The Grand Orbital Space Station Challenge [closed to new entries]

[Norcalplanner]

Here's my entry. This was my first time really messing around with TAC LS so I mostly just wanted to get something into orbit around kerbin so I can find out if I'm forgetting something important. Everything seemed to work out fortunately.

I have NEAR installed which has the side effect of needing less dV to get into orbit, so I'm not sure how you want to count that. I mostly have it in for the space planes. Other mods: RPM, Alcor Pod, MJ, VesselView, MKS/OKS, Karbonite, EVE, TextureReplacer, RCS Build Aid, Engineer, ScanSAT. Also Tweakscale and Infernal Robotics, but I didn't use any of those parts on these out of fear of having the station explode randomly. Active Texture Management helps the game work despite my crippling mod addiction.

+15300 153 tons in orbit

-1722 861 tons on launchpad/runway over 3 launches

+900 9 Crew

+3500 3 cupolas (x1), 3 hitchhikers (x4), 2 OKS Habs (x10? correct me if I'm wrong)

+500 Science Lab

+1000 TAC LS

+1000 Dedicated Shuttles

+1000 Shuttles + Escape Pod for returning to the surface (~850 dV on the escape pod)

+1000 Shuttles can mine/distill karbonite

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+22478

x 0.25 Orbit around Kerbin

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5619 Points

It has the OKS modules for recycling and a good number of spare parts, but I have no idea how to tell if it will last 50 years so I'm not counting those points yet. TAC LS just goes off of what's available right away. I guess I could just save, fastforward 50 years, and see if they're still alive.

http://imgur.com/a/Clr7B

http://youtu.be/CSla5_wuS-s

I'll probably put up another entry once I figure out a better station layout.

Congratulations, Atlatl! You have completed the Grand Orbital Space Station Challenge with a Modded Division entry scoring 5,870 points!

Nice use of OKS modules - having them rotating in opposite directions is a nice touch. It looks great with the two shuttles docked. I saw how there was a tiny bit of Karbonite refueling in the video with the second shuttle, so you get the full 2,000 points (not 1,000 as you tallied up) for the ability to refuel. I do have to wonder how long the life support on the shuttle will last while filling up the shuttle's tanks all the way with Karbonite-sourced fuel. Honestly, I have only limited experience with Karbonite - is it possible for those shuttles to harvest Karbonite and convert it to LFO while attached to the station? Regarding FAR and NEAR, I figure that what they giveth in reduced delta V requirements, they taketh away in flexibility of station configuration during launch, so it's a wash as far as I'm concerned. Congrats on having the first modded entry!

Edited November 18, 2014 by Norcalplanner

[Norcalplanner]

I am just starting playing with TAC-Life support and USI Kolonization Systems (MKS/OKS) to colonize all Kerbol system... So I made some interplanetary ships to use as space stations in the different planets to help the surface colonization... I think that these ships, latter space stations, can be presented on this challenge.

Until now, I only design the firsts missions to Eve/Gilly and Duna/Ike when these arrive to their destinations, I will put the captures in this post.

Obi_juan, sounds promising. I look forward to seeing your entry!

[Atlatl]

Congratulations, Atlatl! You have completed the Grand Orbital Space Station Challenge with a Modded Division entry scoring 5,870 points!

Nice use of OKS modules - having them rotating in opposite directions is a nice touch. It looks great with the two shuttles docked. I saw how there was a tiny bit of Karbonite refueling in the video with the second shuttle, so you get the full 2,000 points (not 1,000 as you tallied up) for the ability to refuel. I do have to wonder how long the life support on the shuttle will last while filling up the shuttle's tanks all the way with Karbonite-sourced fuel. Honestly, I have only limited experience with Karbonite - is it possible for those shuttles to harvest Karbonite and convert it to LFO while attached to the station? Regarding FAR and NEAR, I figure that what they giveth in reduced delta V requirements, they taketh away in flexibility of station configuration during launch, so it's a wash as far as I'm concerned. Congrats on having the first modded entry!

