Using science bay to discover planets ?

[NetMapel]

Hey ! After watching the video for 0.22, I have an idea of how to further utilize the new science bay module that was mentioned in the video. Please hear me out.

What if, when you start out in the career campaign, you only know the existence of Kerbin ? Then, after you successfully send a science bay probe to orbit Kerbin, you discover the Mun and its orbit path around Kerbin. However, you're still at the dark as to what the rest of the universe looks like except for Kerbin, the Mun and the sun. One of the tech tree you can spend your science points on would be to improve your satellite technology so your science bay can see further and further away (like our current Hobbles). The more points you put into the satellite technology, the more planets you will see, such as Minmus, Duna... etc etc. However, these planets will start only appear as a black sphere on your map until you send a real probe around the planet in question. You get a probe orbiting Duna, you will see that it's red with white north/south poles, and your map will update accordingly.

This feels a slightly bit more similar to what we have now, which NASA uses satellite technology to find planets before we can ever send a probe close to there I think this may be something nice for the career/campaign mode.

Anyways, this is just my humble suggestion. Thank you for your time to read this

[goldenpeach]

I think we should know the existence of all the planets;I mean,we knew that they existed far before the first plane,and far before the first rocket!

[Beeman]

You'll use the observatory to discover planets. We just don't have the observatory yet. Hopefully "observatory" isn't just a ground-based telescope. Like, a lot of people(myself included) would LOVE to be able to send out orbital telescopes and use THEM to discover the other planets AND the other solar systems, if they ever get around to that.

[sumghai]

I'm of the opinion that, in terms of realism, discovery/observation of celestial bodies should be as follows:

- Since antiquity and prior to the Space Program, Kerbals would already have knowledge of most (if not all) planets in their solar system, and very crude / faint images acquired through ground-based telescopes.

- When one starts their Space Program, a dedicated ground-based observatory would be used to discover the presence of any further outlying planets and one or two moons.

- Space-based telescopes would discover more moons / obtain better images of the distant planets

- Probes would only be used for very close up examination of already-discovered planets.

[Idobox]

Also, you would need to send probes to get information like gravity and atmospheric density. For example, the trajectory wouldn't be displayed until you have sent a probe with a gravimeter, or managed to get into orbit with a radar transponder.

Same thing, at the begining, the planets should just be blurry colored dots, until you get better telescopes or send probes.

But I think that kind of stuff is planned for .22

[maltesh]

Also, you would need to send probes to get information like gravity and atmospheric density. For example, the trajectory wouldn't be displayed until you have sent a probe with a gravimeter, or managed to get into orbit with a radar transponder.

Same thing, at the begining, the planets should just be blurry colored dots, until you get better telescopes or send probes.

But I think that kind of stuff is planned for .22

If a celestial object has a natural satellite, astronomers can work out both its mass and the mass of its satellite from ground-based observations, and that's really all you need to produce the trajectories that KSP shows on the map screen.

Even restricted to the sphere-of-influence abstraction, you'd still be able to get the mass of the main body.

Atmospheric composition and density you can get from watching the body pass in front of stars. That will also let you measure its radius.

[leax256]

What if, when you start out in the career campaign, you only know the existence of Kerbin ? Then, after you successfully send a science bay probe to orbit Kerbin, you discover the Mun and its orbit path around Kerbin./QUOTE]

ummm...if you are running a space program and don't know the existance of the moon and it's orbital path when it is the largest object in the sky then you are in the wrong field.

[jwenting]

well said. Thinking Kerbals would know nothing about orbital mechanics or astronomy yet be able and interested in launching a space program is idiotic.

[Idobox]

If we start with crappy telescopes, we could have large error margins on the gravity of bodies with moons, leading to fat trajectories. That would be a very good reason for me to send probes, and then a second generation with better sensors when I finally unlock the technology.

Also, measuring the sphere of influence of a body is difficult without sending a probe, and if I send a probe, I'll put a gravimeter on it to get proper values.

[Moon Goddess]

I work with the assumption that Moho, Eve, Duna and Jool were known since antiquity, as they would be visible with the naked eye. Astrologers would chart their movement.

Then in the renaissance the first telescope would reveal the largest Joolian moons, Laythe, Tylo, Vall

The other worlds would have been discovered with more advanced telescopes, there simply isn't anything in the system that's far enough away to require a orbital telescope.

[Beeman]

There may not be those extremely distant or small things yet, but there will be. I mean, there's another handful of planets each with a handful or more of moons in the works yet. Beyond that, we'll have to discover the other solar systems, whenever they get those going on. That is, discover their location relative to our own precisely enough to travel there via magical warp technologies. So there'll logically be need for orbital telescopes at some point. Just not necessarily right now.

Besides, who's to say kerbals ever really looked up at space before they started developing rockets. Who's to say they're even thousands of years old as a species? Human history isn't kerbal history, they could be clueless as to what's beyond mun by the time the kerbal space program is founded. They might even still believe that kerbol orbits their home planet.

As the developers have said, gameplay will always trump realism....and that should extend to this type of thing as well. If it's more entertaining to start with zero knowledge of celestial bodies in the kerbol system then use telescopes and orbital telescopes to discover them, it's something they should and definitely will consider over having that information predefined in your knowledgebase.