realistic Fuels mod. There is a small chance that I could pull it off using only FAR. It is physically impossible to do without using mods.

Nonetheless, I love messing around with planes on Eve, so I'll probably make a go at this soon.

[Richy teh space man]

Okay; multiple problems with this.

First, Challenge Forums Rule #1: where's your attempt?

Second, clarify what you mean by "reasonable mods." The Hooligan Labs airship mod changes gameplay substantially. As this is not doable without mods which similarly change gameplay, where do you draw the line between reasonable and unreasonable?

Third, what do you mean by stock parts only? I can build a craft with this capability using only "stock" parts by adding the ferram's FAR mod and ialdabaoth's Modular Fuel Tanks + Realistic Fuels mod. There is a small chance that I could pull it off using only FAR. It is physically impossible to do without using mods.

Nonetheless, I love messing around with planes on Eve, so I'll probably make a go at this soon.

1 It was in the link, I'm putting it forward as my contender. I'll paste it into the op for clarity though

2 It's a grey area I'll agree and there's probably no ultimate right or wrong answer to this, it's more a case of showcasing originality and creativity. That said though, mods that affect gravity or magically change orbits and fuel levels are a no go I'd say. (once in Eves atmosphere). As to atmosphere changers, I don't think the mods you mentioned are unreasonable for the purposes of this challenge. Anything that removes the atmosphere though would be a no go.

3 Stock parts only, no mods or add ons. I don't think it's possible, but I'll offer a 1 million point bonus if anyone actually accomplishes it.

[1096bimu]

I think my SABRE engine could easily do it, or a rocket powered turbine which I also have one modified from Kathane pack.

Also, I have seen people do this all stock from high mountains, I think you should make the minimal ground level to be lower than 1k.

Edited June 1, 2013 by 1096bimu

[Stochasty]

Also, I have seen people do this all stock from high mountains, I think you should make the minimal ground level to be lower than 1k.

No, you haven't - at least, not recently. It might have been possible before they lowered the highest terrain and when aerospikes were overpowered. It no longer is.

[Richy teh space man]

I think my SABRE engine could easily do it, or a rocket powered turbine which I also have one modified from Kathane pack.

Also, I have seen people do this all stock from high mountains, I think you should make the minimal ground level to be lower than 1k.

The SABRE engine idea sounds interesting, have you built ships for Eve using it?

Also if anyone can do this with all stock, then I'll be impressed. I think it's fair game if someone wants to use a high point on Eve to do it from, so long as they can land it there in the first place.

[1096bimu]

The SABRE is still OP and highly efficient in space, but not as efficient as nuclear rockets so I just added some SRBs to initiate atmospheric entry. If this was a real mission I could do this with my transfer vehicle from a far and have the transfer vehicle pull back up.

I'm using air brakes mounted on the nose to make sure i point in the right direction because other wise I would spin out because of FAR and those landing legs when deployed.

doing a powered landing instead of parachute, just because I can.

Launch back into orbit. With these engines you would want to do a more horizontal launch because SABRE can use the atmosphere as propellant even if not as oxidizer. It wasn't as flat as I wanted for aerodynamic reasons, I risk loosing control.

Ended up with less fuel to spare than I hoped, couldn't get a 1m+ AP.

[Ninety-Three]

I don't think I'll be doing this, as I'm terrible at anything involving lift, but I've always theorized that a "ship" which was 80% control surfaces (and 20% ion drive for circularization) should be able to get to orbit completely stock. I've seen silly stuff done, like leaving Kerbin's atmosphere in half a minute, and my understanding is that control surface flight should be even more powerful on Eve, since despite the gravity being higher, the atmosphere is way thicker, multiplying the control surface power. Would anyone who knows more about spaceplanes care to comment on this theory? If it really is plausible, I might have to teach myself some plane design and put it to work.

[Richy teh space man]

Nicely done 1096bimu! Are your crew able to walk on the surface and reboard the ship too?

At any rate, welcome to the hall of fame.

Edit: Just noticed you can carry 7 crew, so you win the passenger service bonus too

Edited June 2, 2013 by Richy teh space man

[kahlzun]

Note that when using Hyperedit to enter Eve's atmosphere, entering below about 45km is likely to cause death and explosions

Edited June 2, 2013 by kahlzun

[magnemoe]

The SABRE is still OP and highly efficient in space, but not as efficient as nuclear rockets so I just added some SRBs to initiate atmospheric entry. If this was a real mission I could do this with my transfer vehicle from a far and have the transfer vehicle pull back up.

I'm using air brakes mounted on the nose to make sure i point in the right direction because other wise I would spin out because of FAR and those landing legs when deployed.

doing a powered landing instead of parachute, just because I can.

Launch back into orbit. With these engines you would want to do a more horizontal launch because SABRE can use the atmosphere as propellant even if not as oxidizer. It wasn't as flat as I wanted for aerodynamic reasons, I risk loosing control.

Ended up with less fuel to spare than I hoped, couldn't get a 1m+ AP.

The sabre has an worse exploit than the 800m/s isp in vacuum. The 23600 m/s in atmosphere, this is an normal isp for jet engines, however on Eve the sabre work like an normal rocket engine and would have an isp like one.

Only way around this would be to use an nuclear jet engine like the pluto engine. You would need an small rocket engine to get you up to speed

[Hooligan Labs]

Is there a bug in the Sabre engine mod where it works like a jet in atmospheres without oxygen (like Eve)?

[rhoark]

A balanced/realistic SABRE uses liquid hydrogen propellant and earth-like air in jet mode or liquid oxygen in rocket mode. Note that the B9 SABRE as provided doesn't qualify, and especially not in some kind of evegas propellant mode, but with Modular Fuels it can operate in a realistic fashion. Doing so makes a craft lighter, but allows about half as much dV worth of fuel in the same volume of tanks.