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

[Norcalplanner]

We now have a badge, courtesy of my younger daughter! All who successfully complete the challenge can add this badge to their signature. Available in three sizes for your convenience.

Edited March 8, 2015 by Norcalplanner

[Lou]

We now have a badge, courtesy of my younger daughter!

That looks awesome!

[Coga19000]

Whew, finally - after a while, Venus Space is fully assembled around Kerbin:

The original plan called for a much bigger station, but the time dilation (aka lag) was getting so high Mechjeb docking autopilot started going nuts, and manual docking was almost impossible. *sigh* Damn computer.

[Frostea]

My first post! Been too busy actually playing KSP after discovering it last month. Here's my entry that is highly modded. Probably falls under the modded category if you ignore the HX engine that isn't actually on the station itself.

Javascript is disabled. View full album

[Norcalplanner]

Whew, finally - after a while, Venus Space is fully assembled around Kerbin:

http://i.imgur.com/kjKxG46.png

The original plan called for a much bigger station, but the time dilation (aka lag) was getting so high Mechjeb docking autopilot started going nuts, and manual docking was almost impossible. *sigh* Damn computer.

Coga1900, this looks great. In order for me to score it and put you on the leaderboard, I need you tally up your points according to the OP and post enough photos (or a link to an album) which has photos that will verify the launch weights and such that go into the scoring formula.

And I hear you on the part count and the lag. I'm going to post a link shortly to a new project, the LPC (Low Part Count) Station - basically an effort to get as much functionality with as few parts as possible so a player can actually use the thing instead of abandoning it to the lag monster.

- - - Updated - - -

My first post! Been too busy actually playing KSP after discovering it last month. Here's my entry that is highly modded. Probably falls under the modded category if you ignore the HX engine that isn't actually on the station itself.

http://imgur.com/a/ruLw4

Frostea, looks good! I believe that this is the first entry using EPL. Please tally up your points, note what mods you're using, and post some photos regarding the actual launch(es) of the station according to the OP so I can confirm your score and put you on the leaderboard. And thanks for making this challenge your first post!

Edited March 9, 2015 by Norcalplanner

[Frostea]

Unfortunately I was too excited to build an orbital shipyard that I forgot to take the screenshots at launch

But luckily, I kept the craft files unchanged so that I can build a complete station model in the VAB. Here are launchers with their payloads:

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Despite the size of the station, it only required 2 docking for the life support OKS modules. The pair of Kontainer Pods, giant taser thing (recycler from the Hanger mod), and industrial MKS modules were constructed in-situ to fufill self-sufficiency and orbital construction needs. Oh and the Karbonite miner was also constructed in-situ.

Non-Part mods

Deadly Reentry Continued

FAR

Kerbal Engineer Redux

Mechjeb

Tweakscale

Scansat

Ubio Welding

Part Mods

TAC-LS - Welded the Lifesupport containers to monoprop tank and reaction wheels. Yay for less part counts.

Near Future Construction - Used the Octo-girder connectors because they looked cooler than the stock Rockomax ones.

Karbonite - Drills, Converters.

MKS/OKS - Most of the modules.

Hangar - Radial Engines for the miners, stack connector at the center of the entire station. The giant taser thingy is also from Hangar (doesn't seem to work though...)

EPL-> Regolith Adaptation - Smelter, Rocket Cons. Workshop

B9 Aerospace - Miner lander legs. Also, the HX parts which are cool but really almost bankrupted the KSA.

FTT - Kontainer Pods, Honeybadger Nuclear Reactor

QuantumStrutsContinued

Procedural Fairings - Was surprisingly unnecessary due to the massively slow launches. Still used.

Might have missed a couple of minor ones but this is all the important ones.

The final point tally

Station tonnage - 100x180 = +18000 (Dry mass) <- I rounded this down to account for the removal of the parts constructed in-situ

Kosmos-III and the Ore Miner, ((100x362.2)+(100x78.7)= +44090 (Dry mass)

Mass from non-launched equipment are not counted.

Launch tonnage penalty - ~7371x2 = -14742

Kerbals on station - 14x100 = +1400

Comfortable seats - 20x200 = +4000

No manned science lab (I assume you mean the stock science lab)

No Snacks

TAC-LS used - +1000

Dedicated shuttles - None. Could easily construct one though.

Escape Pod capacity - None. Ain't nobody got the FPS to spare for that .

