So.. re-entry heating - hard mode?

[xXIndestructibleEVAXx]

Okay, just checking. I'm not going to try it, tho, as I'm messing with the parts (the pods) themselves.

[DJK]

ok, just tested the

heatConductivity = 0.06 // half default

and it does indeed work.

Same for:

thermalMassModifier = 2.0

Probably gonna mess around with the values and see if i can come up with a "fix".

[NathanKell]

FlowerChild et al, there's an interesting setting in ModuleAblator, reentryConductivity. I'm guessing the heat shield can determine when it's in use and switch its conductivity to that instead of the original conductivity. Might want to poke around and see when that comes into play, say making a module that on right-click displays the part's heatConductivity and see when it changes?

Also, in Physics.cfg, it looks like the convection exponent is exposed for the "mach heating"--you might try a higher exponent than 3 (and a lower convectionFactor) if you want to try to tune up reentry heat. Thing is, though, recall that (a) spaceplanes are only 500m/s lower than reentry on ascent, and ascent takes way longer, and ( interplanetary trajectories can be in excess of 5km/sec, so if you make Kerbin dangerous via that exponent, better test 2.5x the reentry velocity too.

[FlowerChild]

FlowerChild et al, there's an interesting setting in ModuleAblator, reentryConductivity. I'm guessing the heat shield can determine when it's in use and switch its conductivity to that instead of the original conductivity. Might want to poke around and see when that comes into play, say making a module that on right-click displays the part's heatConductivity and see when it changes?

Also, in Physics.cfg, it looks like the convection exponent is exposed for the "mach heating"--you might try a higher exponent than 3 (and a lower convectionFactor) if you want to try to tune up reentry heat. Thing is, though, recall that (a) spaceplanes are only 500m/s lower than reentry on ascent, and ascent takes way longer, and ( interplanetary trajectories can be in excess of 5km/sec, so if you make Kerbin dangerous via that exponent, better test 2.5x the reentry velocity too.

Thanks a million for that Nathan. I'm going to bookmark your post there for when I get to tweaking reentry, as your info on such matters has always been invaluable