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If I succeed in this, I will uninstall the game and never play again.

Whackjob

By Whackjob
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Whackjob

Whackjob

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And I will weep as I do it. Because it I pull this off, I will never, ever make anything so grand again. This is my magnum opus.

There's the reddit challenge. Lift one Rockomax 64 tank to space, without using any of its fuel. Then lift everything it took to get to space into space without using any of its fuel.

Hard difficulty is two orange fuel tanks.

I am attempting Whackjob difficulty. I will attempt to lift four tanks into space. And then lift that mad machine into space without using any of its fuel. Construction has already begun.

OAvUJFe.png

sTcuoOW.png

This is just the part that'll lift the four tanks to space. I have not yet even begun making what it will take getting all of that to space without using that fuel.

Wish me luck.

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Whackjob

Whackjob

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The supremely difficult part of all of this is the nature of the top core component means symmetry has already been broken. Everything you see there was laboriously stitched together by hand. Part by part. Without the benefit of symmetry. I have finished the external trussing on one of those outside "boosters". I have three more to go. I believe this will give me the delta-v needed to get into orbit.

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Whackjob

Whackjob

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Thank you for the well wishes. Here's some pictures from earlier. I wanted to do a combined structural and engine shakedown test. The problem with large construction, as I know only too well, is resonant structural calving. Large chunks shear off and you get the sadness. A while ago I slayed that particular bothersome beast. But every time I finish a major section, I test. Here's the first test run. I'll be ready for a second, I believe, in a few hours. I expect to get the first component into orbit. Which would be all of what you see here.

kvP0vKT.png

TbJftvu.png

znF2UKZ.png

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Whackjob

Whackjob

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On a side note, I want to mention that I can see the problem with the rocket that'll lift this entirely into orbit without using its fuel. Specifically, I am restricted to one rockomax tank wide. And even if I maximize the thrust I put on the end of it, I'm still threatened by crumpling for the absurd forces I'm putting on the end of it.

I believe I have just solved this problem. I will do a secondary build to test this concept when I get this thing into orbit. And provide pictures, of course.

Dude you're insane. I don't even know how you're CPU didn't already melt down to a pool of plastic and shrapnel.

Oddly enough, I haven't yet hit one thousand parts.

#EDIT: You can see one of my large-length-rocket-asparagus innovations in the second picture. The problem, as I'm sure you can imagine, is in taking fuel from the bottom of the outside rocket and pumping it to the top tank in the inside column. I call it an external fuel truss.

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SkyRender

SkyRender

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Don't you dare quit on us just because you made such a colossal monster of a rocket! We're all eagerly anticipating your inevitable all-in-one-launch grand tour of the entire Kerbal solar system to do massive quantities of !SCIENCE! in 0.22.

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Whackjob

Whackjob

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I've hit a snag.

N7kMhAK.png

The outside "boosters" have a wide reaction wheel system every fourth rockomax 32. The idea being that steering is probably a good thing. The issue is the connection points on either end are nowhere near strong enough to withstand the forces I'm demanding of them. The solution will be to either remove them, meaning I'd have to hand-strut the entire outside again, or reinforce them.

Time to reinforce.

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SkyRender

SkyRender

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Are you not Whackjob? When vertical fails you, you expand to the horizontal! You are the man who makes the impractical work by sheer force of will and an absurd number of struts. Keep it up, you will space tape your way to success!

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regex

regex

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The outside "boosters" have a wide reaction wheel system every fourth rockomax 32. The idea being that steering is probably a good thing. The issue is the connection points on either end are nowhere near strong enough to withstand the forces I'm demanding of them. The solution will be to either remove them, meaning I'd have to hand-strut the entire outside again, or reinforce them.

Time to reinforce.

Those SAS modules are incredibly weak; I've had a lot of trouble reinforcing them. You may be better off removing them. My suggestion to you is to use the next size down on side radial mounts. IIRC they have the same rotational force.

Either way, good luck!

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Whackjob

Whackjob

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Why don't you put those tiny cubic octagonal struts on the side of the fuel tanks and then brace those to each other?

This is what I've done. 8 pairs of the tiny cube girders above and below the rotational wheels. Struts between them. In my mind, I see the stress waves crossing the struts and not the reaction wheel. It almost worked.

aCF8aec.png

vY7gZK1.png

QwB50V4.png

But it's such a drastic improvement that I can't help but think a few more struts will do the trick. Going to do that and make another orbit attempt.

Side note: Threw engineer on for a moment. This sucker weighs about one million kilograms.

Side note2: Doing another test run. At 2,000 feet and climbing. Everything holding for the moment. But most importantly, the large-scale asparagus fuel bus works!

#EDIT: 6,000 feet! HAven't even dropped the outside tanks yet! I might hit 10k before I shed them! Good god, I might get orbit!

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Whackjob

Whackjob

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X5gkKRI.png

Go, baby, go!

#EDIT: Mechanical failure at 9,800 feet. One "booster" quit a moment before the others did, pitching it to one side. I was vigilant enough to drop the stages. One booster dropped, three shot above me. I managed to recover and pitch over to 90 degree heading at 45 degrees inclination. Trying for orbit despite the booster failure.

#EDIT2: 22,000 feet and moving at 450 m/s. Still technically whole.

#EDIT3: 30,000 feet. Critical failure. One of the final engine clusters sheared off and carried the tank it was attached to far off into the distance. Mission aborted.

:(

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