Northstar1989

First of all, here are some unsorted pictures of my full refueling (any excess fuel will be delivered to the Munar Spacedock) of the Rocketparts Tanker at the 350 km Depot, and scrapping of the decommissioned Munar Science Module with my Heavy Scrapper Ship and delivery of the RocketParts to the Munar Spacedock: Stuff gets weird though. When toying with my design of Heavy Fuel Lander for the Munar colony (I designed two classes of fuel lander- a light one designed mostly for rescue operations, and a heavier one designed mainly for servicing my Munar outpost's fuel-production facilities), the idea struck me for some reason to try out building it with Orbital Construction now that I had delivered additional RocketParts to the Munar Spacedock: As you'll see, quite clearly this lander can be built at ANY of three spacedocks- the 350 km Depot, the Munar Spacedock, or the Duna Heavy Equipment Deployment Platform. This is despite the fact that *ONLY* the Munar Spacedock received any additional RocketParts, and previously vessels like this lander (and in fact much lighter than this lander) could not be constructed any of my 4 spacedocks... My new theory is that the issues I was having with OrbitalConstruction resulted from having the Spacedock Identifier and the RocketParts storage on two different vessels which were technically only docked with each other. Somehow, providing the Munar Spacedock with RocketParts circumvented the detection issue- likely as it was another vessel IN THE SAME SYSTEM as the 350 km Depot. Prior to that, only the Minmus Spacedock provided an alternative building location in the Kerbin system (which would explain the size limit of exactly 0.16 tons I was experiencing on vessels I could build prior to providing additional RocketParts to the Munar Spacedock- the Minmus Spacedock holds exactly 0.16 tons of RocketParts at the moment) as the DHEDP is somewhere out in Kerbol orbit en-route to Duna... As this is the first time I have had this problem, and Extraplanetary Launchpads is known to be having some bugs/issues of its own with its orbital construction system at the moment, I will probably just persevere with using Orbital Construction Re-Redux mod for my orbital construction needs. I will have to be careful to build at the 350 km depot BEFORE I use up any of the RocketParts on the Munar Spacedock however, as I won't be able to build any craft larger than the current RocketParts stock of the Munar Spacedock at the 350 km depot until this issue is resolved (likely by building an intermediary craft with a Spacedock Identifier *AND* a RocketParts storage module at the 350 km depot, and then building the larger planned spacedock from there- as the new spacedock design weighs in at almost 120 tons- far more than the current RocketParts stock on the Munar Spacedock) I'll get things worked out somehow. More on that soon. Regards, Northstar

The Light Moon Explorer Mk1 returned from its journeys, and despite a VERY steep re-entry trajectory (at one time pulling over 23 G's), it made it safely back to Kerbin's surface with its valuable scientific data: Next up, I still need to get those abandoned ships in Munar orbit recycled so I can use the RocketParts build a fuel lander for the Light Moon Explorer Mk2 mission stranded near the poles... Also, I'm going to want to consider whether the LME-3 (the mission landed in one of the Mun's canyons) should make a pit-stop for refueling at the Munar Spacedock on the way home (my first instinct is, yes). And, whether I should keep it landed a bit longer before its return trip to try and collect seismographic data from the nearby probe for physical return to Kerbin if I can get an impactor experiment to work... Regards, Northstar

