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0something0

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  1. (This is basic rocket science groundwork. If you are already familiar with the maths, feel free to skip below)

    The rocket equation tells us that the sacred number, Delta-V (dV) can be found with the following. 

    dV = Isp * g * ln(mfull/mempty)

    Given KSP's non-infinite selection of parts, there are absolute maximum values that can be had for each of the variables-  Isp and the mass ratio (mfull/mempty):

    The maximum Isp attainable with chemical engines are 350 s (Poodle), or 380 s with Making History (Wolfhound), 800s with the NERV, and 4200s with the Dawn. But I think the stock parts do give a decent range of Isp's to go along with tech progression. 

    The same cannot be said for the mass ratio. Liquid fuel (and LOX) tanks have a maximum mass ratio of 9, which gives us an absolute max delta-v of 7536, 8182 and 17226 m/s with the Poodle, Wolfhound, and NERV respectively, as the number of fuel tanks approach infinity. With xenon, the maximum is attained with the X150 Xenon Container (the 0.625 diameter one), giving us a max delta-v of 78081 m/s. 

    (Now for the actual suggestion)

    These delta-v caps are enough to get you most places, especially with advanced orbital mechanics techniques, and are basically removed with ISRU. However, the mass ratio values don't really fit in with the progression - they don't get better with technology or with the square-cube law, and the normal cylindrical form factor that you get from the start has better mass ratios than the fancy aircraft parts (which might be justified since those need more dry mass to do aircraft things). And these hard caps do encourage players to use aforementioned workarounds such as ISRU, gravity assists, etc. But I still think it would be beneficial to progression to reward research into more advanced fuel tanks by giving greater mass ratios to larger radius tanks, and to perhaps add a special supermaterial 1.25 m/0.625m  tank to bring the smaller radiuses in line with the larger ones. 

  2. I watched a ton of Scott Manley and other youtubers before actually getting my hands on the game demo, so I knew what I was doing, and I would like to think my first flight actually got into orbit. It was a bog standard 3 stage rocket, with Swivels on the lower stages, the 2nd stage being a bit smaller than the first, and a Terrier, a lone fuel tank, and the pod on the orbiter. 

    Of course, I didn't really understand the science behind the whole thing, so my attempts to go to the Moon or something with 3 of the fuel tank + terrier combo with no modifications to the lower stages didn't end well. 

  3. EDIT: oh wow totally missed the Interstellar Extended entry on kerbalism mod compat page.

    Late response because I've been busy and wanted to poke around in Kerbalism and its compatibility with Nertea mods before I reply. However, most of what I write will apply to KSP-I (@FreeThinker) since that is what I am most familiar with. I probably should have posted this in the OP. Anyways: 

    On 9/15/2020 at 3:51 PM, Nertea said:

    What does realism mean to you?

    On 9/15/2020 at 5:28 PM, Clamp-o-Tron said:

    and ignores stuff that it wouldn't be practical to model - for instance materials science and nuclear physics (which is what I assume those problems with reactors you refer to are)

    Well, I'm wanting a bit more realism-focused design constraints. I've never really been comfortable with how you could get away with arbitrary placement of high-energy parts (reactors, engines) as long as basic thermal, kinematic, and aerodynamic constraints are met, and you have the components need to start up your say, fusion reactor (e.g. with a starter fission reactor). This means you have fusion reactors as compact as the ones that Lockheed Martin/Skunk Works advertised that they were making a few years back, right next to your crew compartments, powering your hypersonic SSTOs that could be launched off a carrier. Specific changes that I would want are:

    • Scaling up fusion reactors and beyond to be in line with realistic (Kerbal) scaling
    • Making them pose radiation hazards beyond making EVA kerbals go poof when near certain KSPI drives, probably through Kerbalism
    • Directional radiation, so shadow shields are a thing, and the player has to make decisions on where and how the shielding is applied (this might be getting into raytracing territory)
    • Different types of radiation (Beta, neutron, gamma, etc)

    The first two, I can do the dirty work myself through roleplaying and Kerbalism configs, respectively (and I should actually do it instead of complaining). The last two are most likely something to discuss with the Kerbalism dev and not here. I have only played around with the default configs but I'm assuming they aren't modelled in Realism Overhaul configs either. 

     

  4. I've played around with Deep Space Exploration Vessels and KSP Interstellar, along with several other mods that add futuristic super engines (e.g. Mk2/Mk3 Expansion) but both of them are rather too arcady to me, with minimal design constraints that these high-energy reactors pose other than heat. Far Future Technologies seem to be having some major restructuring away from what I am looking for. Is there a more realism-focused alternative to these mods, or perhaps something like Kerbalism compatibility?

  5. On 9/14/2020 at 10:33 AM, Kerminator1000 said:

    So do you earn it by flying in space or something like that?

    I don't really have any ideas on how it plays into the wider culture but perhaps there is a rite of adulthood that earns you the "Kerman" title. Or more darkly, perhaps the KSC could be in a conservative caste-based society, where only the Kerman caste get to be kerbalnauts. Maybe the kerbals had a history of such a society, but now everyone gets to be a "Kerman" thanks to civil rights. 