Mining/Processing ability - +2000

Fully self-sufficient on everything - +3000

Total without counting Kosmos-III and Ore Miner: (29400x0.5)-14742= -42

Total with Kosmos-III and Ore Miner: (73490x0.5)-14742= 22003

[Coga19000]

Woops, sorry. I got so satisfied with finally finishing (albeit abruptly and prematurrly) that I forgot.

I can't you you any pictures right now (and I don't even know how many I can get ;I would have to practically relaunch the whole station), but I can get you some details.

Truth is that this station, though pretty usable and almost totally self -sustaining, has a large percentage of it taken by aesthetic stuff with no use. I will try more compact ones in the future, that's for sure, but I still love this one a lot.

Modules Launched:

Communications Module

Though unnecessarily redundant in the number of antennas, and probably what baited the Lag Kraken to hang around, it is my personal pride and joy. Its array, placed on a filed Rockomax-3200 because that totally makes sense, includes 3 Communotron-88s, 3 DTSM-1s, 8 Communotron-32s, 16(!) Communotron-16s,and a Gigatro. No matter the lag, my Kerbals will watch ultra -HD love Super Bowl! IN SPAAACE!

Calculations Module

Also completely useless, but hey, I love roleplay. It consists of 5 large SAS units, 4 large RGUs, and 4 Large Batteries. It's supposed to make calculations, handle the life support system and general station maintenance, as well as conduct research in exosphere properties.

Power Storage Module

Of course, all this useless junk just wouldn't be realistic (or useless) enough without requiring a crapload of charge, at day and night. The night is covered with 6 large batteries and 8 radial ones (Batt-man, accept no substitutes!) It also has the side effect of powering the life support systems, and therefore keep the Kerbals aboard alive.

Solar Array and Docking Module

Not that the Storage Module can keep up forever, though. That's why the boys back down at Kerbin brought us a gorgeous retrangular solar array. In a try to cut down on costs and part count, it also doubles as a fuel storage unit, and triples as a docking array for large ships (sticking next to Liquid Hydrogen tanks is, like, totally safe) The Panels are retracted during docking procedures, though the autopilot proved reliable enough when the one responsible slept on his keyboard.

I'll post more soon.

Edited March 10, 2015 by Coga19000

[Norcalplanner]

Unfortunately I was too excited to build an orbital shipyard that I forgot to take the screenshots at launch

But luckily, I kept the craft files unchanged so that I can build a complete station model in the VAB. Here are launchers with their payloads:

http://imgur.com/a/2UYBv

Despite the size of the station, it only required 2 docking for the life support OKS modules. The pair of Kontainer Pods, giant taser thing (recycler from the Hanger mod), and industrial MKS modules were constructed in-situ to fufill self-sufficiency and orbital construction needs. Oh and the Karbonite miner was also constructed in-situ.

Non-Part mods

Deadly Reentry Continued

FAR

Kerbal Engineer Redux

Mechjeb

Tweakscale

Scansat

Ubio Welding

Part Mods

TAC-LS - Welded the Lifesupport containers to monoprop tank and reaction wheels. Yay for less part counts.

Near Future Construction - Used the Octo-girder connectors because they looked cooler than the stock Rockomax ones.

Karbonite - Drills, Converters.

MKS/OKS - Most of the modules.

Hangar - Radial Engines for the miners, stack connector at the center of the entire station. The giant taser thingy is also from Hangar (doesn't seem to work though...)

EPL-> Regolith Adaptation - Smelter, Rocket Cons. Workshop

B9 Aerospace - Miner lander legs. Also, the HX parts which are cool but really almost bankrupted the KSA.

FTT - Kontainer Pods, Honeybadger Nuclear Reactor

QuantumStrutsContinued

Procedural Fairings - Was surprisingly unnecessary due to the massively slow launches. Still used.

Might have missed a couple of minor ones but this is all the important ones.

The final point tally

Station tonnage - 100x180 = +18000 (Dry mass) <- I rounded this down to account for the removal of the parts constructed in-situ

Kosmos-III and the Ore Miner, ((100x362.2)+(100x78.7)= +44090 (Dry mass)

Mass from non-launched equipment are not counted.

Launch tonnage penalty - ~7371x2 = -14742

Kerbals on station - 14x100 = +1400

Comfortable seats - 20x200 = +4000

No manned science lab (I assume you mean the stock science lab)

No Snacks

TAC-LS used - +1000

Dedicated shuttles - None. Could easily construct one though.

Escape Pod capacity - None. Ain't nobody got the FPS to spare for that .

