How little can you go?

[CrowT]

I've been messing around with tiny spacecraft. I've got a $16k "Kerbal Rescuer", a $10k Satellite with launcher, and a $13k satellite/probe launcher which is capable of putting a bird into any Kerbal, Mun or Minmus orbit, landing on Minmus or possibly the moon, and possibly other planets or moons. The $10k one carries only a 100-gallon tank & 20 gals of "jet fuel". I think I can get a bird in orbit for about 20 gallons of rocket fuel, but I'm having stability issues with the really tiny ones. I'll post pics as soon as I figure out how.

[CrowT]

Ok, got a bird into orbit on <20 gal. jet fuel & <20 gal. rocket fuel! I had to use an inertial stabilizer, so it was still $13k. Also, my prototype, 3-stage $16k bird launcher landed on the Mun & returned safely to Kerbal with a no-chute landing. I threw away the second stage before I landed on the Mun, which might have had enough fuel in it to get to Munar orbit, and I still had a bit to spare after I landed on Kerbal. I'm wondering how cheaply you could get into orbit in real life...

[xxjetterxx]

Wrong section.

[zekes]

I don't do little. i do BIG! but i did make a 32K Re-useable Oribital rocket.

[MockKnizzle]

I'm not sure if this thread is more so focused on the price of ships, but if we're talking physically small then I have a craft I put together for a challenge a while back.

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Just because you limit yourself to the tiniest engines in the game doesn't mean you can't accomplish big things

[CrowT]

I guess the image hosting's broken. I was basically talking about how little fuel you could use to accomplish a mission. I know <50 gallons will get a small probe into orbit, and <220 gallons will get a probe to the Mun & back. I'm redoing my spacecraft using the new "minimalist" techniques, and last night I built a space station using less total fuel than I used in any of my old launcher's second stages alone. I'm going to try to get a Kerbal to the Mun & back today, and I think I can do it using less than 1,000 gallons total.

[CrowT]

I'm making landers similar to yours, but your launch platform is HUGE. How did you post the pic?

Edited November 6, 2014 by CrowT

[builder396]

Kinda reminds me back to when I had a space station in 0.23 and i used a very small probe-sih craft to bring RCS fuel up there. The actual craft was extremely basic and only insignificantly taller than jebediah kerman, and the rocket was all in all maybe 20 meters tall at best. It had enough fuel to reach 200 km orbit, do an orbital intercept and docking maneuver with my station, and all that while the 2nd last engine still had half its fuel left (there was an ion engine in the craft, that would have been a last resort). That was the first time I appreciated small and light designs.

[MockKnizzle]

I uploaded the pictures to an Imgur album, then linked the album using the [imgur] tag.

My launch platform is so big relative to the size of the lander and SM because I was only allowed to use the LV-1 engines for a challenge. They're rather inefficient, especially for a lifter, necessitating lots of fuel.

[CrowT]

I tried joining Imgur, but they wanted me to put my email address into a nonexistent field...???

Yup - less than 1,000 gallons to put a Kerbal on the Mun & back on Kerbin. I even used a "lander can" instead of a more basic flight seat.

[SelectHalfling0]

I have a 14k suicide probe meant for mun/minmus orbital science. It is basically 4 jet engines (with 2nd smallest fuel tanks) as the first stage, and a second stage with the really small rockomax engine. Works very well for contracts that have a 50k payout.

[CrowT]

Here's my 3-stager. On its test flight, I landed on the Mun & returned to Kerbin for a no-chute landing.

[CrowT]

<a href="http://imgur.com/8TB3Lfy"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/8TB3Lfy.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>

[KandoKris]

u mean this pic

nice little launcher there CrowT

I made a 36k rescue ssto, its about as cheap as i get. but it can buzz mun / minmus and return safe

edit; whoops thats not the.25 version. my how the prices have gone up. now even the basics of that design are 53k

and I do the same ( try to rotate pics ) its even worse when i watch utube

Edited November 10, 2014 by KandoKris

[CrowT]

That's really cool - I keep trying to click on these pics to rotate for a better view...