Asteroids

[Sargent890]

I was reading the blog post on the Asteroid mission a couple days ago and I don't know about something. In one part of the post it says that you must "detect and identify" an asteroid to capture. Does this mean that we will have multiple asteroids to chose from?

[Mach_XXII]

Yes they will randomly generate in or near kerbins SOI and you can pick from different ones

[qromodynmc]

The thing I am wondering about; Will we have tools to discover asteroids,something like hubble,or some kind of satellite.

[Mach_XXII]

Probably through the tracking station. For now

[FITorion]

My guess is that the asteroids don't exist ... meaning aren't yet generated and added to the game until you "discover" them. I'm guessing it'll be a button or process somewhere where you click it and maybe an animation plays while the asteroids are generated and placed on their random orbits.

[mprhead5]

I wonder if each one will have a unique biome or if once you've eva reported on one the rest are useless. it would be nice if you could get different science from different asteroids up to a limit

[problemecium]

I have my fingers crossed they'll give us a telescope part.

[LordQ]

A telescope part would be ideal. Would also be great if we got some asteroids (or comets really) on highly elliptical orbits. Those would be quite a challenge to do anything with.

[CalculusWarrior]

This is going to be quite the update; I'm excited!

[ArmchairGravy]

This is going to be quite the update; I'm excited!

Yes! Between the new parts, the way(s) we discover asteroids, and the recovery process it's shaping up to be an epic release. Considering that it's a separate mission pack from the .24 update, KSP is getting quite the makeover.

[ngianoplus]

Are we getting an asteroid belt? That's all I want to know.

[CalculusWarrior]

Are we getting an asteroid belt? That's all I want to know.

I recall someone, somewhere (which might have been a developer or just a forum member) stating that the asteroids in 0.23/NASA pack will be in random, Kerbin-crossing orbits and for later versions, an asteroid belt would be set up.

Like I said, I can't recall where I heard this, so it could very well be a complete falsehood. As such, I recommend taking it with this:

[r4pt0r]

Yes! Between the new parts, the way(s) we discover asteroids, and the recovery process it's shaping up to be an epic release. Considering that it's a separate mission pack from the .24 update, KSP is getting quite the makeover.

so the nasa bit isnt going in the stock update? is that what that means?

also: telescopes. yes

[chrisb2e9]

Are we getting an asteroid belt? That's all I want to know.

Oh god, I hope not! Think about that one, if it's on the same plane as most of the planets. Then you would have to get through it, or around it, to get to the planets. That just adds Delta V to your mission!

[palioxis1248]

Oh god, I hope not! Think about that one, if it's on the same plane as most of the planets. Then you would have to get through it, or around it, to get to the planets. That just adds Delta V to your mission!

It wouldn't be too bad. The chances that any space probe flying through the belt would slam into an asteroid are pretty slim. Only so much of the belt is asteroid.

[Thiel]

Oh god, I hope not! Think about that one, if it's on the same plane as most of the planets. Then you would have to get through it, or around it, to get to the planets. That just adds Delta V to your mission!

It's not really going to be an issue. We've sent several probes through it IRL and they had to plan ahead so they cours get them close enough to photograph them. Otherwise they would have passed straight through it as if there was nothing there.

[cantab]

Indeed. An actual asteroid belt in KSP would teach people that they're really empty.

I'll second a telescope part or two being nice. I'm thinking it could be a science experiment. You'll get a bit if you just plonk one down at KSC. You'll get more if you take it away to a nice dark mountaintop. And you'll get lots more if you put it in space.

[timsfitz]

A lot of people picture asteroid belts like the one in Star Wars. But yeah, they're millions of miles apart from each other. Though Ceres has 2 little asteroid moons.

[Geschosskopf]

I recall someone, somewhere (which might have been a developer or just a forum member) stating that the asteroids in 0.23/NASA pack will be in random, Kerbin-crossing orbits and for later versions, an asteroid belt would be set up.

Like I said, I can't recall where I heard this, so it could very well be a complete falsehood. As such, I recommend taking it with this:

It would be nice if they appeared crossing other orbits as well, like say Jool's. Then you might have to save your Laythe colony, or at least get everything up into orbit until the tsunamis subside

[zeppelin415]

Is anyone else thinking of the Robot Chicken episode where they send Harrison Ford and Aerosmith up do deal with the asteroid? U-S-A! U-S-A! Kaboom!

[FITorion]

Oh god, I hope not! Think about that one, if it's on the same plane as most of the planets. Then you would have to get through it, or around it, to get to the planets. That just adds Delta V to your mission!

The asteroid belts you see in the movies are more akin to what say Saturn's rings would be like.

In real life we send probes out through the field and it doesn't poss much of a problem. They hardly even bother to check if there will be anything in the way... They just fly through as if it isn't there... because it's mostly empty.

So my educated guess as to how it will work in game in this update is as follows.

There are no asteroids at all. There is nothing floating out there for you to run into or look at with a telescope. You can fly through the region without a care in the world... just like IRL.

When you do the "asteroid discovery process" whatever that may be... an asteroid or a few asteroids are generated and placed in their random near Kerbal SOI crossing orbits. They now can be seen on the tracking station and poss a slim navigation hazard. The more you do the discover process the more asteroids get generated and eventually you'd have a belt like thing or your processor would melt.

The above is my speculation for how this will work.

[Thiel]

I wonder whether there'll be a way to get rid of them again short of crashing it into something.

[Scotius]

The asteroid belts you see in the movies are more akin to what say Saturn's rings would be like.

In real life we send probes out through the field and it doesn't poss much of a problem. They hardly even bother to check if there will be anything in the way... They just fly through as if it isn't there... because it's mostly empty.

So my educated guess as to how it will work in game in this update is as follows.

There are no asteroids at all. There is nothing floating out there for you to run into or look at with a telescope. You can fly through the region without a care in the world... just like IRL.

When you do the "asteroid discovery process" whatever that may be... an asteroid or a few asteroids are generated and placed in their random near Kerbal SOI crossing orbits. They now can be seen on the tracking station and poss a slim navigation hazard. The more you do the discover process the more asteroids get generated and eventually you'd have a belt like thing or your processor would melt.

The above is my speculation for how this will work.

Still, i would like to have a chance to find an asteroid randomly. F.E. If they would have a chance to spawn in the range of observation of my ship - 500 or 1000 kilometers away or so.

[Lohan2008]

When is version 0.24 coming out ?

[Corw]

When is version 0.24 coming out ?

Hi, you must be new here? =)