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NFunky

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  1. NFunky
    Wow, that's some serious food for thought. Thank you. Sounds possible, but now you've got me thinking it would be worth taking the loss and changing propulsion systems. The habitation, life support, power and attitude control, so I can just slap a different kind of propulsion system on it.
  2. NFunky
    Amazing, thank you! This link and info is very interesting and helpful. I've been thinking about eventually doing some sort of RSS torchship in the near future, so this is very applicable to that as well. As far as ion rockets are concerned. I just remembered that they do mention Hermes' acceleration in The Martian as being 2 mm/s. This is toward the end of the book, so I suspect it is quite a bit lower when the ship is fully fueled in LEO. I seem to remember the book saying Hermes has four engines powered by a nuclear reactor. Anyone remember if they mention the mass of the ship at any point? I'd love to calculate how powerful those engines are. I have a feeling they have WAY more thrust than the current generation of ion engines (like the one in the game). Anyway, no matter what, I'm going to need a lot more engines. I needto be able to leave Earth orbit in days or weeks, not years.
  3. NFunky
    That's very interesting! I guess I forgot to mention I was playing with RSS, but a lunar slingshot would work just the same. A factor of two doesn't sound too bad. Only thing is, an Earth escape burn is usually minimum 3210 m/s, so doubling that is a lot, but again, doable. So, the flip side of this whole issue is, what do I do when I reach Mars? The vehicle is not thermally shielded, so I can only use very minimal aerobraking. Should I aim for a high periareon and try to spiral down from there? Or, should I put my periareon in the atmosphere and try to use a combination of light aerobraking and ion thrust to at least capture into a very eccentric orbit? Another question I have is approximately how much dV should I pack for a Mars orbit and return to LEO? Sounds like I'll need quite a bit more than I would if I was doing high impulse burns (about 12 km/s).
  4. NFunky
    Hey all, so I've been trying to build a mars tranfer vehicle somewhat in the vein of Hermes (from The Martian). For me, it's an 80 ton, crewed, ion propelled spacecraft. Unfortunately, when I got it assembled and fueled in orbit, I discovered that my mod install had reduced the thrust of the engines from 2 kN to 0.25 N which is 8000 times less thrust, and KER told me a 10 m/s burn would take 4 hours and change (8 engines). I am obviously going to have to rethink my plan, but that's actually not my main point of interest. \ All this got me wondering, how would a real world ion rocket leave earth orbit for an interplanetary transfer? I am very experienced with using multiple perigee kicks to make low thrust escapes, but the thrust of real life ions is SO low that this isn't possible. Even if I halved the mass of my rocket to 40t and tripled the number of engines, it'd still be more than half an hour for 10 m/s. At that rate, it'd take more than 300 kicks to reach escape velocity. I know that all real world ion spacecraft to date have been lauched into heliocentric orbits using chemical rockets, so I'm not sure it's actually possible to use such a low thrust system for earth escape. There are however, several hypothetical vehicles, both fictional and real concept designs, that do appear to exclusively use ion propulsion once in orbit. Does anyone know what kind of trajectory would be used? The only one I can think of is a very long spiral up to very high orbit, and from there on to deep space. However, I imagine this would eat up an absurd amount of dV, so it doesn't seem like a good option for anything except maybe a solar sail vehicle. Ion drives in stock are time consuming, but you can basically treat them the same way you would small chemical rocket engines like the LV-1. With realistic ion drives though, I don't have the first clue how to use them. Thoughts? Ideas?
  5. NFunky
    Thank you guys all for the advice. I still have no idea what was causing this, but Kerbal Joint Reinforcement did seem to help a lot. In testing, I still occasionally get unexpected disassembly, but it's rare now. More like 1 in 10 rather than 1 in 3 like it was. Interesting about the heating model in RSS. I don't think this was the issue here, since I never got any overheating reports, just structural failures, but I am planning a mission with an RTG, so that's really good to know. Anyway, I'd still be very interested if anyone else has experienced sudden, unexpected disassembly when loading a vessel.
