KASASpace

Everything in KSP is scaled down, but when I looked at Jool's radius, I noticed it was around 6,000 kilometers. That's ten times Kerbin, which if I recall is supposed to be one-tenth the size of Earth. So, Jool is small. Now, on to my question, could a gas-planet the size of Jool even form in a young solar system?

If you want to get to a reasonable fraction of the speed of light, like 70%, then you need a mass fraction that is just GINORMOUS, even with antimatter. So, probably not getting to .7c anytime soon, but if fusion is on its way like people say, we might get .1 or .2c. Orion could get to Alpha Centuari in ~130 years, if we build the interstellar version that's fast. Basically, it's possible, but the biggest obstacle is not mass fractions or speed, but POLITICS. Who's going to fund a .1c probe?

I said OTRAG's staging, not OTRAG itself. If a model rocket is a low power motor and a small-ish size, you can!

Actually gas-giants may not have hydrogen, but a lot of them do. However, that close to Jupiter the radiation is probably too extreme for almost any civilization's technology to survive.

We actually know very little about the outer planets of those systems, because they might be taking too long to pass in front of the star for direct observation, or the "wobble" is so small due to distance that it's not observable.

I chose propane because it's more efficient, almost 30 to 50 increased Isp over kerosene, and it's a lot easier to acquire propane. I don't know, perhaps some sort of magnetic acceleration? A hydraulic system akin to the systems onboard carriers? I never said it was final. There are other methods.

Too much weight? Do you understand how a ramjet works? It's practically a tube with an injector, although that's a gross exaggeration. A ramjet's biggest difference from a scramjet is geometry, so not much increase of weight there. The heaviest engine will most likely be the rocket engine itself, although it could be pressure-fed, but that's not that efficient. I never said that, I said: A turbo-compressor is complicated, and that's why I didn't mention having one onboard.

Actually, 10x10x5 cm kits are available, and if we do a PR mission first I would say that is the size to go with.

Perhaps, if we only get LEO, we could launch a 1U that can separate. It then flies away a bit, rendezvous with the detatched piece and dock. We could use this to test out in-space refueling, with multiple consumables transferred (electric charge, fuel for propulsion, etc.)

Yes they are, but you will gain large amounts of cross-range capability with engines. Plus, ramjets are extremely simple, with virtually no moving parts.

What about landing on Europa? Perhaps with airbags? It hasn't really been done has it? Maybe Enceladus? I say this because it's bold and very KSP. Problem with this is mainly radiation, but I don't know about Delta-v requirements to Europa. I would go with a 2U because it seems like a better plan than a 1U, 2Us have up to four times the volume, unless it's just two 1Us attached at one side.

A custom built model rocket could all right. Most model rockets with store-bought engines have fuel only in the engine, giving really small Delta-v. Now, using extended fuel tanks you could do it with a simple guidance system and "infinite" staging, which means staging immediately around a core (OTRAG did that).

We wouldn't survive that impact. But maybe smaller. There's still the possibility of maintaining an underground forest and get charcoal from it.

You forget, that it is not the metals that matter, but something much much different. Even if we were blasted into the Neolithic age, I know about a piece of technology that could take us to the Bronze Age, it's called the Bellows. It's a compressible container that "blows" air into a fire, making it hotter. This allows for that fire to melt metals. Then we can use those metals to make tools. Plus, that would only happen if everyone with knowledge about industrial technology died in that disaster.

That's a good point. Although it would depend on a lot of factors, like where Jupiter is in the solar system (if you can get an encounter where the gravity of Jupiter can pull you towards the sun's retro grade vector, then it's possible.)

So, I have been thinking about this topic for a while, and I came up with this: Some sort of method of getting the craft to high enough velocities so where a ramjet provides decent thrust, perhaps a JATO like device, I don't know. Then, the vehicle "takes off" and flies to an altitude, and a velocity, where it starts to lose thrust. Now, the ramjet is actually a bypass around the actual main engine, which is a scramjet. Since ramjets are fairly effective up to ~Mach 5 to 6, the ramjet will throttle down and the scramjet will throttle up so that the thrust remains the same. Eventually the ramjet fully shuts down and the scramjet is the only unit burning. Using the scramjet to get to fairly high velocities and altitudes, you could potentially cut a large amount of delta-v required, thanks to lift. After reaching a decent velocity and altitude, a rocket engine fires. At this point the scramjet throttles down and then cuts off thrust. The rocket engine (perhaps using liquid propane, which is in the upper 300s for Isp) will finish the trip to orbit. So, any thoughts/improvements? The technology for a "bypass" "ramjet" has existed since the 1960s in the SR-71, which is what this ram/scram-jet is based on.

