Constellation Space Program - Three Part Challenge

[Xeldrak]

However:

• Supports 4 crew (+4)
  
• Can perform un-Kerballed landings without the use of an Orion spacecraft (Altair and EDS launched on Ares V) (+1)
  
• Can perform Munar orbit insertion from Kerbin-Mun trajectory for both an Altair and and Orion capsule (either Block I or II) without using any Orion fuel (+2)
  
• 2 stage lander with separate ascent stage (descent stage stays on Munar surface) (+2)
  
• Rover bonus: Can deploy at least one rover with seats for at least half (round up) of the lander crew (+3)
  
• Addition rover: Can deploy a second rover (same or different than first rover) (+1)
  

Another 13 points - I therefore claim 48 engineering points

[Xeldrak]

PDPM05

Javascript is disabled. View full album

• Perform a LKO test of an Altair Munar lander. With at least one Kerbal on board, fly an Altair Munar lander at least 100km away from the Orion spacecraft. Dispose of the descent stage, then fly the ascent stage back to the Orion. Transfer the crew to the Orion then robotically control the ascent stage into a re-entry orbit (+3)
  

Another three points. So overall I now claim:

48 Engineering points

9 Mission points

[xrayfishx]

I am thinking of trying this challenge, but there are a few things I'd like to ask first.

1. Is RSS allowed? If it isn't, no need to answer other questions.

2. Are Klockheed Martian Action Group Triggers allowed? Technically you could say they are a form of autopilot, but I really cba to watch through 10-15 minutes of 20fps re-entry just to detach the Service Module, arm the parachute and then optionally fire the landing SRBs.

3. Is having MechJeb tolerated as long as I don't use it? I can play fine without it, but it has some useful things for my main sandbox game and I really don't want to uninstall it just for this challenge.

[Death Engineering]

I am thinking of trying this challenge, but there are a few things I'd like to ask first.

1. Is RSS allowed? If it isn't, no need to answer other questions.

2. Are Klockheed Martian Action Group Triggers allowed? Technically you could say they are a form of autopilot, but I really cba to watch through 10-15 minutes of 20fps re-entry just to detach the Service Module, arm the parachute and then optionally fire the landing SRBs.

3. Is having MechJeb tolerated as long as I don't use it? I can play fine without it, but it has some useful things for my main sandbox game and I really don't want to uninstall it just for this challenge.

Great questions..

1. Sure, I can't see how it would make it easier. Would be cool to see it here.
   
2. Interesting mod, sort of auto-pilot but not really. I'll allow it.
   
3. The installation of MJ is not explicitly banned, just its use.
   

Looking forward to seeing RSS!

[xrayfishx]

Great. Just one more thing I forgot. Is it OK if my vehicles have a crew of 7? From what I understand, 6 is the most that I get points for, but is that also the maximum allowed crew or may I use more than that? The reason I want to use more is that my Orions are both built around the Taurus HCV capsule, which has seven seats. Both Block I and II are working and finished, same goes for Ares I. I am not exactly looking forward to rebuilding any of them and rebuilding the Orions would mean rebuilding the Ares.

[Death Engineering]

Great. Just one more thing I forgot. Is it OK if my vehicles have a crew of 7? From what I understand, 6 is the most that I get points for, but is that also the maximum allowed crew or may I use more than that? The reason I want to use more is that my Orions are both built around the Taurus HCV capsule, which has seven seats. Both Block I and II are working and finished, same goes for Ares I. I am not exactly looking forward to rebuilding any of them and rebuilding the Orions would mean rebuilding the Ares.

Yes 7 crew (or more if one is so-inclined ) is just fine. In fact there is at least one other challenge submission here that has 7 crew.

[vincespeedmk2]

Yeah. That's me. Went with 7 simply because the design looked better. Looking forward to your submissions xrayfishx

[vincespeedmk2]

this is a quick video to show how the gang is getting on on Duna. whilst back on kerbin, Director kerman is unhappy with not having a birds eye view of what jeb and co are up to so he launches the biggest telescope known to kerbal kind..... the ATLAST.

points rundown:

Science (+2)

[Xeldrak]

Javascript is disabled. View full album

• Perform the above Altair test in Munar orbit using EOR mission (+1)
  

And I claim another mission point!

48 Engineering points

10 Mission points

[Death Engineering]

this is a quick video to show how the gang is getting on on Duna. whilst back on kerbin, Director kerman is unhappy with not having a birds eye view of what jeb and co are up to so he launches the biggest telescope known to kerbal kind..... the ATLAST.

http://youtu.be/rsSG697pdTw

points rundown:

Science (+2)

Almost there.. and you got the ATLAST points.. nice!

http://imgur.com/a/6JZcU

• Perform the above Altair test in Munar orbit using EOR mission (+1)
  

And I claim another mission point!

