Base Pack. Endless configurations in a single launch! Not yet updated to 1.0, but soonâ„¢

[Frozen_Heart]

Let's see, a good configuration for your big mothership off the top of my head... If you go for a single base pack to assemble it quickly, put the fuel dump on one side, balanced with the lab on the other side (check the lab's weight in the VAB, then find a fuel load that will give the fuel dump the same weight), the hab balanced with the node on the other two lateral ports (since they rebalanced the cuppola they weight about the same), and the corridors/rover package you can unravel in LKO (and BTW, the rover makes for a good RCS tug) and put pretty much anywhere, including the front, or just attached with the rover port. Sorry about the tiny bit of space trash when you do unravel that part of the package! You can push it into a suborbital trajectory by pushing with a kerbal if you are as OCD about space junk as me.

Rune. That is, if pushing the whole thing doesn't work, which it shouldn't with a full fuel dump on the opposite end of the connection. Might work if you empty it.

The base seems to not wobble as long as all its fuel is drained. No idea how it will hold up while burning though...

In addition to the base I'm packing 4 satellites, 2 rovers, 2 landers, and 2 rocket cranes to take the modules down.

[Rune]

Ok, this is why I like to post stuff here. My mind went a completely unrelated tangent to what is being discussed here, but it's awesome and it wouldn't have happened if t wasn't for all the comments on the complexity and stuff. A new "shroud" that is actually a disposable rocket lander! Plus, the file has an even 250 parts now, with exactly 50 of those being the launcher.

Right now it is mostly untested as a lander, but you know? It's got 1.8km/s full at TWR 0.8 and chutes if that wasn't enough. Properly refueled along the way, this could drop the base anywhere but Tylo on a single shot, and the only thing it needs is a depot system to refuel both to leave kerbin orbit, and before starting the landing. Or a transfer stage you dock to the Sr. Docking port on the back and/or front, of course. Considering I've tested everything else including the assembly of the base once on the ground, it should totally work as it is. But I'll tinker a bit more and post it soonâ„¢!

Rune. So you will have three different options for setup, form the 100% reusable and incredibly complicated, to the simple expendable version.

[Majorjim!]

Ok, this is why I like to post stuff here. My mind went a completely unrelated tangent to what is being discussed here, but it's awesome and it wouldn't have happened if t wasn't for all the comments on the complexity and stuff. A new "shroud" that is actually a disposable rocket lander! Plus, the file has an even 250 parts now, with exactly 50 of those being the launcher.

http://i.imgur.com/OydG2pJ.png

http://i.imgur.com/8OHSLOA.png

Right now it is mostly untested as a lander, but you know? It's got 1.8km/s full at TWR 0.8 and chutes if that wasn't enough. Properly refueled along the way, this could drop the base anywhere but Tylo on a single shot, and the only thing it needs is a depot system to refuel both to leave kerbin orbit, and before starting the landing. Or a transfer stage you dock to the Sr. Docking port on the back and/or front, of course. Considering I've tested everything else including the assembly of the base once on the ground, it should totally work as it is. But I'll tinker a bit more and post it soonâ„¢!

Rune. So you will have three different options for setup, form the 100% reusable and incredibly complicated, to the simple expendable version.

HI Rune, that looks cool using the bays as a fairing, but you say it can go anywhere in a single shot but then you say it needs a refueling depot to meet in orbit and then another one at the destination?

That's quite a requirement! Could this be done truly in "a single shot"?

[Rune]

HI Rune, that looks cool using the bays as a fairing, but you say it can go anywhere in a single shot but then you say it needs a refueling depot to meet in orbit and then another one at the destination?

That's quite a requirement! Could this be done truly in "a single shot"?

Ok, that was probably a bad explanation on my part. I meant that it could be deployed everywhere* without auxiliary vehicles, but with plenty of refueling available. That's a bit difference with needing an Eagle and several trips to deploy it! And in fact, I'm exaggerating even there, because with full tanks it can't get more than 2.6km/s, which wouldn't be enough to deploy it to, say, Moho, without plenty of extra delta-v, or a very weirdly staged trip, or a gazillion gravity assists. Yeah, I just meant the lack of necessary auxiliary vehicles, depots are a must.

But of course this can be done "in a single shot" (as in, a single direct launch), that's only a measly 70mT for the fueled lander! You just need a MOAR BOOSTERS!!, instead of my very tight fit on my 50mT "Longstrider" LV. You can fit the lander/shroud to any monstrous launch vehicle out there that can fling 70mT to your destination of choice (and insert them into orbit if you don't have an atmosphere to slow with), and you are set.

*Everywhere but Tylo, of course.

