One Engine to Rule Them All!

[frizzank]

So I really like the Aerospike engine. So Here is a challenge for it.

Get as far as you can using only ONE aerospike engine.

Rules

The only engine you can use is ONE Aerospike, total. No multiple launches and docking them together.

Only one RCS tank can be used. Use as many thrusters as you like but only one tank, choose wisely.

Points for reaching SOI

1 -Kerbin Orbit

2- Mun

3 -kerbin Escape

4 -Mimus

5- Eve

6- Moho

6 -Duna

7- Jool

2 -for each of Jool's moons and Dres

10-Eloo

+1 point for impacting said body, not surviving. If you live you get the 2x bonus instead, not both.

+2 for stable orbit on said body other than kerbin

+1 for extra kerbals riding outside your spacecraft.

Your multipliers are factored in last when calculating score.

2x points for each Kerbal inside your spacecraft.

2x for landing on said body

2x for returning to kerbin, alive

Ex, one kerbal in orbit is worth 2 points

one probe in orbit is worth 1 point

No flight mods and no debug to keep it fair.

VAB mods are fine like part loader, as they dont affect flight.

Leader board

80 - metaphor

56 - Plur303

37 - MidwestB

36 - Jwenting

36 - Francesco

Edited June 24, 2013 by frizzank

[frizzank]

Here is my sad attempt.

2 points for Mun SOI

2x for one kerbal on board

4 points total...

[adammada]

I managed to:

Orbit: 1

Mun: 2

Kerbin Escape: 3 (used Mun grativy assist)

6 * 2 = 12

But i think that it would be doable to get Mun and Minmus SOI, just need to time launch correctly.

[MidwestB]

I got:

Kerbin orbit: 1 pt

Minmus SOI : 4 pts

Minmus Stabilized orbit: 2 pts

Mun SOI: 2 pts

Kerbin escape: 3 pts

Kerbal was on board: 2x

Total: 24 pts

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(Sorry I didn't start taking screenshots until I was already at Minmus)

All done with 1 Aerospike, no docking and no RCS. Could maybe get to Jool with this design, but I'd have to stabilize an orbit around it for a total of 26, otherwise it's only 24, if I'm counting those points correctly.

[koshelenkovv]

Kerbals on board 2x points

Ex, one kerbal in orbit is worth 2 points

Kerbal in a seat without a pod is "on board" or not?

How many points landing costs? Landing and return?

[frizzank]

I got:

Kerbin orbit: 1 pt

Minmus SOI : 4 pts

Minmus Stabilized orbit: 2 pts

Mun SOI: 2 pts

Kerbin escape: 3 pts

Kerbal was on board: 2x

Total: 24 pts

(Sorry I didn't start taking screenshots until I was already at Minmus)

All done with 1 Aerospike, no docking and no RCS. Could maybe get to Jool with this design, but I'd have to stabilize an orbit around it for a total of 26, otherwise it's only 24, if I'm counting those points correctly.

Please post your ship on the pad so its official.

[frizzank]

Updated the points, never imagined anyone would be able to actually land anywhere!

Points for reaching SOI

Kerbin Orbit 1 point

Mun 2 points

kerbin Escape 3 points

Mimus 4 points

Eve 5 points

Moho 6 points

Duna 6 points

Jool 7 points

+1 point for impacting said body

+2 for stable orbit on said body

+1 for extra kerbals riding outside your spacecraft.

2x points for each Kerbal inside your spacecraft.

2x for landing on said body

2x for returning to kerbin, alive

Edited June 23, 2013 by frizzank

[Francesco]

I landed a Kerbal on the Mun.

it's Bill, by the way.

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now gimme a sec while I calculate my score

[numerobis]

You landed on the spike of the aerospike?!?

[Francesco]

You landed on the spike of the aerospike?!?

Yup! funny thing is, I had never done it before - I didn't know it would pierce through the Munar soil like that

[RocketPilot573]

Success!

Unmanned Duna Landing- 20 Points

Kerbin Orbit: 1

Kerbin Escape: 4

Duna SOI: 10

Duna Landing: 20

[veio]

Video of my entry.

It's path in order was:

Kerbin Orbit: 1

+Mun SOI: 3

+Mimus SOI: 7

+Mimus Orbit: 9

+Kerbin Escape: 12

2x for the kerbin (probs could have had an extra too but didn't think about it..) : 24

I will let OP decide if using the Kerbals RCS to hit the mun on the return gets me to 26

Craft file There is probs more that could be done with this but the change in rules was not part of my original ideas so I didn't try to land or take extra Kerbals

[Plur303]

Could you please write out how you are going to calculate the score in equation form just to clarify. It makes a big difference how you apply the multiplier for kerbals inside the ship.

Also, are decouplers allowed as a launch mechanism? If you go to the max altitude in 30 seconds thread there are guys who can toss a command pod over 40,000 meters in the air using nothing but decouplers. I forsee this being used in this challenge and am just wondering if it is allowed or not.

I'm currently working on a ship but trying to decide my strategy. That's why I would like the scoring system defined as an actual equation.