  6. NFunky
    I just tried it again after removing Kerbalism from my GameData folder. Same results unfortunately. I also removed Heat Pumps in case KSP's weird time-warp heating model was causing it, but no joy. I'll give KJR a try, but I have actually enjoyed having to design my rockets more carefully to avoid structural failures during launch. I've learned a lot about reducing wobble and preventing overstress on certain joints. If I need KJR to do long duration missions though, then it's worth the trade. Has anyone else ever experienced anything like the issue I'm having? Spacecraft inexplicably being destroyed after a long time unattended?
  7. NFunky
    Hey guys, so I'm having trouble sending a probe to Mars in RSS. I'm using Stockalike RF and Kerbalism as my realism mods instead of RO. The problem I'm having is inconsistent, which is driving me even crazier. So if anyone has any ideas, I'd be very grateful. Basically, when I time warp at high rates for a while in tracking or space center, then go back to the probe, half the time it is in pieces. The engineer's report says there were "structural failure or linkage" between several parts, almost always topped by the jumbo fuel tank and its linkages. Any idea what could be causing this? If it's helpful at all, here's my modlist (KSP 1.2.2): CactEye Telescopes Chatterer Colision FX Community Resource Pack Contract Configurator Distant Object Enhancement Docking Port Sounds Engine Lighting EnvironmentalVisualEnhancements (RSSVE) EVA Transfer Ferram Aerospace Research Flight Management for Recoverable Stages & Recovery Control Heat Pumps (RF) Historical Progression Tech Tree Kerbal Alarm Clock Kerbal Engineer Kerbalism Kerbal Launch Failure Kopernicus Launch Countdown Modular Flight Integrator NavBall Texture Changer NavHud Orbital Decay & Solar Cycle System Precise Node QuickSAS & QuickStart Real Fuels & RF Stockalike Real Plume Real Heat Real Solar System Reentry Particle Effects RSS Visual Enhancements Scatterer Smoke Screen Solver Engines TankLock Texture Replacer Trajectories Transfer WindowPlanner Ven's Stock Revamp Module Manager of course
  8. NFunky
    Hi all, So I recently ran into an interesting issue that I've never really payed attention to before. First off, let me state that I am using RSS, but this topic should apply to stock as well, if perhaps to a lesser degree. I was returning a three kerbal capsule from the moon, and accidentally overdid the lunar escape burn. This meant that, while I had a good return trajectory, I'd be coming in retrograde relative to Earth's rotation. I didn't think this really mattered, until my capsule exploded on reentry. This was a capsule I'd returned from the moon multiple times before, and I hadn't modified my install or save game at all, so I was baffled until I realized the possible cause. I did some tests and it seems that reentering retrograde produces much more intense heating (approximately 100-200 degrees more). So here's my question. Is this realistic? I understand that the atmosphere is rotating along with the planet, but I wouldn't have thought it would cause any real differnce in airspeed during reentry. Was I wrong and atmospheric rotation is a much bigger issue than I suspected?
  9. NFunky
    Good point. I have not yet unlocked RTGs, but I have the science, so I suppose that's what I should spend it on. I was mainly planning for using hydrolox stages to make it easier to develop cislunar space, with an eye to possibly docking several of these stages in LEO for a manned mars mission. Depending on how well cryogenics could store, I was maybe going to use a hydrolox or methalox return stage. Looks like I may need to use hypergolics for that after all though. I am going to try to get Heat Pumps working. Does anyone know if Heat Pump radiators will work for things like ISRU and reactor cooling? How about cooling solar probes? I can't seem to find much detailed documentation on this mod.
  10. NFunky
    Thank you. With RO, is it possible to build large, hydrolox (or nuke hydrogen) vehicles for long duration, deep space missions? I'm not using RO, but I am using RSS, Real Fuels, Tweakscale, and some others. I am getting tired of having to pack insane amounts of hydrazine based propellants in order to do any significant maneuvers beyond earth orbit. Anybody got any tips or suggestions for building large, interplanetary spacecraft? Particularly, fuel type and engine choices?
