[[Jericho Staging]] what is it and how to build it [updated]

Overview

Jericho staging rockets, what its is, what its derived from how to build it and what its potential Pro’s and Con’s are, this guide will address them all and grow and adapt as it is tested by both myself and the game community all input is welcome and any contribution added to this guide will have contributors given credit as of when the information is added now including a new alternate take on jericho staging with very promising early high yield results

Introduction

hi my steam name is Amatsukami meibatsu but just call me Azuchi (my internet handle)

this guide will outline just what jericho staging is what its derived form and how to build it and address its pros and cons

So what IS jericho staging?

well its essentially an extension to asparagus staging, in the it uses radially attatched LFB (Liquid Fuel Boosters) to funnel fuel into its neibour which follows suite before ultimately funneling the fuel into the main tank this is usually mirrored for symmetry, Jericho staging brings this a step further and uses three main rockets (hence forth known as Parent Rocket) each with its own set of radial boosters funnelling into its “parent Rocket” the key differance here is each parent rocket only has 1 set of boosters, but each parent rockets radial boosters (lets call em Child rockets for ease) are mirrored to each other (aka when attatching them use symmetry mode 3 NOT 2 as is the case with traditional asparagus staging.

How do i build a Jericho staging rocket?

well first you build your lander and attatch your stack decoupler, you then attatch a Tri coupler; this is simmilar to a decoupler except it couples 3 items together and streamlines them BUT DOESNT DETATCH THEM, from there you decide what your parent rockets design is gonna be, my first jericho stage rocket used 2 T800 tanks and a T30 engine, make sure to have symmetry set to 3 and plug it into the coupler, you now have all 3 parent rockets, now because of the nature of the tri coupler you may have to use the structural strut connectors to reinforce the integrity of the main body of the rocket (all three rockets together) you dont need many just use em a couple times at the bottom of the parent rockets just above the engines spaced out a fair bit, this will ensure they do not move and the thrust and force of the rockets are directed streight up and doesnt send the whole thing flying in differant directions at once.

from there the set up is very much the same as asparagus staging, but with this configuration i suggest setting up 3 decouplers making sure to space them not to allow the attatched rockets to conflict with each other, from there attatch copies of the parent rockets to each of the decouplers and top the heads with aerodynamic nose cones, from there do the same as with the main body and use struts to secure the bottom AND TOP of the boosters together, this does the same as before and ensures no power is lost when the engines are lit, form there use fuel ducts to funnel the fuel form one booster to its neibour on the right, which funnels to its neibour who funnels to its parent rocket and then lastly attatch a single winglet (any is fine) to the bottom of the boosters, this helps ensure the rocket does not divert and allow best ascent performance.

the following screenshot depicts a finished jericho rocket ready to launch, ignore the radial boosters on the porbe itself that was an experiment in alternative landing stagers

Alternative jericho staging

this is a experimental take on my jericho staging i am taking and i have been pleased with the results i have found so far.

in contrast to the previous meathod this new meathod uses little asparagus staging, instead falling back to the classic 1 main stager rocket and twin link boosters all feeding into the other ultimately feeding into the main launcher this time hower only using 2 boosters on either side consisting of a single t800 tank and a t30 engine positioned so that a extended radial decouple can be placed either side of the main stager and a 2m LF tank placed there.

currently i am using the x200-32 with a x200-16 and a mainsail again twin linked, the combination of these 2 elements resulted in an ascent so quick that i had caught fire before leaving the first tier of atmosphere and hit the 70k orbit mark by the time i left 17-18k mark at a speed of 1000m/s

I also burned a single t800+t400 tank with a t30 engine to get into orbit (not a perfect orbit mind but i got there, som tweaks definately needed to get a more elegant orbit) this meathod definately focuses on massive TWR to acheive its speed, the fuel consumption however is monstrous.

note: make sure the main thruster for the alt type is a size smaller than the two main boosters, the asparagus boosters need to be the same otherwise the weight differance offsets the benefit

Pro’s and Con’s

i’ll be honest i dont know if this is better than a traditional asparagus staging or not, hell it may even be worse due to the added weight, but the main idea of jericho staging is to bring extra power to the asparagus stagings efficiency.

the pros MAY include extra thrust and acceleration power during the ascent stage which may not be present with traditional asparagus staging, this comes from the 12 total child rockets available to the whole system compared to the asparagus stagings comparable six as well as tripling the power available form the main rocket, the main flaw of this is the indevidual stats are half that of the traditional asparagus staging where each parent rocket only has 3 child rockets whereas the traditional asparagus staging rocket has six, the additional weight form the modifications may also be a greater offset to the additional power we gain from it, and this isnt even including the payload and lander.

Comments and Improvements

I welcome anyone reading this to test out this staging variant and give their own observations praises and crytisisms (i know it aint spelt right) about it as it will all allow me to improve upon this staging design, more importantly however i would welcome you to make your own versions of this design and/or give me any input and suggestions to have form both this design and your own version, it is my hope that together we can make jericho staging a staging type that will eventually enable us to reach the furthest reaches of the kerbal system WITH kerbal pilots and be able to return.

i will periodically return to read the comments and make ammendments and imrpovements as they are suggested and tested with contributions added as Due

post guide modifications

so i’ve been doing a series of tests and i decided that this design would benefit form an additional stage between the parent rockets and the lander, so i added a T800 tank with a LV 909 for use in orbit and transfering, with this new design i now had enough fuel to make an extended burn and reach minimus, if done correctly you can get into orbit with it as well if you keep yourself properly aligned (i didnt and it cost me a LOT of fuel) so i had to use a fraction of my lander’s fuel to get into a proper orbit, so i would reccomend adding this transfering tank to your stages as well.

22/05/2014.

i have decided to make a few adjustments to my jericho staging and i have been pleased with the results i have found so far, in contrast to the previous meathod this new meathod uses little asparagus staging, instead falling back to the classic 1 main stager rocket and twin link boosters all feeding into the other ultimately feeding into the main launcher this time hower only using 2 boosters on either side positioned so that a extended radial decouple can be placed either side of nthe main stager and a 2m LF tank placed there, currently i am using the x200-32 with a x200-16 and a mainsail again twin linked, the combination of these 2 elements resulted in an ascent so quick that i had caught fire before leaving the first tier of atmosphere and hit the 70k orbit mark by the time i left 17-18k mark at a speed of 1000m/s i also burned a single t800+t400 tank with a t45 engine to get into orbit (not a perfect orbit mind but i got there, som tweaks definately needed to get a more elegant orbit) this meathod definately focuses on massive TWR to acheive its speed, the fuel consumption however is monstrous.