In accordance with my plans, I launched a modified version of my earlier RocketParts Tanker design to low Kerbin orbit: It has enough fuel to make it to the 350 km depot, where refueling will provide it with enough Delta-V to make it to Minmus and dock with the spacedock there... After it arrives, it will transfer over its entire load of RocketParts, and then some of them will be utilized to immediately build a scrapper ship there and recycle the tanker itself for additional RocketParts. This will provide the Minmus Spacedock with over 120 tons of RocketParts- more than enough to construct a sizeable new spacedock in both Minmus orbit (to get rid of the OrbitalConstruction identifier there which is causing issues), and to match the construction cost of a spacedock at 350 km orbit. It order to avoid further issues with OrbitalConstruction, the new spacedocks will all be built equipped with Extraplanetary Launchpads orbital build systems. I will continue to use Orbital Construction warehouses because they allow me to store more RocketParts in a single part, and don't appear to cause any issues in themselves; but I won't be building any new OrbitalConstruction spacedock identifiers from now on, and will be recycling all the old ones except the one on the Duna Heavy Equipment Deployment Platform. I will also have to remember to leave enough RocketParts at each spacedock to build a recycling ship capable of recycling the previous spacedock... I'm really not sure what caused this issue in the first place (the Munar Spacedock has never caused similar issues with construction at other spacedocks, even when it was completely empty), but I'm going to head off future such problems by transitioning out of the OrbitalConstruction build system bit by bit... Eventually I will even delete the plugin and parts for the Spacedock Identifier and Spacebuilt Identifier from the mod folder- leaving only the parts configs for the RocketParts storage modules. This should also save me a bit of computer memory. Regards, Northstar

OK, sorry I've been gone so long. I took a temporary hiatus from KSP, and just now came back to it... So first of all, I docked the Altitude Launch Test Rocket with the 350 km depot, and transferred over its measly quantity of LFO just to get that out of the way. I got some nice pictures too: I forgot how cool it is essentially parallel parking two (or three, in this case) missiles in orbit hundreds of thousands of meters above Kerbin's surface... Anyways, after much trial-and-error (and even a re-install of Orbital Construction Re-Redux), I finally figured out what the problem was with constructing the new 350 km spacedock (or a fuel lander to save the Light Moon Explorer Mk2 mission, or almost anything else for that matter). Apparently, for some reason the spacedock detection algorithm is using the Minmus Spacedock as a sort of "default". If the Minmus Spacedock doesn't havve enough RocketParts to construct a given craft, it cannot be built at *ANY* of my spacedocks, regardless of how many parts they have... In the future, I'll probably want to avoid this problem by switching over all my orbital construction aside from the Duna Heavy Equipment Platform to the new orbital infrastructure for Extraplanetary Launchpads (which relies on manual selection of the spacedock rather than a flawed auto-detection algorithm). But in the meantime, it appears my only option is to send a large RocketParts tanker to the Minmus Spacedock directly from the KSC... Regards, Northstar

OK, so I got the Spacedock Identifier-carrying LFO Tanker up to the 350 km depot, and docked it successfully. I even got the Altitude Launch Test Rocket I launched earlier there as well, to transfer its supplies to the new depot once completed. However, I don't seem to be able to construct anything (even very small vessels) at the depot anymore, after constructing a tiny vessel vessel consisting of nothing but a couple solar panels, a radial KAS connector port, and an octagonal strut to add solar panels to the Altitude Launch Test Rocket (it ran out of power shortly after arriving). So, I will have to put off building the new spacedock until later. Also, I designed some modules for my Munar outpost, as well as a fuel lander to refuel the Light Moon Explorer Mk2 (it looks like I will be sending the rescue craft from the Munar Spacedock after all). So I look forward to completing those missions later as well. Sorry to leave things inconclusive for you guys. There's nothing I can do about this bug at the moment- I tried several different things, and nothing seems to work... Regards, Northstar

Short of launching a tanker directly from the KSC, my main tanker options are to launch a tanker from the Munar Spacedock or to launch a tanker from the 350 km depot. Since the 350 km depot was in need of the tools (Spacedock identifier) to complete planned upgrades converting it into a proper spacedock (I've got to find *SOME* way to put all those recycled RocketParts to good use- why not use them to help construct new rockets and Microwave Power Transmission satellites from the 350 km station? These RocektParts are of course being used to complement parts hauled from Kerbin- which might reflect some of the harder to manufacture/recycle components, and the solar panels for the power satellites...), I decided to just go ahead and throw the tools (a Spacedock Identifier part) on a LFO tanker and send it up... Note the Spacedock Identifier visible in the close-up second-last picture in the album. Regards, Northstar

