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KSP slang and fun terminology


PTNLemay

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I was surprised to find out that real space programs don't use terms like "suicide burn" or "asparagus staging" and that the KSP community apparently invented these things ourselves. Another one I quite like is "hardware assisted landing". And in a similarly themed old thread I found a couple. "Chokingbird" = an SSTO spaceplane flaming out in high atmo. "Wet noodle, a dangerously floppy rocket. "Literally get out and push", which isn't really a slang term but is fun all the same.

I was going to add lithobraking to the list, as a kind of accompaniment to HSL, but then I realized that lithobraking IS something real space programs use. Kraken is also kind of like our way of saying "gremlins in the engine". So yeah, what other fun terms has the community thought up? Or... what humorous real world slang do space programs use that feel appropriately kerbal.

EDIT:

Corrected typo.

Edited by PTNLemay
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I believe 'onion staging' is another term the community has come up with, for the variant of asparagus where all boosters feed into the centre, rather than two at a time. I can't think of any more at the moment; most terms I use here are real-world space programs' terminologies! :P

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On a more general level, we have the Kraken. The KSP community is the first place I've heard it used as a turm for a generic, often destructive, unexplained bug.

Edited by jarmund
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Well the "asparagus stalk booster" was a real concept, but the definition used in KSP is rather particular to us.

We often use the term "aerobraking" to also cover aerocapture, in real spaceflight they are generally distinguished.

I've coined the term "gravicapture" myself to refer to using a gravity assist from a planet's moon to enter a closed orbit round the planet. Not seen others use the term or the method that much.

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I am not sure where "Space potatoes" come from. I think it's a KSP term...

Nope, it's frequently used to describe the shape of many asteroids.

[source] [source] [source] [source]

EDIT: On another note, Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly, or a (possibly full) RUD, i've heard that before in aerospace, though not "Rapid Unplanned Disassembly", which seems to be the Kerbal version. [source]

Edited by Norpo
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LITHOBRAKING

Allow me to feel a tad stupid and entertained at the same time.. I just looked up the word on wikipedia.. its a real thing..

I actually thought it was a kerbal thing for when you hit the moon too hard and suddenly stopped in a shatter of parts. or when you hit the mountains in KSP...

logicly that "litho" meaning rock.. and braking meaning what happens when you crash into something..

eg.. "I lithobraked on the mun" meaning.. no ones coming back.. you hit it and exploded

unless of course your Jeb's head.. where braking means simply bouncing half way back upto space powered by cranium force alone

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"My computer is too potato"

Not sure if that's of KSP origin or not, but I never heard it before i came here.

of Portal 2 fame, where the brain of an AI ends up being stored in a potato battery. (dont ask)

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I didnt actually know about "Chokingbird" but I quite like that word now.

I think asparagus staging was popularized by KSP community. AFAIK it wasnt really used in the rocketry until some recent SpaceX designs. But I would be happy if someone corrected me on this one.

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But Elon Musk (founder of SpaceX) has stated that he plays KSP, so the term may have originated from KSP. Although for some reason I also thought that term was around before.

...I doubted this at first, but after a quick google search with time constraints, I barely see any references to it, and those are probably google's time paramaters glitching out (Most seem to be from SpaceX's Falcon failure)

And google auto-complete suggests "origin" and "ksp" to be appended to the end. Hm. You may be right!

EDIT: I found *one* reference to a RUD before KSP, and the forum software could be to blame for the time: http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=8209.60

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One somewhat subtle in-joke with fans of Scott Manley is that his accent causes his pronunciation of the word "Explorer" to sound a lot like "Exploder". Naturally he tends to name his vessels things like "Eve Explorer", which on occasion do live up to what it sounds like he said when they explode upon impact.

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  • 3 years later...

(For the protection of the fellow above me, "necroposting" is perfectly fine when the topic is still relevant)

 

MRLV - Mostly Re-usable Launch Vehicle - A booster that mostly successfully avoids entirely exploding upon landing; parts of it can be recovered / re-used.

RED - Reversed Explosive Decoupler - A decoupler that faces the wrong way. You will neither go to space nor stay there today.

SSTS - Single Stage to Scrapyard - Saves on dumpster costs.

PLTR - Payload Larger Than Rocket - Newton's laws say it shouldn't have gotten to space, but it did. Somehow.

 

"Argh" - A poorly balanced rocket with the center of mass far from the center of thrust and no strong reaction wheel. All usually become rapidly and percussively acquainted with the surface of a celestial body.

"Rover" - A hideously overengineered, possibly wheeled, probably rocketed abomination that occasionally accomplishes its purpose and always requires an extraordinarily unseemly dedicated launch vehicle to be designed for it. They always look like good ideas on paper.

Edited by GearsNSuch
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