Jump to content

Technical Ben

Members
  • Posts

    2,129
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Technical Ben

  1. On 9/23/2021 at 9:49 AM, magnemoe said:

    Get your point, however nuclear weapons has not been used for two reasons, the first is fear of enlargement of the conflict up to all out nuclear war, the second is an lack of need as most modern wars who has not been internal conflicts has been in limited scope with strict rules of engagement.

    Hyperspace ramming on the other hand is not very destructive in the star wars universe perspective there the empire multiple times made planets uninhabitable with orbital bombardment using star destroyers.
    Yes it disabled the huge ship in one hit. But that was because it ignored the shield and also had very high penetration power. And they used an descent sized spaceship for the ramming. 
    For most uses an small vessel had worked just as well like an stripped down droid controlled x-wing. 

    Most important its no reasons for the rebel forces to not use it as they have few large ships and has no hopes of winning an large fleet engagement and they was actively hunted by their enemies. 
    It was not an limited war. 

    But again it was an awesome scene, think they explained it away in the next movie that it was an very low chance event that it worked. 

    Yes, I do agree it's nuanced too.

     So in a FTL ship universe, they probably would also not use such weapons for fear of MAD. I've a draft sci-fi story on DeviantArt with some ship designs which uses this exact story line. Imagine Firefly/Serenity universe but spanning multiple star systems with FTL drives. Then a "One hour war" happens where a group uses FTL drives aggressively, and from that day, no one, due to social/cultural/emotional reasons ever risks it again, until one day... And as you say, things like planets being gravity wells, and small craft being hard to track (at the light year ranges), makes most FTL drives impractical compared to local skirmishes (again, see real life where drones are used instead of blanket carpet bombing).

    Quote

    But that was because it ignored the shield and also had very high penetration power. And they used an descent sized spaceship for the ramming. 
    For most uses an small vessel had worked just as well like an stripped down droid controlled x-wing. 

    Most important its no reasons for the rebel forces to not use it as they have few large ships and has no hopes of winning an large fleet engagement and they was actively hunted by their enemies. 
    It was not an limited war. 

    IMO the Last order were chasing a dead dog, and forgot to put shield to max (engines were maxed to chase), probably had shields down to activate the "Hyperspace tracker", and lots of other mistakes... but the film/writers were really poor at communicating this (see the opening scene as the opposite, where Poe gets the one up on them by actually surprising them).

  2. 1 hour ago, magnemoe said:

    This, movie has to have realistic elements they take seriously, one example is guns in the aliens series. An movie universe also need to make sense in its universe or why adding hyperspace ramming was an bad idea. 
    Yes it looked awesome but it throws the the entire consent of huge capital ships out with the bathwater and adds more problem, I guess it would also work against planetary shields. 

    On the other hand history is full of stuff who would not work in an movie. Take the entire fight with Bismark, from Hood blowing up, and yes it was armored against Bismark's shells at that distance to the lucky torpedo who disabled the rudder on Bismark on the last mission they could fly that evening. And its much weirder stuff happened. 

     

    IMO you don't need a reason why Hyperspace ramming is not used. In real life, nuclear bombs were dropped in war/actual aggression only twice. In 100 years or so, only twice. For there to have been one or only two hyperspace ramming incidents in all of the (current storyline) history of Star Wars, well, that I can actually believe.

    On the story/plot/world building/character feelings level, those involved show that the Last Order is pushing far to hard, and risking a new out right MAD (mutually assured destruction) war, which they probably were trying to prevent/avoid from the other films (and prequels) where it's about subterfuge and getting a hold, without an out right unwinnable or devastating war.

    But they pushed too hard, and unleashed the Kracken of space attacks.

