Furthest SSTO?

[buzz66boy]

Alright guys, I am curious... How far have you sent an SSTO without refueling and returned. I was wondering because I made an ssto and got it to laythe and back no refueling (vid is on my youtube). I have never heard of anyone else SSTOing this far without refueling but I would like to know if someone has gone farther.

Edited August 5, 2013 by buzz66boy

[DChurchill]

I can get to orbit. Does that count?

[RocketPilot573]

Farthest I've ever gone with one was to the surface of Minmus and back.

[rryy]

LKO. The furthest even with refueling was Minmus.

[Zeroignite]

Fairly sure someone here has done an ion-powered SSTO to Laythe and back.

[PetWolverine]

I launched a SSTO yesterday to take a 41-ton lander to a Mun encounter. It's on its way back now, with enough fuel left to deorbit if I wait for it to go around to its apoapsis again (it should be able to land unpowered, with parachutes and reaction wheels alone, though I haven't tried this yet).

Alternatively, since its periapsis is around the same altitude as one of my stations, I might be able to grab it with a tug, slow it down and dock it - but this would bring my part count to around 600 probably, which is not much fun when docking large vehicles.

Or I could refuel it with the aforementioned lander, which is a kethane mining rig. More practically I'll need a bigger drilling operation though.

It's funny watching the thing's TWR change. It started off less than 2, but now that it's almost empty and still has 7 mainsails, it's something like 160. If I told MechJeb to execute a maneuver node, with the way it likes to slam the throttle all the way open instantaneously, it would probably just explode. At about 2 frames per second.

[kodemunkey]

Does smeared along the runway count?

[AnalogAddict]

Mine can get to Laythe, and return, or land and reorbit around laythe to rendezvous with some parent craft. It can also get to Kerbin orbit three times without refueling. 48 parts. 21 tons.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/44759-SPv4a-Courier-Go-to-orbit-three-times-w-o-refueling%21

[spudcosmic]

I taken one of my spaceplanes on a Mun free return trajectory once, barely had any fuel left over.

[numerobis]

I did Laythe "and back" -- in quotes because I read the phase angles wrong and arrived exactly 180 degrees off from Kerbin. Waiting a few Kerbal years would have fixed it right up, but I didn't have the patience. That had three Kerbals comfortably housed (a hab module for each), and a rover. Tipped the scales at about 50t on liftoff.

[Stochasty]

I've done return trips from the Mun, Minmus, Duna, Ike, Gilly (easy), and Laythe. Never done Pol or Bop, but the Laythe craft could have managed those easily. I want to try for Eeloo and Moho; I think I've got a craft with enough delta-V, but I'll need to use gravity assists around Jool or Eve to make it and I haven't taken the time to really work out the trajectory yet.

[Merinsan]

I made one that was pretty big. I refuelled it in LKO before heading to Laythe, but I am pretty sure it had enough fuel left to get to Laythe, just not enough to get back. That was in 0.19. I plan to make a new one for my current save in 0.21

[lammatt]

Minus flyby

[tntristan12]

It's just orbit for me. I actually made a vid of it that I'm editing now. Should be up in a day or two.