Different Air N-S as opposed to E-W on Kerbin?

[GarrisonChisholm]

Good morning. So I built an SR-71 knock-off with a Mark2 nose, and (with no dramatics) this morning I was flying towards the North Pole for temperature surveys when the Nose over-heated & exploded Killing Jeb and Bob instantly. The Mark 2 Nose is Hypersonic, and I've flown it to the 1100 m/sec regime half a dozen times going to space and back on my SSTO. How could this happen- are East-bound flights different for some reason than North-bound?

- and, if someone could mention in passing without making me look like an idiot how to grab screen shots (apparently Not the "PrintScrn" button...), I'd be grateful. :\

[RocketPilot573]

Actually yes, the air pressure and temperate is different at the poles. But it shouldn't be enough to make that noticeable of a difference.

[Mister Dilsby]

- and, if someone could mention in passing without making me look like an idiot how to grab screen shots (apparently Not the "PrintScrn" button...), I'd be grateful. :\

F1 to get the screenshot, then upload to Imgur or another hosting site, then use the 'Insert Image' button above the post, then paste the URL of the hosed image into the popup.

[Red Iron Crown]

Press F1 for screenshots, they are saved in KSP_Folder/Screenshots.

Edit: Ninja'd

[User Unrelated]

There are so many factors that go into overheating... It's sort of hard to give a direct answer, but it could have been your altitude, velocity, attitude, etc. etc.

Also, the long flight to the north pole gives time for heat to build up on the inside of the part... which could be a big factor here.

[Mister Dilsby]

Good morning. So I built an SR-71 knock-off with a Mark2 nose, and (with no dramatics) this morning I was flying towards the North Pole for temperature surveys when the Nose over-heated & exploded Killing Jeb and Bob instantly. The Mark 2 Nose is Hypersonic, and I've flown it to the 1100 m/sec regime half a dozen times going to space and back on my SSTO. How could this happen- are East-bound flights different for some reason than North-bound?

I wonder if it has something to do with orbital speed versus surface speed? When you fly east your orbital speed is a couple hundred m/s faster than surface speed, because you are going with rotation. Going north this would not be the case...is it possible you were looking at the wrong readout, and thus had a surface speed (and therefore airspeed) that was actually a bit faster than you thought?

[Hagen von Tronje]

Did you pass over the exact north pole? Weird things happen at exact poles, I've found.

[GoSlash27]

I wonder if it has something to do with orbital speed versus surface speed? When you fly east your orbital speed is a couple hundred m/s faster than surface speed, because you are going with rotation. Going north this would not be the case...is it possible you were looking at the wrong readout, and thus had a surface speed (and therefore airspeed) that was actually a bit faster than you thought?

That was my first thought. If you're over 36km altitude an equal indicated speed northbound is 175m/sec faster than eastbound.

Best,

-Slashy

[Captain Sierra]

Did you pass over the exact north pole? Weird things happen at exact poles, I've found.

The exact north pole is seemingly devoid of air. I'm not sure how a lack of atmosphere would cause atmospheric overheating, but hey, this is KSP. Its surprised us before.

[Richy teh space man]

Were you flying low to the pole? If so you probably just need to go a little higher where the air is thinner.

[Hagen von Tronje]

The exact north pole is seemingly devoid of air. I'm not sure how a lack of atmosphere would cause atmospheric overheating, but hey, this is KSP. Its surprised us before.

Much stranger things than that can happen. Every pole I've visited has assorted ways of crashing your game and has generally horrifying properties in general.

Minmus's south pole is probably a great place for a space-landfill, since it seemingly contains a black hole.

[GarrisonChisholm]

Well, in answer to the multiple questions, the flight was on a normal hyper-sonic trajectory- 12Km up with a 5* climb, speed was accelerating to 1150+ m/sec. It had only been out-bound from KSC for about 10 minutes, and after the explosion the still full-thrust body narrowly missed K2 on its way down. The plane, incidentally, continued accelerating uncontrolled for another 20 minutes, until I found that I could manually turn the engine thrust to zero. It augured in about half-way to the north pole.

I will be running an unmanned test flight tonight with probe-cores attached. I had never heard of a Mk2 Cockpit overheating in "normal" flight.

[Nich]

1000 m/s is max cruse speed at 10 km I normally don't cross 1200 until past 18km otherwise I heat up too much.