Edit: Actually, the LV used is not yet set in stone, so now is the perfect time to ask this: What destination would you guys prefer as a "standard", so I can set the delta-v of the booster? Then I can offer it with a deluxe expensive edition, and the cheap, just barely orbital one I'm working with now (√250k to put on the ramp).

Rune. I love using that boosters phrase.

Edited January 28, 2015 by Rune

[Majorjim!]

What destination would you guys prefer as a "standard", so I can set the delta-v of the booster?

No worries, just good to be clear on these things. Well the big four, Mun, Duna, Minmus, Eve spring to mind, maybe not Eve..

[Rune]

No worries, just good to be clear on these things. Well the big four, Mun, Duna, Minmus, Eve spring to mind, maybe not Eve..

I've got a working design now that should do all of those on the list, plus Eeloo and Moho for extra props, so yeah, it didn't take that much apparently. You might have to perform some good orbital maneuvering, tough, and TWR of the transfer stage is a tiny 0.1. Perhaps you would prefer that I provide another version with a similarly sized 2.3km/s chemical stage with TWR 1.2 instead? You can short of guess what single engine would power the upper stage, and why it would be pretty easy to integrate it.

The Moho deployment is on the ragged edge of the delta-v, so no refunds if you can't manage the precision to do it in less than 5km/s, plus the 1.8km/s on the lander itself... but it is doable. Even without gravity assists.

Rune. Eve is incredibly easy to land on. So easy, you won't ever leave...

[Majorjim!]

Eve is incredibly easy to land on. So easy, you won't ever leave...

LOL that's why I discounted it. I suppose you could send a lander in afterwards.

[Frozen_Heart]

Duna sounds like it would make a good baseline destination.

Also the base is set up and working! I'd rep you if I could!

Next time i'll try to find a place with Kethane to build a base. I'm sure I could make a module that looks similar to the fuel dump... Also got an idea for a solar array.

Edited January 28, 2015 by Frozen_Heart

[Rune]

Duna sounds like it would make a good baseline destination.

Also the base is set up and working! I'd rep you if I could!

Next time i'll try to find a place with Kethane to build a base. I'm sure I could make a module that looks similar to the fuel dump... Also got an idea for a solar array.

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

It looks sweet indeed! It's great to see how you guys (and gals!) use my stuff .

While you were doing that, I was busy testing the new, all-in-one, single shot deluxe version. Twice the funds (√520k) and 270 parts gets you a similarly awesome base, only packaged inside its own disposable lander, somewhat improved and, hopefully, bug-free. At least I didn't encounter any bug that couldn't be attributed to "the cuppola is extremely fragile, handle with care" . Among the changes, now it packs three corridors so the base ends up symmetric, and the rover got a science improvement with lots of science instruments, meaning this can now fulfill all science functions on its own:

I think I will release the version with the nuclear, hyper-efficient, incredibly puny nuclear upper stage, just to claim that it can go "anywhere but Tylo", then advise people to rip off the nukes and install a K2-RL instead for much a much more playable >1 TWR. But you know, we have stock autopilots now, so who cares if the injection to Moho takes an hour? (Yeah, it has a puny 0.75m/s^2 of acceleration, the price of awesome efficiency, so even a munar ~850m/s burn would be close to twenty minutes).

... What is that you are screaming? No? You guys really think having to break up a simple ejection in more than three burns is a bit excessive? Oh well, I guess the 2.3km/s high TWR version will be on sale too.

Rune. Scott would appreciate the merits for sure!

Edited January 28, 2015 by Rune

[Lohan2008]

How much in FUNds would that build cost ? I hope the reward covers it !!

2> Here, take these rep points !

Edited January 28, 2015 by Lohan2008

[Rune]

How much in FUNds would that build cost ? I hope the reward covers it !!

2> Here, take these rep points !

Twice the funds (√520k) and 270 parts

That would be the quick answer, since this time the file includes all the means to set it up. But for the ones actually posted here already, the answer is much more complicated. The rocket launch in the OP is about √250k, but then you have to add the cost of the fuel to move it to the destination, and of fueling the Eagle to drop the pieces (though the eagle themselves are recoverable)... and if you actually put the modules up on the Dao SSTO, then cost is even more complicated to track. Suffice it say that you can either build it for what the parts in the base cost (check it out in the VAB), or √520k... or anything in between.

The good part? Since these bases are assembled form pieces and can be reassembled, you can cheat your way into fulfilling more than one base contract with each: every time you dock a new module, it will count as a new base, so just rearrange it and you can earn easy (cheaty) money that way.

