[0.25]KSP Interstellar (Magnetic Nozzles, ISRU Revamp) Version 0.13

[Tharios]

It will be there, I'm quite happy with that system now we've brought the temperature on it down. There will then a nice tradeoff between the performance of a directly attached reactor and the convenience of being able to put the reactor anywhere.

Following my reorganistion of the code, it should likewise be possible to attach a generator to one of these heat exchangers. Again, lower temperature means lower efficiency but it might be useful to someone.

So, out of curiosity, won't that make heat exchangers useless for 3.75 AM reactors, or nearly so for any upgraded reactor at all?

Would there be any way to code a couple of exchangers that will not function for reactors of improper size, but have proportionally higher caps as a result?

The design flexibility afforded by the exchangers is really valuable, and their capacity should be significantly limited, as it is, but once one starts using AM reactors, or anything upgraded, that benefit is quickly and completely subsumed by the loss of potential power. Not using them at that point becomes a no-brainer. I suppose they'd always be good for thermal rocket/jet SSTOs.

Hmm...are the exchangers like fuel lines? If so, would it be reasonable to also make a part that connects inline to a reactor, but can support radial mounts? It would have more limits on arrangement, but a slightly higher temp cap in return.

Ultimately though, at some point I think something that can support upgraded reactors will be necessary, or else there won't really be a point to using them after a while.

One final question, did I read correctly earlier on that you're considering including fusion reactors as a kind of intermediary power source between fission and AM, at some point? That, would be pretty sweet.

[TechnicalK3rbal]

If i have a career mode already made, and I add this to it, will it delete what iv'e done previously?

[Fractal_UK]

Version 0.7.2 Released

Just wanted to get these tweaks and changes out of the way before the real work begins on version 0.8!

Changelog:

Version 0.7.2
-TWR limit and intake limit added to thermal nozzle to prevent flameout, including a lot of work from Conti
-All intakes will now create IntakeAtm as well as IntakeAir, again with a lot of help from Conti
-New Hexcan textures by bac9
-Rewrote Thermal Nozzle And Electrical Generator from scratch for better performance + fewer bugs
-Thermal nozzle will now maintain a constant fuel usage rate - atmosphere affects thrust
-Antimatter tanks no longer require having antimatter inside to recharge
-Altered 1.25m Antimatter reactor to bring it more into line with the others, excessive TWR reduced and Isp improved
-Fixed animation states of science lab/reactor
-Fixed bug where LiquidFuel could be used as Kethane
-Made reactors more resilient to autoshutdown - particularly time acceleration waste heat spikes

Download links in the first post have been updated.

---

If i have a career mode already made, and I add this to it, will it delete what iv'e done previously?

No, don't worry, it will store your progress through the tech tree so far. Make a backup of your save file if you're worried though.

[wasmic]

Version 0.7.2 Released

Just wanted to get these tweaks and changes out of the way before the real work begins on version 0.8!

Changelog:

Version 0.7.2
-TWR limit and intake limit added to thermal nozzle to prevent flameout, including a lot of work from Conti
-All intakes will now create IntakeAtm as well as IntakeAir, again with a lot of help from Conti
-New Hexcan textures by bac9
-Rewrote Thermal Nozzle And Electrical Generator from scratch for better performance + fewer bugs
-Thermal nozzle will now maintain a constant fuel usage rate - atmosphere affects thrust
-Antimatter tanks no longer require having antimatter inside to recharge
-Altered 1.25m Antimatter reactor to bring it more into line with the others, excessive TWR reduced and Isp improved
-Fixed animation states of science lab/reactor
-Fixed bug where LiquidFuel could be used as Kethane
-Made reactors more resilient to autoshutdown - particularly time acceleration waste heat spikes

Download links in the first post have been updated.

---

No, don't worry, it will store your progress through the tech tree so far. Make a backup of your save file if you're worried though.

WOO! UPDATE! Will you kill me if I say "FIRST!"?

[Thourion]

Every time i stop playing KSP, i do the terrible move of looking at the forum ... a bloody hell, back to game it is

Good list of changes, and i cant wait to see what you got for 0.8!

