BSC: Kerbal X - We have a winner!

[Andrew Hansen]

<snip>

Nice, Rhomphaia! You did basically what I was planning to do. I'll see if I can fly them to the Mun or Minmus (depending on what they're designed to do, of course).

[mhoram]

So, what I want you to build is a fully fledged rocket - with the ability reach mun-orbit and return to Kerbin. Basically a Apollo 8 rocket.

In my mind the winner should be able to reach a LKO, then a Mun-orbit, come back to a LKO and deorbit without using advanced maneuvers like aerobreaking or direct ascent and have 500 dV reserve for beginner's flight errors. So I can not bring myself to vote for GregroxMun - Orbiter X or sgt_flyer - Kerbal Y or antbin - Kerbals XX or Deathsoul097 - Kerbal Z.Z or Giggleplex777 - Kerbal G because of their low dV budget.

My vote goes to Xeldrak's CROME.

[Sirine]

I vote. Xeldrak - CROME.

[Carl]

All Primary Testing Complete

Secondary Testing, (Re-Testing of designs that failed or screwed up in some major way that may be fixable), will begin once KSC Mission Control has finished Playing with their Rubber Ducks in the Bath

Also Appropriate

given landing success rate: 0.00%

My Lander on the landing site for reference:

Full set of primary reviews below.

Deleting old post

Landing:

1-24-09

81-02-46

Nitro Express Atlas V:

Uppermost section wobbles slightly from 5K up

Burn for orbit continues to very high altitude, makes orbit achievement harder for new or unskilled players, final burn out at around 68Km

Has asparagus on final to orbit stage but gains littlie benefit from it due to overall weight vs. lost weight.

Large number of cosmetic parts, (nosecones, lights, steel panels as fairings, e.g.)

3170 Dv left on attaining Kerbin Orbit.

1967 Dv upon achieving Mun orbit

Abort stage fouling at Mun (Abort stage not clear due to large tank and engine combination

Use of docked stage for Munar Landing unclear until after de-orbit burn with upper stage was complete (forced to jettison during munar decent)

Lack of Solar Panels obvious but not insurmountable given the battery capacity (possible I missed panels due to covering however, was a bit panicky during decent).

Lander insufficiently stable, toppled on landing (mission failure at this point)

Andrew Hansen - Kerbal X Revised

Asparagus initial stage

Solid velocity, acceleration, and final pre-circularization burnout altitude

5166 Dv upon achieving Kerbin Orbit

3965 Dv upon achieving Munar Orbit

Lack of Solar Panels obvious but not insurmountable given the battery capacity

Lander tipped on landing, just barely however (mission failure at this point), Landing otherwise felt very solid in terms of braking lead time required. Jeb, Bill, and Bob all enjoyed the long downslope tumble however, so you did something right .

BSC - antbin - Kerbals XX

First impressions from VAB are that this is going to be low on DV, but we'll see.

Clamps are in the wrong stage, have to be manually released after igniting motors, wastes considerably Dv, I corrected this on launch pad myself

Technically asparagus boosters on first stage, but since it functions in practical terms like a booster design with smaller tanks on boosters from a staging PoV less of a negative, though a newbie who doesn’t know what asparagus is, is still going to wander why the fuel lines are there

Interesting strutting, probably much more stable, but not easy to copy due to precision required. Kinda torn on weather this is a positive or a negative, probably a bit of both

Very solid acceleration, (much better than my anemic second stage of solids!)

Acceptable final burnout altitude

2903 Dv upon achieving Kerbin Orbit, Better than I thought we'd see

Has own solar Panel's, and their the lowest tech level ones, Yay

1707 Lander Dv upon achieving Munar Orbit, (not ideal for return mission)

Non-ideal acceleration on Lander stage, particularly for munar orbital insertion and landing burns

1056 Dv remaining in Lander after de-orbit burn

Very high altitude/long decent burn required due to poor acceleration on Lander

Lander tipped on Landing, again just barely (Mission Failure at this point)

Lander remaining Dv was sub 700, probably not enough for a return trip

BSC - Blaster - Reynard Apex Munar Ship

RCS Present, interesting

Basic Solar Panels here to, I like that

A docking port for no reason I can see, (in VAB as I write this), but not a terribad future addition so you can add it to bigger booster later. Overall I approve.

Cosmetics with the nosecones and lights again

VERY unstable off the pad, mechjeb caught it and got her upright after which she flew fine, but I doubt I could have hands on caught her before she went totally out of control

Very solid thrust

Asparagus again, but again more booster than traditional style with same comments as for antbin's design

Acceptable final burnout altitude

Poor upper stage acceleration, makes circularizing a long process

3869 Dv upon achieving Kerbin Orbit

2677 Dv remaining upon achieving Munar Orbit

Lander tipped on Landing, again just barely (Mission Failure at this point)

BSC - BlazeFallow - Kerbal XD

RCS again, no Solar Panels, but there are RTG's

Nosecones and light decorations again

Already pretty sure this one is gonna tip on Mun Landing, at least you'll be in good company though

Full on Asparagus here

SRB separation removes center stack mainsail, mission success doubtful, but will proceed from here as is, (not to self, check see if I have a faulty design after other testing complete)

To help out I reset to launch and jettisoned the escape tower, (I do like it however)

Final Burnout altitude prior to circurlisation is naturally very high

1541 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit, Mun is doable, landing doubtful

345 Dv upon achieving Munar Orbit

Ran out of Dv during Decent, Lander Destroyed (Mission Failure at this point)

BSC - Bobnova - Kerbal X4_1

You Little Shorty You

Basic Solar's again, good

More cosmetic nosecones

Booster style Asparagus again

Interesting Booster design, I like, also interesting parachute usage on the boosters if a bit confusing to newbies maybe

Solid initial acceleration, not as spectacular as some, but more than enough

Booster burnout altitude is a bit marginal, but mechjeb barely has to point the nose below the horizon so acceptable

2875 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

1679 Dv upon achieving Munar Orbit

Lander tipped on Landing, again just barely (Mission Failure at this point)

Only 441 Dv in tanks', not enough for return mission, maybe enough for orbit if she'd stayed upright

BSC - breakthrough - Kerbal X Revision 1A

Looks like full on Asparagus in the VAB

However this also has more widely places Leg's, may be the first to stick the Landing

Cunningly hidden basic Solar's, missed them in VAB, still nice to see

Acceleration feels good

Very good final burn out altitude

3090 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

1893 Dv remaining upon achieving Munar Orbit

I thought you had the landing for a moment but she tipped (Mission Failure at this point)

However I’m 95% certain increasing it to 6 wings with struts would have got her down without an issue, by far the closest so far

BSC - briansun1 - Kerbal X finale

Quite a large design and cheeky use of the struts, not a bad thing overall

Already looking fearfully at that Lander, though I like the presence of a can

Gigantor Solars are way overkill, but at least they're there. Just hope I remember them.

