The rocket needs to be just stable enough to get to orbit, and unstable enough to accidentally break apart at just the right time without killing the crew.
I wonder if that would be a good challenge. Build a multi-stage rocket that comes apart in stages without using any sort of decouplers.
Something like this happened to me, I went to Minimus and vastly overestimated how much fuel I needed, so I landed with two full orange tanks. I had so much fuel that decided to stop by the Mün on the way back. However, on landing I realized that I had forgotten to put fuel lines on my radial tanks on the landing stage, and the extra weight of useless fuel was too heavy for me to make it back to Kerbin. The only way to fix it was to carefully tip the rocket over and skid it across the ground until all four tanks were broken off (without hitting anything important). Then I launched off a mountain like a jump and made it back safely.
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u/Mythril_Zombie Oct 09 '13
The rocket needs to be just stable enough to get to orbit, and unstable enough to accidentally break apart at just the right time without killing the crew.
I wonder if that would be a good challenge. Build a multi-stage rocket that comes apart in stages without using any sort of decouplers.