Thanks.

[Francesco]

I agree, the scoring system is unclear:

I'm getting 10, 18 or 20 points depending on my interpretation.

[Ninety-Three]

Plur: I'm the one who put up those crazy scores in the altitude thread, the method won't be very helpful. If you use it to achieve any truly absurd speeds, it will tear off every piece of your ship except the core. Also, it doesn't scale well: Ten times the mass means ten times less decoupler speed.

[jwenting]

yes, had to let her burn fuel for a bit before releasing the struts to get the TWR > 1

Kerbin orbit: 1

Kerbin orbit: 2

Kerbin escape: 3

Eve SOI: 5

Eve impact: 1

Kerbal on board: x2

Landed on Eve: x2

Kerbal survived impact: priceless

48 (or 46, if you don't count the impact, it was a crash landing after all) points, plus whatever can be added for surviving a landing on Eve with reentry at interplanetary speed, no engine power, no landing legs, and no parachutes

Edited June 24, 2013 by jwenting

[Francesco]

Now it's official: aerospikes make the best landing gear in KSP.

Jeb looks quite comfy in this picture:

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Journey to Minmus and back, with a Mun slingshot.

Splashdown on Kerbin without parachutes, obviously Jeb survived.

Luckily for him, EVA suits are waterproof.

[frizzank]

Could you please write out how you are going to calculate the score in equation form just to clarify. It makes a big difference how you apply the multiplier for kerbals inside the ship.

Also, are decouplers allowed as a launch mechanism? If you go to the max altitude in 30 seconds thread there are guys who can toss a command pod over 40,000 meters in the air using nothing but decouplers. I forsee this being used in this challenge and am just wondering if it is allowed or not.

I'm currently working on a ship but trying to decide my strategy. That's why I would like the scoring system defined as an actual equation.

Thanks.

Multiplyers are done last, I had hoped that was implied without me implicitly stating it. Why would you do them first, 0x2=0?

You are free to do any crazy stunt that yields the most points, provided you follow the rules.

I will let OP decide if using the Kerbals RCS to hit the mun on the return gets me to 26

Its 2x points for each Kerbal inside your spacecraft. Any time after that you no longer get the multiplyer.

So if your orbit the mun inside your craft and then eject then use onboard rcs to impact the surface, you get [2x(Mun+ Mun stable orbit+kerbin orbit)]+Impact

Edited June 24, 2013 by frizzank

[Ninety-Three]

On multipliers, if you get 3 2x multipliers, does that go 2x2x2 = 8x, or is it +100%+100%+100%=+300% ?

[frizzank]

Kerbin orbit: 1

Kerbin orbit: 2

Kerbin escape: 3

Eve SOI: 5

Eve impact: 1

Kerbal on board: x2

Landed on Eve: x2

Kerbal survived impact: priceless

48 (or 46, if you don't count the impact, it was a crash landing after all) points, plus whatever can be added for surviving a landing on Eve with reentry at interplanetary speed, no engine power, no landing legs, and no parachutes

You only get kerbin orbit or any other points once, otherwise you could just sit at the edge of the escape SOI and just toggle back and forth until you get like 439099 points.

1 kerbin orbit

3 kerbin escape

5 eve soi

2x for landing alive, capsule was still intact.

2x for the kerbal inside

36 points

[frizzank]

On multipliers, if you get 3 2x multipliers, does that go 2x2x2 = 8x, or is it +100%+100%+100%=+300% ?

2x would be 200%, 100% would be 1x

Where did % come from?

[frizzank]

Yea double post im dumb...

[jwenting]

You only get kerbin orbit or any other points once, otherwise you could just sit at the edge of the escape SOI and just toggle back and forth until you get like 439099 points.

1 kerbin orbit

3 kerbin escape

5 eve soi

2x for landing alive, capsule was still intact.

2x for the kerbal inside

36 points

my bad, brainfart at 4am

[metaphor]

Well that was fun!

One aerospike... 7 planets.

The adventures of the aerospike

This was my design, basic asparagus

In Kerbin orbit

At Eve

Duna

Eeloo

Jool

Moho

Dres

Back at Kerbin

Gravity assists are awesome for saving delta-v, but require a lot of time. The hardest part was fine-tuning burns with the overpowered engine.

As for points, I think it's like this:

1 - Kerbin orbit

3 - Kerbin escape

5 - Eve

6 - Moho

6 - Duna

7 - Jool

0 - Dres (?)

10 - Eeloo

x2 - kerbal inside

= 76

Returned to Kerbin alive, all the way to impact with the surface

[MidwestB]

Okay,second attempt:

Kerbin orbit - 1pt

Mun SOI - 2 pts

Minmus SOI - 4 pts

Minmus orbit - 2 pts

Minmus landing - 2x

Kerbal in ship - 2x

returned and impacted on Kerbin - 1 pt

Total: 37 pts

I did get off Minmus and back to Kerbin solely by using Bob's RCS, which I would say was my 1 RCS tank of choice

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