Not sure whets happened to the decoupler for the Lander here, it's shown on the sidebar staging, but invisible on the ship. Part clipping?

Ok somthi8ng weird on the pad, the whole design rocks massively, twists, then explodes random parts.

In an attempt to understand the issue I removed all the clamps, she promptly worked fine if rocked on the pad a bit much for non-obvious reasons

I'll take her out like this since its accidentally fixed... (@Blazefellow, I’ll look at trying a fix for your design once main testing is complete)

Asparagus again and Acceleration after SRB burnout is quite anemic, good till then

Still Anemic acceleration

Acceptable burnout altitude despite all that, surprising

Really scraping the bottom of the tans at orbit and the Lander has really anemic TWR so a newbie that had to use that to help reach orbit would be in trouble for the whole mission

2183 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

Weird explosion upon separating Lander from upper stage during Munar insertion Burn (Part clipping?)

2047 Dv remaining upon achieving Munar Orbit

Just noticed the RCS, thought those where goo tanks at first

Fairly high start to braking burn required due to poor Lander thrust and the staging deploys the chutes before the engines come in so a re-pack would be required for Kerbin return

Lander tipped on Landing, (Mission Failure at this point)

Just noticed the cosmetic lights as she tumbles down the slope, not sure why they where invisible before

BSC - Death Engineering - KB X-11

Nice looking Lander design, Full RCS, and basic Solar's, Overall I approve though I fear she'll be too top heavy, we shall see

Another Booster Style Asparagus

Cosmetic Nosecones again

LTV-30's on the main stage, I’m liking that from a tech PoV a LOT, though the use of orange tanks obviously kinda screws that, not sure how they're attached though...

Acceleration seems ok, nothing to write home about after booster goes, but nothing bad either and it improves noticeably with altitude

Weird explosion on orange tank separation

Skipper on the upper stage kinda defeats the purpose of the LTV's from a tech PoV but necessary given next comment

Burnout altitude is higher than I like but does avoid nose down pointing so not terrible

Battery capacity is solid, overkill since much less has worked, but it never hurts to have it imo

2166 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

Ouch, lots of clipping on the bottom of the Lander, only noticed it once I could see it from behind, not ideal for newbie replication

970 Dv remaining upon achieving Munar Orbit

Ran out of DV during final Breaking burn and crashed, leg destroyed and Lander toppled but otherwise intact prior to tumble damage Dv short by about 30 M/s

A Note at this point from the Judges: Mechjeb tend to make the initial Munar Orbit a 45 degree one whilst the landing site is near equatorial, as a result a 300-500M/s plane change burn is required. So if your finding your design is getting down with unexpected low Dv you know why. It also helps simulate the natural tendency of human's, especially newbies to be much less efficient than old mechjeb

Break for bath time here at KSC mission Control

BSC - Deathsoul097 - Kerbal Z_Z

Interesting Lander Design, not sure how the legs will work. But we'll see.

Fold away Solars

RCS here too

Booster Style Asparagus again

Nosecones again, and some cosmetic paneling

Is that a random docking port I see on the capsule...

Time to Launch

It is a docking port, a Jr in fact

Not the most stellar acceleration, even with the boosters

Surprisingly good burnout altitude, acceleration really picks up as those tanks empty, not very used to mainsails tbh

2750 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

1552 Dv remaining upon achieving Munar Orbit

Very high altitude start needed for decent burn due to poor acceleration

Ooooh interesting with the legs, she may make it...

Nope, was a nice design that helped lower her CoG though

Lander tipped on Landing, (Mission Failure at this point)

BSC - Dekul - Minimalist Kerbal X

Minimalist is right, does this even have leg's?

For the sake of keeping mechjeb powered I did add a pair of basic solar panels and a single rechargeable battery

She did roll around her center off the pad, but that could be because of what I added so I won't mark you down for it, plus it was roll only, no yawing

Very low tech however, I like that a lot

Not the most spectacular acceleration, but she manages without struggling overmuch and burnout altitude was acceptable though not brilliant

1796 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

Already concerned about her ability to set down given the available Dv

Excellent acceleration on that last stage however

607 Dv remaining upon achieving Munar Orbit

Ran out of Dv part way through de-orbit burn, destroyed on impact with Munar Surface, Jeb died smiling

BSC - ethan829 - Kerbal XI

Full on Asparagus Boosters

Fold Out solar Panels for power, can't see any batteries though

Full RCS and a docking port on top, awww who's a cute littlie docking port

Where are the legs...

Nosecones again

Launching time

Wow acceleration off the pad is excellent

Something randomly exploded when the final asparagus detached, nothing missing from the main stage so something on the boosters must have gone off

Very good burnout altitude

1376 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit, Munar Orbit is going to be tight

178 Dv remaining upon achieving Munar Orbit

Ran out of Dv during Landing plane Change Burn, stuck in Munar Orbit

110M/s of Dv short for plane Change, plus the several Hundred more needed for decent

BSC - fireblade42 - WorkHorse

Booster style Asparagus

Oh my, what a Lander, absolutely the most stable to date I’ve seen, we'll see if she can do it

Full RCS

An odd lone cosmetic light, weird

Interesting centre stage engine setup

Lander wobbles a LOT on the pad

Good acceleration and the Boosters separated more cleanly than I expected

Acceptable burnout altitude

3808 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

2632 Dv remaining upon achieving Munar Orbit

Good landing acceleration allowed for low deceleration burn

Lander tipped on Landing, (Mission Failure at this point), so many broken hopes, I got some amusing pictures of the disintegration on the way down-slope though

Mechjeb did have some issues keeping the Lander upright during final decent, was a bit jittery on the controls possibly insufficient SAS torque in the Pod?

BSC - Giggleplex777 - Kerbal G

Booster style Asparagus

Fold out solar paneling, though no Batteries visible

Full RCS and cunningly hidden tanks, are the Legs under their too?

