Stock SSTO reusable ship from eve

[TheKutKu]

hmmmm the endless Eve SSTO discussion,

It can't be done without wings, and ion aircraft aren't powerful enough to overcome the atmosphere and gravity, i've reached a conclusion that the only way to make an eve ssto is to build a gyroplane, it would climb up to the high atmosphere and then use an engine (nuclear i thinkà to make an orbit

[CavemanNinja]

Personally, I've been trying this almost non-stop since about may, and I've concluded the following:

To achieve orbit, you can't afford to have extra weight, which is the definition of a wing in a near vacuum. I won't even mention the brick wall associated with high altitudes and high gravity bodies for lift-driven craft.

So, in aggregate, you either need drop tanks or dropped wings to reach the altitude necessary for orbit around Eve (with ions, at least), negating the point of an SSTO.

(on a side note, will people stop making eve ssto challenges?)

[GoSlash27]

Personally, I've been trying this almost non-stop since about may, and I've concluded the following:

To achieve orbit, you can't afford to have extra weight, which is the definition of a wing in a near vacuum. I won't even mention the brick wall associated with high altitudes and high gravity bodies for lift-driven craft.

So, in aggregate, you either need drop tanks or dropped wings to reach the altitude necessary for orbit around Eve (with ions, at least), negating the point of an SSTO.

(on a side note, will people stop making eve ssto challenges?)

CMN,

Remember that this particular challenge was made back in April when we hadn't yet established whether or not this was possible. We (and by "we" I'm including "you") have collectively established the answer to this question since then.

Best,

-Slashy

[Pds314]

It MIGHT be possible to SSTO using ion engines, a gyroplane, etc. What is definitely NOT possible is any kind of chemical rocket or plane SSTO on Eve.

[GoSlash27]

It MIGHT be possible to SSTO using ion engines, a gyroplane, etc.

It's not. At least, not without glitch exploiting. I've gotten closer to Eve orbit than anyone using ion gliders, and I wasn't close.

Heck, we haven't made an Ion SSTO that works on Kerbin yet, let alone Eve.

Gyroplanes simply can't match the altitude capability of ion gliders, so they would fare worse.

Best,

-Slashy

[Bean]

There was a previous thread lurking around that mathematically proved an EVE SSTO without infiniglide was impossible. So there's that...