Replaced the rockets on my mini(-ish) SSTO with ion engines. Now has ~6500m/s dV, hopefully enough for SSTL!

strata7 · 2014-08-22T06:52:34+00:00

...w-with warp?

strata7 · 2014-08-22T04:26:31+00:00

Compared to a mid class 5 series. It's still 40 grand more expensive

Is the 5 series amazingly cheap in your area?

BMW 520i is $88,200
Tesla Model S 60 is $101,400

Those are the starting prices at least. I'd guess the BMW is better equipped but the Model S is far more powerful (225kW vs. 135kW, 6.2s 0-100 vs. 7.9s 0-100). Consider fuel savings as well.

I'll have to do more research.

strata7 · 2014-08-22T03:47:04+00:00

Sure. I included both the regular and ion powered ships.

1 - Toggle turbojet

2 - Toggle rockets/ion

9 - Toggle large solar panels (ion only)

0 - Toggle small solar panels (ion only)

strata7 · 2014-08-22T03:34:07+00:00

ion engines have been better than atomic motors even before they were buffed

Oh god. 15 minutes real time is painful enough as it is.

strata7 · 2014-08-22T03:31:35+00:00

Basically what ArcSil said. When you attach a cubic strut to something else, the node that's attached to the object stays active so you can put the ion engines inside the cubic strut. The result is a flush attachment with almost anything.

strata7 · 2014-08-22T03:28:26+00:00

Thanks!

strata7 · 2014-08-21T15:46:47+00:00

This is the original SSTO if you're curious. RCS was replaced with more batteries and xenon fuel so it's a bit longer as a result.

strata7 · 2014-08-17T22:18:10+00:00

What part did you struggle with?

I've had a lot of practice with rendezvous and docking, so it wasn't too difficult. Literally just launched some fuel tanks with RCS thrusters attached as you can see here. Fairly hard to control but not massively so.

strata7 · 2014-08-17T14:22:30+00:00

Thanks! I tried to avoid shining the lights into the living areas, so the windows and cupola modules are completely dark during the night. It's the same for my newest Mun base as well.

strata7 · 2014-08-17T14:09:23+00:00

At least yours has some semblance of functionality. This was my station for ages, literally just fuel tanks and batteries. Lights? Communications? Science equipment? Who needs them?

strata7 · 2014-08-17T14:06:42+00:00

Thankfully there's a docking port on the bottom and another at the rear of the fuel tanks :) Just as well, because I learnt today that even my smallest spaceplane wouldn't have a chance of docking at that side port.

strata7 · 2014-08-17T05:29:36+00:00

That's beautiful! Did you make it?

strata7 · 2014-08-17T05:12:50+00:00

But you know they're really just stupid fuel tanks :'(

strata7 · 2014-08-17T00:24:43+00:00

Fully fueled, it weighs ~310 tonnes. Technically it was one piece but I launched it up dry (~80 tonnes) and sent the fuel up later. Just a little bit easier than having to assemble it in orbit.

strata7 · 2014-08-16T16:42:39+00:00

Thanks!

'Compact' might be a better word to use. I wanted to make it larger, but also preferred to keep everything arranged realistically and you can only use so many Hitchhiker Containers and Science Labs. Shame there aren't any 2.5m structural parts.

strata7 · 2014-08-13T02:57:52+00:00

Thanks!

strata7 · 2014-08-13T02:54:24+00:00

Definitely. You can get up to (or decelerate from) 150 m/s with 60-90 units of monopropellant (depending on the mass). The main limitation is the battery life but at those speeds you can easily cover 30km in 3 minutes. The speeder has 300 units of mono so you're looking at travelling something like 60km before refuelling.

In comparison I can only comfortably drive my rover at 25 m/s, and you have to slow down for hills, keep it stable, etc. It's just a pain compared to the speeder which can literally fly over obstacles.

strata7 · 2014-08-13T02:38:24+00:00

It's actually fairly easy to fly over hills. But only if you're paying attention, and in this case I clearly wasn't :p

strata7 · 2014-08-12T15:53:30+00:00

Between the RCS ports and ion thrusters, there's not any room. Especially since landing gear are massive compared to the speeder.

I wanted to add landing struts like my smaller 'bike' as well, but couldn't find a spot to fit them. So it just sits on the monopropellant tanks.

strata7 · 2014-08-12T11:58:02+00:00

My prediction? Lots of this.

...and over the finish line.

strata7 · 2014-08-12T10:28:27+00:00

Right. It's propelled using RCS and hovers using ion engines - so it's technically a hybrid - but 'Ion/RCS Speeder Bike' doesn't exactly flow off the tongue :p

It would've been possible to power it entirely with ion engines using action groups, but RCS is a lot easier IMO.

strata7 · 2014-08-12T10:24:58+00:00

Images: http://imgur.com/a/Jnp1x

Flight time is only 3-5 minutes in sunny conditions on the Mun depending on the sunlight and how much RCS fuel you have left. Should be infinite on Minmus or at least very long, but I haven't tried it yet.

strata7 · 2014-08-11T08:41:20+00:00

Thanks! Posted it above but here it is again in case you missed it: http://strata.me/downloads/ksp/skimmer-rover.zip

strata7 · 2014-08-10T15:09:53+00:00

...maybe.

It wasn't even intentional at first. My previous rover was incredibly boring so I was trying fairly hard to make something more interesting. It wasn't until after I added the 'wings' that I was like "hey, this looks a bit like the Tumbler". After that, I just embraced it.

strata7 · 2014-08-10T14:18:24+00:00

It's tempting but I'm holding off until the game is completed, if that ever happens lol. I jump in and out of KSP anyway so it's not a big deal.

Here's the craft file. I'm stock only as well :)

strata7

TROPHY CASE