Throwing out "Lagrange point" mod idea.

[ImmaStegosaurus!]

KSP doesn't/can't support proper Lagrange points. Could they be simulated by adding a gravity well in right spot in space? Satellites, stations and such could then orbit the invisible object and remain in "Lagrange point".

[Theysen]

Try out principia mod and have fun in those Lagrange points  

[Shadowmage]

34 minutes ago, ImmaStegosaurus! said:

KSP doesn't/can't support proper Lagrange points. Could they be simulated by adding a gravity well in right spot in space? Satellites, stations and such could then orbit the invisible object and remain in "Lagrange point".

That is probably the most achievable/workable idea for lagrange point 'simulation' that I have seen posted.

I guess it would come down to if you can have planetary bodies without any mesh/collider.  Someone familiar with Kopernicus would likely know more on that.

Seems that putting an ultra-low gravity body there with a large-ish SOI (for its gravity) would accomplish a decent simulation of the lagrange points.  While it wouldn't be 'exact', I think it would work well enough for stock KSP mechanics, and at least let you put something into the L-points without worrying about it getting out of synch (as they would be orbiting a fake body, they should be stable in that orbit).

Edited October 11, 2016 by Shadowmage

[Nicias]

I like this idea. You would want the SOI to be small however, so it doesn't mess up other orbits. I also don't know if you would want to put them at all 5 points. Only L4 & L5 are stable.

[ImmaStegosaurus!]

53 minutes ago, Shadowmage said:

I guess it would come down to if you can have planetary bodies without any mesh/collider.  Someone familiar with Kopernicus would likely know more on that.

If this turns out to be a problem there could be placed some tiny object like Gilly as a trojan. Those would be fun to explore!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_(astronomy)

[regex]

1 hour ago, Theysen said:

Try out principia mod and have fun in those Lagrange points  

This. Principia supports Lagrange points right now.

[ImmaStegosaurus!]

Principia makes things very complicated. Too much even for some.

[Harry Rhodan]

This idea pops up every odd month and the usual answer is that hitting that point in space or just getting too close will end in tears.

[regex]

19 minutes ago, ImmaStegosaurus! said:

Principia makes things very complicated. Too much even for some.

No it doesn't, you've just convinced yourself that it does.

[tater]

4 hours ago, regex said:

This. Principia supports Lagrange points right now.

I'll be on it like a bad suit when there is a Mac version.

[genericeventhandler]

18 hours ago, ImmaStegosaurus! said:

If this turns out to be a problem there could be placed some tiny object like Gilly as a trojan. Those would be fun to explore!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_(astronomy)

Oh please someone do this, I've been hyper editing satelites ahead and behind kerbin to the correct position.

 

 

[Nicias]

@5thHorseman suggested this in another thread:

Quote

 

Really what people want is a spot where stuff tends to stay there, relative to the planet and moon. That's it.

One way to do this mathematically within the confines of the patched conic system is to have 2 concentric SOIs, the larger being about the size of about where stuff would tend to - if it wandered there on its own - stay in place. The smaller of the two SOIs would then have *0* gravity. These two SOIs would orbit the planet in step with the moon, 60 degrees ahead and behind it*.

Then anything within the center SOI would just slowly wander toward the outer SOI, and when it hit that SOI it would get gently nudged back. There'd be no crazy high pull at the center because of the concentric nature of the two SOIs and the fact that the inner one had no gravity.

I don't know if you can do this in Unity, or in KSP. I don't want it enough to go through all the work to try. But if it did work I'd probably install it for the novelty if for nothing else.'

One problem I see is high time warp. eventually you'll be warping to Eeloo and come back and find your Mun Lagrange station hit the SOI change too hard and is now ejecting from Sun.

*don't even ask about the other 3 points, they're not stable

 

Is this possible with Kopernicus?