Soon Jerbo and Donely Kerman had touched back down at a more distant location on the Mun. However, it seemed thay had a problem: After touching down on the Mun again, Jerbo breather a sigh of relief from the stress of the low-altitude landing. However, his relief was short-lived... "Uhh Jerbo, is that fuel gauge accurate?" "Looks to be, why?" said Jerbo, his breath caught in his throat. "Jerbo, we're not going to have enough fuel to make it back to Kerbin like this. In fact, we might not even have enough fuel to make it into Munar orbit from here." Jerbo's anticipation turned into dread "So what do you propose we do then?" asked Jerbo. "I don't know," said Donely "Let me get Mission Control on the line..." OOC: At this point I have two options- for the Kerbals to grab the Surface Samples, and EVA their way to low orbits after the Comman Module gets them in as high a suborbital trajectory as it can- from which point a rescue vessel from the Munar Spacedock would recover them; or for the Munar Spacedock to send a small refueling-lander to the Command Module. I'm opting for the latter, because I believe I still have Science Points left to gain from returning vessels from the Munar surface... I'll let you guys know how my rescue plan ends up in the end. Regards, Northstar P.S. Jerbo popped out of the capsule for a minute to try and de-stress, while waiting for Donely on the radio. He also took a surface sample while there:

Jerbo Kerman looked hesitatingly out the window of the Light Moon Explorer Mk2: He couldn't believe he was really there again! He was on the Mun! After seemingly ages on board the Munar Spacedock, Jerbo was ecstatic to be getting the chance to set foot on the Mun again. And not just anywhere-on the Mun's Polar Crater! Jerbo would be getting the chance to look for water on the Mun! Although the Polar Impactor had failed to produce any useful data, Jerbo was sure the scientists back at KSC would be able to do something with the surface samples he would be returning. And, he would get the chance to go home and embrace his family again! Without further hesitation, Jerbo secured his spacesuit and rushed out the airlock to set foot on the surface again: Stopping to glance at the beautiful blue marble that was Kerbin on the horizon, Jerbo quickly scooped up a sample of the surface: "Hmm, interesting. I bet the scientists at KSC will love this" muttered Jerbo to himself. "Hey, wait for me!" exclaimed Donely Kerman, "You didn't think you were going to perform all the science by yourself and life us back off without my getting a chance to set foot out here, did you?" continued Donely. "Besides, KSC directed us to take at least TWO samples of the surface- one to return so they can analyze it more, and one to upload preliminary data on using the instruments in the Odin Command Capsule- in case anything should happen to us on the way back." And with that, Donely scooped up a sample as well: Jerbo was getting impatient with Donely- "Alright, you stay out here and take in the scenery then. I'm going to go upload those preliminary readings." "Alright, see ya buddy!" replied Donely. Jerbo returned to the Command Capsule, and soon had the data uploaded. Then, he glanced out the window: "Whoa, Donely- where'd you go?!" exclaimed Jerbo. "Right here buddy. Just taking a look around the area. Maybe I'll see something interesting" replied Donely, from his EVA comm: "You know that's not going to give KSC any useful data" replied Jerbo. "Now get back here before you hurt yourself!" Jerbo continued on "The last thing we need is an injury out here!" "Yes, mother" replied Donely, and promptly turned around: "Be careful on your way back" replied Jerbo Donely, not listening, soon faceplanted onto the regolith near the LME-2: "Donely, are you alright!?" inquired Jerbo, frantically. "I'm fine buddy. That was FUN!" came Donely's reply. Soon, both Kerbals were back on the Command Capsule: "You scared my bud. Don't go doing anything like that again." scolded Jerbo. "Chill out man" came Donely's reply "It's our last day on the Mun, and I just thought I'd have a little fun with it..." "You want to have some fun?" asked Jerbo. "Then make yourself useful, and take these controls while I throttle us up, and we make a hop over to the proper north pole here. KSC said if we had enough fuel leftover, it would be useful to touch down a larger command capsule over there than the last LME's lander. If we're lucky, we might even touch down in one of the Polar Lowlands locatinos the KSC seemed so interested in..." "Alright, bud, let's go" replied Donely- and soon the LME Mk2 was lifting off the Mun again for a suborbital hop: "I'm taking us low and fast Donely" said Jerbo "I want to make sure we don't spend too much time getting irradiated by the Sun out here- and besides, we'll get a better view of the terrain this way." Regards, Northstar

