How far you can get a kerbal with 10 parts?

[Smidge204]

I was thinking about the next challenge: The rescue mission that kerbal that is in Laythe. We landed on water. How are we going to recue on water????

With a boat! Not sure how far you are from land, but you have a bit of fuel left so you could gently motor yourself closer to shore. Rescue mission will require a boat of some kind.

Adding Pol and Bop to my list of destinations safely reached (Still the same 5-part ship)

Tylo is right out, I think. The dV is just too high.

=Smidge=

[Danish_Savage]

Well, so no one could get to Tylo.

I did try, but didn't made it.

I was thinking about the next challenge: The rescue mission that kerbal that is in Laythe. We landed on water. How are we going to recue on water????

Make a rocket that has a wide base. Add chutes. Land. Load the kerb. Fly off.

[Nao]

I see everybody using pods, did i miss a rule about using command seats? Or is it just that the craft would need a pod anyways to have a kerbal that would ride the seat.

[Smidge204]

Kerbals have a nasty habit of falling out of command seats anyway. Plus you'd not only need a way to get a Kerbal out to the ship (not hard) but you'd need to be able to get the Kerbal into the seat.

Managed a Laythe landing, tried to motor to shore but ran out of fuel. I rebuilt the ship using a lander can instead of a command pod. The lander can, despite being 200kg lighter than a Mk1 pod, actually appears less efficient overall... seems to be a lot harder to get off of Kerbin but I've no idea why.

=Smidge=

[SRV Ron]

I see everybody using pods, did i miss a rule about using command seats? Or is it just that the craft would need a pod anyways to have a kerbal that would ride the seat.

Since a command seat cannot be a root part, there is no savings in part count to get one in use for launch. The key efficiency appears to be rockets with a Skipper engine under one orange tank and a second stage of the FL-T800 and a LV-N engine topped with a command module. Five parts bare bone. Ten max with decouplers, parachute, and solar panels on the same design if you are not experience with saving battery life and staging without decouplers.

On the lander can, it may be a drag issue from launch to orbit, or the use of the larger parachute cancels the weight savings. I have tried it and see little difference other then a safer landing on Duna with the bigger parachute. about 20% more fuel for the LV-N if you use a Mainsail and two orange tanks. But, you have to fly it carefully to avoid overheating then throttle down to reduce drag while in the atmosphere.

[Nao]

@SRV Ron

The mainsail does not overheat on orange tank anymore and we could use fuel tank as root part. (and fly without probe body, just steering the ship with engine gimbal)

But still , from what i understand I can't just put the ship with a seat on launch pad and walk the closest kerbal to it.

[metaphor]

Here's a Tylo trip in 10 parts.

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I also have a design that could get to Tylo and back to Kerbin in 10 parts plus a launch clamp (using docking ports doubling as decouplers).

Strategy for this one: Use 2 orange tanks plus mainsail to get to ~30 km altitude and 1000 m/s, undock both docking ports, turn middle part around and redock to nuclear engine, use LV-T30 engine to get a high enough apoapsis that the nuclear engine can do the rest of the circularization, use nuclear engine to get from LKO to low Tylo orbit, undock lander, land on Tylo, and get back up to orbit, redock, use nuclear engine to get back to Kerbin.

Edited December 16, 2013 by metaphor

[Jaleco]

Here's a Tylo trip in 10 parts.

Javascript is disabled. View full album

I also have a design that could get to Tylo and back to Kerbin in 10 parts plus a launch clamp (using docking ports doubling as decouplers).

Strategy for this one: Use 2 orange tanks plus mainsail to get to ~30 km altitude and 1000 m/s, undock both docking ports, turn middle part around and redock to nuclear engine, use LV-T30 engine to get a high enough apoapsis that the nuclear engine can do the rest of the circularization, use nuclear engine to get from LKO to low Tylo orbit, undock lander, land on Tylo, and get back up to orbit, redock, use nuclear engine to get back to Kerbin.

Congratulation.

I never tought about another smaller stage after the nuclear.

Well there is some time to the end of the day to we declare you the winner.

I'll try my new rocket right now.

[TimMartland]

Meh! Why do it with 10 parts when you can do it with 10,000?

[Jaleco]

No one tryed Moho? I tried but didn't get there.

[Jaleco]

Meh! Why do it with 10 parts when you can do it with 10,000?

Cause with 10.000 anyone can. With only 10 you'll have to think.

Any Last minute submission?

[SRV Ron]

"With only 10 you'll have to think."

And, use good piloting and navigation skills to do a Jool mission with a landing on one of its moons with a two stage all stock rocket.

[Jaleco]

So the final result:

1st: Metaphor (tylo - 10 parts)

2nd: Smidge204 (Bop -5 parts)

3rd: Firerunner (Laythe - 7 parts)

4th: Suns (Laythe - 9 parts)

5th: SRV Ron (Laythe 10 parts)

6th: Jaleco (Duna - 9 parts)

My last run to laythe with 6 parts gave me 3rd place.

Edited December 17, 2013 by Jaleco

[Jaleco]

I'll keep this challenge going to the end of the week to see if any one can get to Vall, Eeloo or Moho, and maybe improve their position.

I'll create a new challenge for the rescue with less parts.

[SRV Ron]

Note that Jeb has long gone Voyager on the five part design. It doesn't count since he will never land anywhere. (He does have enough fuel to brake back into a long elliptical orbit and could crash back, no chute, on Kerban given enough time to get an aerobraking intercept.

Good flying with the six part to get an intercept with that much fuel left.

[Jaleco]

The next challenge we be vary nice. I'm preparing a scenario file that will have the kerbals to be rescued.

[ttnarg]

8 parts, one over heat staging to skip a decoupler.

part list in order:

rockomax x200-16 Fuel Tank

TR-18A Stack Decoupler (upside down)

Mark 1 Lander Can

FL-T400

Atomic Rocket Motor

Jumbo-64

Jumbo-64

Mainsail

Javascript is disabled. View full album

BTW this is my second ever Tylo landing. Heres my first one, I used 689 parts:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/57197-The-ultimate-Jool-5-challenge-land-Kerbals-on-all-moons-and-return-in-one-big-misson?p=789853&viewfull=1#post789853