ICBM

[Misterspork]

The challenge is(I have made a run, but the majority of objectives are obviously possible due to pakledhostage\'s amazing run. I\'d be amazed if you could get more than 10000 points though):

Launch a rocket

Send it into an orbit(Optional, could be completely ballistic)

De-orbit in such a way that you land as close as possible to KSC

Definitions:

KSC - Kerbal Space Center, in this case referring to the launch pad

Ballistic - Under the force of gravity only

Glitch - anything that can\'t normally be done in the game that violates the laws of physics

Rules:

Any addons/plugins BESIDES autopilots, ESPECIALLY NOT reentry planners, are allowed. External 3rd party orbit calculators are allowed.

No engines or addons/plugins on final stage, only STOCK RCS, winglets, and fuel tanks(for score), so no C7 infinigliding or ultra powerful RCS, though if you have none of these besides tanks you are rewarded.

No abuse of glitches(No 16 winglet infinigliding, or anything else violating real life physics)

You have to separate the second stage as soon as you perform the initial de-orbit and targeting maneuver, after that it is purely gravity and RCS for your final stage.

Points scored based off accuracy and payload(fuel tanks):

Beyond 2 kilometers(AKA not anywhere close to KSC) - 0

In the general area around KSC(Up to 2 kilometers) - 100 points

Within a couple hundred meters of the edge of KSC\'s flat area - 500 points

Inside the flat square but not close to the launch tower - 1000 points

Within 100 meters of the launch tower - 5000

Hit any building dead on(Including runway) - 10000

Hit the actual launch pad or tower - 20000

Multiply score by 2 per full fuel tank left in last stage(Stands for nuke). Add up fuel tanks and amount before multiplying, EX: 4 fuel tanks within 100 meters, that\'s 5000*8 rather than 5000*2*2*2*2

Multiply score by 5 for not using winglets/RCS

Provide pictures if you can, make sure to press f1 often when nearing the crash. I\'ll still believe your word if it\'s not completely ridiculous ex: I won\'t believe 'I didn\'t get pictures, but I hit the launch tower directly with no RCS, winglets, and 10 fuel tanks'

I\'ll make an attempt tomorrow and see how far I get.

My attempt - 200(Within 2km, 1 tank(megaton) payload)

Current top three:

PakledHostage: 5000 (Inside square, completely ballistic)

Myself(Misterspork): 200(Within 2km, 1 megaton)

Flixxbeatz: 100(Within 2km, no multiplier)

[Guest Flixxbeatz]

[Misterspork]

The first one did appear to be in the general area of KSC, so 100 points.

The second used an engine(The parachute was OK), so 0 points because it broke the rules.

[PakledHostage]

I attempted this challenge 3 times before I got a capsule to land within the KSC compound. The others two times, I landed within sight of the compound but outside the flat area. As fun as it was, there\'s definitely an element of randomness in this challenge... You\'re moving at 2 plus km/sec at the time of your de-orbit burn so even a small timing error can make a big difference in where you come down. And in playing around with precision de-orbiting, I\'ve found that the amount of time that it takes you to reach your target speed during your de-orbit burn can cause variations in where you come down of several kilometers.

So here\'s my submission even though I don\'t know if you\'ll count it for points. My landing module didn\'t include any nukes (my Kerbals are pacifists) and I used an external 3rd party re-entry planner.

It isn\'t really clear to me from reading your write-up whether all re-entry planners are disallowed or only just in-game ones. The re-entry planner that I used wasn\'t an in-game module. It was an external one that I wrote for my Mercury 'Friendship 7' Commemorative Challenge.

Here are the screenshots:

[Misterspork]

I mentioned that external planners are allowed, so you\'re ok. Sorry if that wasn\'t clear enough. I might try to make things clearer in the OP.

Your scoring:

1000 points - inside the green square but not close to the tower

x5 - Did not use RCS or winglets on final stage

Final score - 5000

Pretty EDIT: AMAZING, I say. I\'m gonna go for my own attempt right now.

[Misterspork]

First successful attempt(Turns out getting useless fuel tanks into orbit is a lot harder than a regular orbit):

Attached below is a picture of the final seconds.

Within 2km of the edge of the green square(Looks to be within that distance, not sure though) - 100

1 megaton payload - x2

Final score - EDIT: 200

Horrible. Absolutely horrible.

You did literally 25x better than me. How the heck did you get anywhere near KSC without RCS or winglets???

Also: Made payload multiplier 2x rather than 1.25x due to the difficulty I found in it.

[PakledHostage]

You did literally 25x better than me. How the heck did you get anywhere near KSC without RCS or winglets???

I don\'t play golf, but I can understand the satisfaction of planning a shot and then sinking the putt... I\'ve been practicing precision re-entries since I posted the Mercury 'Friendship 7' Commemorative Challenge about a month ago and I kind of enjoy it. I\'ve also learned a lot.

In a nutshell, my method is to make my de-orbit burn starting from a circular orbit (because circular orbits have a constant angular velocity), then time my de-orbit burn in reference to overflight of KSC\'s antipode.

I find that I can target my re-entry fairly accurately by watching the purple anti-KSC reticle on the nav ball as it passes the nav ball\'s nadir. If you look closely, you can see the edge of the white dot disappear under the centre dot of the purple reticle within about 1 second accuracy. It starts to re-emerge about 20 seconds later. I get the best accuracy by recording both times and averaging them.

This method only works because KSC is very close to the equator and if you use an equatorial orbit, but I find that I can usually get my capsule down within about a 5 km radius of the pad. I think better accuracy than that comes down to luck (or active control using thrusters or lifting surfaces).

PH.