Lightest Eve Lander

[rtxoff]

A space plane on Eve is sure possible, however doing a SSTO(SingleStageToOrbit) one is not.

However nice design metaphor, takeoff weights melting like icecream here....

Edited May 2, 2014 by gpisic

[Red Iron Crown]

And there goes the 15 ton barrier. Do I hear 10?

[Nao]

Here's a 14.2 ton design.

It can climb at about 1-2+ m/s from 6500m up to ~20000m. Then the rocket stages ignite.

I'm sure there are lighter designs possible.

That's Awesome! (i totally forgot ion engine was in the game haha)

Did it take only 13 minutes ?? I mean at 2m/s vertical velocity 10minutes is only 1200m.

[Pyranz]

Wow, that's amazing... Well, looks like rockets are out of the running now, because I doubt you could get one lighter than that beauty.

[EdFred]

I still call it cheating if you aren't departing from under 1000m elevation.

[Red Iron Crown]

I still call it cheating if you aren't departing from under 1000m elevation.

That's for another challenge, I think. This one's specifically about a high-altitude departure.

[bhauth]

Looking at the mission times in the pics,

14200m / (8 minutes 46s - 2 minutes) = 35 m/s climb

see http://i.imgur.com/4Z8JIk7.png

Shenanigans?

[Red Iron Crown]

Could just be quicksave/reload resetting the timer. Gotta be tricky to pilot such a craft into orbit, I would be quicksaving early and often. I'm inclined to give the benefit of the doubt.

[metaphor]

Oh yeah, it took many attempts and the screenshots are from different ones. It might not actually be a legitimate attempt for this challenge, but it's a proof of concept. It takes about 45 minutes to get up to 20 km, basically until the xenon tanks are empty. The climb rate which starts at 1-2 m/s goes up as you get higher. I was attempting to make an Eve SSTO but that didn't work out too well, because ion engines just don't have the thrust needed to go much higher than 20 km. My earlier failed attempts at SSTO: with 9 ion engines, with 34 ion engines.

I'm sure someone else could make a much better craft than mine with more time put into it.

[Himynameisjake]

It's legit in my mind, when you push the limits of what you can do, if you don't have to try a couple times, you aren't pushing the limits, or you are Scott Manley.

[RocketBlam]

Here's a 14.2 ton design.

It can climb at about 1-2+ m/s from 6500m up to ~20000m. Then the rocket stages ignite.

Please post the craft file.

[RocketBlam]

Haven't played KSP for months, but couldn't resist this one. I had this design put together on new year's but don't think I ever actually flew the entire mission. Had to add landing gear and parachutes, then it was good to go. 19.755 tons on landing, 19.228 tons at takeoff after burning a bit of fuel to soften the landing and dropping the chutes. 8762 m/s total dV, used 53 of it to land and had 50 left over once back in orbit.

http://imgur.com/a/3hATp

Craft file at https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8244638/EvePod%201f.craft

This apparently has non-stock parts, I can't load it in VAB.

ETA: NVM, I got it.

Edited May 8, 2014 by RocketBlam

[Redshift OTF]

This apparently has non-stock parts, I can't load it in VAB.

Probably has MechJeb attached.

[Pyranz]

I still call it cheating if you aren't departing from under 1000m elevation.

That's a bit too harsh in my opinion. It's very easy to get a landing spot on Eve over 1000m in elevation.

[rtxoff]

Also with an ion plane you could drive to any spot you like for take off...

[Pyranz]

But where you can drive to is limited without compromising the design.

[metaphor]

Please post the craft file.

Here's the craft file. I'm not sure if it's the right one since I tweaked the design a lot, but it should be mostly working.

If you wanted to take off from a lower elevation with it, it just needs a little more xenon.

[GeorgeG]

That's for another challenge, I think. This one's specifically about a high-altitude departure.

