I present The Landmaster (sortof)

[Pondafarr]

My version of the LandMaster vehicle from Damnation Alley. It has good suspension due to inherent chassis flexibility.

The signature Tri-Star wheels don't spin, and they should have 8 wheels on the ground instead of 4, but I couldn't get them to work that way.

The front and rear wheels spun in opposite directions, so I had to rotate the tri-Stars to "raised" position. This provides plenty of ground clearance at least.

Infernal Robotics would likely be an excellent addition to the TriStar wheels if the RoveMax XL3 rotation problem had a fix.

Safe turn speed about 10m/s, but don't try to exceed 30m/s, because the RoveMax XL3 wheels will break.

I accidentally included an S2 fuel tank in the center pod, but that can be easily exchanged for a crew pod or other utility pod.

Four Goodspeed nuclear UNSFE-400 reactors contained in the wheel assemblies provide plenty of power.

Four mono tanks are included to take advantage of the S2 command pod RCS for stability control and decent guidance.

More work can be done with the gantry, perhaps bringing it along the sides instead of over the spine, but that would require

heavier structure and further reduce TWR. I'll probably experiment with standard I-beams on my next version.

It was quite fun building the launch rig for this beast.

I use MechJeb, which had no problems launching. There is a slight CoM imbalance, so manual launches should be interesting. I used Sarbian's AutoGimbal to adjust for the CoM.

Surface TWR is pretty low at 1.18, so expect a slow ascent.

I use a standard 40% curve, 75x75 LKO, then transfer to Mun with a nuclear engine which is ejected prior to descent.

A small probe core at the top of the gantry provides a convenient control point, and plenty of struts ensure the LandMaster is

perfectly stable.

Once landed, you can either launch the gantry vertically, or use the stack separators to eject the gantry end caps.

While the staging would make it appear that the nuclear engine doesn't contain enough DV for Mun circularization, creative use of

TAC Fuel balancer should ensure you make a safe orbit. Transfer any remaining fuel back into the decent gantry prior to attempting landing.

You should also pull out the extra fuel from the LandMaster to maximize your DV.

edit: I used 276 DV to circularize at 93x93, dumped all the extra liquid fuel, and still had 1100 DV for landing.

I only used about 700, so there is plenty of margin. (i.e., I over-built)

Things to fix:

RCS is not balanced, they are off center due to current gantry configuration.

Gantry/LandMaster CoM could use some love. A lighter gantry would help.

Asymmetric gantry mass(tail is heavier than front) causes some abnormalities during decent.

Updated Munshine lifter rated for 95 (LandMaster + gantry) tons with TWR > 2 would be great.

A series of functional center pods (Kethane mining, communications, kerbal transport, etc.)

I would LOVE an S2 tail section with a cargo door, so a small rover can be carried!

I've played with some part welding to reduce my partcount, and have had some success, but i still have a long way to go.

B9 (S2 fuselages, lights)

Hyomoto (Blade Antenna)

Near Future Propulsion (Modular Girders)

Goodspeed (Clamp-o-tron 2i Sr. Docking Ports, Nuclear Reactors)

Remote Tech 2 (antennas)

KWRocketry (EAS-4 Struts)

Munshine Lifters

Sarbian's AutoGimbal

TAC Fuel Balancer

My IMGUR Gallery I've updated the image descriptions.

Crafts:

Death Valley Gen 1, test article:https://www.dropbox.com/s/cpnt5m2cskyw3jh/Death%20Valley%20Mk%201.craft

Death Valley Gen 2, Fully kitted out, with 4 nuclear reactors for power.:https://www.dropbox.com/s/ol94ud1icc52kkc/Death%20Valley.craft

Death Valley Gen 4, Nuclear Generators removed from wheels, small kethane generator installed. No other special systems.:https://www.dropbox.com/s/2zxbelo3o12pott/Death%20Valley%20Gen4.craft?m=

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Edited May 30, 2014 by Pondafarr

[guz667]

Hi there Ponda!

Very cool craft, nice Imgur series. Looks like a fun deal, and it took some work to get to Mun it seems.

I went through the album, but if I could recommend, you may want to add the [imgur] tag to your post with this link between: zP9ZH. That will embed it in your post and viewers will be more likely to go through it. Like Kerbals, we humans like easy to get to shiny things!

Awesome craft!!

[Pondafarr]

I was looking for that bit of info. Is 69 images a bit much though? lol

AHHHA! I got it!

Thanks Guz!

Edited May 27, 2014 by Pondafarr

[guz667]

My pleasure! Man, Mr. Rocket helped me with that on one of my posts, and I could not get it at first!

I don't know if the image count is an issue. I just posted one with 40+...

Either way, lookin' great!

[Pondafarr]

Uploaded a non-welded version. I've made some changes, such as removing the docking nodes, but I then welded that, so it will be a bit longer before I have the latest version available.

Does anyone want the launch craft?