[Phearlock]

Hi! I'm not sure I'm doing something wrong, but the science being generated by my science lab isn't being added to my science pool. Does it require a crew module of some sort to be attached to the spacecraft? Currently just have a Probodobodyne OKTO with the required power/radiators & a manned science lab with an 88-88 Communotron landed on the mun (0.762/day). But I don't see the science anywhere on the craft to be able to transmit it. And it is not being added directly to the pool at KSC.

[Fractal_UK]

Hi! I'm not sure I'm doing something wrong, but the science being generated by my science lab isn't being added to my science pool. Does it require a crew module of some sort to be attached to the spacecraft? Currently just have a Probodobodyne OKTO with the required power/radiators & a manned science lab with an 88-88 Communotron landed on the mun (0.762/day). But I don't see the science anywhere on the craft to be able to transmit it. And it is not being added directly to the pool at KSC.

No, you don't need a crew module, you don't even need a transmitter, it should just be being added directly to the pool. You do need to switch back to the science lab after you've been time accelerating on another ship before all that science will get added though.

[NeoAcario]

Every time i stop playing KSP, i do the terrible move of looking at the forum ... a bloody hell, back to game it is

Good list of changes, and i cant wait to see what you got for 0.8!

I'm actually playing Starmade right now while all of my favorite KSP mods get integrated perfectly into the campaign mode. I still read the forums... and I have to fight the urge to come back prematurely... but, yeah.

It is definitely rough. I'm glad to see all the bugs that bothered me are getting fixed and most mods are getting better while also being able to work in Campaign.

Keep it up!

~Steve

[Fractal_UK]

Real Fuels

I don't know if any of you are big fans of the ModularFuelSystems mod (specifically the "Real Fuels" variant). For the purpose of KSP Interstellar alone, I think it makes the most sense to continue assuming that LiquidFuel is Hydrogen because creating a whole new load of fuel tanks with a Hydrogen resource is not something that I want do.

However, for players who would prefer to play with both mods, I've put together a patch that will make the Thermal Rockets and Plasma engines use LiquidH2. LANTR mode for the thermal rockets uses LiquidH2/LiquidOxygen. You can download it here.

For now Electrolysis will still produce LiquidFuel and Oxidiser but I will change that at some point in the future.

Note: Don't install this if you don't have RealFuels installed. If you do you will break your engines.

Edited October 25, 2013 by Fractal_UK

[Kenken244]

Cool, I've been looking forward to that. Does the DT Vista engine also use liquid hydrogen?

[Conti]

So, out of curiosity, won't that make heat exchangers useless for 3.75 AM reactors, or nearly so for any upgraded reactor at all?

Would there be any way to code a couple of exchangers that will not function for reactors of improper size, but have proportionally higher caps as a result?

The design flexibility afforded by the exchangers is really valuable, and their capacity should be significantly limited, as it is, but once one starts using AM reactors, or anything upgraded, that benefit is quickly and completely subsumed by the loss of potential power. Not using them at that point becomes a no-brainer. I suppose they'd always be good for thermal rocket/jet SSTOs.

Hmm...are the exchangers like fuel lines? If so, would it be reasonable to also make a part that connects inline to a reactor, but can support radial mounts? It would have more limits on arrangement, but a slightly higher temp cap in return.

Ultimately though, at some point I think something that can support upgraded reactors will be necessary, or else there won't really be a point to using them after a while.

One final question, did I read correctly earlier on that you're considering including fusion reactors as a kind of intermediary power source between fission and AM, at some point? That, would be pretty sweet.

The temperature and thus the specific impulse is limited, but thrust will be determined by available thermal power which is independent of propellant temp. So you will have lower ISP, but higher thrust, than a direct connection would provide you. And yes it will be capable of being utilized for radial engine mounting and powering multiple engines from a single reactor or other thermal power source.

[Thogapotomus]

My 62.5cm generator and reactor combos still aren't producing waste heat. Am I missing something here or is my game bugged?

