How are you able to move without RCS

[leocrumb]

More of a technical question. How are the early rockets able to rotate and maneuver without any propulsion system. I understand the Gimbal controls movement in the atmosphere but its irrellevant once you cut the engine. So how is a rocket able to rotate before you get RCS?

Edited April 26, 2015 by leocrumb

[Red Iron Crown]

Almost every pod contains a reaction wheel, which allows attitude adjustments without using RCS or gimbaling, though they do consume electricity.

[WeirdCulture]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_wheel

ohh ok.. somebody came first.. so now i have some video (for more information)

[capi3101]

The short answer is internal gyroscopes and the principle of precession; reaction wheels are very much real things.

EDIT: Damn - double ninja'd.

[panzer1b]

I actually NEVER use RCS for jack unless im specifically intending to dock something. For ultra-lights you can get away with docking using very careful piloting and turning around to face port last second, but for lager vessels (over 5t) you need RCS to dock.

Aside from that, i dont touch RCS as its heavier then the wheels, and actually uses fuel too. That aside, i do actually use RCS systems on almost every craft i make as most of them are above 10t, and most of them i like to have docking capabilities.

[Red Iron Crown]

I never tire of that Cubli demonstration video. Intellectually I understand how it works but my lizard hindbrain just screams "magic"!

[leocrumb]

Thanks guys, thats very cool

I saw this cool video on how it works, learned something new

[leocrumb]

I just realised they have reaction wheels in the game. So now I am just as confused as before. The question still remains. Before I have the tech for reaction wheels, How am I rotating the craft in orbit?

[Red Iron Crown]

Pods have reaction wheel in them, but they are much less powerful than the dedicated reaction wheel parts that appear later in the game.

[michaelhester07]

RCS takes over when your ships are too big for wheels to turn them fast enough and the Verner engines take over when RCS blocks aren't big enough.

[panzer1b]

RCS takes over when your ships are too big for wheels to turn them fast enough and the Verner engines take over when RCS blocks aren't big enough.

For me its stacks of SAS stuck inside the hull when normal SAS dont work, and for supert massive 500t fuel barges, i have engines used to turn it mounted radially and set to hotkeys, awrkward to use but its teh lowest part count solution for now.

[Hotblack Desiato]

look at the freight transport technology mod from roverdude. he adds 2 very big reaction wheels (5 and 10m wide).

and they are extremely powerful but require a strong energy-supply, as they can drain your batteries in no time.

[Streetwind]

I just realised they have reaction wheels in the game. So now I am just as confused as before. The question still remains. Before I have the tech for reaction wheels, How am I rotating the craft in orbit?

Pods have reaction wheel in them, but they are much less powerful than the dedicated reaction wheel parts that appear later in the game.

You can right-click on your command pod in the part list in the vehicle assembly building, and it will pop open an expanded information tab. You will be able to see that the command pod does indeed have reaction wheels integrated. On the other hand, if you were to examine the Stayputnik probe core, you would find that it does not have reaction wheels. A rocket equipped with a Stayputnik will not be able to steer itself without additional parts addded (dedicated reaction wheels, RCS, gimbaling engines, steering fins for atmospheric flight).

This right-clicking for additional info works on all parts in the game and is very useful for finding out what each part does. Especially if the full function is not immediately apparent from the intentionally silly naming.

Edited April 27, 2015 by Streetwind