Hoo boy.

There were some real improvements with the design for The Luda Lander in this video, but overall the final version they launched was a step back from MunShot Check Fuel Lines in Project B.E.A.S.T. 4. I didn't launch the design they teased at the end of the video - got to save something for the next one!

In summary the thing is very much a pain to fly, bogged down with fuel, and the itty-bitty side-mounted thruster stage makes no sense whatsoever. The solar panels are super outsized for what's needed, but make more sense than the externally-mounted nuclear fuel source. Keep trying, guys!

ATTEMPT #1

ATTEMPT #2

Okay so let's try to optimize liftoff, Mun transfer, and Mun landing a little better and see how we do.

A sneak peek of episode 7? Doubt they can land that Beast of a ship on the moon. Nice job.

At the last stage, if you had burned less with the mono propellent, wouldn't that have set you on a crash course to kerbin? At which point you could drop the last stage just before atmosphere and use the parachute to land safely on kerbin?

These are great by the way, fun to look at after each project beast

@hark: They would have been burning monopropellant to lower the periapsis. Basically shrinking that side of the orbit from one that was close-to-but-not-quite the orbit that the Mun does. So unfortunately no. Unless there's some crazy orbital maneuvering trick I don't know about, which is far from impossible.

@orzbluefog: This is really cool! So with the addition of the solid fuel stage, you could prooobably make it. (The BEAST crew... less likely.)

I'm afraid not. Burning less with the monopropellant would have put my perapsis - the closest approach to Kerbin - would have been farther away, not closer. The burn was on a perfect retrograde at the apoapsis, maximizing the closeness of the approach for the least amount of fuel. Note that the liquid fuel ran out in orbit around the MUN, not around Kerbin - I had to use monopropellant to change orbits to Kerbin, and to reduce the perapsis.

Maybe, maybe with a few more piloting optimizations I could pull it off. I might give it another go, but it would be a razor-thin thing.

Thanks for your comment and kind words! They're much appreciated.

@orzbluefog: @soulreaverm: ah I see, still pretty damn close given that the whole mun landing stage with the tiny thrusters was basically a wash!

I know very little about Kerbal Space Program (most of my knowledge comes from Vinny actually, which is probably not a good thing), but it seemed like they simultaneously put one foot forward and one foot backwards with The Luda Lander. They are addressing problems, but the design seems too big for their purposes. It's telling that they managed to crash land on the Mun in the first episode and they have a ship in Episode 06 which is struggling to get out of orbit.

It is encouraging to see somebody actually make it to the Mun with that monster. Good job.

I think their first designs are based off a solid template that Vinny was trying to recreate. He has played the game before, and from the way he builds his rocket in episode 1 you can tell he is putting it together from memory. That's why it works after he adds in the things he forgot about and works out some kinks. My guess is that the memory he is using is a rocket he built back in pre-release that was based on a template or tutorial.

The Luda Lander is built from the ground up using what they collectively know, or what they think they know, about rocket building. You see them trying to reason their way in and out of which parts to use, testing what works and what doesn't etc. All that trial and error and they will eventually land back at a similar design to the template that Vinny used in episode 1 (hopefully, probably).

I think doing their own trial and error building will make them better at the game because when you do it like this, you understand better why you have these parts and what they do and how you could make changes.

@gerrid: Yeah it does feel like they are making progress with the problems from the earlier episodes. It's just funny seeing them having a bigger issue than "sweeping the floor" with their current ship.

I still have hope for the direction they are going in (again, as somebody who has only played this game for a couple of hours and only knows what he knows through Vinny and me assuming they are probably doing something wrong). The multiple phases seems like it will help manage the being stranded out in space problem at least.

They are slowly making select wiser choices - mounting stuff inline like the batteries as opposed to bolted on the side, learning what parachutes and power sources to use, learning the value of symmetry, and learning not to make super-tall rockets. It's good progress, and setbacks are to be expected as they progress from more 'templated' rockets to learning what works on their own.

The solid fuel stage they had in the previous MunShot was a bit of a nightmare - see the other thread where I recreated Project B.E.A.S.T 4's mission for details on that! Still, adding some SRBs and strutting the thing together properly sure would have helped.

If you're reaching space (70K altitude) and continuously burning to extend your apoapsis to a Mun intercept right at launch there's really only a savings of time. Circularizing and waiting doesn't really consume that much extra fuel vs. going there in one shot, and I wanted to stick as close to their methodology as possible with just a few piloting tweaks - they repeatedly state how they want to 'get to orbit first'.