Forgetting the Heat Shield...

[GigaG]

Just coming back from a Mun orbit return in a career save... I forgot the freaking heat shield. Can an orbital re-entry be performed without one? I plan to aerobrake into LKO over many passes and then attempt a re-entry, but I'm wondering if there's any change I can enter without being incinerated or if I should just circularize and send a rescue ship. I'm not too familiar with new KSP re-entry heating, though.

I have a bit of delta-V left, but not a ton, and the capsule is a mark I capsule with a chute (and no heat shield.)

[Bubbadevlin]

well if you aerobreak to get into LKO you should be fine, the M1 capsule has a fairly high max temp

Anyhow, just quicksave if you screw up!

[sal_vager]

Yeah save first, but heat is a tad weak in 1.0.4, you're unlikely to have any trouble.

There's more danger of failing to slow down enough to open your parachutes, as the heat shields add lots of drag for returning vessels.

Just don't come in too low.

[GigaG]

^I'm thinking LKO reentry with as much "skipping" as possible.

EDIT: Ninja'd... but this applies to all replies so far.

[Bill Phil]

...results in a boot to the head.

[Tweeker]

I haven't really been using one, most times I just re-enter with a lv-909 strapped to the bottom. Makes a good ghetto heat shield.

Drop your periapsis to mid 30k range. You can be more aggressive with lower (intra-kerbin) orbits, as your apoapsis drops you will have to raise your periapsis because you will spend more time in the atmosphere and heat more as your orbit circularizes.

[cerberusti]

Going in engine first from Mun or Minmus works without a heat shield (I would save first and do it through trial and error, the exact pe you need will depend upon your craft.) If you have trouble, skimming the atmosphere a few times will slow you down enough to make it easy (you may need to do this if you have surface attachments with a low heat rating which you are not willing to lose... spinning helps to even the heat out here.)

Interplanetary trips are the real concern, as you need to slow down enough for an orbit in one pass. A gravity assist from Mun can help, but not nearly to the degree which something like Tylo will (you can get a Jool orbit with nothing but a gravity assist from Tylo if you make sure you get there at the appropriate point in its orbit.)

[GoSlash27]

Just coming back from a Mun orbit return in a career save... I forgot the freaking heat shield. Can an orbital re-entry be performed without one? I plan to aerobrake into LKO over many passes and then attempt a re-entry, but I'm wondering if there's any change I can enter without being incinerated or if I should just circularize and send a rescue ship. I'm not too familiar with new KSP re-entry heating, though.

I have a bit of delta-V left, but not a ton, and the capsule is a mark I capsule with a chute (and no heat shield.)

GigaG,

Yeah, it's not that big a deal from the Mun. Just keep your Pe above 47km until you've bled off sufficient speed. You don't really need a heat shield until you go interplanetary, but you do have to be cautious.

Also, take care not to run out of electrical power. If it looks like that's going to happen, set your chute to 0.5Atm and trigger it. That way it will still deploy safely and automatically.

Good luck!

-Slashy

[Streetwind]

Also don't drop your apoapsis too far before final reentry. It sounds counterintuitive, but a reentry from a 71x71 km orbit is hotter and has higher g-forces than one from a 71x500 km orbit.

It works that way because on a very shallow reentry, your vertical speed starts off low, making sure you spend an eternity in the upper atmosphere that heats you up without slowing you down significantly; and then vertical speed increases over time, so by the time you get into the dangerous parts it is so high that you "lose altitude faster than you can slow down". This causes a lot of extra shock heating and a very late, harsh deceleration. Meanwhile, when you come in from a high apoapsis, your vertical speed starts off high, letting you blitz through the upper atmosphere; and when you approach periapsis, your vertical speed actually decreases, letting you go almost level in the middle part of the atmosphere where you can slow down easily without getting much heating.

If you are playing stock KSP and your reentry vehicle is a mk1 command pod, you may even be able to survive a direct munar reentry without a heatshield because of this. Maybe. I've never tried it. It probably depends on getting the periapsis height exactly right.

[brdavis]

I forgot the freaking heat shield. Can an orbital re-entry be performed without one?

Yep, just lower your pericentron down deep into the atmosphere, re-entry will certain occur, no problem what so ever. Drag does that :)

[Keras]

With standard settings (100% heat) you can even do a direct return from Minmus without any heat shield, all parts with max temp of 2000 or higher should survive that. Mun return is not an issue at all.

Actually I have a hard time finding any use for heat shields at all because they either aren`t needed or won`t help me since I explode either way. I have yet to find that sweet spot where they are needed and actually protect me from exploding.

[TheGeekno72]

If You had enough Dv to brake of 2300 m/s (LKO speed) to under 1000 m/s (suborbital speed) you can reentry at this speed carefully

[xebx]

Adjust Pe 40 km, slow down at 50km if you see some parts are too hot, keep some fuel for final slow down if your ship is coming too fast, it'll give some time for the chute to deploy.

[eddiew]

Makes a good ghetto heat shield.

10 points for Gryffindor right there

[mdkendall]

In 1.0.2 I routinely come back from the Mun and Minmus with no heatshield, with a 35km periapsis. If you have some dV left, spend some of it burning radially when far out in order to set the periapsis, then spend the rest just before re-entry burning mostly retrograde to slow down and a little bit radial to keep the periapsis constant.

[Robotengineer]

The current heat system is something of a joke. Rovers blow up on the launch pad, but pods coming in for reentry don't. Hopefully this will be fixed in 1.1.

[Flayer]

Bugger, reading this thread made me realize i didnt add a heatshield to my first interplanetary return ship because i got so used to skipping heatshields on my mun/minmus ships. Hopefully I have sufficient fuel to get into a safe enough orbit, or Jeb is gonna have a bad time...

[WWEdeadman]

I'm pretty sure you can easily return from the Mun without a heatshield. I've aerobreaked and landed a Kerbal on a Klaw, with a completely ablator-depleted 2,5m heatshield from an interstellar trajectory. At 120% heating settings. I think a capsule from Mun back home will be fine, as long as you don't go for a direct impact of Kerbin.

[Mister Kerman]

...results in a boot to the head.

Well that's better than a rabid tasmanian devil down your trousers...

[RA3236]

I usually have a Pe of 45km and aerobrake my way down. Not helpful if you have TACLS and you're out of food, but good if reentry doesn't help.

I use this method after returning to Kerbin after an interplanetary mission.