Surprise Space Station

[WyDavies]

I was just lining up to dock at a refuelling station in a 100km Kerbin Orbit when I got a complete shock. The space station suddenly exploded, with debris flying everywhere at high speed.

I was ever so slightly shocked.

Looking at the debris in the space center I discovered what had happened. I had a science station in an elliptic polar orbit, which hit 100km at one pass by the equator. The chances of collision were... well... 100% obviously.

Of all the things I've done in KSP over the years, that is one of the dumbest and also most spectacular.

[Shpaget]

You get a cookie if you can replicate it.

[Vaporo]

This is incredibly unlikely to happen. The odds of the two orbits converging perfectly while you happen to be in range are astronomically low. It's never happened to me and probably will not happen to you again for a very, very long time.

[mikegarrison]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_satellite_collision

[EBAO]

It can be set up. It takes a little work but I put two space stations in the exact same orbit in different directions.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/116184-Two-stations-head-on-at-4-500-m-s?p=1850900#post1850900

and

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/116184-Two-stations-head-on-at-4-500-m-s?p=1854339#post1854339

[SelectHalfling0]

Rep good sir for somehow having this happen when very few people have ever had it happen to them without trying (my closest call was 1.9 km)

[tater]

This is why a replay functionality would be so cool.

[SubzeroSpartan7]

Dude, that's pretty insane. Especially since you were in range at the time of the collision. The closest thing I've ever had to this was a also ridiculously unlikely. I had a Munar transfer stage that got kicked into a fairly high orbit, however it came into the SOI of the Mun again. It was kicked back down and while I was rearranging the panels of my space station it came within 700m.

[SkyRender]

A fine example of why you should always keep the overall orbits of your space-bound vessels at different elevation ranges. Still, an actual collision between a polar and equatorial craft is quite a feat!

[smjjames]

I've had debris whiz by me by maybe 200m during warp. Of course though, it was debris from my own ship which was in roughly the same orbit.

[Grumman]

This is the first time I've heard of Big Sky theory failing. And to lose two space stations to it...

[RocketPilot573]

You had not one but TWO stations involved in a collision?! I hope you had insurance... Then again you proably don't because the chances of that collision are like 1 in 100000000.

[mikegarrison]

You had not one but TWO stations involved in a collision?! I hope you had insurance... Then again you proably don't because the chances of that collision are like 1 in 100000000.

That's what Iridium thought, too.

[Zild]

You say that, but when you add the total length of play time of all the KSP players together, somebody was bound to get unlucky eventually!

I like some of the near misses though... 700m, 200m - they must have been rather awe-inspiring sights.

[Thiagobs]

I like some of the near misses though... 700m, 200m - they must have been rather awe-inspiring sights.

More like "bottom-clenching" sights... :D

[nobodyhasthis]

This is the first time I've heard of Big Sky theory failing. And to lose two space stations to it...

1 in 100000000.

I think we have a winner of the first......

:D:D Kessler syndrome award ! :D:D

You get a cookie if you can replicate it.

So we see the explosion!

Edited June 25, 2015 by nobodyhasthis

[Aragosnat]

Yeah. That is what things like Shadowplay and other recoders are for.

[tg626]

Closest thing I had to this was going into orbit and suddenly realizing I had circularized about 700m from the spent upper stage of a much older launch.

[annallia]

You say that, but when you add the total length of play time of all the KSP players together, somebody was bound to get unlucky eventually!

I like some of the near misses though... 700m, 200m - they must have been rather awe-inspiring sights.

I always thought a near miss would be rather awe-inspiring myself. However my closest (roughly 150-200m) was over before I even realized it had happened... I was rescuing a kerbal from kerbin orbit and was just getting ready to switch over to the other pod to eva the kerbal over when something whipped past me, by the time I realized something went flying past me and panned over to see what it was it was already 1.8km away from me (was my orbital science station).

[CptRichardson]

I always thought a near miss would be rather awe-inspiring myself. However my closest (roughly 150-200m) was over before I even realized it had happened... I was rescuing a kerbal from kerbin orbit and was just getting ready to switch over to the other pod to eva the kerbal over when something whipped past me, by the time I realized something went flying past me and panned over to see what it was it was already 1.8km away from me (was my orbital science station).

In other words, all you needed to do was hop the kerbal out in time to grab onto the station when it went by?

[Wallygator]

In other words, all you needed to do was hop the kerbal out in time to grab onto the station when it went by?

The shear force limit of a Kerbal's wrist (ok, likely the shoulder) is not specified in game. Yet still, with a planet too small for its gravity I feel it is acceptable to consider it possible.

[annallia]

In other words, all you needed to do was hop the kerbal out in time to grab onto the station when it went by?

Given the relative velocity I would assume said kerbal would be turned into a small puddle of green goo....

[Kuu Lightwing]

so, how well does the game model hypervelocity collisions?

[mikegarrison]

I always thought a near miss would be rather awe-inspiring myself. However my closest (roughly 150-200m) was over before I even realized it had happened...

Yeah, I've had it happen to me. There I am just looking at my ship and suddenly *something* flashes past almost too quickly to see. So I go to the map view and realize it was one of my own satellites that juuuust missed.

[tomf]

I tried to get a high speed collision with an asteroid a littel while ago. I used hyperedit to put it into a perfectly circular retrograde orbit and my craft into a prograde orbit.

The probe passed straight through the asteroid.