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Science Jr. keeps exploding on rentry


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So I'm testing another SSTO and I've had SSTO's with SJ's on them but for some reason this one just keeps exploding on re-entry, everything else is fine but this thing always explodes even when coming in around 50k, i could just remove the part but... it would be nice to keep those extra science points

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I always just throw away the science Jr, and I tend to just keep a experiment storage in a 1.25m bay (along with my other experiments and batteries). This keeps them nice and safe even with deadly reentry plus FAR which is what i use. So vanilla should be easy. Probably overkill for stock KSP tbh, but might be a good idea. 

The service bay can actually take a decent about of heat before issue, but if you put a heat shield on it, no issues at all.  Honestly a heat shield on the science jr would probably work jut fine as well.

 

if you are using a bigger design and the science jr is dieing when in the middle part of the ship, radiators work really well as well. Just remember to turn them on. Or have a over sized heat-shield so it puts a cone around the rest of the ship.

Edited by bobisback
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Have your Kerbal EVA, gather the data from the Science Jr (right click it when near), and take it back to the Command pod.

Ditch everything but the Command pod and the parachute, you won't even need a heatshield for a standard re-entry from anywhere in Kerbin's SOI.

If you're playing Career, you'll have to unlock EVA in space first though. (If you don't have that, throw a heat shield on the bottom of the Science Jr. and remove all the ablator to save weight, once again; you won't need it for a Mun or Minmus return.

Edited by Rocket In My Pocket
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1 hour ago, Rocket In My Pocket said:

Have your Kerbal EVA, gather the data from the Science Jr (right click it when near), and take it back to the Command pod.

Ditch everything but the Command pod and the parachute, you won't even need a heatshield for a standard re-entry from anywhere in Kerbin's SOI.

If you're playing Career, you'll have to unlock EVA in space first though. (If you don't have that, throw a heat shield on the bottom of the Science Jr. and remove all the ablator to save weight, once again; you won't need it for a Mun or Minmus return.

it's an SSTO :D

2 hours ago, bobisback said:

Honestly a heat shield on the science jr would probably work jut fine as well.

i honestly might put one in front of the SJ (again this is an ssto so i can't ditch anything)

that may help.. hmmm

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Using a big, flat radiator acts like the Space Shuttle's heating tiles. Just be aware it also adds a ton of drag.

You can also pop it into a mk2 cargo bay for safe keeping, and that can give you the flexibility to deploy small satellites when you aren't doing science. If you have airbrakes on your SSTO you should be able to slow down enough, but they do tend to get pretty hot during reentry.

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8 hours ago, Reinhart Mk.1 said:

So I'm testing another SSTO and I've had SSTO's with SJ's on them but for some reason this one just keeps exploding on re-entry, everything else is fine but this thing always explodes even when coming in around 50k, i could just remove the part but... it would be nice to keep those extra science points

Really need to see a picture of your spacecraft to be able to offer any constructive suggestions about why it's taking heat.

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6 hours ago, dire said:

Using a big, flat radiator acts like the Space Shuttle's heating tiles. Just be aware it also adds a ton of drag.

best answer really, the problem is really straightforward it seems. i did add two heat shields in the front and back of the SJ and while it still overheated, it didn't explode. so the question has been answered and thank you for everyone's input and answers

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On 8/18/2019 at 9:21 PM, Rocket In My Pocket said:

You won't even need a heatshield for a standard re-entry from anywhere in Kerbin's SOI.

Actually, that's not quite true. Capsule reentries with a Mk1 Service Bay have been a major pain since about 1.5 if you don't have a heat shield. Not because of the heat, which the bay is more than capable of handling, but because of something causing the bay to have astronomically high drag during reentry.

Of course, he stated that he's using an SSTO, not a capsule, but I still think it's worth pointing out.

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5 hours ago, Fraktal said:

Actually, that's not quite true. Capsule reentries with a Mk1 Service Bay have been a major pain since about 1.5 if you don't have a heat shield. Not because of the heat, which the bay is more than capable of handling, but because of something causing the bay to have astronomically high drag during reentry.

Of course, he stated that he's using an SSTO, not a capsule, but I still think it's worth pointing out.

Why would you need a service bay at all though?

The Kerbal takes the data back to the Command Pod, you de-orbit with nothing but the Command Pod and a Parachute.

Edited by Rocket In My Pocket
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1 minute ago, Vanamonde said:

The materials bay is notoriously sensitive to heat, but one thing you can do to make a bit more resistant is to r-click on it after use and close the doors. 

the effect of it exploding and splitting the excrements completely in half was kinda cool in all honesty lol

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2 hours ago, Reinhart Mk.1 said:

with a bigger ssto i could, i just try to make them as small as possible haha

Ah I see... Well best of luck i'm not good at small SSTOs

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 8/23/2019 at 7:37 PM, The Doodling Astronaut said:

You may want to put it in a cargo bay door. That is what I have done in the past. It does make the SSTO wider to fit it though :P

 

I was gonna say the same, then I remembered the difference between cargo bay and service bay. Try putting 2 servcebays around it. Place science Jr.  first and then the service base over the Jr.

 

 

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On 9/8/2019 at 8:31 AM, Vakarian said:

I was gonna say the same, then I remembered the difference between cargo bay and service bay. Try putting 2 servcebays around it. Place science Jr.  first and then the service base over the Jr.

i could probably use the mk.1 service bay and clip it into there buuuut it's kinda ugly, not sure it would work, and seems a bit cheaty

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