  11. NFunky
    Thank you for this info. Really good to know. I assume you're talking about the stock radiators?
  12. NFunky
    Really good to know. Have you used the Fuel Pumps mod? Is it just more powerful radiators (i.e. electrically cooled), or do they work in a completely different way? I only ask because I'm trying to work out whether it's worth me getting my career save to work with Heat Pumps. I'm mainly interested in using refuelable hydrolox rockets for cislunar operations. With no radiators, a hydrolox upper stage seems to begin serious boiloff after 24+ hours. I've done a few tests sending unmanned upper stages to lunar free return trajectories, and after about a day, Kerbal Engineer starts showing my delta-v dropping rapidly. I'm curious if anyone knows how the cryogenic fuel system in RF works. Are the tanks pre-chilled ore something? Do planets (Earth) radiate heat at all? I'd like to understand why I can store a tank of hydrolox for a day without much loss, as well as why it rapidly begins to boil off after that. Should I be posting this in the mods forum instead?
  13. NFunky
    Does anyone know if the stock radiators do anything to retard boil-off when using Real Fuels? I know about, and have Heat Pumps, but I am having a little trouble integrating it into my existing career setup. They also require massive amounts of electricity, which makes sense, but is a pain to plan for. Does it make any difference whether a radiator is in the sunlight? For instance, could I put a row of radiators on one side of a cryogenic tank and make sure they are always in the tank's shadow? And finally, does quantity make any difference? If I use eight radiators, will that work better than four? If so, does the effectiveness increase linearly with number of radiators, or does it start to fall off after a point? I'm trying to do my own tests on these questions, but they take a solid amount of KSP time perform, and I figured I'd ask here before devoting too much time to it. Thanks!
  14. NFunky
    Does anybody know where I can download version 1.7 of facetrackNoIR? I can only find v2.00 available for purchase & download. If KerbTrack can use facetrackNoIR v2.00, how should I go about installing it? There are no freetrack client dlls in the facetrackNoIR folder as far as I can tell. Thank you!
  15. NFunky
    Hey all, been playing with Real Solar System (plus mods like KSC Switcher and FMRS) and have recently been doing the SpaceX style first stage boostback with a chute assisted powered landing and man, it's a lot of fun. I've gotten to the point with one particular design where I can land it within visual sight of the KSC fairly regularly, though I haven't managed a landing on the runway or pad yet. One thing I've noticed when recovering vessels in RSS (even with KSCS) is that it says they are over 3,000 km away from KSC, even when I can SEE the VAB on the horizon. Wouldn't over 3,000 km practically put the recovery locus on the next continet? BTW, I'm flying out of Kennedy, but I get similar results flying from Vandenburg. Is there a mod, or a way to modify the mods I have to alight the recovery locus to the currently selected launch site? Or at least to a specified point, like Merritt Island?
  16. NFunky
    Thank you so much! I don't know why I couldn't find this mod. I really appreciate it.
  17. NFunky
    Hey guys, quick question here. BTW, I tried my best to search for an answer, but couldn't seem to find one, so I apologize if it's been asked before. Are there hotkeys for the SAS hold buttons? I especially use the 'hold prograde' throughout a lot of the ascent of my rockets. I'm visually impaired, so it's been a thing where I have to pause the game to give me time to find and click the button, and it's kind of getting old. Might there be a mod that allows me to assign these SAS holds to action-groups? Thanks!
  18. NFunky
    It's a very eccentric orbit, and I'm visually impaired, so I haven't had much luck with the eyeballing method.