Nosecones

Nice Escape tower, and if I understand the staging right, self disposing upon achieving orbit

Acceleration was good initially though the use of a center skipper left it less impressive at the upper end of the flight profile

The final burnout altitude was understandably at the limits of the acceptable range

2719 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

1519 Dv remaining upon achieving Munar Orbit

Guessing this isn't intended to land since I can't find legs but we'll see if she'll balance on engine

Good Decent burn acceleration, with some actual legs this would be good on flatter slopes

Lander tipped on Landing, (Mission Failure at this point)

Dv might have got you back to orbit, but no further

BSC - GregroxMun - Orbiter-X

Basic Solars, good

Full RCS and a nice littlie escape tower

Can't see any Batteries or Lander Legs

Nosecones again

Full Asparagus design

Half the Clamps and the center stack engine are in wrong stage, corrected on launch pad

Rolled a lot off pad and a bit of Yaw but not excessive

Some sway on upper stage during liftoff

Asparagus staging also messed up, causes all boosters tom separate at first booster burnout, also corrected on pad

Acceleration not spectacular, but we'll see what final burnout looks like, unfamiliarity with mainsails and all that jazz applies

Lower stage concertina's into uppers and explodes destroying majority of rocket at 40KM of altitude, reasons unclear, final Upper stage remained intact so attempting to continue from here

Resultant Final Burnout Altitude rather high with considerable below horizon burning required

790 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

Ran out of Dv 70 M/S short of Mun SOI insertion Burn Completion (Mission Failure at this point)

I have screenshots of concertina in action and of what was left after boom if needed

BSC - I_Killed_Jeb - Meercurio Alpha

Let’s see if we really can kill Jeb shall we?

Nice 1.25M Lander, though I note lights again

Nosecones Galore

Fold out Paneling

Full Asparagus

Another chute on Booster user...

Rolled and Yawed coming off the pad, but otherwise good launch

One of the few designs to peg Terminal right up to gravity turn, nice

Excellent Burnout altitude, Better than my own, here have a cookie for setting a new record

Naturally excellent acceleration

5088 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

3891 Dv remaining upon achieving Munar Orbit

Jettisoned Upper stage with 832 Dv remaining in tanks after completing de-orbit burn

Very good Lander acceleration, likes the short braking burn

Lander tipped on Landing, (Mission Failure at this point), again this one could be easily modified to stick the landing, it came close and one damage solar panel aside it slid down the slope in one piece, a first

22 remaining

BSC - Johnno - Kerbal JX3

Another Shortie

Booster Style Asparagus

Non-Stowed Solar Paneling, good job I know what look like or I’d have missed them

Full RCS and Batteries

Not sure if this one has Legs

Heavy on the struts but that's not a huge issue

Stabilizing winglets are nice to see, a few would have benefited from those imo

Very interesting Booster engine setup, seen similar a few times now and I always like to see the smaller stuff used where it works

An odd Asymmetrical Light???

Nosecones again

Nice acceleration, hit's Terminal no issues

Holds it to 12KM too, cool

Excellent final Burnout Altitude, only just above my own

2331 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

Hmm guessing this doesn’t have legs...

1139 Dv remaining upon achieving Munar Orbit Not sure if she can even get down with that on a good slope

Landed with about 35 M/s left in the tanks but toppled, (Mission Failure at this point)

Did get a really amusing 101 explosion salute montage as the bits below the capsule disintegrated, (it parted company with that lot when it toppled), Pod ended up sat on it's base amusingly enough with a girder tumbling tumbleweed style in the background

Really wish I could record some of these landings

BSC - Kasuha - Kerbal IV Light

Large Number of Basic Solar's and some Batteries, nice to see

Lights but now I know what they do so + (this applies to all prior entries bar 2, apologies for sounding negative, only just discovered their use)

Nosecones again

Basic 3 mainsail Booster Style Asparagus again, seems very similar to Giggleplex's design actually

Lots of Leg's, not sure it will help with the high CG but we will see.

1,2,3,4 here we go again

Oh dear, more Clamps in the wrong stage, corrected on Launch pad

I tell a lie the booster engines are Skippers

Good acceleration, easily hit terminal

Held it till Booster Burnout

Excellent Burnout altitude, again slightly above my own but not by much

2895 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

1698 Dv remaining upon achieving Munar Orbit

Very solid Lander acceleration with nice low decent burn

Lander tipped on Landing, (Mission Failure at this point), getting a bit tiered of copy/pasting this, I guess the motto is "if at first you don't succeed, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try again.

Only 580 Dv left in tank's, would probably make orbit, but not Kerbin

BSC - Kerolyov - Kerolyov X

And another shrotie

Where's the leg's, otherwise interesting design.

Batteries present and accounted for, folding Solar Panels reporting for duty

Very Solid acceleration through all boosters, got distracted typing this so not certain if she hit terminal or not but I’d bet she was close

Slightly anemic acceleration after boosters are gone does limit burnout altitude to merely acceptable however

2886 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

Very Anemic Lander TWR and requirement of use during Munar SOI insertion burn and Munar Orbit establishment burns makes for a very slow process, Landing will doubtless be the same, switching to Lv-909's would be a sensible move I think, shouldn't affect to orbit Dv or Lander Dv too much

1687 Dv remaining upon achieving Munar Orbit

Still can't find no legs...

She made it, no tipping

Unfortunately she then proceeded to slide due to lack of legs, a quick tumble later and only the pod and a decoupler remained

Remaining Dv was 800 and change, not sure if she could get back on that, also I doubt anything but mechjeb could put her down lightly enough to avoid blowing the engines up normally

So close, *cries*

BSC - kookoo_gr - Mun Lander II

Lots and lots of science, me likely

Also basic Solars and some Batteries are good to see

Sadly the Lander looks like another high CG tipatron

Nosecones again

Lights present and accounted for, and pointing down

Full on Asparagus staging, but I like the use of solely 1.25M parts here, really low tech

Just noticed the antennae whilst placing mechjeb, cute

Acceleration ok though not spectacular

Acceptable though not ideal burnout altitude, no nose down pointing required though, tbh overall performance would increase noticeably if you replaced the 45 with another 30, the design should be more than stable enough with just the SAS

4210 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

3011 Dv remaining upon achieving Munar Orbit

Here comes more pain...