And to answer the questions in your PM, I built my first modular base in... 0.21, was it? Before the NASA parts for sure. This is like, the third major revision, this time concerning the delivery mechanisms, and prompted by the bid rebuild of the Eagle Shuttle with the big cargo bay. It took a couple of months to build, test, find out the really wrong things, then build and test again. During which the Eagle Shuttle morphed form a rocket-launched low gravity lander to a fully fledged interplanetary VTOL SSTO on its own right, by the way. But it's a very on and off thing, the new lander for example is the result of a couple of afternoons tinkering for a couple hours.

Rune. It's mostly for the wow factor anyway.

Edited January 28, 2015 by Rune

[Frozen_Heart]

Yeah, it has a puny 0.75m/s^2 of acceleration, the price of awesome efficiency, so even a munar ~850m/s burn would be close to twenty minutes).

Wow you must have some patience for that! When mounted on the KT-3 (along with the other stuff) acceleration was about 2.2m/s making the burn less than 5 mins. I did it in one pass.

How many engines does the transport have?

Also got pics of the offending rover piece after I'd pulled it out of the rover if you're interested? Could help with preventing it sticking in the next build?

[Rune]

Wow you must have some patience for that! When mounted on the KT-3 (along with the other stuff) acceleration was about 2.2m/s making the burn less than 5 mins. I did it in one pass.

How many engines does the transport have?

Also got pics of the offending rover piece after I'd pulled it out of the rover if you're interested? Could help with preventing it sticking in the next build?

Oh, that is the main reason I don't plan on using that version, two lonely nukes are definitely not what you want to have when pushing more than one and a half hundred tons... (with the rocket-powered lander, the weight of the pack alone jumps considerably upwards to a hefty 70mT). But it makes me able to say the "anywhere but Tylo" thing!

I guess I should give the numbers for the Deluxe version instead (the nuclear long ranged-one I'm calling Deluxe+):

- TWR of 1.10, which means a little over 10m/s^2 or 80s for a burn to Mun. You won't say that is puny now, right? No need to grab a book while you do the burns (it's what I usually do on the long ones, the sound of the engines on the background is disconcertingly soothing).

- Delta-V of 2.3km/s for the upper stage in LKO, which means that you have the whole kerbol system from Eve to Jool to play with (it also means that if you are Scott Manley you can probably grav-assist your way from Jool into anywhere else). The lander itself has another 1.8km/s to land on airless worlds, supplement the chutes, or finish the insertions, or do whatever you want. The excess fuel, BTW is accessible once you land by docking a fuel dump to it, it has Sr. docking ports at the right height.

- 270 parts and 912mT on the pad, with 162mT making orbit (17.7% of GLOW, not bad for a rocket). That is the full upper stage making orbit, and 74mT of lander loaded with the base pack itself. The lander and the base pack, BTW, are also a very neat 200 parts, which considering the upper stage and pointy end are 6 parts (it is a REALLY simple upper stage), makes the launcher a 64 part, very useful 160mT SHLV.

- √524,112 Funds exactly. Don't know why that would matter, as I am sitting on 2.5 million and... honestly? I don't know what to spend it in other than blowing up rockets for the sake of it. I guess I'm too successful!

Oh, and I don't really need those debug pics, I managed to find out the issue (one of the wheels though it was attached to the reaction wheel instead of the cubic strut, or the other way around), and in any case the corridors are packed completely different inside the new lander: now I use just one stack separator per corridor that leaves no trace of their presence when you decouple them, and often self-destructs on the ground saving you the hassle of finding them in the tracking station. But thanks anyway for offering them! I'm glad it didn't ruin your mission and instead gave you the chance of performing some improvised rocket surgery... it's always fun to troubleshoot issues successfully!

Rune. You will be able to say you built one of this bases when it was a hard thing to do... soon it'll be peanuts!

[Wabbit]

I's beautiful... Can we just have... A moment of silence for this glorious creation?

[Rune]

I's beautiful... Can we just have... A moment of silence for this glorious creation?

Thanks! But instead, I went ahead and redid the whole OP, to reflect the huge amount of changes this thing has undergone in just a few days. Check it out, I think it's even better now! Honestly, if I am ever gong to build a craft that deserves some recognition, it's now or never, my creativity can't stretch much further. February is coming up, isn't it?

Rune. That was the mother of all edits... it's practically 100% rewritten, and longer. My fingers hurt...

Edited January 29, 2015 by Rune

[problemecium]

"Anywhere except Tylo"? CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

[Frozen_Heart]

Any chance of releasing that Kethane base module?

Saw it in one of the screenshots... somewhere.

[Rune]

Any chance of releasing that Kethane base module?

