Poynting

Thanks for this!! It was a really interesting read, I look forward to playing the new version!

I noticed in 1.0.0 that rolling the capsule can alter the angle of attack of the heat shield. I believe this is entirely on purpose as it is used by the soyuz in real life. It is caused by intentionally offsetting the centre of mass from the physical centre of the capsule. It allows you to generate more or less lift just by rotating the capsule. Looked like the centre of mass was pushed towards the capsule door. I think this is a really cool feature but I can see why it would seem odd if you haven't thought about capsule generating lift. (lift allows you to shallow out your re-entry profile reducing heating)

You want to keep your centre of mass high not low. Then try to keep your centre of drag near your centre of mass. Having the centre of drag behind the centre of mass (with respect to velocity direction) will ensure the rocket is stable regardless of its attitude but if it is too far back you won't be able to steer at all. It is possible to maintain forward flight even in an unstable configuration so long as you keep the too aligned or have the attitude authority to overcome the drag torque. But if you turn too hard the drag applies a larger and larger torque (positive re-enforcement) and the rocket flips. Its a balance between the manuverability you want and the positive feedback.

I too have been playing it sensible and not using parachutes until subsonic speeds after re-entry. They really should be ripped off/destroyed/over heated with all the other re-entry effects but they aren't low down in the atmosphere as they slow you down so quickly. Has anyone tried opening one before re-entry?

Yeah its the high 0.95 emissvity value they have given that part. Its a shame they haven't got the heating just right yet. The reason parts heat up is because of the radiated heat from the shocked air. So a high emissivity value should lead to them heating up (exploding) faster! Simpler code to put in a magic heat dissapator and call it emissivity though. My CPU thanks them

Warm air is less dense than cool air so I think yo have some of the statements backwards. (Unless ksp has decided otherwise )

This rocket breaks the sound barrier 800m off the ground... It's nothing compared to the HYPE TRAIN!

We are bending the rails, engage stabalising fins! Prepare for reduction in acceleration. But never slow down...

Is Jeb spelt with lower case j's anywhere in the game? Or is this actually a clue?

There are no shadows on kerbin, explosions light every corner...

http://gamelab.mit.edu/games/a-slower-speed-of-light/ Recomended "Reading" when boarding the KSP 1.0 HYPE TRAIN. We have broken the speed of light barrier! Onwards!

Amazing

The HYPE TRAIN is made of physics-less parts! It can go faster!

So after the HYPE train arrives at 1.0 station it becomes Squads PARTY TRAIN for the onward journey right?

Does kerbalx just average all the currently possible predictions? The time would keep going up as we drop out the invalid ones.