Show Off your New Ion-Powered / Xenon Fueled Crafts! (0.90)

[Camaron]

Hello, everyone! With the latest ARM 0.23.5 update, The Ion Engine has been amped up from 0.5 thrust to a full 2.0! This means that we can now build crafts based on the Ion technology in ways we simply couldn't before. In my tinkering this week, I've found that Ion landers can capably target every world except Eve, Laythe, and Tylo. Even Laythe is probably achievable with some careful design.

This thread is simple: Show us what you've created with the new-and-improved Ion Technology.

If you haven't given Ions another go since the update, I recommend giving it a go!

To start things off, here's a summary of this thread's Ion ships so far

(Updated 7/23/2014)

And a photo set of my own Kruphix III Lander on it's test run mission to the Mun

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Special thanks to RocketscientistV for the tip on imgur embedding!

Last Notes: If you don't name your craft, it will get the most generic description when added to frontpage!

The word "Xenon" has been added into the thread title, so that it may be searched easier.

Edited December 26, 2014 by Camaron

[jmiki8]

My test ion-probe, exploring the Joolian moons (Pol, Bop, then Vall.)

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The night sky on Bop

Edited April 12, 2014 by jmiki8

[Jouni]

I built an ion-powered Mun lander some time ago.

This was a development version that didn't have enough batteries to land without help from the command module. It's still the best screenshot I have left to see the general design.

Here is the final lander with more batteries (and a ladder). The batteries last for 5.5-6 minutes at full thrust, which gives some margin of error for the landing.

[Nukesnipe]

Yes, please exploit a blatantly broken part that used to be perfectly balanced and horribly overpowered relative to real life technology.

What? Don't give me that look, of course I'm going to exploit it just as much!

[RocketscientistV]

http://imgur.com/a/JAzo6

Special thanks to whoever can tell me how to embed that properly!

imgurJAz06/imgur

Add [] around imgur and /imgur.

Haven't played around with ion engines yet.

[RocketPilot573]

Ion Plane:

[DerpenWolf]

Cool I found the thread! As promised here are some pics of a few of my Duna Ion Hoppers and Ion engine powered SSTOs

Heres a link to the Craft shown just above this text! (Note- it is a subassembly)

http://pastebin.com/zW1AdkjN

I'll post more pictures as I continue my work

(Probualy going so see if I can do Moho as well!)

Edited April 12, 2014 by DerpenWolf

[Redshift OTF]

Could you get off Eve with one of these?

[astropapi1]

Could you get off Eve with one of these?

Don't even bother trying.

[spaceman1999]

There is a challenge!

[Redrobin]

Ion plane tower buzz:

[JacobT11]

Eager to test out how powerful the new ion engines were, I modified a stock craft, ripped out all the fuel tanks and engines, and replaced it with batteries and xenon tanks. The range is about 90km, which isn't the best, but considering it's not a purpose built craft, not too bad.

I then decided to do an endurance run with it, so I set up fuel stations every 80km, leading west, then north west from the space center.

[xoknight]

Flew this thing to the continent west to KSC, it landed in the gulf after it ran out of xenon and spun out of control in the low atmosphere.

Highest point

Final results

[Redshift OTF]

Don't even bother trying.

That does sound like a challenge.

[Camaron]

I wouldn't recommend spending any time trying to make an Ion-exclusive Eve craft. Just think of how impossible it is to even get off of Kerbin and remember that Eve has even more atmosphere and significantly higher gravity.

Tylo, on the other hand... Might make for an appropriately VERY difficult challenge but I can imagine that it may actually be possible.

I just completed an Ion-lander challenge for myself by landing on, and re-orbiting from Moho, in a craft I call "Gravidon III - Moho Edition". (Very similar to the base G3 in the starting post). I'll be chronicling the event soon, I have about 60 photos of the adventure.

Edit: If Jouni's numbers are accurate, Tylo is absolutely impossible with a pure-Ion craft. Do not attempt.

Edited May 2, 2014 by Camaron

[Pds314]

Yes, please exploit a blatantly broken part that used to be perfectly balanced and horribly overpowered relative to real life technology.

What? Don't give me that look, of course I'm going to exploit it just as much!

I don't know, the thing weighs as much as a too-scale solid lead replica of itself. (seriously, do the math if you don't believe me) would a real ion engine that weighed as much as a small cow have that much thrust? I don't know, but nobody has probably ever made one.

[Jouni]

Tylo, on the other hand... Might make for an appropriately VERY difficult challenge but I can imagine that it may actually be possible.

That doesn't seem doable. The ion engine itself, without any payload or fuel, has TWR 1.02 at Tylo. If we want to keep TWR > 1, each engine can have at most 4.77 kg of stuff attached to it at liftoff. If that's entirely fuel in the better xenon tank, we have 27.8 units of xenon, which is enough for approximately 57 seconds. If we launch vertically, the first ascent stage will probably lift to around 100-200 m.

So, while Tylo landing with ion engines is theoretically possible, I'm not going to guess how many zeroes the part count of the minimal lander will have.

[Camaron]

Oh, Tylo... always the big Jerk of the Jool System.

[HafCoJoe]

Ion Plane:

http://i.imgur.com/YU5uizv.jpg

Want... download...

[Camaron]

Here are some Ion crafts on Dres and Moho.

I took this Ion craft to two planets that were previously untouchable to Ion crafts to demonstrate what they can be capable of. My main design requirement with the Kruphix series is to carry the Lander Can along, as a true standalone spacecraft and lander manned by a Kerbal.

I like these pics cause they show how drastically different the solar conditions are between the two planets. Also, they're really good pics anyway

Kruphix III - Moho Edition

Kruphix III on Dres

Kruphix V is under development to reliably target Vall.

Edited May 2, 2014 by Camaron

[Mesklin]

Personal ion device "Dragonfly", inspired by DerpenWolf. Can easily land on Dune, hover over surface and return back to orbit

[Camaron]

I'm loving the helmet reflection in the first Dragonfly photo. Surreal.

[Camaron]

Here's an experimental thing I've made along the lines of "Heavy" Ion Crafts, the Keranos II

It's actually really useful, and made astonishingly easy work of a Class A asteroid grab earlier. It has plenty about it that can improve, however, (like the fact that its battery capacity is dramatically higher than it ever needs to be) so there will be newer better versions in the future.

Edited May 2, 2014 by Camaron

[Lohan2008]

for 55 science !

[Camaron]

Congrats. You built the Triforce.