After another FAIL at the impactor experiment generating any data: I decided to just go ahead and land the LME-2: Regards, Northstar

@Wavefunction It's not excessive- it's realistic. It's pretty simple, really. There is *NO SUCH THING* as "base" heat dissipation. Your radiators dissipate heat based entirely on their temperature (like a hot piece of metal giving off heat as it glows- which is basically what your unupgraded radiators are- glowing pieced of metal). As it happens, there is a "background" temperature, which is the coldest they can get- but it's not a true "base" heat giveoff in any sense. The hotter your radiators get, the more heat they dissipate. If they were at absolute zero (zero degrees Kelvin- the coldest any object can get), they would giveoff absolutely no heat. The radiators dissipate heat according to a real-life physics law, and actually, the unupgraded radiators perform BETTER than they should relative to the upgraded ones- the Emissivity Coefficient of graphene (upgraded) radiators should be *higher* than that of metal (unupgraded) radiators- but KSP-I gives them exactly the same emissivity instead... Anyways, you only will notice the difference in heat radiation when you are using upgraded reactors. The reason you are noticing the large difference is because you are using extremely, extremely hot reactors with low-tech radiators that can't safely reach a fraction of the reactor temperature. Use better radiators and don't complain about it. The upgraded reactors are meant to be used with the upgraded radiators. It's perfectly understandable that you didn't know this when you posted, but *please* don't complain that it's "unbalanced" and ask for the mod to be made less realistic. As I've already pointed out in my previous posts, there are more than enough realism issues with the upgraded radiators under-performing their actual real-life counterparts (graphene radiators' emissivity should be higher than their metal cousins), the ISRU system incorrectly making exothermic reactions such as the Sabatier Reaction *cost* large quantities of electricity when they should actually be self-sustaining and capable of *producing* small amounts of electricity, and basic-level fusion reactors outperforming what you might expect from first-generation fusion reactors (the upgraded fusion reactors do match expected performance for later-generation fusion reactors well, however). The last thing this mod needs is more inaccuracies, as awesome and fun to play as it is. Regards, Northstar P.S. For those of you not familiar with the Stefan-Boltzmann Law, any body that does not absorb 100% of the incident radiation hitting it is known as a GREY BODY rather than a BLACK BODY. Any normal metal is going to be a grey body, for instance- whereas graphene rather closely approaches an idealized black body. The equation for a GREY BODY is: J = E * S * T^4 where: J = the Emissive Power. Basically the total heat-giveoff per unit time. What we mean when we say how much heat is radiated. E (Epsilon) = the EMISSIVITY CONSTANT. This is between 0 and 1 for any GREY BODY, but is 1 for a BLACK BODY. S (Sigma) = Stefan's Constant. This is a mathematical/physical constant that you guys really don't need to know for these purposes. T = Absolute Temperature (in degrees Kelvin). Note that it is raised to the FOURTH POWER- so if you double temperature, you get 16 times the heat-giveoff. If you want to understand this equation for yourself, Wikipedia does a decent job explaining it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan%E2%80%93Boltzmann_law

Never mind them. The Emperor will have his revenge on them later! Now, where we... Ahhh yes, Skykooler, we have cookies. And more realism than a 14 km-high mass drive. Come, to the dark side.