Jettisoned Upper stage with 585 Dv remaining in tanks after completing de-orbit burn

Good Lander thrust minimizes altitude required

Lander tipped on Landing, (Mission Failure at this point), Oddly no rolling destruction, initial tip was caught by a goo container which remained intact, after 20M's of slide she caught on the upper stage who's lowest tank and engine where mysteriously sticking out of the ground Screenshot taken

BSC - kzauner - KerbalEX

Interesting Lander design you got there, not sure whets under the cosmetic paneling, and given the high Lander CG I doubt I’m going to

Basic Solar's are nice

Full RCS seemingly replacing any form of SAS, interesting choice

Mainsail based Booster style Asparagus

Nosecones again

A Drogue cute on the Pod, COOL

Note to self, remember RCS at liftoff

Massive Yaw and pitch and Roll off Pad, Mechjeb kept her flying via heavy RCS usage but ultimately refused to stabilize till Boosters nearly empty

Boosters jettisoned at 3.5K up, velocity and acceleration anemic

Accelerations picks up with altitude however, Mainsail effect again

Final Burnout altitude high but acceptable

2843 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

Forced use of Lander stage for much of Munar SOI insertion Burn and Munar Orbit burns made for painfully slow process due to terrible TWR

1645 Dv remaining upon achieving Munar Orbit

Lander stage nearly depleted, no chance of putting down on Legs this time

RCS propellant ran out on the way down but the pod has enough torque so...

Got down ok but toppled, (Mission Failure at this point)

Your Lander is never going to get that slope even if it had landed as intended, but get the booster issue sorted and I think she'll do fine on gentler slopes

BSC - Mecha Pants - Kerbal-Mk-4

Interesting Boosters with Booster Style Asparagus, a bit fiddly for newcomers though, they ma not realize the connectivity limits and thus may dispense with the extra securing to unfortunate consequences

With that cosmetic Paneling I have no clue how your Lander is constructed, I can't even see the legs, though I do eye spy some basic solars

Another cute little docking port for your kerbanauts to pet and care for and feed whilst they undertake long journeys

Note: Do not feed docking port fellow Kerbanauts who are not wearing spacesuits, may result in swelling of fellow Kerbanaut, hemorrhaging of fine blood vessels, boiling of the blood, sunburn, frostbite, and in extreme cases, death

RCS I note though again invisible tanks

Lots of upper stage wobble on pad, and lots of mainsail wobble after separation of boosters

Eventually mainsail calms down around 30KM up

Solid burnout altitude, probably due to equally solid acceleration

Interesting use of Ant's on upper stage even if it does involve some cheeky part clipping

2763 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

Still no legs, unless those two girders with panels are supposed to be stand ins...

1566 Dv remaining upon achieving Munar Orbit

Low thrust on Lander produces need for very high altitude decent Burns

Another drunk Lander tips over, (Mission Failure at this point), I’d blame Jeb being drunk instead, except he flies better drunk for some reason

BSC - mhoram - Christmas Tree

Hmmm interesting Lander, a surprising amount of low slung weight that’s widely off the centerline once you include the engines, but quite tall all the same.

Fold out solar Paneling

Interesting second stage design, not sure if that’s asparagus or not

Full Asparagus first stage however

Bottom half wobbles on pad

Very Bouncy at liftoff, but great acceleration

More or less rides terminal all the way up to gravity turn, dips in and out but never far off, actually best design for newbies that

Nope, not asparagus second stage

Upper and landing stage Acceleration at Kerbin very anemic, extends burnout considerably

Still acceptable burnout and no down pointing required

3384 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

2185 Dv remaining upon achieving Munar Orbit

Lander TWR was ok though not perfect for the decent burn

Lander Tipped on Landing, (Mission Failure at this point)

Came very close to it, I think if you hadn't had the science gear on top, (which I nevertheless like the presence of), you'd have made it, it was an ultra slow motion topple, your about on par with fireblade for stability

Remaining DV of 1.1K was possibly a littlie light for return

BSC - mpink - Mun Xplorer

A full separated Tank/Engine Asparagus, complex and really newbie unfriendly IMO, but super efficient of course

Nosecones again

No Solar's, Batteries, or Lander Legs that I can see

I added 2 basic Solars and a Battery for Mechjeb to the pod

Not sure why you used structural Fuselages instead of Liquid Tanks to hold each engine...

Initial Acceleration much more anemic than expected, the center being an LTV 45 instead of a skipper or mainsail is probably the main reason why, robs your asparagus of much of its benefits

Not sure why you had the tiny tank engines either

Acceleration improves noticeably once the Asparagus are gone

Resultant Burnout altitude thus excellent if only equal to my own

2598 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

1394 Dv remaining upon achieving Munar Orbit

Attempting to put down on engine

Got down with 205 Dv remaining but unsurprisingly tipped over, (Mission Failure at this point)

BSC - Nao - HexaDragon

I like the Lander already, looks very low CG, may still topple based on experience but I’m not gonna call this one till she hits the dirt

Cute littlie solar panel and monopropellant arrangement though that may be the death of you

SRB's, plus liquid Boosters attached to a center liquid stage, very logical by IRL rocket standards and thus easy for a newbie to get, I approve

Wait the top piece is detectable, some sort of escape tower then I guess, cool, I’ll leave that in munar orbit I think

Littlie bit of roll on launch but nothing uncontrollable

Acceleration was ok for first stage after SRB's separated, not great but not unacceptably low either

Acceleration got really slow towards end however and burnout was way too high with way too much downward pointing, worst so far

3816 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

Interesting full on tank jettison only Asparagus on the Lander, bit odd though, thought we where gonna lose some legs there, and probably won't help the CG at Mun landing but we'll see how it goes

2616 Dv remaining upon achieving Munar Orbit

Down we go...