    I would even go as far as to say that if different countries or equivalents exist, other countries might not even have the Kerman title. 

  6. What do you guys think about the two mod management software for KSP; the Twitch desktop app and CKAN? I've never tried the Twitch app until today (though I'm kinda burnt out on KSP and is in the "modded minecraft" phase of my "favorite games" cycle).  CKAN has served me quite well until something breaks and I have to fiddle with the files myself which breaks the thing that keeps track of mods installed forcing me to manually delete and reinstall the 50 or so of them I have installed...

  7. 2 hours ago, OhioBob said:

    Everything I've seen says the period is 40400 s.  The in game info tab is just not showing the seconds.

    According to my calculations, the semimajor axis of a synchronous orbit should be 417,941 metes.

    My calculations show (G(2.6457580 * 10^19 kilograms)(40400 seconds)^2 / (4π^2))^(1/3) = 417940.868 meters. I also learned that for this application, merely putting it in the Google search bar is more accurate since Wolfram appears to round it to significant figures. This is confirmed using the Wiki's figure for a synchronous orbit gives me 60000 + 357940 = 417940 meters for the semi-major axis. Using the first figure to calculate the mass of Minmus of sanity-checking, I get ((417940.868 meters)^3 * 4 pi^2 )/((40400 seconds)^2 * G) = 2.64575801 × 10^19 kilograms, consistent with the Wiki.

    Calculating using the precision figures gives me orbital parameters that have no noticeable drift.
    Parameters:

    Eccentricity: 0.8444756065

    Linear eccentricity: 352940 meters

    Semi-major axis: 417940.868 meters

    Periapsis: 65000 meters (5000 meters from "sea level")

    Apoapsis: 770881.736 meters

     

  8. 14 minutes ago, OhioBob said:

    It's my understanding that Minmus' rotation period is 40400 seconds.  How much are you drifting?  Can the 20 second difference account for it?

    My initial maths were done using the 40400 second figure, which had somewhat less of a drift, but were still significant. The wiki lists the 40400 seconds as the sidereal day while the in-game info tab lists 40380.

  9. Note: this is a math-heavy question.

    I am attempting to put an object in a synchronous orbit around Minmus with a periapses of 5 kilometers from surface (65 km from the focus) and an orbital period of one Minmus day (1 Kerbin day 5 hours 13 minutes  = 40380 seconds). Using a modified version of t Kepler's Third Law, we have

    t² / a³  =  4π² / GM 

    where  t is the orbital period, a is the semi-major axis, G is the universal gravitational constant and M is the mass of Minmus. This can be isolated for a (the semi-major axis) to get

    a = ∛(GMt² / 4π²)

    We want M = 2.6457580 * 10¹⁹ kg,and t = 40380 seconds,  which gives us 

    a = ∛(G(2.6457580 * 10¹⁹ kilograms)(40380 seconds)² / 4π²) = 417800 meters

    for the semi-major axis. From there, we can calculate the linear eccentricity c, since the periapses is the difference between the semi-major axis and the linear eccentricity.

    417800 - c = 65000
    417800 - 65000 = c = 352800

    gives us a linear eccentricity of 352800 meters. From here, we can calculate rest of the needed orbital parameters.

    Orbital Period (given) = 40380 seconds

    Semi-major axis = 417800 meters

    Periapsis (given) = 65000 meters

    Apoapsis =  a + c = 417800 +  352800 = 770600 meters

    Eccentricity = a / c = 0.84423169 

    However, when all of these parameters are applied, the orbital period is actually shorter than the Minmus day, causing the periapsis to drift across the surface. Help!

  10. I can name some more.

    Vector - Space Shuttle Main Engine (RS-25) - Aerojet Rocketdyne 

    Rapier - Saber Air Breathing Rocket - Reaction Engine 

    Cupola - ISS Cupola - European Space Agency

    NERV - NERVA - U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, NASA, Aerojet, Westinghouse 

    MK1-2 capsule - Apollo Command Module - NASA

  11. So, we have two different mission profiles. 

    • Mission Profile 1
      • This mission profile involves waiting until the time is right,  than launch straight up to hit the satelite.
    • Mission Profile 2
      • This profile involves getting into orbit and hohmann-transferring into the satellite's sphere of influence

    So, which one would cost less delta-v?

  12. On 10/15/2018 at 1:41 PM, Geonovast said:

    I would recommend a Linux Mint (because it's what I know, and I hate Ubuntu's unity DE) install with a lightweight DE, like Xfce.  I personally run MATE, but not for hardware reasons.  I just like MATE.

    Ubuntu 18.04 switched back to GNOME 

  13. A lot of the opposition to the idea of adding Steam Workshop integration to KSP (before it happened) was that only people who got it on steam could access the feature (and something along the lines of "go use KerbalX n00b") Would it be possible for the devs to create a separate free steam app for people without the steam version to use that gives access to workshop? 

    Alternatively, would it be feasible to create an authentication system to give people who doesn't have KSP on steam to get it on steam?

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