100% Reusable Stock ship to laythe and back! $27,200

[EvifNam]

So I would love to know what people think of this and how many people have done this or something similar -> http://i1353.photobucket.com/albums/q673/EvifNam/tolatheandback_zps7f7d3283.jpg pix would be great if you have them! I made a Stock Ship that can go to laythe and back to kerbal using only fuel. Every part is reusable and can be safely returned to Earth. The price in kerbal money is 27200 for the round trip! THe space plane expends 800 per trip. Once its back to Kerbal orbit and if you return each part individually it will be a cost of up to 58400. If you attach parachutes like I did it will be around 28000. I aero braked a lot I probably could of saved fuel if I had gone directly to laythe instead of stopping around jool. It takes 34 trips to construct the orbital spaceship that ferrys the space plane to laythe and back. The whole thing has a mini ship lander/ion engine craft that can help explore asteroid bodies like bop along with help construct everything. The Space plane can detach its cargo from its back to refuel or construct. It can fuel whatever it docks too. the space plane also can move on its own using the rover wheel at the front once it lands. The interplanetary vessel uses two nuke engines. THe whole thing is 90 + tons the trip took about 6 years and I was able to explore pretty much any part of laythe I wanted too. Im currently designing a lego version for myself of the space plane. Hope to hear from everyone soon :D

[EvifNam]

The space station you see at the bottom is my artificial gravity space station I was able to send my kerbal to it with the ground samples from laythe with the left over fuel once I returned to Kerbal orbit from laythe.

[Cirocco]

quite nice

I have a question though: how did you get the interplanetary stage in orbit? seperate launches and orbital construction with docking ports or straight up single launch? And did you use re-usable craft for that as well?

okay so that was more than just one question

[EvifNam]

To: Cirocco

Thank you for replying I got the interplanetary stage in orbit using 34 separate launches using my space plane. The space plane can carry about 4.5 tons into orbit on each trip. It weighs 20 tons including fuel, 8 tons without fuel. The fuel tanks in the cargo bay of the space plane are attached with docking ports and are removable so it can be refueled in orbit. The cargo is usually in the center between the fuel tanks. Landing legs are what hold the tanks in place while the space plane is in flight. Orbital construction was done with a small ion engine powered space craft that the space plane carries. I used docking ports to attach each piece of the interplanetary stage. The space plane is entirely reusable along with the small ion engine craft and the long distance interplanetary stage which can all be returned safely to the KSP center. This is a great way to save a lot of money on long distance missions, but the amount of time and effort spent on construction and the trip are high. It is possible to construct the whole thing first in a straight up single launch from the VAB but the price tag will be higher, you will have to use a ton of structural support, and you will lose money with the first and second stage getting it into orbit which will also require a large amount of power. Hope this answers your question Feel free to message me I am interested in making new friends here on the Forums. I would love to hear about your space craft you have created!