Lander Tipped on Landing, (Mission Failure at this point), Actually tipped easily, the three pronged design left 2 tanks on the upslope side so once the legs cleared the ground the CG was past the legs, if she'd come down rotated 90 degree she might have stayed upright, got screenshots again

BSC - NeilC - Kerbal X2

That Lander looks very stable, though the legs might have been placed a tad higher

Nice light arrangement now I know what they do, though I almost missed the panels

Plenty of Bats

Full standard Asparagus with SRB initial assistance

Nosecones

Good acceleration off the pad, hit terminal no issues

Minor staging error, the SRB's are tied to the first two Asparagus Boosters resulting in those being jettisoned with the SRB's, corrected on Pad

Can't maintain terminal after SRB burnout as acceleration slows to almost nothing for a while

Picks up once gravity turn begins though as boosters are emptying on fuel

Solid burnout altitude

Poodle upper stage did make circularization burn slow

4558 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

Again slow burn for Munar SOI insertion

Oddly got a near perfect Mun equatorial orbit with your design, every other has given me a roughly 45 degree inclination, also orbit was in opposite direction around Mun

3388 Dv remaining upon achieving Munar Orbit

Once more unto the breach

Jettisoned Poodle stage with 595 Dv remaining, the plane change burn was a good 200-350 M/S less than the rest but that's within your stages limits

Lander Tipped on Landing, (Mission Failure at this point)

You had the most stable Lander to date, she came so close to not tipping, she hung on the balance-point for what seemed like forever, would have been easy to catch with SAS for a newbie

1949 Dv remaining in the tanks was also the best to date on any Lander

BSC - pedorsf - VMT

Booster is similar to Neil C's before you, still never bad to see variations on a concept

The Lander has weird engines and looks painfully Top Heavy

Also no sign of Bat's or Solar's, I added some Low down to keep Mechjeb running just in case

What are those things on the sides anyway?

Lots of Booster movement, but very stable off the pad all the same

Performance of your initial stage was Comparable with Neil C's, good initial acceleration becoming more anemic over time before improving again at higher altitudes

Huh you've got Aerospikes insider the Skipper, Part clipping?

Burnout was good though not great, just about 50KM up, no down pointing though

Okay now it's separated, more part clipping on the Lander with some LV-N's, they may be heavy enough to help your landing CG though

4676 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

Low Lander TWR produces long Insertion burn to Munar SOI

3473 Dv remaining upon achieving Munar Orbit

Lander Tipped on Landing, (Mission Failure at this point)

Lots of Dv left, (2437 Dv in fact), but the decent burns where really way too long, also the oddity of it burning the bottommost tanks fuel first made for a much worse CG than expected

Ughhhh getting tired again *yawn*

BSC - Psycix - Kerbal Xi

Nice looking Lander, the Angling should make it more stable and the legs are pushed out a bit by their mounting but the rest of the Lander is a tad tall

Basic full Asparagus design on the booster stage

Solar Panels looks good though no Batteries I notice

Typical acceleration for such a design, strong off the bad, slows down after boosters go, then speeds up at altitude

Burnout was impressively low however still only about 5th or 6th, but very good all the same

3155 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

Lander TWR made the final half of the Munar SOI insertion burn and the Munar orbit burns slow

1942 Dv remaining upon reaching Munar orbit

By time of decent burns she'd burnt enough fuel that they where surprisingly short

Lander Tipped on Landing, (Mission Failure at this point)

BSC - Pulsar - Impulse 3 - MMO

Got a could not load error due to missing parts (Strut Connector Heavy), will come back to this one, guessing I did get one of the dud RAR's

BSC - Rhomphaia - Kerbal 10b

Full Asparagus boosters with mainsail centre Nothing spectacularly new here, but that's probably a good sign all round

Plenty of batteries and Folding solar panels in evidence

Lander Looks high CG

Use of LTV 45's sub optimal, fins provide sufficient stability alongside SAS

Acceleration was OK though LTV 30's would have improved obviously, naturally becomes anemic after booster separation

Final burnout is good

2825 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

Upper stage has surprisingly good acceleration

1626 Dv remaining upon reaching Munar orbit

Lander Tipped on Landing, (Mission Failure at this point)

Only 589 Dv remaining in Tank's, that might get orbit again, but it won't make Kerbin

BSC - sgt_flyer - Kerbal Y

Ok I Already know you don't have legs, now to load her up and see what you do have...

Another tail cone engine placer user, I admit a cool construction technique

Full Asparagus here too

Lots of cosmetic paneling makes it hard to know what the upper stages look like

I do eye spy science, escape tower, and some nice strutting

Fold away Solars also present

Applying mechjeb...

Again typical Asparagus acceleration, good till boosters separate, then becoming Anemic before improving again with altitude

Interesting, LTV 30 + 4 48-7S's, would have made the shroud paneling jettison with it though, unneeded drag and weight

Poor burnout altitude and some nose down point required

2481 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

Oh there's a separate stage to jettison the panels, might wanna stack that in with the engine

Munar SoI burn surprisingly good despite use of an LV 909 for part of it, not sure how Mun burns will work out

Mun periapsis burn noticeably long, not as bad as some, but still

1213 Dv remaining upon reaching Munar orbit

Let's see if she can even theoretically make it down on the engine

Lander Tipped on Landing, (Mission Failure at this point)

You had 280 Dv left in the tanks so with a light touch a successful engine landing on a flat slope should work

BSC - Spartwo - CSM

Nice Huge Booster with the tail cone system in use again

Fold Out Solar's and RCS

Docking Port on top, not unexpected

No sign of the Lander from the picture?

Cosmetic Paneling hiding construction again

Some Fixed Solars too in case their needed

Ere we go, Ere we go, Ere we go...

Minor wobbling on the pad

Not sure you needed to use LTV 45's, Fins would have been lighter and given you better TWR

Acceleration still good though you don’t hit terminal till just before turn, then lose it again

Cute upper stage, though again I don't think an LTV 45 is needed, in fact I’m sure the 909's are gimbaled anyway for you

Burnout altitude was poor with noticeable down pointing required

1926 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit, I' impressed given how small this is now...

Cute Final stage, Lander still MIA

729 Dv remaining upon reaching Munar orbit, landing doubtful

Fuel ran out during de-orbit burn, Lander destroyed on impact, (Mission Failure at this point)

BSC - sploden - Kerbal 20X 20improved 2002

Pretty standard Mainsail based Booster Style Asparagus

Surprisingly stable looking Lander, experience suggests it won’t be enough but probably one of the better contenders

Basic Solar's, good, though no batteries in evidence

Nosecones

Hit's terminal dead easy though wobbles a lot

Booster separation finally drops below terminal

Burnout is high but acceptable as no down pointing required, right on the horizon in fact

4122 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

2925 Dv remaining upon reaching Munar orbit

Cute Lander engine design, TWR isn't totally horrible either

Braking altitude during decent burn not ideal, but not terrible either

Lander Tipped on Landing, (Mission Failure at this point)

1719 Dv in tanks should be more than enough for return trip

BSC - vetrox - The _Ambitious_ mk 2

Lots of cosmetic Paneling makes understanding construction harder

Major Mainsail full Asparagus design, I’m expecting huge acceleration and Dv out of this one

Can't tell if you have Solar Panels so I added a few, (I used zoom to clip the view through the panels onto the pod), to keep mechjeb running

No idea on Legs

Wobbles and tears itself apart on pad

Removing clamps fixes this, Proceeding from there...