48 Engineering points

10 Mission points

Munar and Kerbin orbit LM test complete!

---

In other news.. on a cold, overcast morning, a prototype Crew Launch Vehicle and 6-crew capsule were rolled out of the VAB for final static testing. First test flights of the LES and boilerplate capsule will commence in coming days. Basically, really wanted to take another pass through the Constellation missions using the new ARM parts.

Ares I styled lifter and Orion styled capsule plugs-out test

Edited June 16, 2014 by Death Engineering

[Xeldrak]

Javascript is disabled. View full album

• Launch an Orion to the orbiting space station with at least 4 crew. Perform a crew exchange and return four Kerbals from the space station to Kerbin using the Orion. (+2)
  
• Return at least one Kerbal from the space station to Kerbin in an Orion which was docked robotically. This is a "liferaft" scenario intended to use the Orion left at the space station in "Research and Development" above. (+1)
  
• Use an Ares I in at least one space station docking mission (+1)
  

Now, this should account for four more points, leaving me with 14 mission points! Yay!

[Death Engineering]

http://imgur.com/a/4oFh7

• Launch an Orion to the orbiting space station with at least 4 crew. Perform a crew exchange and return four Kerbals from the space station to Kerbin using the Orion. (+2)
  
• Return at least one Kerbal from the space station to Kerbin in an Orion which was docked robotically. This is a "liferaft" scenario intended to use the Orion left at the space station in "Research and Development" above. (+1)
  
• Use an Ares I in at least one space station docking mission (+1)
  

Now, this should account for four more points, leaving me with 14 mission points! Yay!

Cool, Xeldrak! Progress board updated, and looks like you're just about ready to perform some landings!

---

Also...

For anyone considering this challenge or looking for further inspiration, I updated the "References" section at the bottom of the OP to include a video (thanks Vonar for the link) about "what coulda been" and more links from official and non-official sources.

Edited June 17, 2014 by Death Engineering
Also...

[Xeldrak]

Javascript is disabled. View full album

• Land an un-Kerballed Altair on the Mun without the use of an Orion spacecraft (EDS and Altair only launched from Ares V) (+2)
  

Another two mission points Should be 16 now.

[Death Engineering]

http://imgur.com/a/OcYgP

• Land an un-Kerballed Altair on the Mun without the use of an Orion spacecraft (EDS and Altair only launched from Ares V) (+2)
  

Another two mission points Should be 16 now.

For some reason, I always found the South Pole darker and harder to land on than the North Pole.. How is the Duna craft coming along? Planning on a Mars Direct style or Mars In-direct? ...or, maybe I should just lol! BTW.. I shamelessly stole your idea for landing legs on the Orion.. good call!

---

So, the new SLS components introduced into KSP with version 0.23.5 are too cool to ignore, so doing a re-submission on the "Constellation Space Program" challenge. This time, I'll be aiming for maximum points in all categories which means taking another run at the ATLAST telescope... ugh.

Orion 6 and Ares I tests complete on my Konstellation Space Program Redux thread.

Design Points: 25

Mission Points: 5

Javascript is disabled. View full album

[Xeldrak]

Well, I'd rather call them shock absorbing legs since they can't hold the weight of the reentry capsule on kerbin. With fully deployed chutes the capsule still descends with ~8 m/s, so it would sometimes rip apart on impact without them.

The engineers are still drunk from the 2*Moff reveal party. Once they are sober the upcomming tasks are the outpost-lander and the pressurized rover. Once this is done (and they are sober again) they will contemplate the duna-project.

Edited June 18, 2014 by Xeldrak

[vincespeedmk2]

Finally the time has come for the crew of the vincespeedmk2 Konstellation program to return home. in this video, they pack up the base that has been their home for the past few months and set off for home. but macsey has a better view than most..

points rundown:

Missions (+4)

This Challenge has been awesome. I hope to find one just as good soon. I'm thinking about the Duna Permanent outpost on, any one doing that?

[vincespeedmk2]

Sorry. technical error. I've already posted this

Edited June 18, 2014 by vincespeedmk2
Repeated post

[Xeldrak]

Javascript is disabled. View full album

• Use an Ares I in at least one Munar mission (flyby, orbital or landing) (+1)
  
• Use an Ares V in at least one Munar mission (orbital or landing) (+2)
  
• Demonstrate that your Altair can, on its own, brake the Orion and Altair into Mun orbit and perform a polar landing: north pole (>66°N), south pole (>66°S) (+2)
  
• Land at least 4 Kerbals in an Altair on the Mun within 1km of either above Altair (+3)
  
• Return four Kerbals from a Munar landing to Kerbin (+2)
  

I claim 10 points!

