Why doesn't my kerbal cannon work?

[SneakyBastd]

So, I saw a Kerbal cannon video and decided I had to do this for myself.

I made a cannon with opposite facing heavy engines (Rhino's), put it into orbit and maneuvre a willing Kerbal into the exhaust cone of one. Grinning like an idiot, I fire up the engines.... only Mr Kerbal doesn't go anywhere. He doesn't even cook despite sitting in the most ferocious inferno, happy as can be.

Is this a bug? What have I done wrong? Really don't know why he doesn't launch instantly at high velocity like he does in the videos that are around.

Thanks!

Answer: reboot? No idea why, but it's working as you would expect now.

Edited May 8, 2015 by SneakyBastd

[agent 902]

it might be somthing to do with the changes in the heating system in 1.0,so it probably not going to work in 1.0 if you dont disable the heating in the dificulty menu

[Red Iron Crown]

...maneuvre a willing Kerbal into the exhaust cone of one...

There's the problem. The thrust of some KSP engines actually starts at the end of the exhaust cone, not inside it. If you move the kerbal to just outside the engine he will be shot away like you are expecting.

You can check where the thrust actually starts by placing a single engine in the VAB and turning on the center of thrust marker.

[SneakyBastd]

Thankyou both for your suggestions! Came back to it today and tried again, and it just works now. Bizarre.

I like how I can de-orbit my Kerbals from my station at 200km :>

But not enough oomph to reach Mun orbit... time for more boosters!

[ajburges]

Out of curiosity, has anyone calculated the dV of a Kerbal cannon?