Mysterious EVA acceleration bug

[geekus42]

There is a subtle but annoying bug that I think has just appeared in the latest build.  At least I never noticed it before.

When any kerbal is in EVA and holding on to a ship there is a very small but constant acceleration.  Using Mechjeb to watch the orbital Periapsis/Apoapsis as soon as a Kerbal starts an EVA they start creeping.  You can also see the changes in the map.

It doesn't matter where they are holding on.  It could be at the hatch or at any ladder or Mobility Enhancer steps.  I first noticed it when trying out the new on-orbit repair mode with an engineer in 1.11.  If you rendezvous  two ships, zero out their relative velocities, and then send a Kerbal to EVA the ships will start to move apart within a few seconds.  Super annoying!

I checked and triple checked that no engines are active, RCS is off, no fuel is flowing, and there is no gamepad controller plugged in.  Simply having a Kerbal hanging on changes the orbit.

I have KSP 1.11.0.3045 with both Making History and Breaking Ground on PC.

[Superfluous J]

Tentatively confirmed on my modded (but without MechJeb) install.

The Kerbal seems to impel a force toward the ladder. When he's on the prograde side of the vessel, the orbit loses energy. on the retrograde side it gains it.

You, I, or someone will need to verify this in stock and then submit a bug report on http://bugs.kerbalspaceprogram.com/projects/ksp

Edited December 22, 2020 by Superfluous J

[ukemike]

I've had this happen too, totally unmodded. It makes it really hard to take the data on small ships.

[geekus42]

It does seem like the Kerbal is acting like a stuck thruster pointer towards their front side (towards the ladder).  If you put a Kerbal at the end of a long rocket it will start pitching.  If you then roll 180 degrees it will oppose the initial pitching.

The type of Kerbal doesn't matter.  Pilot, scientist, and engineer all have the same effect.

I tried taking off the RCS backpack and parachute, and it made no difference.  Looks like a bug.

I don't see this issue in the bug list.  It is issue #26908.

Edited December 22, 2020 by geekus42
Added bug issue number

[Superfluous J]

1 hour ago, geekus42 said:

It is issue #26908.

Thanks for doing that. Here's a direct link for ease of reference. https://bugs.kerbalspaceprogram.com/issues/26908

I've +1'd it there.

Anybody with a bug account, do the same.

Anybody without a bug account, create a bug account and do the same

Edited December 22, 2020 by Superfluous J

[VoidSquid]

What the heck... yes, I can confirm this. Another serious reason not to upgrade. Thanks, guys!

 

EDIT: as per https://bugs.kerbalspaceprogram.com/issues/26908 , this is now a confirmed bug.

Edited December 22, 2020 by VoidSquid