    Everything else? Yeah, stupid parts of the film (a few scenes are worth saving, but IMO the hyperspace ramming is brilliant, just needed decent dialogue leading up to it, and not the trash "we know best, you're all idiots" plot we got). Even Holdo could have been great, *if* handing off to Akbar, and Akbar + Leah handing down the reigns to her etc, and she takes on responsibility, fixes the rift between her and Poe, Poe also learning to use teamwork (so a growth for him)... or whatever, do the opposite, make them go rouge or traitor... but anything would have been better than the trash soap opera they gave that episode of Star Wars. :P

     

    That's why I have deep respect for the actors and the set designers, the animators and the storyboard writers. Because they did a great job. Provided the best. Then one or two head writers/directors/focus groups/meddling investors seem to have trashed all that hard work. :(

    Also, the interesting thing about Dune is it skirts the line of plausibility. While the lore/stories to the "technology" are fanciful, the base understanding (causality breaking time travel worm hole creating cats as FTL drives) borders on known physics with just enough "it's nature that did it" to leave you questioning if it's just a quantum fluctuation in their universe that allows it all. :)

  3. I see no problem in KSP with the star systems being different "levels". Fit up a craft with the DV + tech + life support (modules only?) and once correct and in a transfer orbit press "go to next level" and the game adds 100s of years to the game timer, loads you in on an approach trajectory, and removes the crafts fuel transfer costs...

    Everything would still be "simulated", but it removes the need to sit there waiting for a craft to get to it's position, and the need to crunch all the numbers in the process.

     

    PS, one way to mitigate the "emptiness" of such a gameplay mechanic, is to load out the ship, but "track" it's progress in a mission control room. Instead of simulating the entire transit, you would view an orbital graph or bar graph of "progress %%%" or somesuch. Then players could continue at Kerbin making missions, or fast forwards to any point. IMO I would assume the devs are gonna load in/out each star system as a separate level, perhaps even permanent progression in game (moving from one to the next, prevents returning, like level 1 = Kerbin/sol, and level 2 is a new system, and no return to Kerbin, a totally separate colony). Unless they just load in/out resources and craft between systems. "Magically" appearing after the transit time has elapsed.

     

    One way to allow returning to "Kerbin" from other star systems is to setup a "turns" option. "Turn" one, play all gameplay in Kerbin system. Then make an interstellar craft. To travel to another solar system, the game asks you to press a button for the transit, it then says "all craft in Kerbin will be saved on current orbits, any craft not in stable orbit will be lost, are you sure?" then say "Gameplay will be advanced 100 years, you can return to Kerbin, but will lapse 100 years each time you swap between star systems" and finally "All Kerbals go into deep sleep and hibernate while you are in the other star system". Then in the new solar system you are in "turn" two.

    This way, you could switch/transport/play between star systems. Perhaps both modes could be used? Load/unload systems concurrently when not transferring craft, and timescales would be around the same. But when transits between solar systems, advance 100 or so years ahead in game.

  4. 7 hours ago, magnemoe said:

    Yes, first you soft dock with the extended ring this is then pulled inn and you get hard dock who is air thigh and more secure. 

    Magnets will not help here, now on small satellites magnetism might help in docking, as seen in the video it does not need to be slamming together like in KSP.  

    It could depend. If you have active tracking via cameras or lasers, you can just use motors to align the rings/petals and grab in (or mechanically just "nudge" the two craft together :P ).

    If wanting a passive system, magnets could work. Problem being, small iron/magnetic metal chips could start to clog the mechanisms, and this would probably be decided to be more risk and danger, than just taking it slower on approach and doing it some other way.

  5. 22 hours ago, RCgothic said:

    They tend to be either heavy (solid state magnets) or power intensive (electromagnets) or both, neither of which is particularly great for spacecraft.

    Also tricky for fine control. For real spacecraft staying aligned to a docking target with thrusters isn't a huge deal, so the benefit is marginal.

    I guess you could also use mechanically moved and tracking "arms" to bring craft together, as the ISS/space shuttle already uses/used. Either an arm, or a multi directional adjustable port, that then pulls the craft in, making small adjustments to their angles.

    https://www.internationaldockingstandard.com/

    diagram1.gif

    As you can see, it has a large degree of motion and adjustment to help meet/match up different angles.