Then we would have something pretty good.

Fission fragment propulsion has the possibility of millions of specific impulse. We could use that. Antimatter, *shivers* is tough to deal with, so probably no. How efficient is nuclear energy again? Much more than chemical, but still low. If we could get some sort of interim between antimatter, with its efficiency, and nuclear energy, with its relative ease of use, we could probably do it. Either that or get lucky with wormholes.

Well, the most likely scenario is that a large probe will enter the solar system, perhaps fairly close to the sun, perhaps far. What will most likely be the case is an unmanned vehicle that will enter the solar system and then move towards the planets of the system and deploy smaller probes for long-term operations. Maybe a few probes for the Gas-planets to explore the moons, an Earth probe, Venus probe, Mars, etc. Now, the design will probably be similar to the Daedalus concept, an interstellar staged spacecraft. Although that was designed for flybys, but with a solar sail coming close to the solar system you could possibly brake........ They will most likely come to gather science, like our probes but interstellar. Perhaps we could rendezvous with one of the probes and reverse engineer the propulsion system. Earth is valuable for a few reasons, large amounts of Carbon, large amounts of Hydrogen in one place, so if you have fusion engines...... We're here, we have creative mind that can think up almost anything. We have an amazing adaptability trait that some other species may not possess in the universe. Asteroids are useful for metals, however, metals may not be useful for an interstellar civilization, especially since metals can have reactions with radiation that spawns more radiation.

Actually, electric power lifting that many tons? Not yet mind you. It would take enormous amounts of energy you just can't get with reactors on ships. Plus, you would need to find the ship. What if the portion at GEO is not moving the appropriate speed? GEO is a type of orbit, not an altitude. If there were any counterweight it would most likely pass the speed on to the counterweight. Which means no portion actually AT GEO.

A logical application is what happened in Contact by Carl Sagan, they were there, but only their minds, not their physical bodies. So, find enough alien stuff to build a special part that takes you, and your spaceship, to another star system, in the Kerbal's minds....... That or more timewarp, or possibly alien warp-gate? A lonely question mark in the inky blackness of space, at least in the tracking station. Maybe the tracking station could have an Artifacts tab so you can look at easter eggs you already found.

What if it's a probe? A self-replicating probe (capable of building more of itself with in-situ utilization. So, a monolith. With knowledge? We can only hope it brings about good things. Or some kind of "Rama" flying around.......

Nothing doesn't exist. What does exist is the lack of something, which is still a thing. So, therefore they are made of something, the lack of it.

No no, this isn't a problem. You don't just send them there. It's kind of like climbing tall mountains. You acclimatize. So, perhaps using an orbital centrifuge you could slowly get the humans to get used to the new gravity levels. And then do this on the way to Earth if they ever visit. You would be surprised how well the human body can adapt to new environments. And the air problem for the moon is more than gravity, but the amount required with that low gravity to get the proper pressure at sea level. Good luck with that. If only Jupiter hadn't stolen some of Mars' mass before Mars even came to be......... The Moon isn't a likely target for terraforming, but Mars is. Venus is, just, no. Now, here's something. Increase the mass. Perhaps breaking up asteroids and raining them slowly over Mars could eventually increase it's mass to have the Gravity required to hold in an atmosphere at, let's say at least half the pressure at sea level on Earth. The percentages of Oxygen to Nitrogen can vary. You now have other problems. So, stop with the Gravity thing and accept that we aren't masters of the universe. Leave some things alone.

Actually, the idea is that one bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. One resource in space is worth many more that aren't in space, simply because it's there. If there were no gas stations along major interstates, than you are kind of screwed. In space that can be fixed by just launching everything you need. But remember, the station was supposed to be a staging point for lunar trips, so, a gas-station and other supplies. Basically, logistics. In. SPACE! So, just because it is literally THERE, it has at least millions of dollars of potential, not necessarily value, but potential.