Mining/Processing ability - +2000

Fully self-sufficient on everything - +3000

Total without counting Kosmos-III and Ore Miner: (29400x0.5)-14742= -42

Total with Kosmos-III and Ore Miner: (73490x0.5)-14742= 22003

Congratulations, Frostea! You have completed the Grand Orbital Space Station Challenge with a Modded Division entry worth 29,374 points!

That's an impressive set of interlocking technologies and vehicles you've assembled. I'm sorry that the kraken didn't play nice with your rovers. I have yet to do anything with EPL, but I think I'll add it to the Advanced Technology Division for future entries. Someone clever enough to ship all the construction infrastructure to a distant planet and then build a monster station in situ should be able to fully score what they manage to create. When I did the math, I ended up with a slightly different (but higher) score - it looks like you may have applied the 0.5 Minmus modifier twice.

Feel free to add the badge to your sig. If you liked the challenge, rep (clicking on the sheriff's star icon) is always welcome.

[inigma]

any special points for launching and building a station almost entirely with a space shuttle?

[Norcalplanner]

Woops, sorry. I got so satisfied with finally finishing (albeit abruptly and prematurrly) that I forgot.

I can't you you any pictures right now (and I don't even know how many I can get ;I would have to practically relaunch the whole station), but I can get you some details.

Truth is that this station, though pretty usable and almost totally self -sustaining, has a large percentage of it taken by aesthetic stuff with no use. I will try more compact ones in the future, that's for sure, but I still love this one a lot.

Modules Launched:

Communications Module

Though unnecessarily redundant in the number of antennas, and probably what baited the Lag Kraken to hang around, it is my personal pride and joy. Its array, placed on a filed Rockomax-3200 because that totally makes sense, includes 3 Communotron-88s, 3 DTSM-1s, 8 Communotron-32s, 16(!) Communotron-16s,and a Gigatro. No matter the lag, my Kerbals will watch ultra -HD love Super Bowl! IN SPAAACE!

Calculations Module

Also completely useless, but hey, I love roleplay. It consists of 5 large SAS units, 4 large RGUs, and 4 Large Batteries. It's supposed to make calculations, handle the life support system and general station maintenance, as well as conduct research in exosphere properties.

Power Storage Module

Of course, all this useless junk just wouldn't be realistic (or useless) enough without requiring a crapload of charge, at day and night. The night is covered with 6 large batteries and 8 radial ones (Batt-man, accept no substitutes!) It also has the side effect of powering the life support systems, and therefore keep the Kerbals aboard alive.

Solar Array and Docking Module

Not that the Storage Module can keep up forever, though. That's why the boys back down at Kerbin brought us a gorgeous retrangular solar array. In a try to cut down on costs and part count, it also doubles as a fuel storage unit, and triples as a docking array for large ships (sticking next to Liquid Hydrogen tanks is, like, totally safe) The Panels are retracted during docking procedures, though the autopilot proved reliable enough when the one responsible slept on his keyboard.

I'll post more soon.

Coga19000,

Good descriptions, and I'm totally fine with increased part count for aesthetic purposes. However, before it can be scored, there need to be some screenshots of the launch and assembly - please see the OP for the entry requirements. If you didn't capture any photos at the time, just reload the rocket in the VAB, wheel a duplicate out to the pad, and take a few shots of each section showing them being launched into space.

- - - Updated - - -

any special points for launching and building a station almost entirely with a space shuttle?

inigma,

I'm leaning towards a two-fold route. First, the landing mass of any manned shuttle or space plane is subtracted from the weight on the pad or runway on takeoff - basically getting a points credit for a manned reusable craft. Second, some sort of points bonus in the 2-3,000 range for a station whose components were launched entirely within the cargo bay of a shuttle or space plane. That way, if someone can make a station entirely out of components that fit within a cargo bay, they'll score both bonuses. If the station includes one or more components which were too big to fit in a cargo bay, then they would simply get reduced negative points for runway/pad mass. And of course, it would get a callout in the brief description on the leaderboard.

Sound reasonable?

- - - Updated - - -

Awesome, I love building big piloted orbital facilities and wanted to enter the contest, but I never play without RO!

Kibble,

The Altered Universe is alive and kicking. The only change to the scoring system is -1 per ton on the launch pad or runway for AU entries instead of -2 per ton for standard entries. If the scores end up being a bit off from the other divisions, that's OK - the important thing is that scores within a division are comparable to each other.

