How do I calculate the amount of thrust and fuel required for a given engine to reach a specific altitude at a specific speed?
I'm early in the career mode, and I've got the "Test RT-10 "Hammer" Solid Fuel Booster in Flight Over Kerbin" mission. I started using trial and error with a new configuration - constantly reverting -- but then I realized I should be able to just work out the math for this and build it once, yes??
I spent the day learning all about calculating Delta V, Isp, etc.. and have learned a bunch - and I feel a new passion rising in me. BUT - I feel I'm in the same place, because I can't seem to figure out the math I should be using. We can calculate Delta V at Sea Level - or at Vacuum - but what about in between. Also, since I'm really only using solid rockets at this point, I need to reduce the thrust of the rocket -- but wouldn't I need to recalculate the engine's Isp when I do that? The flow changes, along with the pressure changing throughout flight (if we've reach a vacuum, we've gone too far!)
So... Regardless of whether I'm doing the mission right or not (I'm sure people will say to use an engine that I can tweak in-flight) - I still want to know what steps I would go through to calculate the resources I would need to make the trip. (I mean in real-life there are no do-overs, right?)
Any help is much appreciated!
Thanks!
-Dave