  6. On 8/18/2021 at 9:32 PM, Maxsimal said:

    I have control points on everything - the plane has a cockpit, the sounding rocket has a probe core.  Jumping back to the sounding rocket works fine if I do it while the plane is still in flight, its only after recovery that there's no way back - is FMRS supposed to have a toolbar icon while in the KSC view? 

    I have found that flights need to be done in the right order for FMRS to work as intended (and turn off auto recovery if needed).

    So for your flights, turn off auto recovery. Launch the main rocket/flight. This main rocket/flight needs to be the "main mission" that you fly/use continuously as the return point for FMRS, until you are happy everything is in the correct position.

    Make sure KSP has correctly set the root parts/separation (any error will mess up FMRS tracking, for example my latest rocket for some reason accidentally went to stage 1 as the "root/core" instead of stage 2 which reaches orbit).

    So, for example, a 3 stage rocket, which has a  reusable landing first stage, a space plane second stage, and an orbital third stage, needs the requiring:

    • Main "Core/Root" part being third stage orbital probe/core.
    • On first separation the *first stage* should separate and *detach* falling back to Kerbin.
    • On second separation the *second stage* should separate and *detach* falling back to Kerbin.
    • The third stage gets to orbit.

    If this works correctly, there should be *no craft switching before the point of reaching orbit*.

    • Then you can switch to (for example) the first stage, and land it *using FMRS menu*. Then *Return to the main craft using FMRS menu*.
    • Then you can fly/land the space plane *using FMRS menu*. Then *Return to the main craft using FMRS menu*.

    Then once at the orbital craft, and confirming both stage 1 (lander) and stage 2 (spaceplane) are saved/active in the FMRS menu (or recovered), you can close FMRS as the craft should be merged into your one save. If you switch using KSP GUI/map/keyboard at any time, you may mess up the FMRS log or merging.

    The above use of FMRS works every time for me, unless KSP messes up which probe core to switch to, or I use the KSP save/GUI to switch craft by mistake.

     

    PS, if using only aircraft, I'm not sure how FMRS "saves" in atmosphere, but KSP added saving in atmos, right? So it should be possible to return to an aircraft, if not using an orbital 3rd stage. Or perhaps put a "fake" 3rd stage on there, of just a decoupler and a probe core. Set it as "root" and FMRS can use it to track the main mission for you?

  7. On 8/23/2021 at 2:26 AM, a_shovel said:
    Spoiler

    The "revert to launch" button on the FMRS window (not the one in the pause window) deletes all your current and completed contracts when you use it.

    KSP version 1.12.2

    Mods installed through CKAN. Reproducible using only FMRS and its dependencies.

    • FMRS Continued 1.2.9.2
    • Click Through Blocker 0.1.10.17
    • Toolbar Controller 0.1.9.6
    • Zero MiniAVC 1.1.1.1
    • Recovery Controller 0.0.4 (Its max game version is 1.8.1, but it's required)
    • Module Manager 4.2.1

    To reproduce:

    Open a career mode game and accept a contract. Build any simple rocket. On the launchpad, verify that the contract is in the contract toolbar widget. Launch the rocket and then press the Revert to Launch button on the FMRS window. It will revert to before launch. Verify that the contract is no longer in the contract toolbar widget. Optionally also verify that previously completed contracts are not visible in mission control. Contracts can be restored only by loading a previous save.

    Player.log: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13Zp06A2M-1qyzPMa2QGGANJ3Fmxb1g3K/view?usp=sharing

     

    Thanks. I was getting this too, and having to rebuild my saves a couple of times. Now I know, I'll use quicksaves/manual saves a bit more. Could not figure out what was causing it.

  8. 1 hour ago, magnemoe said:

    They could launch one tanker, then launch more tankers to fill up that tanker, then launch the crewed ship who take most of the fuel from the tanker leaving it just enough to land. no extra launches needed 
    This could also be practical if launching expensive stuff like an space telescope to L2 as you just do one docking operation. 
    You also avoid the problem of getting stuck in orbit if something interrupt launches like problems on launchpad or you need to inspect the tankers for some issue. 