[Kibble]

The only change to the scoring system is -1 per ton on the launch pad or runway for AU entries instead of -2 per ton for standard entries.

Does this mean that scoring for AU excludes multipliers for the celestial body?

[inigma]

Your station point calc for being built with shuttles sounds reasonable.

[Norcalplanner]

Does this mean that scoring for AU excludes multipliers for the celestial body?

Actually, it means that I'm having a Homer Simpson "D'oh!" moment. Multipliers for RO/RSS will be altered to something TBD that makes sense. It will probably be later this week or early next before I can look at it in detail. If you have any ideas for appropriate multipliers, I'd love to hear them.

[Kibble]

If you have any ideas for appropriate multipliers, I'd love to hear them.

You could have it vary with the orbital orbital energy of the transfer. For the Moon it would be transfer perigee speed minus LEO speed. For interplanetary trajectories to superior planets it would be the transfer speed wrt the Sun minus Earth's orbital speed, and for trajectories to inferior planets its Earth's orbital speed minus the transfer speed. Here are some back-of-the-envelope examples

7.533 km/s for Mercury

2.495 km/s for Venus

2.945 km/s for Mars

6.317 km/s for Ceres (Most of the other Asteroids are pretty similar)

I think the multiplier should be doubled for bodies without an atmosphere (no aerocapture). Or possibly halved for bodies with an atmosphere. And maybe it could be on a logarithmic scale or something, I don't know. You're the judge, after all!

[Norcalplanner]

You could have it vary with the orbital orbital energy of the transfer. For the Moon it would be transfer perigee speed minus LEO speed. For interplanetary trajectories to superior planets it would be the transfer speed wrt the Sun minus Earth's orbital speed, and for trajectories to inferior planets its Earth's orbital speed minus the transfer speed. Here are some back-of-the-envelope examples

7.533 km/s for Mercury

2.495 km/s for Venus

2.945 km/s for Mars

6.317 km/s for Ceres (Most of the other Asteroids are pretty similar)

I think the multiplier should be doubled for bodies without an atmosphere (no aerocapture). Or possibly halved for bodies with an atmosphere. And maybe it could be on a logarithmic scale or something, I don't know. You're the judge, after all!

Thanks for the ideas - this is definitely a good place to start. I'm actually creating a new install right now for RO to get some experience with it. Based on my limited gaming time at the moment, I should have multipliers figured out within a week or two. In the meantime, unless you're trying to min/max your station, feel free to get started knowing that there will be some proportional scoring system in place soon.

[Kibble]

Yay time to get out my big rockets from the sock drawer

[Maolagin]

You know, I've never done a challenge before, so let's pull out all the stops and make it a good one!

What's the best engine in the (stock) game? Well, today we're scoring by payload mass ratio, so going solely by ISP it's obviously the ion thruster. 4200-ish seconds in vacuum, supposedly!

I wonder how large a payload we can push with ion thrusters. With the new SAS guidance options in 0.90, super-long burns shouldn't be too terribly burdensome, right? And how low could our FPS possibly go, anyway?

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Yeah. Actually that was terrible. On 4x the Moho insertion burn took about three hours with at most 2 FPS. The course corrections near Kerbin were almost as bad, even though I only needed a few tens of m/s dV, because out near Kerbin I could only run the engine array at like 10% power. Also, this beast does not turn quickly under reaction wheel power. Sorry, I had plans to use the excursion modules to rearrange things into a more aesthetic station, but I don't feel like killing another week trying to fly around this thing.

So what you're looking at is a fairly ordinary mk3 fuselage, with 2 passenger modules (32 seats), and 100 ion thrusters, each mounted to 2 Xe tanks. Total part count: 593. Notice the two landers. They have about 2100 m/s fully fuelled, which is meant to be enough for a Moho landing and just barely enough under ideal conditions to get back to Kerbin. But since I don't have the patience to test either of those scenarios, we'll skip that for now.

Scoring:

+100 x 141.57 t final station mass = 14157 pts

-2 x 1208.6 t launch mass = - 2417

+100 x 6 Kerbals onboard = +600

+200 x 32 comfortable seats = +6400

+500 for a manned science lab

= 19240 x 6 (Moho) = 115440 pts

Phew.

[Creeping]

-MegaStation Clip-

As someone with FAR, that launch almost made me puke.

[Norcalplanner]

You know, I've never done a challenge before, so let's pull out all the stops and make it a good one!