[Chaosratt]

Can someone share some crafts, or even pictures of beginning craft? I've poked around with the parts and cannot honestl figure out how to make them work. It doesn't help that the parts have completely incorrect data in the VAB, so theres a TON of "launching" just to see that a given setup generates .... 2kn of thrust.

[Donziboy2]

Can someone share some crafts, or even pictures of beginning craft? I've poked around with the parts and cannot honestl figure out how to make them work. It doesn't help that the parts have completely incorrect data in the VAB, so theres a TON of "launching" just to see that a given setup generates .... 2kn of thrust.

The information given in VAB is not so much wrong as that the engines will limit themselves based on available MJ/Thermal Energy.

From the Kn number I assume your working with the plasma thruster?

[Scotius]

Fractal, will you consider adding methane/oxygen burning engine to the mod? I've read about SpaceX developing such engine, and about possibilities of producing methane on Mars. It would add a neat ISRU refuelling option for Duna, complementing aluminium hybrid rocket.

[Conti]

Fractal, will you consider adding methane/oxygen burning engine to the mod? I've read about SpaceX developing such engine, and about possibilities of producing methane on Mars. It would add a neat ISRU refuelling option for Duna, complementing aluminium hybrid rocket.

He was mentioning plans to make one of these today on IRC

[Scotius]

Sweet I guess the production process will be power-intensive, but the engine should have much better stats than Al/hybrid.

[Fractal_UK]

Fractal, will you consider adding methane/oxygen burning engine to the mod? I've read about SpaceX developing such engine, and about possibilities of producing methane on Mars. It would add a neat ISRU refuelling option for Duna, complementing aluminium hybrid rocket.

Yeah, I don't know if you saw the engine zzz posted a few pages back and spoke about my "chemistry project," it's going to be a methane/oxygen rocket for a sabatier ISRU process.

[Patupi]

I'm sure you've already thought of this, but just on the off chance, is it possible to read the length of a fuel line, or in this case a heat pipe, and make the thermal loss be proportional to the distance? I'm guessing that there isn't a way to read it directly, but perhaps by extrapalation from the coordinates of the endpoints? Even if it is just an extrapolation of your current heat transfer cap, making the cap higher if the line is shorter, it would make for some interesting challenges in design.

[Scotius]

Wow. Now i'm wondering if i didn't made this connection subconsciously, because i started thinking about methane/oxygen engine for KSPI only today Or i was just too bored in work LOL. Anyways, will methane catalysis be handled in Science Lab? Or maybe by dedicated part? Please say part I'm kinda tired of lugging Science Labs everywhere, and building heavy, unwieldy landers around them.

[Fractal_UK]

My 62.5cm generator and reactor combos still aren't producing waste heat. Am I missing something here or is my game bugged?

They are probably just producing less heat than is being dissipated by your radiators. That is good, it means your ship won't overheat. Seeing the WasteHeat bar go up is bad.

[Thogapotomus]

I'm using the probe sized reactor and generator but I'm producing no waste heat. I have 2 small radiators but they aren't open. If they're open and I close them, the heat jumps up to 0.03 for a split second before fading away.

The reactor and generator being used for power, not propulsion, but it still seems odd to have no heat build up.

Fractal, this is the post I was referencing. Waste heat works on my other reactors, but not the small one. I know the heat is bad.

[Fractal_UK]

Fractal, this is the post I was referencing. Waste heat works on my other reactors, but not the small one. I know the heat is bad.

Even when the radiators are closed, they still radiate some heat. It should tell you how much heat they are radiating if you right click on them, compare that to how much the generator is producing and multiply by (100-efficiency)/100 and that will give you roughly the amount of power the radiators should be dissipating.

[automcdonough]

Now for something completely different - engine which Fractal asked some time ago for his chemistry project. Not very accurate and I think I used different model as reference, but something like.

http://www./download/omeve7dv11n3xw9/engine.7z

looks amazing

[Thogapotomus]

Ok, I was thinking that might have been the case, but I didn't see it posted anywhere here that they still work a bit when closed. I forgot I could right click them to see their status

Thanks