Subscribe to download
Jamestown Sea Dragon

Pure stock, fully functional Jamestown base replica atop a smol, 8 meter diameter Sea Dragon-ish booster.

Click here for the base itself
Click here[kerbalx.com] to download from KerbalX
Click here for a more detailed Sea Dragon rocket.

Pure stock, no mods, no DLCs. 214 parts (base itself has 153 parts).

- 6m diameter main compartment, true to original design.
- Complete surface base functionalities, with science lab, holds a crew of 3-4.
- ISRU system running on fuel cells, solar panels and RTG for self-sufficiency. "That thing is carrying Plutonium!"
- Perfect CoM balance (0.00kNm thrust torque) [Not perfect anymore in KSP 1.11 because of Kerbal/cargo weight, but should be manageable], 1km/s vacuum dV and high TWR, landing on the Mun is easy.

- Press T for SAS, stage to start engines and set correct control point, go full throttle, stage again to lift off.
- Gravity turn: gradually reach 45 degrees @ 10km, then lock prograde.
- The rest is self-explanatory.
- It can achieve LKO with 2200m/s dV from upper stage plus 1000m/s dV from base itself, way more than required for a Mun landing.

[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]= solar panels and antennas
[5]= drill extend/retract
[6]= drilling on/off (Convert-O-Tron is to be manually controlled)
[7]= toggle reaction wheels (default on)
[8]= experiments
[9]= toggle fuel cells (default on, recommend to leave it be)
[0]= engines on/off

- I have to give it additional fuel tanks on the bottom (which should be perfectly flat on the original design) to make it fun to land on the Mun. The main compartment is also thicker than it should be in order to contain a science lab, so that it can serve as an actually practical base in game.
- Skipper engine is a poor choice for this base in terms of performance, but I have to use it for the look. The most suitable engine for this replica is the LV-T91 "Cheetah" from Making History DLC, but I would like to keep it pure stock. The Skippers have 10% thrust limit to ease flight - even with this limit, they are still quite overpowered. Let's imagine the excessive weight to be from radiation shielding materials.
- I don't think the original design includes ISRU system and RTG, but since we are in KSP, why not? :p
- I am aware that the Jamestown should be launched atop a Saturn V with 9-10 m diameter fairing instead of a Sea Dragon. It also requires orbital assembly of the airlock and rear section, which is unnecessarily complicated. Building a Saturn V with 6 engines (for required thrust) is also pretty tricky. Thus the Sea Dragon-ish lifter and sideways transport. IMO it’s cooler than a Saturn V as well.
- According to some sources, the vernier engines are to be shut down shortly after liftoff, but on this craft they are the only engines that provide effective roll authority, so they should keep working all the way.

Wish you enjoy and happy carrying Plutonium!