Acceleration not as spectacular as expected, solid, but never pegs terminal

Ohhh their Skippers son the boosters, (really bad at telling those and mainsails apart visually in case you can't tell, barely used the things)

Acceptable burnout altitude but nose well above the horizon the whole way

4813 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

Very Slow to rotate during Munar Orbit burn's, created some issues, an extra SAS somewhere would help tremendously

The cosmetic Paneling stage really should be in with the Lower stage separation TBH

Lowers stage decoupler explodes on decouple

No Legs, though I’ve now found the panels you put on, nice

3614 Dv remaining upon reaching Munar orbit

With Legs this could easily land and return if it doesn’t tip

Lander Tipped on Landing, (Mission Failure at this point)

You got down with 2384 Dv left in tanks, with legs a land and return is perfectly doable

BSC - Xeldrak - CROME

Interesting design Full RCS, Folding Solars, Science, I think that’s a shielded docking port on top and the landing stage already looks pretty good DV/TWR wise. Pity the legs are on the core rather than the engine pods, don’t think she'll stick the landing as is

Some odd dot thingies I can't identify in VAB

Lights, nice, can't seem to spot the batteries despite the high max charge, where you hidden them...

Major Asparagus Booster setup, looks like she'll have good Dv

Jeb, Jeb, Jeb, Jeb, Jeb...

Solid Acceleration, Pegs terminal no issues until first booster falls away

Acceptable burnout altitude, no nose down required

3463 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

Ahh those dot things are the other type of RCS port, cool

2261 Dv remaining upon reaching Munar orbit

Lander Tipped on Landing, (Mission Failure at this point)

You got down with 1096 Dv left in tanks, Orbit possible, not sure about return

BSC - XolotlLoki - Delta X

That’s a big booster you got there

Also looks like a big upper stage and Lander

Lander looks high CG

RTG power source, took a moment to spot, cute

Clamps in wrong stage, corrected on Launch pad

Massive acceleration, pegs terminal in moment's, no issues, best off pad to date

Lots of wobble

Lots or Roll issues, also massive Yawing during initial gravity turn

Went out of control during later half of final side along booster burn, mechjeb caught after they separated lack of any SAS an enormous issue

Acceptable burnout altitude

4380 Dv remaining upon reaching Kerbin orbit

Got a very weird nearly polar orbit at Mun

3203 Dv remaining upon reaching Munar orbit

Lander Tipped on Landing, (Mission Failure at this point)

She actually stayed mostly in one piece, slid undamaged to a stop with legs extended, I pulled them in and she promptly rolled some more losing one RTG, which after she stopped tumbled tumbleweed style down the slope past her

BSC - zekes - Sarah III

Let’s see if the beautiful Sarah can do what all other have failed to do shall we...

Loading into VAB...

Nice simple lower stage, looks lie it'll have good thrust/Dv

Ohh, another docker, interesting

Full RCS, cool

Solar's present and accounted for

Nice Low CG Lander, you might make it

Also tiny, so tiny, can I pet it, does it bite...

Clipped 1 man Pod's, you cheeky devil you

Interesting, fire Boosters then fire mainsail after they separate

Also interesting mounting, didn’t know they worked as decouplers

Surprisingly ok liftoff and ascent, a littlie slow at first but picks up later

That Lander wobbles a lot...

Disintegrated at 50K altitude, careful watching of a second run shows it to be warping related, disabling Mechjeb autowarp

Excellent burnout altitude

Ok got her up with autowarp off no issues, however when I separated the orange tanks I was left in control of the tanks while the main section jetted away, also had to do that separation manually as mechjeb wouldn't auto stage it, investigating....

Issue appears to be cause by orange tank being construction starting point, unable to determine fix, (Mission Failure at this point)

Edited November 21, 2013 by Carl

[sgt_flyer]

@carl thanks for the review, although i will again point out a detail : on real rockets, when an interstage fairings stays with the upper stage on separation (like saturn V interstage ring between the first and second stage) the interstage is dropped several seconds after stage ignition.) the staging on the kerbal Y was made to reflect this - the interstage fairing and the escape tower should be dropped shortly after the core stage is dropped

[mhoram]

Lander TWR was ok though not perfect for the decent burn

Lander Tipped on Landing, (Mission Failure at this point)

Came very close to it, I think if you hadn't had the science gear on top, (which I nevertheless like the presence of), you'd have made it, it was an ultra slow motion topple, your about on par with fireblade for stability

Remaining DV of 1.1K was possibly a littlie light for return

Thanks for the test report!

Since I designed it for Minmus-landing and return, I never tested if it is possible to land on the Mun and return.

[Carl]

Glad to help. KSC Mission Control has now finished with rubber duckies and is about to start Secondary testing, probably not going to get any further than Nitro's before KSC Mission Control needs to get their heads down for the night, they have an appointment with the big Doctor Man that lives far, far, away in the morning.

Also since i did all this for you, has anyone actually flown my design and got any feedback for me, (bearing in mind i designed it thinking low tech was going to be key, had i known the reality i'd have used 2.5M a lot more).

[Death Engineering]

Weird explosion on orange tank separation

Death Engineeringâ„¢ - "A little chaos in every stage!"

Also since i did all this for you, has anyone actually flown my design and got any feedback for me, (bearing in mind i designed it thinking low tech was going to be key, had i known the reality i'd have used 2.5M a lot more).

If it loads in my career, I'll take it to Mun's south pole.

[Carl]

Here's the tech tree i promised, required stuff should be circled in red, think that's everything, i know the panels are the most high tech at any rate

[Carl]

First of the Secondary tests:

Secondary Testing:

BSC - 700NitroXpress - Atlas V

Still Can't find any power generation...

