My most kerbal craft ever

[togfox]

I\'m not a big fan of using other ppls crafts or sharing my own. Part of the fun is working it out yourself. However, this creation evolved over time and it applies some very nifty engineering principles.

I present to you 'Science Station III'.

It\'s a craft that can deliver a science module to a Mun base and return OR it can deploy the module from Mun orbit and the module can be piloted down to the surface. The second maneuver is very risky and only the bravest Kerbals attempt it - which means nearly every kerbal attempts it!

There are three interesting Kerbal inventions on this craft requiring unique kerbal engineering.

The first is the long \'tail\' of Liquid Fuel Tanks down the centre stack (hard to see). This is part of the lifter that gets this oddity into orbit. There are four liquid fuel engines with four tanks attached to the side of the tail but these are positioned high up to keep the centre-of-gravity in the centre of the ship (really, the game does model this!). This leaves this long tail hanging below the craft.

The second invention was born from a means to launch this craft from the pad. Such a vessel can not be supported by a single stack, so, I invented a launch gantry.

The ship rests on this gantry on the pad but the decouplers fire immediately thereby keeping the tail off the ground and not becoming a part of the ship. Those SRB\'s do not actually fire - they are support that is jettisoned without leaving the ground.

The lifter powering through the atmosphere without the gantry or SRB

The third invention are the side mounted science module. Yes - side mounted. Not in the central stack.

This causes a problem with balance (the game models this too!). The only way I can make this ship flight worthy is to add ballast on the other side of the stack.

That LFE is never fired. It is just weight that is counter-acting the weight of the instruments on the other side of the the central stack.

When orbitting the Mun, the pilot can either land the craft, detach the science module on the ground and then depart or it can detach the science module in orbit and then pilot the science module down to the Mun base remotely.^*

The lander deploying legs and solar panel.

The science module is gathering ... well - data about things I guess.

The command capsule then returns to Kerbin safe and sound.^**

But only if it jettisons the ballast that is now making the craft unstable.

So, it\'s an odd design and very much tacked together, Kerbal style. My craft, in case anyone enjoys lunacy.

http://www.thefoxer.com/KSP/ScienceStationIII.craft

Mods:

For realism

- Zoxygen

For piloting

- Mechjeb

For the science station

- probekit Antenna

- probekit camera

- probekit dish

- probekit sensor

- probekit solar panel

- probekit telescope

* There isn\'t actually enough fuel to pilot the module separately

** There isn\'t actually enough fuel to return home either.

[sjwt]

I once had a massive round craft, and I had to balance it out with different sized and strength rockets and tanks so it didn\'t hit the launch tower..

[RedDwarfIV]

Did you try direct burn or orbital when not getting the ship back to Kerbin because or fuel?

[Bluejayek]

Taking your idea of a launch gantry to the limits, I present the kerbal tower.

This will break apart and detonate on the launch pad about 50% of the time, but the other 50% of the time it is capable of launching (leaving the solid booster stacks behind) and can make it to the mun.

The giant white jets you see are the RCS thrusters... They seem to grow to massive proportions with large ships.

[togfox]

Good heavens.

That wouldn\'t even load on my pooter!

[Bluejayek]

On my machine it loads, but when I go to take off it lags so much during the initial burn while all of the solid boosters are sitting on the pad falling over and exploding, that it makes me turn, and sometimes makes my ship do backflips and crashes. The addition of the absurd number of RCS thrusters seems to fix this mostly however....

Not a particularly practical craft, but in theory, the higher you start out, the less distance you have to climb ;D

[sjwt]

Taking your idea of a launch gantry to the limits, I present the kerbal tower.

This will break apart and detonate on the launch pad about 50% of the time, but the other 50% of the time it is capable of launching (leaving the solid booster stacks behind) and can make it to the mun.

The giant white jets you see are the RCS thrusters... They seem to grow to massive proportions with large ships.

The giant jets are when ever the RCS lag, as KSP drops to a 1FPS, thats a combined output of 1 second of RCS flair..

Also with the 50% load issue, its a common issue with ships that lag, you should go from the VBA to the launch pad, abort the launch, return to the VBA and launch again.. It should launch on the second go every time.