What is happening to my solar panels???

[Loren Pechtel]

I've got a probe I'm using to complete one of those rally contracts.

At launch it had 4 of the gigantor solar arrays on it.  When I was leaving Moho I noticed it had only three, one apparently broken off.  I figured it was a case of very bad luck from when I jettisoned the nose in Kerbin orbit.  Now, however, a few planets later I see it has only two panels.  Nothing has been jettisoned since leaving Kerbin, it's closest approach to a planet was about 400km above Duna.

It's been out there 10 years now, do they grow old and fail??

(The rest of the rocket is a probe core, a reaction wheel, lots of fuel, an antenna and the nuke engine.)

[SpaceOdissey]

Oh wow!! Really?? Strange...

It could be the nuclear engine, because they make a lot of radiation or it could be the sun because you were very close... That happened to me also with a probe passing too close to the Sun.

[Loren Pechtel]

49 minutes ago, SpaceOdissey said:

Oh wow!! Really?? Strange...

It could be the nuclear engine, because they make a lot of radiation or it could be the sun because you were very close... That happened to me also with a probe passing too close to the Sun.

Yeah, that's how I felt about it also.  I have several other rockets out there including multiple rockets that have flown past Moho without harm.  It's just this one bird that's losing panels.  Things are hot there but not enough to blow a panel.

[Spricigo]

Flight report (F3)  provided any clue about what happened?  

I wonder if the sudden spike of physics simulation kicking in may be the cause.  Granted,  more likely to happen with big ships whit multiple parts docked together. 

[Loren Pechtel]

7 minutes ago, Spricigo said:

Flight report (F3)  provided any clue about what happened?  

I wonder if the sudden spike of physics simulation kicking in may be the cause.  Granted,  more likely to happen with big ships whit multiple parts docked together. 

Nothing, but I switched ships many, many times by the time I saw this and F3 doesn't show events that certainly did happen.

[Joseph Kerman]

6 hours ago, Loren Pechtel said:

I've got a probe I'm using to complete one of those rally contracts.

At launch it had 4 of the gigantor solar arrays on it.  When I was leaving Moho I noticed it had only three, one apparently broken off.  I figured it was a case of very bad luck from when I jettisoned the nose in Kerbin orbit.  Now, however, a few planets later I see it has only two panels.  Nothing has been jettisoned since leaving Kerbin, it's closest approach to a planet was about 400km above Duna.

It's been out there 10 years now, do they grow old and fail??

(The rest of the rocket is a probe core, a reaction wheel, lots of fuel, an antenna and the nuke engine.)

I also had this problem, and I know my case's cause.

I was launching satellites when I noticed one of them had one missing. I also used 4, like in your case. Maybe it's the fairing accidentally hitting the panel and it broke.

[Loren Pechtel]

34 minutes ago, Joseph Kerman said:

I also had this problem, and I know my case's cause.

I was launching satellites when I noticed one of them had one missing. I also used 4, like in your case. Maybe it's the fairing accidentally hitting the panel and it broke.

My rocket didn't have a fairing but it did have a nosecone on a decoupler.

That could have broken one of them.  I had three panels--then later I had two.  I didn't jettison anything, I didn't go anywhere near another spacecraft.

[Joseph Kerman]

8 minutes ago, Loren Pechtel said:

My rocket didn't have a fairing but it did have a nosecone on a decoupler.

That could have broken one of them.  I had three panels--then later I had two.  I didn't jettison anything, I didn't go anywhere near another spacecraft.

This is a simple physics glitch.

[Benjamin Kerman]

Again, as mentioned before, it might have been the nuke. Long burns produce a lot of heat, and the solar panels might have acted as radiators and then exploded due to overheating. Being near Kerbol increases this likelihood greatly...

[Loren Pechtel]

8 hours ago, Benjamin Kerman said:

Again, as mentioned before, it might have been the nuke. Long burns produce a lot of heat, and the solar panels might have acted as radiators and then exploded due to overheating. Being near Kerbol increases this likelihood greatly...

I did no long burns near Kerbol.  I was doing a rally mission, Moho was simply a flyby.  The only burn I did down there was a tiny course correction burn.

[Benjamin Kerman]

But you did do long burns with said Nuke?