Hypatia I

[drewscriver]

The Hypatia I, first of a series of science gathering SSTOs I plan to build. Since it is intended to gather science, I made it as low-tech as I could. The only Tier 6 is the tech for turbojets, and I didn't use many of the lower techs as well. This also had the happy side effect of keeping it under 200 parts.

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As always, I did my best to keep the COM from shifting during flight, and it ended up being very easy to fly. Intakes and engines were added in a careful order to minimize flameouts.

I made a Mun trip for the K-prize challenge, but it's better suited to Minimus. As a tail-sitter, minimus's flatness is a major plus, and the lower gravity would allow you to reposition it and get more science. My munar trip only had enough fuel for one landing site (the rest of the science was orbital), and even then it barely made it back to KSP - I ended up using RCS to drop the periapsis enough for aerocapture.

It also has a nice crew escape vehicle. A happy accident, but it has superb flight characteristics.

Download link, for anyone interested.

I'm now working on #2 in the series.

Edited November 3, 2014 by drewscriver