Did you ever was so desperate that you used RCS for mid course correction burn? XD

[Pawelk198604 261]

watch from t+ 19 minute  

[klgraham1013 4,465]

Sometimes it's actually part of my plan.

[G'th 605]

1 hour ago, klgraham1013 said:

Sometimes it's actually part of my plan.

This.  RCS is typically only something you carry with you for rendezvous and stabilization purposes, but its wonderfully efficient for small correction burns. 

[regex 9,639]

Desperate? No. Deliberately? Yes.

http://imgur.com/a/BDyUe

[The Space Dino 204]

I don't even know which key to press... let alone have RCS on my craft (REACTION WHEELS!!!)

[purpleivan 3,660]

I've ended up using mono to complete burns a few times... even resorted to getting out and pushing on a couple, to get those last few m/s of delta-v.

One thing that's a bit puzzling about the video is why there's mono (and a lot of it) on the vehicle, given that there's a pretty huge reaction wheel included for for the vehicle's size. I don't think I've ever put RCS on anything I wasn't going to dock and even then if the vehicle's of the space golf cart variety, I tend to leave the RCS at home.

 

Edited September 3, 2017 by purpleivan

[KerikBalm 2,046]

Considering that most rocket engines aren't re-startable, isn't this how its done in real life?

I use it all the time with fine control enabled to get the intercepts just right for gravity assists or direct aerocapture, etc....

[septemberWaves 2,409]

1 hour ago, KerikBalm said:

Considering that most rocket engines aren't re-startable, isn't this how its done in real life?

Yes, it is. Generally the only engines with more than 1 or 2 ignitions beyond the first ignition are lander engines (with exceptions being the main engines of probes like Cassini which are expected to make a lot of different burns), so the attitude control thrusters are usually what's used for small correction burns. Additionally, attitude control thrusters are often used instead of reaction wheels or gimballing because they're typically less massive than reaction wheels or the extra hardware that would have to be added to an engine to allow it to gimbal.

[Pawelk198604 261]

5 hours ago, purpleivan said:

I've ended up using mono to complete burns a few times... even resorted to getting out and pushing on a couple, to get those last few m/s of delta-v.

One thing that's a bit puzzling about the video is why there's mono (and a lot of it) on the vehicle, given that there's a pretty huge reaction wheel included for for the vehicle's size. I don't think I've ever put RCS on anything I wasn't going to dock and even then if the vehicle's of the space golf cart variety, I tend to leave the RCS at home.

 

 

 

It's remind me when i work in charity as fundraiser  and we often was forced to push my boss FIAT multipla car because it had spark plug problem  

[Xavven 678]

Sometimes my main engine is way too powerful to adjust an orbit by the 0.3 m/s of dV needed to get my intercept altitude just right. When you're still 10 billion meters away from the planet, the tiniest push dramatically alters your orbit. Rather than over burn, then having to flip 180 degrees, and whoops I did too much again, flip over again, etc. RCS makes fine tuning a breeze.

[jhousen 23]

best fine adjust technique I know of

[Allocthonous 79]

I've done this before. Once I figure out I'm going to need to do this, I usually go into the right-click menu for each thruster and check the 'fore by throttle' option, so that I can control them more easily while using the map view.

[NSEP 6,890]

Yeah i do! Usually for playing with correction burns, so i dont mess up big time.

[joacobanfield 305]

Yep...on a freaking space station weighing fifty tonnes. Most boring hour of my life.

[A_name 216]

RCS actually works quite well for minimal mid-course corrections because you can thrust in any direction without having to reorient your craft (assuming you placed your thrusters correctly).

On 3/9/2017 at 5:35 AM, eloquentJane said:

with exceptions being the main engines of probes like Cassini which are expected to make a lot of different burns

And these engines are usually hypergolic or use monoprop, so they might as well be RCS thrusters. In fact, the engines on Cassini were derived from the Apollo RCS system!

[HerrCrazi 62]

Of course ! RCS are very efficient as main engines

When I'm truly convicted that I will save the station :

Braking with RCS is useful. You may also consider doing a little bit of litho-braking at the end, maybe...  

[MarethyuGamer 35]

I'm terrible at landing, so I always use more fuel than I intended. In effect probably half of my Mun missions managed to get back to Kerbin solely because I've put way more monoprop than I would need if I could fly properly.

[agrasyuk 10]

On ‎9‎/‎3‎/‎2017 at 8:19 PM, jhousen said:

best fine adjust technique I know of

this.

plus there were several times I was out of fuel and used RCS for the final push into Kerbin Atmo to get captured or complete refueling station rendezvous

[Rocket Witch 455]

I've used it to help aircraft glide... or crash more softly. And to help a rocket that's lifting slightly more than its rated payload by simulataneously pushing and dumping the mass.

[dvp 62]

I've used it to deorbit; when a dumb mistake meant I was out of fuel with an apogee of 200km and a perogee of 72km, the RCS let me deorbit the last few km for aerobraking, and my guys were able to make it home.

[Ozymandias_the_Goat 458]

Yeah, in deep space, it is often a good idea to use RCS to make small burns. However, it appear that you used RCS as the main engine to even get an encounter, not as a main engine supplement to get a cozy encounter point. 

[Sun-Guardian 2]

I've been desperate enough to use RCS to finish my orbit burn... then I just use an Eva kerbals to get re-entry paths. 

[Geonovast 4,087]

Just a few days ago I even had to set the thrust limiter to around 8% because just tapping H or N as brief as possible was still adjusting my orbit too much. (IIRC I was about a year and a half out from my target)

Using the main poodle engine would have been way too much.

18 hours ago, Sun-Guardian said:

... then I just use an Eva kerbals to get re-entry paths. 

Been there!  30 trips from pod to back of the craft for I think about 250m/s just to get home.

[John FX 1,929]

Of course. If there is not a risk you may need to use some RCS then you have over-engineered your craft.

[Slam_Jones 1,141]

I frequently use RCS for fine adjustment of interceptions and such, since I'm often too lazy or forgetful to limit the thrust of my main engines for precise maneuvers.

Edited September 14, 2017 by Slam_Jones