Saw it in one of the screenshots... somewhere.

There you go, one subassembly coming up (since it's not stock, it's good that it isn't in the OP). Also, it has a pair of KAS containers for useful stuff like pipes, extra solar panels, etc:

http://www./download/nnmyobpejtbie1j/Kethane+Module.craft

The pic is still "somewhere", but the OP was heavily edited. Now there are two imgur albums, and one isn't up.

"Anywhere except Tylo"? CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

I have no idea if you are referring to doing landing this on Tylo, landing it on somewhere else, or building a similar base of your own that can, but...

...Actually, the lander goes over TWR 1 when it's very light on fuel, and the chemical transfer stage has TWR>1 from the second you light it, so maybe, just maybe, with some truly crazy flying, this can be put int the surface of that hellish moon. Not gonna try in the near future.

Besides, I don't even know if the delta-v would do... let's see2.3km/s in the chemical stage and 1.8 in the lander is much more than what's required for the landing itself, but you have to get them there... I guess it's possible to get a Jool intercept from an Eve gravity assist, so say about 1km/s to get to Jool with free aerobrake to get to Tylo's altitude... anybody knows how much is it to make low orbit around Tylo afterwards? Probably you have blown the delta-v budget for the landing already.

But let's say you have >3km/s of fuel at low Tylo orbit because you have refueled, with only a few hundred m/s of those on the lander itself so it is sporty enough... this might very well be doable. I doubt it, but it might.

Rune. Good luck in any case!

[Frozen_Heart]

There you go, one subassembly coming up (since it's not stock, it's good that it isn't in the OP). Also, it has a pair of KAS containers for useful stuff like pipes, extra solar panels, etc:

http://www./download/nn...e+Module.craft

The pic is still "somewhere", but the OP was heavily edited. Now there are two imgur albums, and one isn't up.

Cheers. Don't have KAS though. :/ Only Kethane.

I may try to copy the screenshots from eye so the KAS isn't on it. Will also be good practice for designing bases later...

[Rune]

Cheers. Don't have KAS though. :/ Only Kethane.

I may try to copy the screenshots from eye so the KAS isn't on it. Will also be good practice for designing bases later...

Trust me on this: get KAS. Maybe take out all the part clutter like winches and stuff, but keep the pipes and struts and the code for them (it also makes grab-able some small parts like solar panels and lights): being able to build and "repair" (hack together a solution) stuff with your kerbals is awesome. You can for example light up an asteroid with some surface mounted lights! Seriously, you have NO idea the amount of gameplay it adds, even if you only install those two parts. I would ask for it to be made stock... but there's no need. The mod as it stands now is as good as anything squad could come up with. I just expect them to implement the need for a certain level of engineer to use the options when they integrate it.

Rune. And lately, it's quite bugless even.

[Frozen_Heart]

I'll check it out.

[Totallyafk]

Instructions unclear, base stuck in north pole

honestly this is a lot harder to build than it looks, at least for a noob

[Majorjim!]

Dude the description says, anywhere but Tylo in a single shot.

But it can't do this.. You have to refuel it in orbit and again at the destination. This will confuse people.

[Rune]

Dude the description says, anywhere but Tylo in a single shot.

But it can't do this.. You have to refuel it in orbit and again at the destination. This will confuse people.

But it totally can. The new version can. Read the OP! You are pretty much the reason I built a launcher that could put the package there "in a single shot"... as in, in a single launch.

Instructions unclear, base stuck in north pole

http://i.imgur.com/NnGRT7b.png

honestly this is a lot harder to build than it looks, at least for a noob

Yeah, it is certainly not the easiest of builds. But you are almost there! And you know, the challenge is directly proportional to the reward of seeing it finished. See, now you have to drive the rover under the node module, to pick the other corridors, and then detach the rover and drive it under the other modules to dock them... .... ...waitwaitwait, did you blow up the Hab? Well, there are other modules at least, and you could always bring more. I can already tell you are going to learn a lot from this!

Rune. What happened there?

[Majorjim!]

But it totally can. The new version can. Read the OP! You are pretty much the reason I built a launcher that could put the package there "in a single shot"... as in, in a single launch.

Yeah, it is certainly not the easiest of builds. But you are almost there! And you know, the challenge is directly proportional to the reward of seeing it finished. See, now you have to drive the rover under the node module, to pick the other corridors, and then detach the rover and drive it under the other modules to dock them... .... ...waitwaitwait, did you blow up the Hab? Well, there are other modules at least, and you could always bring more. I can already tell you are going to learn a lot from this!

Rune. What happened there?

Whoops my bad. Sorry dude.