Minimum boosters for full Mun mission.

[foamyesque]

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:

Take a conventional, bare bones rocket (pod, three LFTs, fixed LFE), and add as many boosters, decouplers, and so on as you need. The limitations are that no additional liquid tanks or engines can be used, the core structure can\'t be altered (adding a chute on top is okay if you\'re a sissy), and of course bonus points are available for doing this with a .8 compliant rocket.

Have fun!

Current minimum: 21.

[Romfarer]

Can i use 1 pod, 1 FL-250, 1 LV-909 LFE and 3 LT-2 Landing Struts? After all that is enough to return from the mun and bring the crew back safely.

[foamyesque]

Can i use 1 pod, 1 FL-250, 1 LV-909 LFE and 3 LT-2 Landing Struts? After all that is enough to return from the mun and bring the crew back safely.

Nope! You have to use the core stage.

Otherwise the minimum number would be 0.

[foamyesque]

So, whilst I haven\'t actually managed to fully complete this with this craft, it\'s capable of it:

Landed on the Mun with enough fuel to achieve Munar escape and about 200m/s dV to spare, easily adequate for a Kerbin powered landing.

...only I took off in the wrong direction and achieved Kerbin escape with about 400m/s extra. =(

EDIT:

Booster count: 10+7+4 = 21.

[antbin]

Hey Foamy, how do you deal with booster overheating? I tried copying your rocket but the launch stages can\'t burn to completion without frying...

EDIT: OK, I understand how 'heat' works in KSP now... Every booster needs one strut \'heatsink\'? But your struts are either invisible, or not there!?

[sjwt]

Hey Foamy, how do you deal with booster overheating? I tried copying your rocket but the launch stages can\'t burn to completion without frying...

EDIT: OK, I understand how 'heat' works in KSP now... Every booster needs one strut \'heatsink\'? But your struts are either invisible, or not there!?

I can see two struts clearly(Stage 1, left and right mid sections coming down and out from the middle front booster) and the build list on the left shows 21!

[foamyesque]

Hey Foamy, how do you deal with booster overheating? I tried copying your rocket but the launch stages can\'t burn to completion without frying...

EDIT: OK, I understand how 'heat' works in KSP now... Every booster needs one strut \'heatsink\'? But your struts are either invisible, or not there!?

For purposes of neatness I like to make my struts as short as possible. Generally I do a wrap around the exterior at a very minor offset from the booster joins.

[antbin]

OK, in the spirit of pole vaulting, I am raising the bar... by a tiny bit.

7+5+5+3 = 20 boosters to the moon and back, with a parachute!

Now the moon touchdown ran into a terrain glitch, and the earth touchdown resulted in my collapsing the parachute 100m off the ground and killing all on board (too much retro thrust).... but the ship is good.

My strategy was to try and stage the boosters to stick as close as possible to the 'optimal' fuel efficiency speeds in Kerbin\'s atmosphere. It got me into orbit with about 1-1/3 tanks and onto Mun intercept with just less than 1.

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