The Plunge

[Spyritdragon]

Hello everyone :-).

This challenge is meant to be a test of wits, skill, pure rocket building skill and your Moar Boosters potential.

In its essence it's a rather simple, though i find it very entertaining, challenge.

Described in one sentence: Go as deep into Jool as possible and return to space on your own power.

For this challenge, Jool's atmosphere is considered to begin at 138.000 metres.

Since Jool's atmosphere is very dense, i don't expect anyone to get within range of the Kraken with any hopes of still getting out - if you do, ill adjust the challenge accordingly.

Challenge rules:

• Propulsion: All propulsion on your craft must be either: Liquid fuel engines, solid rocket boosters, RCS, or ion engines (Good luck with that), or any other engine that uses either LiquidFuel, Oxidizer, SolidFuel, Monopropellant, Xenon (or in the modding class, Kethane). Engines that run purely off ElectricCharge are not allowed, nor are any warpdrive-style engines. Any other forces, such as decoupler force, control surface force and push by engine exhaust must be limited to regular use.
  
• Obvious "exploits" are strictly forbidden. Stuff that is simply based off the way KSP models physics, like asparagus staging, are not considered exploits.
  
• At least one Kerbal needs to be onboard for atmosphere entry and exit.
  
• Please take a screenshot of your craft at atmosphere entry, lowest point and exit.
  
• In the modding class, bringing stock IntakeAir with you is also forbidden.
  
• Your craft may only have 300 parts or less. (I think this is fair, since this is where many people will start lagging. If it should be more or less, let me know.)
  

There will be three seperate categories: Stock, Limited Mods and Limited Mods: FAR.

To be in the Stock category a craft must containt only unmodified stock parts from the moment it crosses the 138km border, and you must not use any assistance from systems like MechJeb. You are allowed to use Kerbal Engineer Redux or similar for delta-V calculations prior to start, but your chips must be disconnected before you enter the atmosphere.

To be in the Limited mods category, your craft may contain parts from any mods with over 500 downloads, excluding the FAR mod. What i'm trying to do with this 500 is to allow people to use mods as they normally would, while keeping it a fair challenge. When i think of using mods, i think of stuff like KW rocketry, KSPX, Novapunch, Mechjeb, Kerbal Engineer, B9, and similar. In general, just adhere to the rules of fair play.

Mods i'd prefer not to see are mods like KSP Interstellar which allow for warp drives, and other mods one would generally consider overpowered.

Its a bit of a weird line here, so just go with what you think is fair.

Limited Mods: FAR is exactly the same as Limited mods, only with FAR installed. I'm making this a seperate category because of the drastic way FAR changes aerodynamics.

Points are very simple: your score is equal to the number of metres you can get below 138km, as registered on the altimeter at the top of your screen. You are allowed to enter Jool any way you wish, and you may use parachutes while descending.

Use of any mods, Hyperedit, and anything else, is allowed to get your ship into a Jool orbit or near Jool, even in the Stock category. None of the rules apply untill the moment you enter Jool's atmosphere.

You are NOT required to get back to orbit - all i need is that your altitude be over 138km again after you've been at your deepest point. If you fall back in afterwards thats OK by me.

Good luck, and may you return safely :-)

Current leader (and only entry) is Tommy99534, going down to 26547 metres and making it back to space.

Edited December 2, 2013 by Spyritdragon
Forgot a part limit. Oopsie.

[700NitroXpress]

Does Jool have a limit like the sun as to how far you can descend until you go boom?

[Spyritdragon]

Does Jool have a limit like the sun as to how far you can descend until you go boom?

Yes, it does, you usually won't reach the surface with an intact spacecraft. It behaves much like the bottom sentence in my signature. But i hope to have designed the challenge that no-one gets there and back out - if someone does, ill adjust the challenge. Jool's atmosphere at the surface is a whopping 15 atm, i didn't expect anyone to get there and back out.

Edited November 28, 2013 by Spyritdragon

[700NitroXpress]

Are we allowed to pass straight through Jool's atmosphere and not stop and head straight down? Like a slingshot into the atmosphere and back out?

Also, I think the part count should be 500 or 600.

Edited November 28, 2013 by 700NitroXpress

[Spyritdragon]

Are we allowed to pass straight through Jool's atmosphere and not stop and head straight down? Like a slingshot into the atmosphere and back out?