[Death Engineering]

Finally the time has come for the crew of the vincespeedmk2 Konstellation program to return home. in this video, they pack up the base that has been their home for the past few months and set off for home. but macsey has a better view than most..

http://youtu.be/14k9Wi9ujck

points rundown:

Missions (+4)

This Challenge has been awesome. I hope to find one just as good soon. I'm thinking about the Duna Permanent outpost on, any one doing that?

Congrats on a great mission and challenge completion! Really enjoyed the video log of your progress. That was an unexpected solution to the seat-shortage on your Duna Ascent Vehicle; must say that mod certainly looks like it adds a lot of versatility. Unique crafts and very impressive piloting, as well! BTW, I play with Kerbal Alarm Clock and use it to stop time acceleration while transitioning through SOI's. This mitigates the variances seen while changing SOI's. Just a thought.

As for the Duna Permanent Outpost Mission Architecture Challenge, I've run through this twice both times with stock parts. While the rules allow for this by using fabricated heat shields from stock parts and using jet fuel or inconsumable RCS as life support, I found this to be harder than using actual heat shield and life support mods. For example, with my Kerbin<-->Duna interplanetary taxi, the life support was accommodated by jet fuel. The problem was that although I calculated the consumption of the life support, the mass was never reduced. This meant that I had to carry around extra mass. I could have put the tanks on decouplers, but then it's not reusable. Same with heat shields: the ones I made out of structural panels were massive! Heat shields in mods like Deadly Re-entry Redux are much more realistic and prefabricated. Also adds a level of challenge since there are indeed risks to coming in too hot around Duna and Kerbin.

If you're looking for something completely different.. check the Better Than Starting Manned Career Challenge. The challenge is written around the mod which includes life support, heat shields, new science parts and evenly-paced progressive tech-tree.

Leaderboard showing all-green on your entry and looking forward to your next mission.

[WooDzor]

I've got these two babies lying around in the VAB do you think I'd be eligible for the challenge? Or do you prefer people start from the beginning?

[Death Engineering]

http://imgur.com/a/QxrO6

• Use an Ares I in at least one Munar mission (flyby, orbital or landing) (+1)
  
• Use an Ares V in at least one Munar mission (orbital or landing) (+2)
  
• Demonstrate that your Altair can, on its own, brake the Orion and Altair into Mun orbit and perform a polar landing: north pole (>66°N), south pole (>66°S) (+2)
  
• Land at least 4 Kerbals in an Altair on the Mun within 1km of either above Altair (+3)
  
• Return four Kerbals from a Munar landing to Kerbin (+2)
  

I claim 10 points!

Great! I think that makes it 26 points then. Any new design points there? Stay away from the Dark Side of Duna!

[xrayfishx]

I have a few questions about the Ares V.

Heavy Cargo Lift Vehicle (Ares V)

• Five or six liquid engines on first stage (+3)
  
• Does not jettison any radial liquid tanks/engines (+2)
  
• Uses and jettisons at least two solid fuel boosters on first stage (+1)
  
• Two stage rocket to LKO: After the first stage is dropped, the second stage (EDS), carries payload to orbit +2)
  
• Can carry the Earth Departure Stage (EDS) and Orion BLock 1 to low orbit without using any fuel from the EDS (+1)
  
• EDS Bonus: Second stage can put Orion Block 1 into Munar free-return trajectory (+2)
  

So basically to get maximum points I need to make the EDS fire from the beginning until the orbit and jettison two SRBs along the way AND the SRBs by themselves have to be capable of putting the EDS and Orion into orbit? Or do I understand staging very differently? If I have one stage firing along with SRBs and that's stage 1, then when I jettison the SRBs while the rest of stage 1 is still firing then that's still stage 2, right? Or are the SRBs somehow ignored and not counted as a separate stage? Sorry if this looks like some rules-lawyering, but I'm genuinely confused.

[Death Engineering]

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/9346020/140611-Dragon/dragon%20%281%29.jpg

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/9346020/tsar/Copernicus.png

I've got these two babies lying around in the VAB do you think I'd be eligible for the challenge? Or do you prefer people start from the beginning?

Hello WooDzor..

