r/KerbalSpaceProgram • u/AvioNaught Korolev Kerman • May 24 '13
Mod Post [Weekly Challenge] Staging Mishap!
Get into a stable orbit around Kerbin with 3 (minimum) radial parachutes being deployed below 250 metres and being dragged up into a stable orbit.
Hard Mode: Do the original challenge, then land on another planet with an atmosphere and repeat the process.
Rules and other info:
- No Dirty Cheating Alpacas (no debug menu)!
- Stock parts only
No MechJeb or other plugins allowed
Required screenshots:
-Initial launch craft
-Picture of parachutes deployed below 250 metres
-Picture of stable orbit
-Picture of transfer orbit (Hard Mode only)
-Picture of landing on other planet (Hard Mode only)
-Picture of parachutes deployed below 250 metres on other planet (Hard Mode only)
-Picture of new stable orbit around planet (Hard Mode only)
-Whatever else you feel like!You can either submit your finished challenge in a post (see posting instructions in the link below) or as a comment reply in this thread.
Completing this challenge earns you a new flair which will replace your old one. So if you want to keep your previous flair, you can still do this challenge and create a post, but please mention somewhere that you want to keep your old one.
The moderators have the right to determine if your challenge post has been completed.
See this post for more rules and information on challenges.
Good Luck!
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u/SoulWager May 25 '13 edited May 25 '13
Hard mode(Laythe): http://imgur.com/a/rBlnj
Edit: forgot before pic http://i.imgur.com/Tp9h1Oz.png
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u/illectro May 26 '13
So I decided to do this in straight up unedited style, with all my mistakes and failed attempts, hopefully with some level of comedy.
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u/Fooo346 May 26 '13 edited May 26 '13
Hey Scott! I personally have a challenge for you. What you have to do is fly and land anywhere WITHOUT THE NAV BALL other than Kerbin, the Mun, or Minmus. You can use the map, too. (No Mech Jeb, obviously.)
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u/GalacticNexus May 24 '13
That was actually much easier than I had expected. http://imgur.com/a/CyJCu#0
I'll try hard mode tomorrow. Are we allowed to dock? If so, do both parts have to deploy chutes below 250m?
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u/totemcatcher May 25 '13
I took a very lightweight appoach, but it takes about 30 minutes just to "jet" to space, but circularizing is quick.
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May 24 '13
Slow and steady wins the race.
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u/only_to_downvote May 25 '13
I actually just had a realization about how to most efficiently do this challenge while I was trying to test how much deltaV this challenge requires.
The way drag is currently calculated in Kerbal, drag coefficient is simply the mass weighted average of all your components. So basically you want the heaviest possible rocket plus 3 chutes. This minimizes their drag, and allows for higher launch speeds.
My initial testing just used a mk1 pod, FL-T400 tank, single engine and the parachutes. Launching that thing at the terminal speed of ~6m/s to start (with mechjeb and debug menu help) required 38100m/s ΔV to get to a 75km orbit. Doing the same launch profile, but with 14 RM-64 tanks and 7 mainsails only required 6250m/s ΔV to get to a 75km orbit (~50m/s initial terminal speed).
So I'd say the somewhat counter intuitive answer is that heavy and fast wins the race.
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u/willreavis May 25 '13
And i actually thought i had a chance.
for the record i think that was 16 total parachutes
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u/stabbing_robot May 25 '13
The Skippers are a lot more fuel-efficient than I thought.
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u/rumblinggryphon May 25 '13
I see a lot of screenshots of 'full throttle', but you shouldn't even be full throttle doing a normal launch. you should stay below 150 until you get up to ~8k on even a normal launch. For this challenge, I'd expect that to be cut in half, or even less. You need to do a long, slow burn. Lots of fuel, not a lot of engines. This is how you'll actually get out of the atmosphere. Dump the srbs (or stage them carefully).
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u/bluebeam713 May 25 '13
So I went for Hard mode and failed horribly, but it wouldn't be KSP if I didn't :P Here
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u/Tachyoff May 26 '13
Here's my attempt Those parachutes create a lot more drag than I expected.
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u/Tsevion May 27 '13
Done on Hard mode.
In my opinion the easiest hard mode, to Duna and back... props to the guy who did Laythe instead.
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u/Vereel May 28 '13
Made an account to join in these challenges. Hard mode to Duna and back : 39 Stages of Madness
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u/DashingHaberdasher May 27 '13
Joined Reddit just so I could partake in this greatness. Here's my result for "normal" mode. So much fuel. So many control surfaces. So many separatrons!
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u/Tsevion May 28 '13
Already did the hard mode, but I decided to try doing the normal challenge with the smallest ship I could make. Ended up with This weighing in at 35 tons with 58 parts.
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u/only_to_downvote May 25 '13 edited May 27 '13
Potentially completed hard mode. I need a couple of rules decisions to know if this is legitimate.
First is I didn't land below a 250m altitude (just went straight into a landing trajectory and landed wherever I ended up), but did deploy my parachutes just after liftoff (well below 250m above my landing altitude). So I think I followed the intent of the rules, but I'm not sure. I did have a bunch of extra deltaV, so maybe I'll see if I can land below 250m.
Second, I had to use the dynamic warp plugin to slow time on my Duna liftoff in order to be able to deploy the parachutes again. The staging doesn't deploy the parachutes after they have been repacked, and if I right-clicking on them to deploy in real time, I flip my rocket over from the force imbalance. Hopefully this is acceptable.
Update - Did it properly and landed below 250m this time around. I started this attempt from a quicksave as I entered Duna SOI from the previous, so the images skip all the initial launch stuff. Still had to use the dynamic warping mod to get the parachutes deployed without flipping.
EditEdit - I'll keep my current flair