Burnout is especially noticeable I've tested other designs

Jettisoned the escape tower whilst coasting to circularisation burn

Again Munar SOI insertion burn is even more noticeably long

2199 Dv remaining upon reaching Munar orbit, slight improvement

Transfered to desired plane with upper stage then jettisoned

Very tricky getting Jeb from Pod to Can, did it with plenty of EVA fuel left, but i'm very inexperienced at unattached EVA and it created issues, someone with a less deft touch would have been stuck

Took some effort to get lander clear of orbiter due to total unfamiliarity with rcs controls, also had to switch to it from Map view, ended up in control of orbiter initially, again not friendlily to first timers who don't know some of this stuff

Ran out of Dv during Decent burn at approx 10 meters altitude Lander landed hard, bounced, then tumbled, Completely destroyed along with Jeb during subsequent tumble, (Mission Failure at this point)

[Andrew Hansen]

Just wanted to post my in-progress review of the finalists. It's not done, but almost. I'll finish stg_flyer and the rest tomorrow.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vfVCabx8L6ZE6n1dvj4ogYp7zhOmK7Y5PulkxyNaH1M/edit

[Xeldrak]

Lights, nice, can't seem to spot the batteries despite the high max charge, where you hidden them...

The battery is "hidden" right here:

[Death Engineering]

Also since i did all this for you, has anyone actually flown my design and got any feedback for me, (bearing in mind i designed it thinking low tech was going to be key, had i known the reality i'd have used 2.5M a lot more).

Made a few "upgrades" by adding the other science parts and a crew pod instead of the probe core. I also disabled the torque on the command pod to avoid having too much extra control. I didn't actually look too close at it until it was on the pad - didn't notice it was all solid first two stages! I throttled up anyways but then the ascent was so perfectly straight I started playing with the throttle (because I could..) until the liquid engines kicked in.

I kinda forgot I was going to the Mun's south pole until long after beginning the gravity turn, but even messing up the ascent trajectory there was plenty of delta-v to cherry-pick my landing site. Shoulda brought lights, though. I hovered just above the LZ then dropped the last stage before landing but forgot to throttle down first. Oops... the booster stage started chasing me back to orbit! Luckily I was able to get away and resume landing. The site is the largish crater near the south pole and is quite flat for that region. Got some good readings and a pocket full of dirt and headed back.

The craft was a dream to fly and the ascent was very fast but still easy to get into orbit. The solids made me think "Ooooo.. giant model rocket!" I think for this challenge it was not the right rocket, but as a low-tech career mode rocket it was excellent. Well done!

Javascript is disabled. View full album

[Giggleplex777]

My entry was designed to meet the requirements of the rocket, which was to do a munar orbit and return. I left the legs out so new players can experiment with it and modify it to their needs.

[Deathsoul097]

Carl, I have no idea where you were trying to land it if it tipped. (Side of the VAB???) It is designed to land on MINMUS (Like the Kerbal X) AND return from MINMUS (Like the Kerbal X), or do a mun Flyby (Like the Kerbal X).

Note to all: Kerbal X is a MINMUS lander OR munar ORBITER. And so is my Kerbal Z.Z.

Andrew, I am quite surprised by that actually. I flew it multiple times, and the boosters never caused any damage. Hmm...

Basically, I designed my Kerbal Z.Z to fulfil the exact same mission layout as Giggleplex, but also allowing for a minmus landing aswell. (Maybe in the same flight, but I am not to sure as I never tested it for that.)

Edited November 21, 2013 by Deathsoul097

[Carl]

@Deathsoul:

My lander at the landing site:

@Death Engineering: Thanks for review, still waiting on pictures to load though, .

[Deathsoul097]

Well, now there's the problem! You're on the wrong moon! As I said earlier, the Kerbal Z.Z was designed for Mun Orbits and Minmus Landings.

EDIT: These are the requirements that I built my craft to meet:

Originally posted by Johno:

Kerbal X is capable of landing on and returning from Minmus, that along with lunar orbit capability could perhaps be the goal? Landing legs do indeed suggest landing capability and the only place you're capable of doing so and still having return capability is Minmus. Since Minmus is also easier to land on than Mün that could be a worthwhile direct ascent goal for the craft, to me it at least seems like the only reasonable explanation for the stock Kerbal X.

Also, TBH, In my experience I have NEVER landed ANYWHERE so unfavourable. Even when I was a noob, if I ever attempted a landing I always looked for the flattest spot possible to land on. I mean, Look at that, I would never attempt to land there, even if it was on the right moon!

Edited November 21, 2013 by Deathsoul097

[Carl]

I was following the philosophy Death Engineering brought up earlier, (and one I've had myself), that newbies will often put down "wherever it goes", i've seen other newbies express similar sentiments before. Some people can control landings really well, others like myself have real issues and just getting it to land with minimal horizontal and vertical Dv is a serious achievement.

TBH i didn't expect to have the most stable lander here, so i expected most of you to get down anywhere i could.

EDIT: Just realised i accidentally deleted my test procedure description . I chose Mun because that's what many where designed for and i'm more familiar with it so it represented a fairer test for everyone.

I do plan a flatter landing zone test too btw.

[Death Engineering]

TBH i didn't expect to have the most stable lander here, so i expected most of you to get down anywhere i could.

Your lander was ridiculously stable. I don't think I've put that much stability into a lander but since there's really no penalty to making a wide footprint in KSP, why not..?

[Deathsoul097]

Yeah, that is quite a ridiculously low centre of mass compared to the Kerbal X. (Stock and BSC ones)

[Carl]

Yeah, that is quite a ridiculously low centre of mass compared to the Kerbal X. (Stock and BSC ones)

I did kinda notice that one...

[sploden]

I have tested the finalists and have made a selection.

Now I understand that different people have different design objectives, different tastes, and different mission profiles. I simply do not have the time to find all your entry posts and compare the performance of your craft against the objectives you set for yourself to achieve. So I've tested your crafts according to my own subjective opinion about what the improved Kerbal X should be.

Currently the Kerbal X can land on Minmus and return, or land on the Mun and not return. The improved version should extend this capability, and do it more easily and with fewer complications if possible. I want the improved Kerbal X to be able to return from a Mun landing. I want it to have as few parts as possible, and I want it to be easy to handle. I want it to look amazing, and I want it to have features that work so well that the user doesn't even know they're working, but will become obvious once a craft of lesser caliber is flown.

Here are my testing opinions.

Antbin
	Good booster placement.
	Boosters burnout before 10km.
	Aesthetically pleasing
	Great craft, was able to fly it much more successfully this time around.
	Looks great
	Low part count
	Low weight
	Staging off the mainsail starts the Skipper engine immediately
	Consistent TWR throughout Munar transfer burn
	Capable of landing on the Mun and returning to Kerbin; had some dV left over.