Thanks! Yeah, the spaceplanes can still convert to LFO while they're attached. Normally I'd keep the plane landed long enough to fill up all of its fuel tanks, then bring back the karbonite and make whatever the station needs at the time. It would be a slow process but it's better than nothing. I'm going to try and build a heavier shuttle that can mine as well, but we'll see how that goes because my computer probably can't handle a much larger station.

[ihtoit]

two of my smaller stations. The fat one is my crew waystation (no name), has space for 158 Kerbals in 24 ring pods (S2 crew fuselages) and two Taurus command pods. It has low power engines on the underside of the base ring for orbital manoeuvering/correction burns and 25 docking ports (there's a Clamptron Senior under there, trust me on that). Station mass: around 540t on orbit (330 dry)

To connect to the Gossamer, which has a hybrid power system to feed the single laser, crew capacity of 24, went up in 6 launches for a station mass of ~320t (145 dry).

Fairly sizeable project, had to ditch it though because life.

[thegab]

Feel free to enter these if you have sufficient documentation; if not, I have no doubt that you can create an impressive new station for the challenge.

I still have all the ships used, so if i understand well, i should post a screenshot on the launchpad for each

My question, how do i make and imgur album like everybody ?

I tried album but didn't get understood, tried quoting others...nothing interesting in their links to understand

do i need to login there ?

I might build a new station, to reach 1000 tons

[LordFjord]

Don't treat this like an entry, I'll try to come up with some fancy new stuff for this challenge, but it will take some time.

Maybe it is some inspiration for others (be warned, tri-hull docking is tricky).

Here's a station I built in 0.23, mostly for the (back then upcoming) station science mod. Meanwhile it has nice looking parts, in the pics below it had placeholders.

It involved at least 20 launches, a lot of tugging around rearranging the parts. This is how you learn manual docking

In the beginning it had a single stack of modules, then I went for the tri-hull design.

The station got extended a lot over the time, in the end it got a huge dish that made it completely unplayable due to massive partcount (beyond 800).

The whole thing was rather heavy, guessing from the pic I'd say several 100 tons.

Here are some pics of it:

already tri-hull design with a docked SSTO:

rearranged modules and a docked SSTO:

final design, a few more stacks and the dish:

[StormKat]

I still have all the ships used, so if i understand well, i should post a screenshot on the launchpad for each

My question, how do i make and imgur album like everybody ?

I tried album but didn't get understood, tried quoting others...nothing interesting in their links to understand

do i need to login there ?

I might build a new station, to reach 1000 tons

It took me almost an hour to figure it out. Here's what you do -- Sign up for a free Imgur account and add all your images. Then create an album and add your images to the album.

There is a link at the top of the album page called "Embed album" or something similar. Click that and it will give you a link. You only need the group of random characters after the "slash" a "slash". (For my album it was "SPXmC")

Lastly, when you create a post here, use the IMGUR tags and put that embed code between them. http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/misc.php?do=bbcode#imgur

TA DA! That should do it.

Thanks for posting this challenge, Norcalplanner! It's been a very long time since I stayed up until 4AM playing a game.

Edited November 18, 2014 by StormKat

[ibeinsane]

This is my first accepted challenge and also the first time using an Imgur album on here.

I have submitted the space station I built last week just to try and make use of the new space plane parts on a space station.

In the station some tanks are clipped for structural use only. Only the main central tank ever carries fuel.

I do intend to add a dedicated space plane for this but so far have not got a large enough SSTO craft I am happy enough with, hence the crew largely outnumbering the lifeboat crafts. I have included a demonstration of a lifeboat craft which just makes it back to kerbin.

Please correct me if there are any mistakes.