  19. NFunky
    Hi guys, I'm doing some sat contracts (in RSS) and need some advice. I'm talking, of course, about launching into the appropriate inclination. I know there have been threads about this topic before, but I did pretty extensive searching and couldn't find what I was looking for, so here goes. Since I'm using RSS, I'm launching from Cape Canaveral AFS in Florida, which is at 28.6 degrees. The orbit I'm going for is a tundra orbit 71,000x460km, inclined at 110 degrees. The orbit appears to cross the equator about half way between Ap and Pe. I've noticed though, that the ascending/descending nodes slide around and change value as I time warp on the pad. As a full day passes on the pad, the nodes swing back and forth along the target orbit (~45 degrees), and vary between 88 and 145 degrees. I looked up a launch azimuth calculator and it gave me ~202.9 as a heading, which sounds right to me. I rotated the rocket in the VAB 115 degrees so I'd only have to do a little yaw correction achieve the proper heading. Does all this sound right? I assumed it would make sense to launch when the nodes read 110/-110, but when I tried it, I was off by more than 15 degrees. I then tried launching when they read 138/-138 (110+28.6), but I was off by 40 degrees. So does anyone know when I should actually launch? Am I not taking travel distance during launch into account? How should I calculate this?
  20. NFunky
    Hey, First, I want to add my thanks to everyone else's. Just discovered this mod and I love it! It finally forces me to do all kind of realistic space things that I wouldn't have before. I've got a pretty simple question about the decay rate in Real Solar System. I've noticed the decay rate is really high in LEO. I have a 4 ton ship (mk1 pod, mk1 cabin, +support equipment) in a 300x300 km orbit around earth. I'd think I could last a decent while up here with such a little ship, but the estimated time until decay is only 16 days! My decay rate is more than 900 m/day. Is this realistic? I'm very much not an expert, so please let me know if this is just how fast things decay in reality. Otherwise, what should my settings be for realistic decay in RSS?
  21. NFunky
    Thank you so much! I'd seen that mod before, but it wasn't on CKAN for 1.2.2 and the thread does say 1.1.3, so I had no idea it was compatible! Seems to work fine so far, but I haven't done any rendezvous or anything with it yet.
  22. NFunky
    Thank you guys for all the quick answers. I really appreciate it, and everything you all have said makes complete sense. Does anyone know if there's a mod that adds station keeping to KSP? Honestly, I got to wondering about this question while recreating the early Soviet Luna missions. Those probes were just metal spheres with antennae and basic scientific sensors. No RCS or attitude control at all I belive? Certainly not much in the way of station keeping, since they were spending most of their time WAY out in cislunar space. I'm pretty sure that Luna 1 didn't even separate until it had left Earth's SOI, but it did still separate. Even Sputnik separated from its booster, but I'm guessing that was to reduce drag and extend orbital lifespan. I need to do more research myself obviously, but does anyone have any insights into this?
  23. NFunky
    Hey guys, just had a quick question. Why do all probes/satellites (particularly early ones) seperate from the final stage of their carrier rocket once they reach the proper trajectory/orbit? And, is do any of those reasons matter in KSP? I've always done it, but I have no idea why. I guess just because that's what I've always seen them do. In early career though, when trying to save every buck per launch, why ever bother? Those TR-18A stack decouplers are $400 each, which I could spend on another RT-10 instead = more dV/$. Does everybody do integrated upper stages and I'm just late to the party? I'm also talking about stock here, but what about RSS/RO? Does that change the equation a lot? Thanks!
  24. NFunky
    Really hate to do this, and I'm really sorry for bringing this thread back up again. I just never really got much in the way of answers to my original question (except for the reminder about solar panels). I'd really appreciate anyone who could suggest other attitude specific tasks/mission elements are in KSP. Can anyone help lay some more of these out for me? Also, does anyone know of any mods that require attitude alignment? Thank you!
  25. NFunky
    Hey all, sorry to resurrect this post, but I had another related question, and I didn't want to open a whole new thread for it. Does anyone know if the Asteroid Day sensors need to be aimed a certain way? I mean, they're telescopes, so I would hope they would. Also, does anyone know if there is a way to write a contract (for Contract Configurator) that requires a certain attitude? I'm not what command would check for that, but I'd really like to write my own contract pack for more interesting satellite/science contracts.
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