Boosters destroying main engine

[iStickyDuck]

I've been playing KSP since .18 and I've never had this problem before

Recently, for every multistage rocket I make, if I have a central rocket in the middle with a couple of boosters attached, when I decouple the boosters the top of them falls into the rocket, destroying it. I've tried with and without struts, separatrons, different decouplers, going slower and cutting the engines all together. The only way this doesn't happen is if my rocket is spinning at a rather sickening speed...

How do I prevent this from happening? Currently any rocket blows up before it gets to space (I still lack the skill to make SSTOs)

Edit: I think I'll just wait until Monday

Edited April 26, 2015 by iStickyDuck

[Randazzo]

It is apparently a known bug. Downloading the Stock Bugfix Modules (cue the inevitable "I hate people who say download a mod!") mod will fix it.

Otherwise you'll just need to find a separatron setup that works.

[Alshain]

It has been confirmed fixed in 1.0. We all know your frustration, but fortunately in 3 days it won't be an issue any longer.

[r_rolo1]

Alternatively you can wait for a couple of days, since that bug is said to be fixed in the next version, that comes out Monday

P.S. My writing-fu is too weak. I was ninja-ed

[smjjames]

Put separatrons on the boosters for now. Maxmaps has said that the radial decoupler bug that causes this is fixed in 1.0.

Also, while using the stock bugfix module can help, they can still smack into your rocket.

[EtherDragon]

The pain, I feels them.

We've all suffered this same known issue - which is confirmed fixed in 1.0 (due to release on Monday).

[Slam_Jones]

What I've done is

-Place Sepratrons on top of the boosters at a 45 degree angle.

-Drain 90% of Sepratron fuel

This will give the top of the booster a kick away from the main engine, but not so much that the bottom strikes it instead.

Oooor wait for 1.0

[EtherDragon]

This usually occurs mostly when you have your booster separation occur at the same time your main engines are active, too.

In the missions where this was a real heavy issue, I cut off the main engine for staging, stage off the boosters, and reactivate main engines when the boosters are clear.

[smjjames]

For smaller boosters, putting separatrons (or mini-boosters from other mods that perform a similar function) at about the middle of it is usually enough to keep it from colliding with the rocket. For the larger and heavier ones, I put them at the top, bottom, and middle. What I do is place the separatrons facing the rocket, but angle them horizontally so that the booster jet doesn't hit the rocket tanks.

[Empiro]

This usually occurs mostly when you have your booster separation occur at the same time your main engines are active, too.

In the missions where this was a real heavy issue, I cut off the main engine for staging, stage off the boosters, and reactivate main engines when the boosters are clear.

They still tend to collide with the center core though, but it won't destroy it because the relative velocities are low. I'm just glad this will be fixed for 1.0.

[EtherDragon]

They still tend to collide with the center core though, but it won't destroy it because the relative velocities are low. I'm just glad this will be fixed for 1.0.

Yea, they still bonk the center stage ungracefully. But, at least the mission could continue.

[TheXRuler]

I usually get a clean seperation only by adding on the top AND bottom of the bosster, then it is only a question of balancing the thrust correctly. Also I often rotate the upper sepatrons upward a little (since the upper part of a booster is lighter than the rest) so the booster is not only being pulled away, but it also falls behind the rest of the rocket a little slower, thereby giving it time to distance itself from the central engine before passing it. Once the thrust has been properly balanced out there is barely anything that can go wrong, at least in my experience.

[THX1138]

You said you tried seperatrons but are you sure they fired? When I had my seperatrons staged to fire with the decoupling of the boosters, they didn't fire! I had to stage them separately, to fire before I decoupled the boosters. Shifting items around within a stage might help but I could never get them to move where I wanted within the same stage.

[mudkest]

check teh flight log(f3 I think?) to make sure your seperatons are not what is actualy destroying your rocket, have had that happen a couple of times. "mainsail damaged by seperaton exhaust" or something along those lines. Kept adding "moar boosters" cause my main tank or engine kept getting destroyed, then I removed them all and I got to orbit

[TheXRuler]

mudkest might be onto something there, the relevant line would be: [your central engine] damaged by engine exhaust from [whatever you use as seperation motors] I think.

[Green Baron]

That's funny ... :-)

I didn't even realise that this is a bug, Thought that, together with FAR, this happened because of aerodramatic effects. I placed my sepratrons above the boosters center of mass and designed my crafts so that the boosters engine were clear of the center engine during (throttled down) staging.

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