What's the best engine in the (stock) game? Well, today we're scoring by payload mass ratio, so going solely by ISP it's obviously the ion thruster. 4200-ish seconds in vacuum, supposedly!

I wonder how large a payload we can push with ion thrusters. With the new SAS guidance options in 0.90, super-long burns shouldn't be too terribly burdensome, right? And how low could our FPS possibly go, anyway?

http://imgur.com/a/Mw9Sx

Yeah. Actually that was terrible. On 4x the Moho insertion burn took about three hours with at most 2 FPS. The course corrections near Kerbin were almost as bad, even though I only needed a few tens of m/s dV, because out near Kerbin I could only run the engine array at like 10% power. Also, this beast does not turn quickly under reaction wheel power. Sorry, I had plans to use the excursion modules to rearrange things into a more aesthetic station, but I don't feel like killing another week trying to fly around this thing.

So what you're looking at is a fairly ordinary mk3 fuselage, with 2 passenger modules (32 seats), and 100 ion thrusters, each mounted to 2 Xe tanks. Total part count: 593. Notice the two landers. They have about 2100 m/s fully fuelled, which is meant to be enough for a Moho landing and just barely enough under ideal conditions to get back to Kerbin. But since I don't have the patience to test either of those scenarios, we'll skip that for now.

Scoring:

+100 x 141.57 t final station mass = 14157 pts

-2 x 1208.6 t launch mass = - 2417

+100 x 6 Kerbals onboard = +600

+200 x 32 comfortable seats = +6400

+500 for a manned science lab

= 19240 x 6 (Moho) = 115440 pts

Phew.

Congratulation, Maolagin! You have completed the Grand Orbital Space Station Challenge with Stock(-ish) Division entry scoring 115,440 points, making you the new points leader!

Definitely not a FAR entry, and definitely not optimized on part count, but full props for making what is the largest/heaviest ion-powered craft I've ever seen. The new Mk3 parts are turning out to be pretty efficient on a kerbal per ton of station basis, so I think we'll see more of those. I can't even imagine how many solar panels you'd need to make that thing work out by Jool.

Feel free to add the badge to your sig. I'll update the leaderboard.

And I think this goes to show how part count is a killer for big space stations. They end up looking awesome, but are hardly used at all due to computer-thrashing, soul-crushing lag.

[Norcalplanner]

Alright, I hinted at this earlier. I present for your enlightenment and edification - the Mega(useless) Station. Brought to you by SpaceY, MRS, and KJR. Mega because it's huge (more than a thousand comfortable seats and would be worth more than a million points), and useless because I'm never going to touch this station again. Consider it a lesson in the frustration of high part counts, lag, and low FPS. Enjoy my pain. ;-)

Javascript is disabled. View full album

[Maolagin]

As someone with FAR, that launch almost made me puke.

Hoo boy, yeah. With any sort of sensible aero, my station would make a nice kite!

Of course, I was going for the stock division. If I was doing this with FAR, I'd also have added one of the robotics mods so the giant thruster arrays could be deployed in orbit.

[Frostea]

Alright, I hinted at this earlier. I present for your enlightenment and edification - the Mega(useless) Station....

Whoa that's a massive one, I can already feel the FPS pancaking at 1 or less.

Anyway, I was thinking about EPL being judged in a different category, and realised that there could be a significant variation with EPL.

The primary challenge would be to construct a self-sustaining and/or self-replicating station. Of course, this would also mean that life support has to be mandatory or it would just be a matter of time before you can construct everything.

The main judging criteria (IMO) would be the tonnage that was launched out of KSC, hence a compact launch system with minimal parts would be awarded more points than one that has huge launchers.

The secondary judging criteria would be the amount of time it took to complete the construction of such a station. Given that EPL currently requires you to have several kerbals who preferably have low stupidity and higher levels, this could be interesting.

[Norcalplanner]

I don't yet have any experience with EPL, so I'm not sure how best to fit it into the dusting scoring system. Sounds like it might be worthy of its own challenge...

[Norcalplanner]

Been playing around with RO the past few days, and am finally getting a feel for it. Hopefully a well-considered scoring system for RSS/RO entries will emerge out of all of this. Initial thought is that the launch pad weight penalty needs to go down a little further, to 0.75 or 0.5 per ton on the pad. So far, it takes me a 150 ton rocket just to get a satellite into orbit.

[Jaffa Cookie]

Is this challenge still going on? if so can i assemble a space station in kerbin's SOI then put it into a orbit around a different natural satellite like eloo?