+16800 168 tons in orbit

-2590 1295 tons on launchpad/runway in single launch

+5700 57 Crew (57 station crew but only additional 18 seats on lifeboat crafts:P)

+7800 3 cupolas (x1), 3 hitchhikers (x4), 6 crew cabins(x4) excludes lifeboat crafts, correct me if I'm wrong

+500 Science Lab (I have 3 but only counted it once)

+0 TAC LS

+0 Dedicated Shuttles

+0 Escape Pod for returning to kerbin surface but only enough for 18 so not counted (~650 dV on the escape pod)

+0 Shuttles can mine/distill karbonite

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+28210

x 0.75 Orbit around Mun

--------

21157 Points

Would be 18982 by limiting to 18 Crew

Javascript is disabled. View full album

[Norcalplanner]

Don't treat this like an entry, I'll try to come up with some fancy new stuff for this challenge, but it will take some time.

Maybe it is some inspiration for others (be warned, tri-hull docking is tricky).

Here's a station I built in 0.23, mostly for the (back then upcoming) station science mod. Meanwhile it has nice looking parts, in the pics below it had placeholders.

It involved at least 20 launches, a lot of tugging around rearranging the parts. This is how you learn manual docking

In the beginning it had a single stack of modules, then I went for the tri-hull design.

The station got extended a lot over the time, in the end it got a huge dish that made it completely unplayable due to massive partcount (beyond 800).

The whole thing was rather heavy, guessing from the pic I'd say several 100 tons.

Here are some pics of it:

already tri-hull design with a docked SSTO:

http://i.imgur.com/fe7U0a1.jpg

rearranged modules and a docked SSTO:

http://i.imgur.com/ohIHUJT.jpg

final design, a few more stacks and the dish:

http://i.imgur.com/vBdvSsW.jpg

Thanks for sharing. That last one looks a bit like the classic "mushroom" Star Trek spacedock. And I hear you on the part count. The third station I used as an example in my original post had to be abandoned - the part count was so high (700, IIRC) that it lagged like crazy whenever a ship with more than 40 parts approached it.

Edited November 19, 2014 by Norcalplanner

[Norcalplanner]

Thanks for posting this challenge, Norcalplanner! It's been a very long time since I stayed up until 4AM playing a game.

You're welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Rep is always appreciated - just click the little sheriff's star icon on the lower left of the original blog post. If enough people do it, someday I'll be a "two green blob" forum member. Wait, that didn't come out right... ;-)

[Norcalplanner]

This is my first accepted challenge and also the first time using an Imgur album on here.

I have submitted the space station I built last week just to try and make use of the new space plane parts on a space station.

In the station some tanks are clipped for structural use only. Only the main central tank ever carries fuel.

I do intend to add a dedicated space plane for this but so far have not got a large enough SSTO craft I am happy enough with, hence the crew largely outnumbering the lifeboat crafts. I have included a demonstration of a lifeboat craft which just makes it back to kerbin.

Please correct me if there are any mistakes.

+16800 168 tons in orbit

-2590 1295 tons on launchpad/runway in single launch

+5700 57 Crew (57 station crew but only additional 18 seats on lifeboat crafts:P)

+7800 3 cupolas (x1), 3 hitchhikers (x4), 6 crew cabins(x4) excludes lifeboat crafts, correct me if I'm wrong

+500 Science Lab (I have 3 but only counted it once)

+0 TAC LS

+0 Dedicated Shuttles

+0 Escape Pod for returning to kerbin surface but only enough for 18 so not counted (~650 dV on the escape pod)

+0 Shuttles can mine/distill karbonite

--------

+28210

x 0.75 Orbit around Mun

--------

21157 Points

Would be 18982 by limiting to 18 Crew

http://imgur.com/a/M4MIH

Congratulations, ibeinsane! You have completed the Grand Orbital Space Station Challenge with a Stock(-ish) entry scoring 22,957 points!

I added in the points for the Mk2 passenger cabins that are part of the escape pods - I didn't specify differently, and they went up with the original station launch. They're a part of the station as I'm concerned - I seem to recall reading some science fiction books where crew members went into escape pods every now and then for a little privacy.

I like the tri-radial symmetry design - it gives it a nice future-y aesthetic. And props for being the first to include dedicated escape pods. Your crew is also the biggest to date! I admit that it got me thinking about huge station crews, and the justification for them. I came up with this crazy idea that having some sort of huge crew on a station around Dres or Eeloo might justified by calling it a penal colony. Of course, Kerbals who screw up badly enough to warrant going to a penal colony usually end up dying in a blaze of glory. Hmmm... may need to think about that one a bit more.