I didn't think my challenge would raise these kind of questions. I thought it was well thought out .

You are allowed i suppose, but once again, stay fair. You're allowed to slingshot yourself in and back out, but i am going to add a limit to what speed you are allowed to enter the atmosphere. You're not really supposed to accellerate to 10km/s and catapult yourself into Jool's atmosphere

How about you can slingshot yourself, but you can't be going over Jool escape velocity when you enter the atmosphere?

[Kasuha]

Yes, it does, you usually won't reach the surface with an intact spacecraft. It behaves much like the bottom sentence in my signature. But i hope to have designed the challenge that no-one gets there and back out - if someone does, ill adjust the challenge. Jool's atmosphere at the surface is a whopping 15 atm, and with over 7.5 G's of surface gravity, i didn't expect anyone to get there and back out.

According to Wiki, Jool has 0.8 G surface gravity.

And there is definitely at least one person who landed on Jool and then got back to orbit using stock parts.

[700NitroXpress]

I didn't think my challenge would raise these kind of questions. I thought it was well thought out .

You are allowed i suppose, but once again, stay fair. You're allowed to slingshot yourself in and back out, but i am going to add a limit to what speed you are allowed to enter the atmosphere. You're not really supposed to accellerate to 10km/s and catapult yourself into Jool's atmosphere

How about you can slingshot yourself, but you can't be going over Jool escape velocity when you enter the atmosphere?

Well, it just says descend in past the 138,000 meter mark, you never said we had to come in like we were landing, so I figured that a slingshot would be the best way to go. Speed limit looks good, that works for me. If landing is indeed possible, then I'll try doing it both ways with the same craft.

[Spyritdragon]

According to Wiki, Jool has 0.8 G surface gravity.

And there is definitely at least one person who landed on Jool and then got back to orbit using stock parts.

Edited it. I have no idea how i could have missed that - i don't get how Jool has such low gravity though. It's always pulled me in reasonably well.

Still, 15 atmo's is no easy feat, especially with the 300 part limit i have set. If you can copy this persons preformance, go ahead. There's always going to be some Scott Manley/Whackjob who can eventually conquer my challenge. If you prove to be this person, Kudos to you.

As i've said before, if you manage to hit the surface and get back out, or if you manage to get devoured by the kraken while still thinking about getting out, ill change the challenge.

[700NitroXpress]

Come on, 500 parts... Pretty Please

[700NitroXpress]

Yeah, Jool has an atmospheric height of 200,000 meters and gravity of 0.8 Escape Velocity of 9704.4 m/s

[Spyritdragon]

Come on, 500 parts... Pretty Please

Yeah, Jool has an atmospheric height of 200,000 meters and gravity of 0.8 Escape Velocity of 9704.4 m/s

The wiki says 138km i thought..

[700NitroXpress]

The wiki says 138km i thought..

It the game under the Jool Planet info it says 200,000 meters

Under Atmospheric characteristics:

Atmos. Height = 200,000 m

Edited November 28, 2013 by 700NitroXpress

[Deathsoul097]

Yeah, but somehow the game is actually wrong. After doing many an aerobrake through jool, I know for a fact the wiki is right.

[Exxmorphing]

Perhaps the game information counted a portion of the exosphere, thus increasing the numbers. Since the exosphere is extremely thin, it's just left out of the actual game, but included in the numbers.

[Spyritdragon]

I dunno about 500 parts. How many people here can run 500 parts manually and still have a viable amount of fps for control?

[numerobis]

Perhaps the game information counted a portion of the exosphere, thus increasing the numbers. Since the exosphere is extremely thin, it's just left out of the actual game, but included in the numbers.

It's not just extremely thin, it's a total vacuum. Conversely, on Eve, the game info box gives a value for TOA that's still within the atmosphere, as evidenced by air density being non-zero.

[Andrew Hansen]

I dunno about 500 parts. How many people here can run 500 parts manually and still have a viable amount of fps for control?

I can! With my $600 beefed up laptop.

Although that's true, I agree with you that 500 parts is a bit excessive. I like your limit. Hopefully I'll enter a submission into your challenge.

[Tommy99534]

My entry:

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I used this monster to break loose of the chains that are Jool's atmosphere.

Part Count: 225