Sinkable parts and floats

[Guest]

All stock parts are made of metal but they don't sink. If this feature is added, floats will be necessary.

[Wanderfound]

While I'd love to have better floats available (or just raise the impact tolerance of nosecones so I can build streamlined seaplane floats from structural fuselages), I feel compelled to point out that real-world "metal things that don't sink" include the Gemini/Apollo capsules and the ships of every modern navy (most of the time, anyway).

[Grumman]

There are a couple of places where it would be handy. It would be cool if ore tanks were denser than water while full so that we could use them as ballast tanks: send a rover to Laythe empty, fill it up with ore as ballast, then send it driving across the sea bed. And proper floats so we can build proper seaplane SSTOs would also be fun for Laythe missions.

[Guest]

It's sad use the old air intakes as floats.

[Guest]

They really ought to throw some floats on that big metal thing to stop it from sinking.

How many parts are in that craft file? Over 9000?

This is what happens when you post on a forum when you are very sleep-deprived.

[Guest]

Well, how can you explain this?

[sumghai]

Well, how can you explain this?

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/wwfeatures/464_261/images/live/p0/2m/sv/p02msv3b.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes%27_principle

The shape of space capsules are optimized for surviving atmospheric re-entry, and so is not large/wide enough to displace the amount of water equal to its weight before it sinks. Hence, they require floatation collars in order to float in water.

On the other hand, large ships such as aircraft carriers may be heavy, but their hulls are large/wide enough to displace the same amount of water as its weight, so they float.

Quite frankly, instead of making selected parts sinkable/not sinkable, SQUAD should overhaul water rendering and physics completely.

[Guest]

The shape of space capsules are optimized for surviving atmospheric re-entry, and so is not large/wide enough to displace the amount of water equal to its weight before it sinks. Hence, they require floatation collars in order to float in water.

I'm ashamed of you, you should know better than that. All space pods float in water, they are not solid objects, but hollow air-filled objects. They're not solid steel, but hollow aluminum. It's a matter of density.

If you're going to reference Archimedes Principle, do it correctly.

The flotation device is there, not to keep the pod afloat, but to stop it from capsizing when the astronauts are being recovered.

All stock parts are made of metal but they don't sink.

You were being serious? Really?

Edited June 28, 2015 by Guest

[pandaman]

I think a couple of proper float type landing gear parts for landing on oceans etc would be a very good addition. Ballast tanks that enable the making of submarine could be fun and open up extra exploration possibilities without additional terrain work. Not to mention the option to create under sea monoliths and anomalies. EVA suits would need weight belts though.

[Kaos]

Some parts, like regular landing gears or engines, should be massive enough to sink. Some other parts, for example fuel tanks, especially when empty, should not be able to withstand the water pressure when under certain depth. All in all a more flexible handling of floating might be interesting.

[Guest]

Some other parts, for example fuel tanks, especially when empty, should not be able to withstand the water pressure when under certain depth.

Empty fuel tanks float, even full fuel tanks float. The fuel they carry is less dense than the water they would be immersed in.

[Joonatan1998]

I think some parts, like struts, I-beams and Girders should sink, but fuel tanks/pods shouldn't.

Of course it would make more sense to have sinking/floating based on volume and mass but that would be very hard to balance, because mass is very important and can't really be changed much without ruining balance and the volume is hard to change.

You would also have to make several times more dense than reality or everything would just sink. KSP parts, especially pods are very dense.

Edited June 28, 2015 by Joonatan1998

[Kaos]

Empty fuel tanks float, even full fuel tanks float. The fuel they carry is less dense than the water they would be immersed in.

I know that they float. But when some external forces submerge them enough (rocket above it that pushes, engines below that pull), they should burst.

[DSKY]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes%27_principle

The shape of space capsules are optimized for surviving atmospheric re-entry, and so is not large/wide enough to displace the amount of water equal to its weight before it sinks. Hence, they require floatation collars in order to float in water.

The Gemini flotation collar was attached to the spacecraft by recovery crew AFTER splashdown. The capsule was sufficiently buoyant to remain afloat on its own, otherwise it would sink before the "frogmen" could get to it. The collar DID provide extra buoyancy, of course, but its primary function was stability. With the hatches open, the capsule had very little freeboard (distance above the waterline). The collar kept the capsule from rolling to the side in the ocean waves, thus keeping water out of the hatches. It also provided a platform for the divers and astronauts to stand on while working around the capsule.