Those are beautiful replicraft and would really like to see them in a full "Constellation Space Program" challenge submission. However, I've just added a "Mars Direct" sub-challenge for the Duna landing missions only. If you choses to submit just the sub-challenge Duna missions, please do so.

If you want to complete a submission, it should include the Space Station and Munar missions as well as developmental missions. I see you have an Orion craft docked to the Copernicus so we're just looking for Altair and Space Station missions.

The max points for this sub-challenge is 30 and all previously submitted entries qualify.

---

NEW: There is a new rules sub-set for anyone wishing to develop only the Mars/Duna spacecraft and carry out the "red planet" landing missions. See "Mars Direct Challenge" below. All previously submitted entries already qualify.

Mars Direct Challenge (Stand-alone challenge scoring for Duna Landing Missions only):

Duna Lander Design (Mars Direct)

• Lander supports 4 crew (+4)
  
• Kerbin Return Vehicle capable of Kerbin return with either direct ascent to Kerbin or Duna Orbit Rendezvous with Kerbin return stage (+3)
  
• Rover bonus: Bring at least one rover with seats for at least half (round up) of the lander crew (+3)
  
• Addition rover: Bring a second rover (same or different than first rover) (+1)
  
• Develop a rover that can seat at least two crew in a pressurized pod. This rover can be delivered with either the Kerbin Return Vehicle or the Duna lander (+2)
  

Duna Mission - Orion/Ares I/Ares V/Duna Lander

• Land an un-Kerballed Kerbin Return Vehicle on Duna. Can be either Duna-Kerbin direct ascent capable or dock with an orbiting Duna-Kerbin return stage (+4)
  
• At least 4 Kerbals pass withing 5000km of Duna (+2)
  
• Land at least four Kerbals on Duna within 10 km (100 km if by rover) of the above Duna lander. To earn these points, the un-Kerballed lander above must be landed and remain powered. Successful landing must take place before the landing crew has committed to Duna re-entry (+5)
  
• Each landing crew over 4, up to 6 crew maximum (+1 each; max +2)
  
• Return the Duna landing crew and any remaining Duna orbiting crew to Kerbin (+4)
  

Edited June 21, 2014 by Death Engineering
temporal correction

[Death Engineering]

I have a few questions about the Ares V.

So basically to get maximum points I need to make the EDS fire from the beginning until the orbit and jettison two SRBs along the way AND the SRBs by themselves have to be capable of putting the EDS and Orion into orbit? Or do I understand staging very differently? If I have one stage firing along with SRBs and that's stage 1, then when I jettison the SRBs while the rest of stage 1 is still firing then that's still stage 2, right? Or are the SRBs somehow ignored and not counted as a separate stage? Sorry if this looks like some rules-lawyering, but I'm genuinely confused.

Great question. The Ares V was intended to be a boosted single stage to orbit. Sometimes this is called a 1.5 stage, sometimes 2 stage. To get maximum points, the Ares V liquid and solid engines fire at launch. The solid engines are jettisoned when they flame-out and the original 5/6 engines can push an EDS and an Orion Block I into orbit.

The EDS engines can either light up once in stable LKO and carry the payload on the first leg of the mission, for lower mass payloads like the Orion Block I, or the EDS stage can also be used to boost heavier payloads into LKO before it is used to carry the payload on the first leg of the mission.

To get maximum points, the EDS not only needs to remain unstaged until LKO is established but also needs to be able to push an Orion Block I into a Munar free-return trajectory.

I hope that helps!

Edited June 20, 2014 by Death Engineering

[Xeldrak]

ChemRock presents it's newest Pressure Drop Program designs:

The 2*Moff Block II is a update of the old 2*Moff. It now comes with several science parts. The descend module is a fully functional science station with independent energy and communication.

---

The 2*Vyr Pressurized Rover will endable the crew of the proposed münar outpost to cover long distances fast and safely.

---

The 2*Irfan Compact Outpost will be the centrepiece of the münar outpost.

---

• Pressurized rover: Develop a rover that can seat at least two crew in a pressurized pod. This rover can be delivered with a crewed or uncrewed Altair lander, an Outpost Variant lander or a specialized Cargo Altair that brings only the rover (+2)
  
• Outpost Variant: Develop a version of the Altair that can land robotically and has enough room for 1.5 times your Altair landing crew size (round up). Eg. If your Altair lander seats 4, the Outpost Variant should have pressurized seats for 6. If your Altair lander seats 5, your Outpost Variant should seat 8. The Outpost Variant can have, but does not require, the ability to return from Munar surface. (+2)
  

That should be 4 engineering points. I will claim the science point once I officially land the 2*Moff Block II on the Mün.