No, it isn't. It's for not using less than 8700 m/s Delta Vee. If it did not matter how high someone launched from, the OP would not have arbitrarily chosen to add a restriction of 8700.

And a number of the designs in the last week have been under 8700 or simply failed to list the Delta-V at all.

Someone called me on mine being less than 8700. So I'm calling shenanigans on all the others that have not specifically given screenshot proof of 8700 or more D-V to orbit. And getting outside to push violates the whole concept of using an enclosed capsule/can rather than riding on the outside to begin with.

Really, the challenge ought to have been a Sea-level launch, or left open (or specify 6400 meter site limit rather than 8700 D-V).

Take-off from a site no higher than 20 meters ASL, as the Kerbal Stands during EVA next to the ladder (if the Kerbal can't do an EVA to the surface and get back in, why land?). Because if it's a challenge for launch under 1000 meters, then the challenge automatically becomes launch from 999 meters, and people have to go search for 999 meter sites. When it's a lot easier to find 20 meter or lower sites.

Edited May 5, 2014 by GeorgeG

[Red Iron Crown]

No, it isn't. It's for not using less than 8700 m/s Delta Vee. If it did not matter how high someone launched from, the OP would not have arbitrarily chosen to add a restriction of 8700.

And a number of the designs in the last week have been under 8700 or simply failed to list the Delta-V at all.

Someone called me on mine being less than 8700. So I'm calling shenanigans on all the others that have not specifically given screenshot proof of 8700 or more D-V to orbit. And getting outside to push violates the whole concept of using an enclosed capsule/can rather than riding on the outside to begin with.

You're right. I was thinking that an 8700m/s requirement means that you must launch from high altitude to achieve orbit, but they're not the same thing. It would have been better, I think, if the challenge hadn't specified the dV required and simply required a landing and ascent from any altitude.

Generally the challenge writer is the arbiter of what is acceptable and what isn't, disqualifying those that break the spirit of the challenge. Since we don't have much feedback on that, nor a scoreboard, what can we do? Personally, I've enjoyed seeing the creative and innovative flyweight designs posted in this challenge, but you're right that some of them don't follow the letter of the submission requirements.

Really, the challenge ought to have been a Sea-level launch, or left open (or specify 6400 meter site limit rather than 8700 D-V).

Take-off from a site no higher than 20 meters ASL, as the Kerbal Stands during EVA next to the ladder (if the Kerbal can't do an EVA to the surface and get back in, why land?). Because if it's a challenge for launch under 1000 meters, then the challenge automatically becomes launch from 999 meters, and people have to go search for 999 meter sites. When it's a lot easier to find 20 meter or lower sites.

You should post this as a new challenge. I, for one, would participate and I would love to see what others come up with.

[EdFred]

You should post this as a new challenge. I, for one, would participate and I would love to see what others come up with.

I posted a similar challenge yesterday. Depart from any elevation you want but there's a bonus for being under 500m and a penalty for being above it - along with w few other things.

[Red Iron Crown]

I posted a similar challenge yesterday. Depart from any elevation you want but there's a bonus for being under 500m and a penalty for being above it - along with w few other things.

Interesting, though your challenge is a fair bit more complex, both in mission profile and scoring. I'm intrigued, I'll see if I have time to put something together.

[Redshift OTF]

Some good points but I for one am more interested in seeing how people come up with more efficient lander designs than specifically meeting the challenge. I've learnt some good things from this thread.

[bhauth]

Did anyone else manage to get a <19 ton ion glider craft off Eve?

[rtxoff]

I don't think ion gliders will ever be a good idea on eve. At some point drag will take the upper hand and u will be stuck at some altitude. This was already discussed. Ion's simply do not produce enough thrust to be usefull in the ascend phase.

[Redrobin]

Not me, but someone on the KSP subreddit made and Eve spaceplane that weighed in at under 12 tons at launch from Kerbin.

Link

NVM, this used a command seat, but cool anyways.