Deathsoul097
	Non-optimal booster placement
	Not sure why there’s a docking port and why it’s not on the top
	Not sure what’s up with the stuff around the mainsail; not really necessary
	Staging off the mainsail starts up the poodle immediately
	Consistent TWR throughout Munar transfer burn
	Transfer stage doesn’t crash into the Mun
	Weird clippy lander leg configuration… not as wide a spread as it could be if configured normally.
	No solar panels? Ran out of electricity on the Mun’s surface, didn’t have any the rest of the way home.
	If the RCS were exchanged for 2 solar panels and 2 batteries, this would be a much better craft.
	Less room for error than Antbin’s craft.

Giggleplex777
	Slow start on takeoff; would like more power.
	Non-optimal booster placement.
	Abort system shuts off main engines - good.
	Aesthetically pleasing
	Boosters survive past 10km; would prefer they burnout at 10km or before.
	4260 electric charge is overkill.
	Staging off main engine doesn’t start poodle engine immediately
	Don’t need the four SP-L Solar Panel arrays.
	This feels more like a Command Module without a LM than a standalone mission.
	Capable of landing* on the Mun and returning to Kerbin. Leftover dV was 83m/s.
	Would like more delta-V.
	Would like some landing legs.
	It would be pretty easy to increase the delta-V significantly by reducing the weight: The huge battery and 4 solar arrays are unnecessary; just use a couple more OX-STAT’s and a couple of the smallest batteries, and a smaller but more efficient engine configuration could be used instead of the poodle.

GregroxMun
	Large battery, SAS module, and huge RCS tank are a waste of delta-V.
	Clamps are in the wrong stage, have to stage twice to take off; more delta-V wasted.
	Okay power on takeoff.
	Final booster placement is not optimal.
	Abort system fails to separate the capsule from the stack.
	Staging off the Skipper doesn’t trigger the Poodle immediately.
	Transfer stage: Lots of solar panels, no batteries. Overkill on the panels.
	Munar transfer TWR is inconsistent, unless the skipper stage is removed beforehand (which is a waste of delta-v)
	Not capable of landing on the Mun and returning to Kerbin.
	The least noob-friendly craft of the finalists (and some of the non-finalists)

sgt_flyer
	Interesting engines and fairings.
	Would prefer fewer parts.
	Would prefer not to have the Mystery Goo and the SC-9001 Science Jr. modules.
	Like the escape tower design.
	No launch clamps… hmm.
	Like the fact that there are fewer asparagus boosters to stage through than the stock craft. Still prefer simple crossfeed though.
	Final booster placement is okay.
	Boosters burnout before 10km - good.
	Would prefer if the Abort system were to shut off the main engines.
	Three parachutes is overkill.
	Don’t much like the engine fairings. They look okay, but they increase part count and drag.
	Would prefer more torque in the lifter.
	Inconsistent Munar transfer TWR.
	Decoupled upper science module and went for Munar landing*, with great success. 675m/s left at this point…
	Not capable of returning to Kerbin after landing* on the Mun.

Xeldrak
	Would prefer fewer parts.
	Would prefer a more streamlined design.
	The craft could be capable of landing on the dark side, given the huge battery and the lights… We’ll see.
	Solar arrays aren’t necessary… Just a few squares of solar panels would do the trick pretty well, and wouldn’t require user input.
	RCS amount is overkill.
	Ladder system has more drag than necessary and increases part count
	Would prefer actual nosecones on the boosters.
	Strong launch.
	Wish the craft was oriented normally.
	Would prefer booster burnout before 10km.
	On the dark-side landing attempt the location turned out to be less than ideal (560m altitude)… but the crew survived. If I were to attempt this again I would like to bring along some spotlights.
	The light-side landing attempt was successful.
	Approximately 700m/s left over after Kerbin return burn.
	Has the most delta-V of the finalists.
	Final stage (Capsule, parachutes, and docking port) has a high center of mass; SAS-less re-entry causes the capsule to enter backwards.
	3 parachutes is overkill.

My vote goes to Antbin.

[Deathsoul097]

Is everyone blind!? MY LANDER HAS SOLAR PANELS!!! WTF!

The panels around the mainsail prevent it from overheating. The docking port is there because that was a functional place to put it, without it taking up more space than it needed to, or increase the partcount by adding radial parachutes. (1 Radial is equal to 1/2 of a big 'chute) Docking port is on there for docking to stations, you know those things you dock to. What would you classify as "Optimal booster placement"? The lander legs are more stable than placing them normally (At least, as far as I am aware, as I have landed that lander in places other things would tip, including the original Kerbal X) Most noobs wouldn't think to try to crash their transfer stage into the mun, and don't really care about debris. (in my experience) Also, the solar panels are on the sides of the lander stage.

Edited November 21, 2013 by Deathsoul097

[sgt_flyer]

@deathsoul97 i think i'm speaking to deaf ears too i keep saying that the interstage fairing and escape tower are supposed to be dropped shortly after the core stage is dropped, yet the tests they make keep saying that it's unneeded mass and drag during upperstage flight

[Rhomphaia]

Is everyone blind!? MY LANDER HAS SOLAR PANELS!!! WTF!

The panels around the mainsail prevent it from overheating. The docking port is there because that was a functional place to put it, without it taking up more space than it needed to, or increase the partcount by adding radial parachutes. (1 Radial is equal to 1/2 of a big 'chute) Docking port is on there for docking to stations, you know those things you dock to. What would you classify as "Optimal booster placement"? The lander legs are more stable than placing them normally (At least, as far as I am aware, as I have landed that lander in places other things would tip, including the original Kerbal X) Most noobs wouldn't think to try to crash their transfer stage into the mun, and don't really care about debris. (in my experience) Also, the solar panels are on the sides of the lander stage.

Mainsails no longer terminally overheat on orange tanks, and your setup wouldn't have prevented that anyway since they attach to the tank. Overheating is the same with or without them.

Docking ports mount fine on top of parachutes,

I tended to smash the engine on a bumpy landing with your legs, standard designs survived better.

I cared about debris when I was a noob

I am guessing sploden is looking for a north-south booster placement. Don't really find it an issue with your craft since it won't have the boosters through the gravity turn on most beginner launches.