Kerbal Space Center Asteroid Recovery Program

[Zipmafia]

So the kerbals have come to a scary and sad realization, their planetary resources are limited! Gone is the day where they could strap on moar boosters without any worries (except catching our computers on fire), now there are only so many boosters laying around. In fact, nobody can find any parts laying on the side of the road anymore! Supply and demand have taken hold.

Whats more, now they have to compete for contracts just to get the funds to fly their rockets! And you can't even get the contracts unless you prove yourself to The Kerbal World-First Record-Keeping Society, a secretive and elusive society that is somehow able to pay the kerbals for completing seemingly useless tasks. There is even talk that they are somehow smuggling secret experiments aboard those flights. Jeb can't even go anywhere without having to do a million jobs for everybody else first. It is rather depressing.

There have been victims to this drastic change to funds, one of which is the Kerbal Space Center Asteroid Recovery Program. It was hard enough as it was to make a craft that was able to recover an asteroid to KSC, but now it costs a fortune! Their go-to asteroid recovery craft, the "Get It Back V" ended up costing 2,429,421 Funds! Which brings us to our current challenge...

The Kerbal Space Center Asteroid Recovery Program needs new designs to recover asteroids back to KSC, and cheap ones at that!

Designs will be rated by the Funds per Ton of the asteroid that their craft is able to recover to KSC. The idea is that the kerbals want asteroid samples that are inexpensive to obtain.

Rules

* Provide pictures of your recovery operation for scoring. Include a shot of your craft in the VAB or SPH (for cost of craft), with the asteroid (for proof), being recovered (for distance from KSC and funds recovered), and of the asteroids info after landing (for weight of asteroid).

* No tweaking of any files (unless otherwise stated).

* No game exploits like kraken drives or infinigliders (unless otherwise stated).

* Please rate or comment on this thread if you enjoy it.

Stock Scoreboard

* All stock, no mods.

Near Stock Scoreboard

* Mods that provide information, alternate/additional GUI's, autopilot, and visualizations are allowed.

* Please list the relevant mods that you are using.

Modded Scoreboard

* All mods are allowed

* Please list the relevant mods that you are using

Free For All Scoreboard

* All mods are allowed

* All file tweaking is allowed

* All game exploits are allowed

* Please list the relevant file tweaks, mods, and/or game exploit you are using.

Scoring

* Asteroid recovery fee = 5,000 Funds per 1km from KSC

* Net Cost = cost of craft(s) + asteroid recovery fee - funds recovered (rounded down) - bonuses

* Score = Net Cost / Weight of recovered asteroid (rounded down).

* XXXXX FpT (Funds per Ton, rounded up)

Bonus Points

Pristine Sample = Don't let the asteroid touch anything (That means it has to land on ship parts, no swimming or dragging). 75,000 Funds. Now THAT is a pretty rock!

Clean Recovery = Don't create any debris (In orbit). 50,000 Funds. It's nice when people don't make a mess of space!

Hole in One = Land the asteroid at KSC (The lighter green grass). 20,000 Funds. We didn't even have to start up the tractors!

Jeb Gets a Seat = Jeb stays with the craft until it is recovered (EVAs are allowed). 10,000 Funds. A sad Jeb is no good for the Kerbal Space Program, lets cheer him up!

Here is my entry to get things started.

http://imgur.com/a/6onys

Score breakdown

Asteroid recovery fee = 49,500 Funds (9.9 km)

Net Cost = 203,772 craft cost + 49,500 asteroid recovery fee - 21,315 recovered funds = 231,957 Funds

Score = Net Cost of 231,957 funds / 4.71 Tons = 49,247 FpT

Stock Leaderboard

1.Goduranus @ -38,761 FpT

2.Zipmafia @ 49,247 FpT

3.Zipmafia @ 54,359 FpT

4.

5.

Near Stock Leaderboard

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Modded Leaderboard

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Free For All Scoreboard

1. Goduranus @ 358 FpT (kraken drive)

2.

3.

4.

5.

Edited August 21, 2014 by Zipmafia
Goduranus

[Joonatan1998]

KSP = Kerbal Space Program (game)

KSC = Kerbal Space Center (Where you launch rockets)

[Zipmafia]

Edited. Thanks for the correction.

Edited August 13, 2014 by Zipmafia

[Zipmafia]

Well I don't know if anybody else is trying this challenge or not, but I am having a blast.

Here is my second attempt, got some bonus points this time.

http://imgur.com/a/MEJL1

Somehow when I took the pic for the weight I got the wrong asteroid, so I had to load, drop the rock, and take a new pic. That is why it is not next to KSC.

I also wasn't paying attention and did it all on sandbox mode, D'Oh. So even though I landed closer than last time, I will use the same percentage to figure out my recovered funds.

Asteroid Recovery Fee = 37,500 Funds (7.5 km)

Bonuses = 85,000 Funds (Jeb gets a seat, and Pristine sample)

Cost = 224,306 Craft cost + 37,500 asteroid recovery fee - 49,177 funds recovered - 85,000 bonus funds = 212,544 Funds

Score = 212,544 Funds / 3.91 Tons = 54,359 FpT

[vat21s]

Can it be multi-launch?

[Zipmafia]

Most definitely, feel free to complete this challenge with as many launches as needed. Just remember that each launch will increase the cost, which will decrease your score. You can even use your own craft to recover the asteroid to KSC once it has landed if you don't want to pay the 5,000 Funds per 1km away from KSC to recover it.

[gm537]

This looks like a very enjoyable challenge! I shall give it a go!