    Now you could technicality abort on Mars, assuming you have both header tanks in the nose and just the top 1 or 2 floors of crew module being ejected you will have pretty decent dV.
    Yes this require that you land at an base who has an rover who can dock to the escape module somehow also that the escape module is stable without atmosphere. 
     

    That sounds quite interesting, for quicker turnarounds of crewed launch/transit. Have an orbital fuel dump/depot, but due to boil off, only refuel it last min to rendevouz with the crew ship.

  9. 5 hours ago, magnemoe said:

     

    Problem is that the moon starship can not aerobrake back into LEO, now it they fueled it up in moon orbit they could probably do an circulation burn into LEO.
    Yes they might be able to aerobrake it over many orbits as crew went home in the orion anyway. You could even do the return burn with the starship and just enter orion a day or so before returning to earth, Orion lines up for landing while starship for areobrake
     

    Just use lasers in orbit/on the ground to provide ablative propulsion from some moon rocks you pick up on the way. I mean, this is Elon, right? No idea is too strange. XD

  10. On 5/9/2020 at 7:50 PM, DDE said:

    Mine has a habit of biting the inside of my wrists.

    Should I be worried, or is it too late?

    Mine does that. It means it's happy. Or angry. Or annoyed.

    So take it as a warning!

  11. 1 minute ago, tater said:

    1. They think the cats got it from people, not the other way around. (and little cat to cat transmission)

    2. Unless you are among our most elderly or medically fragile KSP players, you're probably more likely to be killed by your cat the usual way cats kill things than die of COVID-19 ;)

    Yes. The cat is more likely to trip me up. And possibly the "bad cold" I had earlier in the year was my dose and recovery from this. :/

    Glad little to no cat -> human transmission.

  12. 6 hours ago, tater said:

    That's sorta what I was getting at.

    Without being specific, they have certainly done them, and the results are not acceptable to share. 15% of their housecats tested positive, though, so...

    Nooo! The first reports were that dogs could not get it, then that cats were unlikely. Then when the reports on tigers getting it, I was hopeful it was an outliner. Now my cat is out to kill me... in a few more ways than normal. :(

  13. 14 minutes ago, DDE said:

    Moscow woman with cash in hand learns that heat kills COVID-19.

      Hide contents

    max_g480_c12_r2x3_pd20

    Now she needs to go back to school for Physics, specifically the bit about microwaves.

    And the bit where it dies on paper/plastic after a few hours (results may vary).

  14. On 1/2/2020 at 4:38 PM, kerbiloid said:

    In that video they land the whole 2nd stage, while I mean separate the CrewDragon-derived propulsion part of it and land on ground like the CrewDragon original idea.
    And spend the large cylindric tank part.

    Just leave it in orbit, and use tanks to refuel/plug in... it's a tug. (Rendezvous with low orbit, then use it to boost up to the ISS and/or the moon. XD )

  15. On 12/31/2019 at 3:27 PM, tater said:

    The point of Starship is to be cheaper to operate than any flavor of Falcon 9. At that point, it doesn't matter that any F9 type (Dragon, fairing, whatever) is smaller. Only cheaper matters---or for crew, safety. I can see a long time where F9 stays around as a crew vehicle (with Crew Dragon) since it's human rated, until anyone feels comfortable riding on Starship.

    It matters if I want to use Falcon 9s as my "shuttles" for planetary landings (disposable/reuse stages) for my Sci-fi. Elon is doing me no favours if I cannot predict the results... my sci-fi will all be wrong if I they go and build different craft after all this. XD

    I estimated shuttle designs (skylon) and small rockets (falcon 9 style). Now he's gone and done a massive thing (witch would be single stage to orbit on anything Mars or smaller, and in my Sci-fi, I'd not expect any earth like planets to be worth it, as terraforming would take thousands of years, so the smaller planets become more desirable for smaller gravity wells).

    17 hours ago, Ultimate Steve said:

    Also this isn't directly what the question asked but there is far less chance of something breaking off and hitting the heat shield on starship than on the shuttle. Starship isn't on the side of anything and there isn't much that can fall off beside the tiles. This would require a tile falling off and then either onto the leading edge of the wing things, or back into the hull. However if the tiles are more secure than the shuttles, then this is less of an issue than on the shuttle.