That doesn't sound like a bad idea. Maybe I'll give it a try- if my computer's memory doesn't implode from the extra mod (I might have to find a way to reduce the existing memory usage further). How much do the Hooligan Labs balloon envelopes weigh. And more importantly, how much mass can one hold up at 12,000 meters on Eve? Remember, my reusable rocket can only *maybe* lift 8 tons on Eve, even with its upgraded fusion reactors, and some further optimization (I realized after my last payload test on Kerbin, which was calculated from maximum payload with a TWR >2.7- as Eve's gravity is 1.7 times Kerbin's; that payload capacity would actually be quite a bit less on Eve thanks to the thick atmosphere choking the thermal turbojet at 7000 meters there- where the air is still much thicker than at the KSC Launchpad...) Regards, Northstar

Not a bad idea... Come, Skycooler, to the dark side. Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy from the top of a mountaintop mass drive. And, we have cookies. - North Vader

I've had this issue for months now myself- but always just figured it was from trying to run the game on my craptop (it typically takes up 70-80% of available memory, although lately it's been skyrocketing up to 90+% without my doing anything differently... I think my memory card might be starting to die...) My guess had always been it was from the game calculating the WasteHeat and fuel system, especially since I have MechJeb2 installed (which comes with some Kerbal Engineer functionality...) Regards, Northstar

I've quicksaved plenty of times- it's kind of a necessity when you're running 18-20 flights at once (though most of those are my Duna Armada- which has already made most of its mid-flight course corrections). I might have even quickloaded a couple times around that time- but this didn't work the FIRST time (after which I quickloaded and retried it 5 or 6 more times to make sure I wasn't doing something wrong). I wouldn't have quickloaded back to before the impact if it had worked right off the bat... Regards, Northstar

I decided to place the Light Moon Explorer Mk2 on a trajectory to reach the Mun's Polar Crater (after hearing there might be water-ice there with KSP-Interstellar, I wanted to see if the surface sample messages would be any different...) I also deployed its seismic sensor probe, and placed its impactor on a trajectory to make an impact elsewhere in the polar crater a bit earlier than the command module itself would land: Unfortunately, the impactor detection system was acting up again. After about 5 tries (F5/F9, re-naming the vessel, nothing worked) I still don't have any impact data. I reverted to a save before the impact, and I'll have to try again later... I'm a bit fed up with stuff not working right... I'll finish this up again (as well as roleplaying for brave Jerbo and Donely Kerman) later. Regards, Northstar

The impactor detection is acting up again- this time on the Mun: I had no fewer than THREE impact sensors deployed on the mun (all close to the equator) and when I crashed this impactor into the Mun at over 664 m/s, I got no impact data... Regards, Northstar

I don't much feel like roleplaying this one, so you guys will have to forgive me... Anyways, the Light Moon Explorer Mk3 made a clean swing around the Mun, and landing somewhat downrange of the original approach. Everything went smoothly in this, although I wound up a little low on fuel... Chadlas Kerman even put aside his fears, and volunteered to hang out the side of the capsule as it swung through the canyon I landed in, for !SCIENCE! Fuel is going to be a little tight getting back (after I stole most of the fuel from the impact sensor probe, I had *just enough* fuel that I should be able to escape the Mun's gravity), but otherwise, I expect this mission to be a total success... Here are the rest of the screenshots: Regards, Northstar

Chadlas was relieved to hear the radio transmission: "Light Moon Explorer-3, there's been a change of plans. We're not putting you guys through a suicide burn. Our scientists realized they already had plenty of samples from the Farside Crater- you'll be swinging around the Mun and landing further west instead." OOC: After running a few "simulations" (F5/F9)- not all of which went so well due the how low the TWR is of the LME Mk2, I realized when I managed a successful landing that I already had plenty of Mun rocks from the Farside Crater. SO, the LME Mk2 will be swinging in a low orbit around the planet until I find somewhere I can land I haven't been before (a functional Science Archives system would really be helpful right now...) Regards, Northstar

