Drag, drag, drag!!!

[Altaïr]

Finally, 1.5 has come, and with it, the return of drag! To celebrate that, here is a challenge specifically dedicated to it, which is simple:

Reach orbit with a fully opened parachute!

At the beginning of your flight, open the parachute:


Then, fly until you reach orbit:


(Note that the launcher on the first pic couldn't do it, the second pic was obtained with another one. I just want to avoid spoiling my own challenge by revealing a launcher that works).

No cheat allowed (especially no drag!!!), good luck!

 

[DSXG Plays]

wait but wasnt drag always there

 

[TtTOtW]

wait but wasnt drag always there

Nope

 

[DSXG Plays]

Nope

so....using nosecones were just decorative? D:

 

[Altaïr]

wait but wasnt drag always there

Yes and no. It was off by default when you made your rocket spawn on the pad, but it was possible to re-enable it by resuming game. But the way it was working was so broken that it was not really a good idea.

so....using nosecones were just decorative? D:

Yes. And the fairings aswell.

Hey, that's an old bug, let's forget about it now!

 

[4KidsOneCamera]

I just want to avoid spoiling my own challenge by revealing a launcher that works).

But how are we supposed to know you aren’t just trying to get us to give you a launcher than can do it?

 

[SupremeDorian]

ezpz

 

[TtTOtW]

ezpz View attachment 38856
View attachment 38857

Lol you bloody cheat!

 

[SupremeDorian]

Lol you bloody cheat!

New version; new smartass challenge solutions.

 

[TtTOtW]

Shaking my head in disbelief... Why oh why did we even make you a moderator...

 

[Altaïr]

But how are we supposed to know you aren’t just trying to get us to give you a launcher than can do it?

Noooo I really wanted the community to build it for me, I'm so much in need of a rocket that can fly to orbit with an opened parachute!

Ok, here is my version, after all, who would want to copy that?


Gravity turn:


And orbit:

 

[SupremeDorian]

I've got an idea

 

[Marmilo]

ezpz View attachment 38856
View attachment 38857

Look more carefully. Reach orbit WITH fully opened parachute.

Reach orbit with a fully opened parachute!

 

[Earl]

Alright, here we go. First, I gotta get out of the lower atmosphere. For this, I have a high TWR.

I burn straight up until my side boosters are empty, then burn 90° to the right.

Aaaaand... Orbit!

 

[SupremeDorian]

Booster sep

A turn of sorts (also stage 1 sep)

Orbit

Now, for most other people this would be where it ends. However, I am not most other people. I decided to go the extra mile (or million) and go to Mars.

...and then not have enough fuel to make it back to orbit

 

[Earl]

I also landed it back on earth.

Reentry is painfully slow. Anyway, I remove all of my fuel.

And deploy my other chute

Home sweet home

 

[TtTOtW]

Lol Dorian you have your job back I was about to try and contact noire to replace you...

 

[SupremeDorian]

Lol Dorian you have your job back I was about to try and contact noire to replace you...

Noire for admin 2020

 

[Altaïr]

Noire for admin 2020

Fireworks mode enabled!

 

[Lt. Snakestrike]

Noire for admin 2020

That'd be quite the addition to this year.

 

[Blazer Ayanami]

Guess this is the first challenge I'll try.

 

[Altaïr]

What if instead of one parachute we go with... MOAR PARACHUTES!!!


Now with 5 of them this becomes interesting



Finally, exit of the atmosphere and gravity turn:


And orbit!

 

[Blazer Ayanami]

Guess this is the first challenge I'll try.

Oops, I kinda forgot...

 

[Blazer Ayanami]

Okay, it was harder than I thought.

 

[Johnkurveen]

Hm, how could I possibly up this challenge?

Ok. SSTO with 6 parachutes? Sounds good.

*Loads up rediculous ships file*

Ah, here we go. Just add 6 parachutes.

Small problem: the screen shook too much for me to deploy them all at once, so one did not deploy fully. Still, 5.5 is more than the 5 Altaïr had!

Orbital insertion

The trailing 0G indicators worked well.

Note: my build is slightly bugged because the file didn't transfer perfectly from 1.4. There was plenty of building room left, I just didn't bother fixing it.

Addendum: I chose this ship because of its high drag profile. I figured if this could get into orbit, the drag of a few parachutes added wouldn't be as large a proportion as on a smooth ship!