[gm537]

Rules

* All stock, no mods.

* No tweaking of any files.

* Provide pictures of your recovery operation for scoring. Include a shot of your craft in the VAB or SPH (for cost of craft), with the asteroid (for proof), being recovered (for distance from KSC and funds recovered), and of the asteroids info after landing (for weight of asteroid).

What about KER? Or other information mods? I am pretty big fan of it and would want to use it.

[Zipmafia]

Hmmm, upon contemplating your request I have come to a dicision. I will start two more leaderboards, One for gameplay mods (like MechJeb, Kerbal Alarm Clock, Kerbal Engineer Redux, etc. ), and one for mods that add parts or change physics. Hope this brings more people to this challenge, I don't want to leave anybody out.

[Cat Biscuits]

lol 1 of the first ambitious things I did on the new version was an asteroid recapture, but ive got no pics (well 1 pic, I was pressing the wrong button for screen caps ), il have to get back on the horse to get on that leaderboard.

[gm537]

So for the "5,000 funds per 1km from KSC" are we allowed to construct our own recovery vehicles? Aka if I land an asteroid say 100km from the space center but I think I can bring it back for less then the 5,000 per km can I count that in my score? (I would say no 'bonus' for getting it all the way back, just no penalty either.) Given that you say multiple launches are allowed it seems reasonable to assume so.

[goduranus]

Aha, the rules do not say no to kraken drives.

Here's my attempt, all stock. Took me quite a while to do the asteroid capture burn, fighting the kraken drive wobble along the whole way:

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Ship cost: 90777

Recovery cost: 79km=395000

Recovery Value: 48287

Clean Recovery:50000

Jeb gets a seat:10000

Net cost=377490

Ship mass: 19 tons

Asteroid mass: 1055 tons

Result: 358 credits per tons

Edited August 17, 2014 by goduranus

[Zipmafia]

So for the "5,000 funds per 1km from KSC" are we allowed to construct our own recovery vehicles?

definitely! I put that rule in so that people would either be trying to get their asteroid as close as possible, or recover it themselves. And you are correct, no recovery operation bonus states that you have to land at KSC.

Aha, the rules do not say no to kraken drives.

I should have seen that coming. I don't want to discourage anybody from trying this challenge, so kraken drive and infiniglide on! I'm going to have to make a new leaderboard for you though, too much of an advantage.

@ Goduranus: did you get back into your craft before it hit the asteroid? I don't know why I want to know, it just sounds cool watching your ship hit a rock, from the rock.

Edited August 17, 2014 by Zipmafia
Research

[goduranus]

New leaderboard for physics exploiting ships is good!

And I watched from the asteroid as as the ship hit the it. The claw doesn't need to be piloted to work.

Edited August 18, 2014 by goduranus

[goduranus]

You know, I think the winning strategy for this challenge is to find a class A asteroid that was already on collision course with Kerbin, and use a high-recovery craft with ion drive to nudge it onto the KSC.

This is my estimated score for such a mission:

Craft cost:0, 100% recovery

Fuel cost:5000

Bonuses: 75000 pristine asteroid, 50000 no debris, 10000 jeb's seat, 20000 hole in one

Net cost: - 150000

Asteroid, Class A 4 tons

Score = -37500 kredits/ton

Edit:

I'm gonna try this out, wip attempt

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Or just find an asteroid that naturally lands on Kerbin, and use a cargo plane to haul it back. I will attempt these when I get a chance.

Edited August 18, 2014 by goduranus

[Zipmafia]

This is my estimated score for such a mission:

Craft cost:0, 100% recovery

Fuel cost:5000

Bonuses: 75000 pristine asteroid, 50000 no debris, 10000 jeb's seat, 20000 hole in one

Net cost: - 150000

Asteroid, Class A 4 tons

Score = -37500 kredits/ton

If you are able to pull this off it would mean that your company would not need to charge KSCARP to cover costs, you would be receiving profits from their requests to give Jeb a ride, create no debris in orbit, have a perfect asteroid, and not have to lift a finger at all.

I look forward to the results.

[goduranus]

I found a 3.8 ton asteroid close to the equatorial plane and went for it. Attached some struts to hold it up for the landing.

Now it's only a matter of landing it on the putting green. But it looks like I underestimated the cost of Ion Drive fuel, so score will be less impressive.

Edit:2.91 ton after a closer look

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Edited August 21, 2014 by goduranus

[goduranus]

And it's done. It took me several tries, because Maneuvering Node was glitching, I couldn't time the landing with it.

I didn't expect the final attempt to bring me this* close to KSC.

Result:

Launch Cost: 384733

SSTO Recovery: 219173

Asteroid Interceptor Recovery: 123354

Bonuses: 155000 (75000 pristine asteroid, 50000 no debris, 10000 seat for Jeb, 20000 hole in one)

Net Cost: -112794

Asteroid Mass: 2.91 tons

Score: -38761 Kredits/ton:cool:

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Edited August 21, 2014 by goduranus

[Zipmafia]

Bravo!

Thanks a bunch, now I have no chance of beating the stock leaderboard:mad:. j/k.

Guess I'm going to try to make some modded entries, I'm expecting you to blow them out of the water.

Maybe a gyroscopic asteroid decelerator? Maybe ride the asteroid like out of Dr. Strangelove?

[davidparks21]

I was just thinking about making a challenge like this, did a search, and whamo, there it is! Awesome. This is on my to-do list! Great looking challenge, nice setup, I look forward to bringing back a nice little ornament for KSC.