SlinkyBlue

Thank you for the reply. The math is a bit over my head, but the TWR seems to be the thing I was not quite accounting for. So, obviously if we're discussing an alternative engine to throw onto the ship, the 909 is out of the question. Would some 45's make more logical sense to you?

So, I've got a question for you all. Maybe there's a set answer or maybe there's a debate going on about it, either way I'm curious as to what you guys think. I've been designing a large ship, with two orange fuel tanks, to go to Jool. Along with spots to hold many probes, I included 5 docking hardpoints for nuclear engines to be attached on-orbit. Hey, it looked cool. While I was pondering this at work today, I came across a thought; Adding engines increases fuel consumption right along with the added thrust, of course, so therefore the ship won't "go any farther" (delta-V) with 5 engines as opposed to like 2 or 3. When you factor in the mass of the added engines, I thought that it might even *decrease* my delta-v by adding more engines onto the same chassis. Then I thought: does this same logic go all the way down to one engine? My question for you: Is ONE and ONLY ONE engine always the best way to get the most delta-V out of my ship? Do the added engines and thrust reduce the delta-V from the weight that is added? Thanks for any help, I'm sure this concept is well understood by most of you, but it's not something I could figure out for myself. -Slinky

Or... ? First post, btw. Love this game and community.