The Light Moon Explorer Mk3 hurtled towards the Mun... Chadlas Kerman, trying not to look scared, thought of what lay ahead... "It'll be no problem- just a quick suicide burn, and then we're landed" thought Chadlas, "But I sure don't get why we call these suicide burns..." "What did you say? asked Thompford. "Oh, nothing- I didn't realize I said that out loud..." said Chadlas meekly. "You certainly did" replied Malman, "And they call them Suicide Burns because you'd have yo be suicidal to think of attempting one." "You're not helping" replied Thompford. "I'm fine guys- let's just get on with it" replied Chadlas, and with that, the three Kerbals returned to plotting their next maneuver... Regards, Northstar

As the Light Moon Explorer Mk2 pulled up alongside the Munar Spacedock, Donely Kerman glanced out the window, and sighed. "How beautiful it is out here", he thought. "Doneley?" asked Jerbo- surprised by his compatriot's moment of silence, "What's going on?" "Oh nothing" said Donely, "I was just lost in the tranquility of it all out here." "YOU- taking a moment to smell the roses?" said Jerbo, surprised. "Well, I'm glad it's finally gotten across to you bud- now c'mon, let's get to the Mun!" Soon, Donely was suited up and out the hatch. As he drifted away from the Munar Spacedock, he took one last look at his temporary home in space. "Soon I'll be back with my family" he thought, and, without saying a word, he jetted over to the LME-2. Jerbo was having a little more fun with his last day in space, on the other hand. As he shoved himself out the Munar Spacedock's hatch- the last lights in the airlock shutting down behind him, he was overcome by the sheer animalistic joy of it all. "Donely, we're in SPACE!" Jerbo exclaimed, "I know I've always been the thoughtful one, but today, we are going to have FUN. Let's go out with a BLAST!" "You better not be turning into Jebediah on me" Donely replied "And PLEASE, let's not have any explosions today." "What's gotten into you?" Jerbo asked. "You know I can pilot this thing- remember the Munar Science Module!?" "I remember its radiators falling off" was all Donely said. "Aww c'mon, you know that wasn't my fault! The engineers said there was a defect in the structural material they were supported by..." "Alright, well let's get this over with" replied Donely, as Jerbo approached the LME's hatch. "Huh" Jerbo thought, "Your last day affects everybody differently." "Good thing *I'm* not as much of a mope today as Donely"- and with that, Jerbo secured the hatch behind him of the LME's Odin Command Module, and the two brave Kerbonauts began performing an inventory check of the LME-2 to make sure they knew where everything was... "Beautiful" thought Jerbo, as he glanced out the window at the Mun one more time... Regards, Northstar

Huh, maybe in an earlier version of KSP-I it was different or something? Or I had a bad isntall? I know a long while back, I tried to use methane drop tanks, and found they didn't work. Upon investigating the configs at the time, it definitely said it followed the "All Vessel" distribution rule, or whatever it was called... (same as Monopropellant) By the way, on the topic of In-Situ Resource Utilization, somebody posted an excellent flowchart back on page 704. It's a little more complex than what I was suggesting as a GUI for ISRU (only one reaction would appear to players at a time- based on what they selected on a scroll-down menu on the side of the screen), and could be made a little more compact, but is basically what I was suggesting... If a simple GUI were implemented that prevented players from being overwhelmed, it wouldn't be that hard to implement the Reverse Water Gas Shift Reaction (CO2 + H2 --> CO + H2O), Methane Pyrolysis (CH4 --> C + 2 H2), or the Haber-Bosch Process (N2 + 3 H2 → 2 NH3) utilizing existing resources, would it? And, I've bugged quite a bit about making the Sabatier Reaction exothermic, like in real life. Couldn't we at least see the reduction of its electrical cost to almost nothing (to reflect that the reaction is actually self-sustaining and capable of *producing* electricity), if not an implementation of it generating ThermalPower in excess of its (reduced) electrical cost? Regards, Northstar