    Assuming, of course, that they don't change the heat shield design again.

    Also, with multiple and quick turnarounds, they could launch a second, and transfer crew. The only reason this was not done for the shuttle was timescales and prohibitive costs. If costs and timescales come down, any faults are eaten up in the profit margin (and SpaceX survives or goes bankrupt on it), where as for "all or nothing" scientific expeditions, risks are kinda different.

  16. 8 hours ago, Wjolcz said:

    I just rewatched the P2P BFR video and the city there has an image of evil clown on it. I never noticed.

    what actual.... ffffff.... WHY? OK, scary freaky creepy stuff on SpaceX? They gone right out my good books. Confirmed evil mastermind about to kill everyone!

  17. 3 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

    Welp, we’ve gleaned one tiny detail on the “vastly different design” of the upcoming Mks... they’ll be made from a super-hard cold-rolled type of stainless (not what we’ve seen so far), the same as they’re using in this... thing...

      Hide contents

    106259839-1574398094841cybertruck-web.jp

    :wacko:

    I would assume that is just built on the same chassis to match the in game Cyberpunk as some sort of in game advertising? The design, not "real life". Though might give away the structural design for the truck.

     

    No wait... did I wake up in the wrong universe again? Or is this one the one where Elon does go insane and makes Tesla trucks with Sharks with lasers on their heads for taking over the world?

     

    Oh well, 24h till I get another chance to jump back to the "good" universe, where KSP was never made in Unity in the first place...

  18. 7 minutes ago, RealKerbal3x said:

    If they could have just delayed five minutes, I would have been able to see it live :( At least I'll be able to see SES-2 and payload deployment.

    Well, whatever. That was a flawless launch and booster landing. Sad that they didn't recover the fairing...

    I logged in 20 mins after launch to see... I missed the live launch. :P

     

    I'm wondering, if these get to shoebox size (or a bit bigger, solar/antenna depending), what are the de-orbit/kessler situations for them? Is it like the sea, where the particles hang around for ages, polluting, or would it disperse quickly?

    Would we end up with launch windows in a similar way aircraft do (though for aircraft it's for the runway safety, but for orbit it would be to find the gaps in starlink to get through safe :P ).

  19. 10 hours ago, Codraroll said:

    They are also very fast projectiles. Then again, railguns in The Expanse have always been a little inconsistent, at least in the books. They're not mentioned at all in the first book, then in the next couple of books it's suggested they fire rounds at around five thousand meters per second - which would only make them useful at extremely close ranges, as at a modest 1000 km range it would take more than three minutes for the round to arrive at the place the target used to be. In the later books it's been suggested they fire rounds at "an appreciable fraction of the speed of light", which would make the rounds annihilate pretty much any ship they hit if they had a mininum of splintering capability. Heck, air resistance alone should be enough for them to flash-fry the rooms the rounds passed through, and they'd create pretty nasty shock waves in the process too.

    But instead, railgun rounds in The Expanse seem designed to pass through the target with as little friction as possible, punching a small, clean hole through the entire ship and exiting on the other side almost without having slowed down at all. It seems like their primary purpose is exactly the type of behaviour you described - going cleanly through walls for narrative suspense. They provide the threat of a "hole puncher" that can make sudden holes appear in the ship, killing anything along the straight line between them, but sparing the guy who just happened to sit in the next chair over. If railguns had provided immediate destruction of the entire ship every time, those "dodged the bullet" moments couldn't happen.

    Yeah... Not always the best writing moments IMO. The ship I posted above has no weapons, as IMO in space any weapon that hits the target is a MAD (mutually assured destruction). If you don't hit the target, then yeah, it's okish. Simple defences against debris/asteroids etc, but no attack weapons on civilian craft except some possible small fire stuff (like cruise ships currently have to put off pirates :P ).

    Today most air/sea combat is pretty much get into range, obliterate anything near it? If it's in range, it's pretty much scrap?

×
×
  • Create New...