Build a space station

[kola2DONO]

The title says it, build a space station BUT you can't use rcs to dock, not liquid engines either, only ion engines!

From the time you are 100 m away from the station you can't use liquid engines or rcs any longer.

You need to make a new save, after that you have 4 in game hours to make the biggest space station

You get 20 points for each module added.

You get 30 points if the station is in a 70-100 km orbit

You get 40 points if the station is in a 100-500 km orbit

You get 55 points if the station is in a 500-2000km orbit

You get 70 poins if the station is in a 2000+ km orbit

For each tonn of weight of your final station you get 1.5 points.

Start Competing!

Scoreboard :

1.

2.

3.

Edited March 2, 2014 by kola2DONO

[kola2DONO]

This challenge is not impossible, i once managed to make a space station with 3 modules in 44 minutes only using ion engines to dock.

[Pds314]

40 in-game minutes? That is not long at all. I would have put the time limit at something like 6 in-game hours. The thing is, It takes what, 6 minutes or so to get to orbit, another 15 to complete an orbit... The minimum time before any docking can happen is 20 minutes or so. That assumes you can manage to basically hit the other ship from below perfectly as you burn to orbit, which doesn't often happen. After that, you would typically need to wait ANOTHER orbit, thus, 35 minutes total. 5 minutes for two Ion-powered docking actions is not an easy task.

[RickRastardly]

I think the challenge here is the docking side of things with ion engines, so I'm assuming the items you want to dock are already in orbit before the timer starts?

Also the OP should be posting his or hers best result.

[Pds314]

EDIT: Why haven't the leaderboards been updated? There are currently two entries, I think.

Also, may I submit an entry that presently qualifies? As nothing said you needed to dock, my AppPhlo Aerotitan spaceplane is more than capable of reaching orbit in under 40 minutes and on a good run, weighs in at 260 tonnes in a 100-500 km orbit.

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And yes, it may be all one ship, but it follows all of the rules and has 77 living, breathing Kerbals onboard and a bunch of solar panels and such to make sure they stay that way.

So I think my score is roughly 40+260*1.5 = 430 points.

Whackjob, I await your entry. Only god can say what sort of monstrosity you would put in orbit here. I am imagining something that takes up most of the sky from the ground as it passes overhead and causes massive tidal forces on every poor thing below.

Edited March 3, 2014 by Pds314

[Tex_NL]

... The thing is, It takes what, 6 minutes or so to get to orbit, another 15 to complete an orbit... The minimum time before any docking can happen is 20 minutes or so. ...

A low Kerbal Orbit at 80 to 100km takes about 30 minutes. Up at 500km you're already getting into the order or 1 hour. If you go higher you won't even be able to circularize your orbit within 40 after launch, let alone within 40 minutes after your previous launch.

[Pds314]

I think the challenge here is the docking side of things with ion engines, so I'm assuming the items you want to dock are already in orbit before the timer starts?

Also the OP should be posting his or hers best result.

That... Or you could just avoid docking things altogether and put a 200-tonne spacestation on a single lifter, or make it a single lifter like mine.

[Pds314]

Oh, woops. Yeah, 30 not 15. So this is even more hopeless than I thought.

[kola2DONO]

Alright, 4 hours then.

[kola2DONO]

I'll be making an entry soon.

Edited March 2, 2014 by kola2DONO

[ihtoit]

So... how would this score? Once in orbit, LF lifting stage, the kick motors and RCS systems are all jettisoned (in this shot booster stages have been jettisoned, kick motors and RCS remain), it's down to docked thruster units for orbital adjustment and reaction wheels for orientation at that point. Essential stats are on the screenshot. There are 13 docking ports, 5 Clamptron Seniors at the top of the sail and 8 Clamptrons (blocked by nuclear kick motors), 1 under each radial tank.

(addendum: screenshot was taken the moment 150km circular orbit was achieved, so the MET clock is the actual time to orbit. Yes, it is a single-stage lift. No parts docking required)

Edited March 2, 2014 by ihtoit