Edited November 19, 2014 by Norcalplanner

[ibeinsane]

I came up with this crazy idea that having some sort of huge crew on a station around Dres or Eeloo might justified by calling it a penal colony. Of course, Kerbals who screw up badly enough to warrant going to a penal colony usually end up dying in a blaze of glory. Hmmm... may need to think about that one a bit more.

I like that idea. Of course the escape pods are then only for the guards, not the inmates. Additionally it should be possible to refuel the station to allow transport to moho orbit or a lower kerbol orbit just to make escape that little bit hotter

[ExplorerKlatt]

I am slowly building my station. 2 launches down 3-6 to go. May be more if I decide to do a full OKS station

[Captain Buzz Alderaan]

No cheating of any type is allowed. Use of hyperedit, alt-F12 menu, infinite fuel, infinigliders, edited craft files, or any other such tomfoolery will disqualify your entry.

Does this mean we cannot use the alt-F12 menu for part clipping in the VAB/SPH? And would part welding be considered "tomfoolery"? And when does the challenge end?

[Norcalplanner]

Does this mean we cannot use the alt-F12 menu for part clipping in the VAB/SPH? And would part welding be considered "tomfoolery"? And when does the challenge end?

I would say that any part clipping you can do in the VAB without use of the cheat menu is definitely OK, and minor to moderate part clipping primarily for aesthetics is likely also OK. Part clipping for primarily structural purposes should be avoided, but I'm hesitant to lay down a hard and fast rule for fear of disqualifying an otherwise awesome design. Regarding part welding, I'm inclined to put that mod in the Advanced Technology division, since it would potentially offer a significant advantage. If you want to post an example of what you're thinking about, I can give you a better answer.

[Norcalplanner]

And no ending date is anticipated for the main challenge. In terms of voting for a favorite station, there will need to be some sort of timeframe; however, I think we'll hold off on that for a while until we have a few more entries.

Edited November 20, 2014 by Norcalplanner

[thegab]

i hope we'll have a few more days to work our stations.

I had to start a new save (on the career update, i did convert my save to career instead of science, so i have most of the biomes, but no money ...i wish i could tranform it back...)

anyway here's a work in progress

Big version : http://i.imgur.com/zqjS2sh.png

i'm taking screenshots on the fly, and will post a detailled album(thanks for the method)

only mod is kerbal engineer

[Captain Buzz Alderaan]

I would say that any part clipping you can do in the VAB without use of the cheat menu is definitely OK, and minor to moderate part clipping primarily for aesthetics is likely also OK. Part clipping for primarily structural purposes should be avoided, but I'm hesitant to lay down a hard and fast rule for fear of disqualifying an otherwise awesome design. Regarding part welding, I'm inclined to put that mod in the Advanced Technology division, since it would potentially offer a significant advantage. If you want to post an example of what you're thinking about, I can give you a better answer.

Sorry for the late reply, but i wanted to see if my idea was even going to work. But here is my entry after 2 launches. The main reason i needed part clipping and welding is for the ring section. This for structural as well as aesthetical reasons. Hope this doesn't disqualify me! But anyhow, i'm back to business. I got 3 or 4 launches ahead of me before the station is finished.

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Edited November 25, 2014 by Captain Buzz Alderaan

[Norcalplanner]

Thegab, looks good so far. I look forward to seeing the rest.

Captain buzz, I think this will go in the advanced technology division, and I'll add part welder to the list of overpowered mods. In the same way that interstellar lets a player loft very heavy loads with only a few lightweight parts, making it much easier to build large stations, it appears to me that part welder would offer a similar advantage in building large stations with low part counts. The only other way I can think of to handle this sort of entry is to disqualify it (which I'd rather not do) or create a freestyle/gatecrasher category. If anyone has a brilliant suggestion, please post it or PM me.

