How do you construct interplanetary ships?

[ThatNoob]

This is what my interplanetary ships would like like

-Snip-

IF I HAD ONE!!!

I tried to recreate the spacecraft from your picture. This is what i ended up with.

http://imgur.com/a/uFAHf

This is *supposed* to bring 6 crew and my version of a service module to Duna.

Then again so far it only goes to Minmus because i can't plan my mission correctly.

Needs to be docked together Piece by Piece....

So i HyperEdited it into space.

[Random Tank]

oh, i was talking about the SRB, not the black tanks. But I do like the look of them.

Ahhh crud, I meant to ask Unimatrix; but i derped and put your name... sorry!

But yeah, those SRB's are from KW, the black tanks are just half length 3.75m tanks from KW as well... Sorry!

I tried to recreate the spacecraft from your picture. This is what i ended up with.

For all stock (i think?) that is an amazingly good rendition of that craft; well done! I like how you've done the little Orions too!

Edited April 29, 2014 by Random Tank

[theend3r]

This is what my interplanetary ships would like like

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Orion_docked_to_Mars_Transfer_Vehicle.jpg

IF I HAD ONE!!!

I'd love to have some ultra lightweight fuel tanks with low impact tolerance to offset the advantage. Or even better have the option to shed the cover from the current ones.

[sdj64]

This is my largest interplanetary ship, made with KW rocketry in 23.0. I should re-create it in stock sometime, maybe add more boosters or drop tanks and go on a grand tour. Each half weighs about 260 tons and was launched into space separately then docked together.

[RocketPilot573]

I design it in the VAB, then I send up each part one by one.

[Legendary Emu]

I'd love to have some ultra lightweight fuel tanks with low impact tolerance to offset the advantage. Or even better have the option to shed the cover from the current ones.

Now that gives me an idea for a mod. I once had this idea that you have modular fuel tanks that come without a cover and then you can customize a cover for them that comes in strut and whole. I thought that I would be the only one that would like this idea. But now I have some incentive to do this.

[rennsport27]

Lately, I've been building bigger one-piece motherships with docking ports, and launching them without fuel. Then, I send up the smaller things I'll need for my mission, and send fuel up. This allows me to use/test all the spaceplanes and utility vehicles I've been building lately.

[hydran101]

I usually make em entirely in the VAB or the SPH then hyperedit them to orbit. then don't use it from there on out unless I want to land it on gilly or something.

[astroadrian99]

This is what my interplanetary ships would like like

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Orion_docked_to_Mars_Transfer_Vehicle.jpg

IF I HAD ONE!!!

You mean like my craft http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/73557-Constellation-Mars-fully-Stock

[TeeGee]

Hey everyone, I'm trying to design a "go anywhere in kerbin" interplanetary ship, that travels to and from LKO. How much delta v and thrust-to-weight should my ships have? I also plan on giving her shuttles to take kerbals down to planet surface etc.

[Guest LTrotsky]

It's not much but it's an Eve Rescue Mission ship.

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Totally stock in career mode.

It was possible to assemble the ship in 2 launches.

The first image shows the Transit and Lander assemblies just after achieving LKO. The entire assembly was launched from the launch pad by adding 2 heavy liquid fueled boosters which also mounted reserve tanks to feed the nuclear nacelles during the first part of the launch. LKO was achieved with a bit of fuel left for maneuver. The unit atop is an automated control unit, but the entire unit was piloted through the launch from the lander can, which is near the bottom and in the center of the Lander.

The Command section is added with the second launch, and is shown in the 3rd shot during a fuelling operation.

The Transit section features 36 nuclear engines mounted into two nacelles of 18 engines each. The fuel tanks and two engine nacelles surround the center section containing the lander, with the Command section added at the top.

The design paradigm is modular, the lander assembly is attached to the dual nuclear engine nacelles by a single large docking port, as is the command section. Thus, once assembled and fueled, the ship should be able to go anywhere in Kerbol, and land most anywhere.

As this is a Rescue Mission, the ship does not have a science lab or a lot of other hardware for exploration and science. The one addition is a Habitation Module to recover the stranded Kerbals from the failed Eve mission. However, adding additional features should be no problem.

Edited May 6, 2014 by LTrotsky

[Vanamonde]

Hey everyone, I'm trying to design a "go anywhere in kerbin" interplanetary ship, that travels to and from LKO. How much delta v and thrust-to-weight should my ships have?

This is a delta-V chart. Add up all the numbers between your starting and ending locations, and that's how much delta-V the trip will require. (I didn't make the chart, by the way.)

As for thrust/weight, it just depends on how long you want the burns to take. There's seldom a need to do a rapid velocity change for anything other than launches and landings, so you can get away with long, fuel-efficient burns, if you've got the patience. When I'm sending interplanetary missions, they usually accelerate at 0.1 to 0.25Gs.

[Umlüx]

this is an early (stock) interplanetary ship. completely overengineered. i LOVE overengineering!

this is a newer one. more modern, elegant and antimatter driven

and this is the last iteration. its small, fast and reliable. the front and command module is a lander, the drive stage is docked behind. its completely antimatter fueled and has enough dV to return from eve.

but lately i ditched the somewhat overpowered KSPI mod and started to build my crafts in a more realistic approach. like nasa's copernicus