@FractalUK Last, but not least, what are the chances we could see a change to the fuel-rule used to determine where LiquidMethane is drawn from in a rocket? I see no reason it should not follow the same rules as LiquidFuel (or even be auto-pumpable with stock fuel-lines). In its current form, it is almost impossible to make use of "drop tanks" of Methane when, say, ascending into Kerbin orbit with a Methane-Oxidizer engine; without heavy use of a mod like TAC Fuel Balancer (and carefully-arranged resource transfer rules in TAC...) Regards, Northstar

You guys might find this a simpler and more informative explanation of the "Stoichiometric Problem", by the way (quoted DIRECTLY from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabatier_reaction#Manufacturing_propellant_on_Mars) The Sabatier reaction has been proposed as a key step in reducing the cost of manned exploration of Mars (Mars Direct) through In-Situ Resource Utilization. Hydrogen is combined with CO2 from the atmosphere, with methane then stored as fuel and the water side product electrolyzed yielding oxygen to be liquefied and stored as oxidizer and hydrogen to be recycled back into the reactor. The original hydrogen could be transported from Earth or separated from martian sources of water.[5] The stoichiometric ratio of oxidizer and fuel is 2:1, for an oxygen:methane engine. CH4 + 2 O2 → CO2 + 2 H2O However, one pass through the Sabatier reactor produces a ratio of only 1:1. More oxygen may be produced by running the water gas shift reaction in reverse, effectively extracting oxygen from the atmosphere by reducing carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide. Another option is to make more methane than needed and pyrolyze the excess of it into carbon and hydrogen (see above section) where the hydrogen is recycled back into the reactor to produce further methane and water. In an automated system, the carbon deposit may be removed by blasting with hot Martian CO2, oxidizing the carbon into carbon monoxide, which is vented. A fourth solution to the stoichiometry problem would be to combine the Sabatier reaction with the reverse water gas-shift reaction in a single reactor as follows: 3 CO2 + 6 H2 → CH4 + 2 CO + 4 H2O This reaction is slightly exothermic, and when the water is electrolyzed, an oxygen to methane ratio of 2:1 is obtained. Regardless of which method of oxygen fixation is utilized, the overall process can be summarized by the following equation. 2 H2 + 3 CO2 → CH4 + 2 O2 + 2 CO Regards, Northstar P.S. @FractalUK: So, if you wanted, you could easily just make a "combined cycle" reaction for Sabatier and RWGS, if you didn't want to increase the total number of reactions... Of course, this would prevent players from making use of certain strategies- such as utilizing the Sabatier alone to produce LiquidMethane for thermal rockets; or players utilizing just the Sabatier Reaction to produce LiquidMethane of Duna, and then hauling it to Ike orbit to combine with Oxidizer produced from electrolyzing regolith on Ike- for a degree of mass-leveraging in terms of building up fuel supplies in Ike orbit for interplanetary missions- as LiquidMethane burns in a higher ratio with Oxidizer than does LiquidFuel, yielding an effective 2:1 mass-leveraging on the Duna side when burning LiquidMethane with Oxidizer form Ike vs. when burning LiquidFuel with Oxidizer from Ike...

By the way, I know I've went over and over this point with you guys, but: SABATIER REACTION in real-life = EXOTHERMIC SABATIER REACTION in KSP-Interstellar = ENDOTHERMIC (at least, by consuming electricity at a high rate, it behaves that way) Rather than CONSUMING electricity at a high rate, like FractalUK currently has modeled the Sabatier Reaction, it should both consume and (potentially) produce electricity- much like the fusion reactors. Specifically, it should have a start-up energy, but produce a small supply of ThermalPower that can be utilized by a generator- or if not utilized turns into WasteHeat you need to dissipate instead... For reference, and so you guys can understand what I'm getting at better COMBUSTION is another example of a rel-life Exothermic reaction, if that gives you an idea of the kind of reaction the Sabatier is. While the Sabatier Reaction doesn't proceed nearly as quickly as Combustion- and thus doesn't generate heat nearly as fast as a petrol generator, it still produces heat in basically the same sort of way as combustion- only instead of burning hydrocarbons with oxygen, you're "burning" hydrogen with CO2... Regards, Northstar