[saabstory88]

Whats the score muliplier for 6.4x scaled Kerbol system? Any extra points for real/fuels engine ignitors?

[Norcalplanner]

Whats the score muliplier for 6.4x scaled Kerbol system? Any extra points for real/fuels engine ignitors?

Saabstory88, I'm afraid I don't have a lot of experience with RSS and similar mods. However, everything else that makes the mission harder is treated as a points bonus before applying the multiplier. I'm thinking in the realm of +4000 or so for RSS or other similar mod. Sound reasonable?

[obi_juan]

Hera are my space stations on Eve and Gilly... I use TAC-Life Support and USI Kolonization Systems (MKS/OKS) to make the space colonization more realist.

Javascript is disabled. View full album

I need a little help in the scoring.

Is my first attempt to colonize another planet, I tried Eve because I wanted to make a base in the purple atmosphere of that planet.

The modules for the surface base goes unmanned and all the Kerbals travel on the ships.

The weigh of the ships on the launch pad are:

Space ships: 1519t (dry mass 97.4t and 92.4t) [Eve Ship now 118t, with fuel; Gilly ship now 98.1t]

Modules for the planetary bases: (1100+890)t for a base of 68t on the surface.

Harvester for Karbonite: 1276t for a harvester+production module of 70t

As is possible to see on the imgur album the space ships have 2 landers... to arrive to the planetary bases.

But there a difference, the landers for Gilly can land on the surface base and come back to the space station.

For the space station an surface base at Gilly, I have a complete room for 16 kerbals, 6 on the surface and 10 in the space station... And with the harvested I will have no need of resupply the two bases for more than 50 years...

The problem is with the Eve space ship... The landers goes to the surface of Eve and never come back. I have enough fuel to leave the Eve orbit and go to Gilly and join the two space ships. So I will have a complete space base on Gilly of 10 kerbals and another 6 on the surface base that can live for a long time (or 16 on the space ship), the harvester had a Karbonite energy generator (the bigger one).

I was finishing the last base but a bug made to disappear one of the landing ships with one kerbal inside, and the lag on the Gilly base made horrible to play there... I learn enough to make a mk2 ship, but I play only one or two hours at day and to make the mk2 colonization system I will need another week or more... So I wanted to show the first attempt here.

Edited November 27, 2014 by obi_juan

[thegab]

@ obi_juan

It's called "The Grand Orbital Space Station Challenge" it's about bases in orbit, so no point for your landers, that's a different challenge.

Plus the use of mechjeb should cost you points, as many of us do their manoeuvers manually.

[Norcalplanner]

Obi_juan, thegab is partially correct. This challenge is all about space stations in orbit, not ground bases on the surface. Your ground bases, while laudable, generally won't count towards your point total. The only real exception to this would be if the ground base was part of the refueling infrastructure for the orbital station (such as what I think you have on Gilly), in which case you'd get a few thousand additional points for the refueling capability. Please attempt to come up with a score that only takes into account the orbital components of each of your stations. I think I also need to see a few more photos showing other parts of the mission, such as the transfers to Eve and Gilly, and a Gilly refueling run. I don't think that the Eve surface base is going to count for anything, since there's no way to bring any Kerbals or fuel back up from the surface.

Thegab, mechjeb is the first mod listed as being specifically allowed in the stock(-ish) division. I have no problem with people using MJ, especially if they're doing a station assembly in orbit. If a player wants to note in their entry description that they didn't use KER or MJ, I'm happy to add that fact to the summary of each entry in the first post.

Edited November 28, 2014 by Norcalplanner

[thegab]

Thegab, mechjeb is the first mod listed as being specifically allowed in the stock(-ish) division. I have no problem with people using MJ, especially if they're doing a station assembly in orbit. If a player wants to note in their entry description that they didn't use KER or MJ, I'm happy to add that fact to the summary of each entry in the first post.

Sounds fair, but i wouldn't compare KER with auto-pilot, auto-docking, auto-aiming and i don't know what else MJ does.

Engineer only gives stats.