What's the highest structure possible? / Space ladder

[r0ber7]

I had an idea. It will, of course, take a lot of work. So here is it.

What would be the highest structure you could build, from the ground up? I mean from the surface of Kerbin, into the sky. You would first build some kind of base structure, then use rockets to put additional parts on top. You could put ladders on everything, so the Kerbals could, in theory, climb up all the way into space.

Would I run into framerate issues? Can it be done? These are the questions I may, or may not, answer in the future. I think this idea may be stretching the game engine beyond its limits though...

Edited October 1, 2014 by r0ber7

[Taki117]

Have a look at this Scott Manley video.

[Vanamonde]

2.25kms. Any farther than that from the root part, and KSP does not fully simulate ship parts.

[CavemanNinja]

In actuality, you will probably never reach the limit because of stability and part count. With use of tweakscale, however, I believe people have gotten craft to be slightly taller.

I would rep to death if you would actually build to 2.2km (vertical) in stock.

[r0ber7]

Have a look at this Scott Manley video.

Scott, of course. <3

Good, so now I know I won't spend hours on this. :-P I still like the idea of building something though.

[Franklin]

2.25kms. Any farther than that from the root part, and KSP does not fully simulate ship parts.

What would the system do to parts still connected to the root part but outside this distance? Would it cut it off as if it were loose debris?

[Taki117]

What would the system do to parts still connected to the root part but outside this distance? Would it cut it off as if it were loose debris?

Watch the video, Scott details this exact scenario.