Ideas for experiments while in orbit?

[VincentMcConnell]

I\'m going to launch a Merkury Capsule into orbit right now and ride three orbits with no timewarp at 75KM. I will need a lot of experiments to keep me busy while there. In the name of discovery, does anyone want me to do anything for research purposes so we can learn more about Kerbin space?

[Kosmo-not]

I want to see you chew some bubble gum and make a bubble, then release it out the airlock.

Shoot a golf ball retrograde and get a hole-in-one at any course/hole.

[VincentMcConnell]

Our kerbals can\'t chew gum... yet... That would be a cool experiment, but unfortunately for it, I was looking for something I could actually do.

[Kosmo-not]

Right... stuff you can do...

Hmmm....

Are you allowed to do orbital maneuvers?

Since the effects of alcohol increase as altitude increases, how great are the effects in space?

[DrBurst]

This is crazy, but see how much your kerbal can move in space while their feet are strapped to a ship with SAS and RCS on. This will be useful during construction.

[VincentMcConnell]

Are you allowed to do orbital maneuvers?

Since the effects of alcohol increase as altitude increases, how great are the effects in space?

Yes. I can do Orbital maneuvers. Any theories you would like me to test?

Also, the alchohol experiment would be perfect if I wasn\'t 16 haha

[Max Grant]

On a serious note, there needs to be a whole class of campaign in the finished game that is exactly this kind of thing. I\'ve been using the muon detector to search for easter eggs, and it is palpably the most interesting part of the game so far. Doing actual 'science.' Listening for the beep-beep-beep and noting the time between signals so I could map what I was looking for was so . . . scientific. It was very cool, and added to the entire vibe of the game which is re-living the coolest parts of the space program.

So, there should be a whole set of hooks into the game for natural physical phenomena. Since most of those would follow the inverse-square law it would be easy to program static fields into the game for magnetism, radiation from the Kerbin sun, unusual heat signatures, ice, etcetera. Give us stuff to discover.

A facility for taking in-game photos in various wavelengths would also be super-wicked. Being able to create a probe to map the surface of the Mun or a distant Kerbin just like a real NASA mission would would be so, ever bad-ass. I guess I need to make my thoughts on this topic coherent and submit some suggestions to the devs.

[samstarman5]

Bring along a spherical stage and use your craft to bat it out to space. See how much that can affect its orbit without destroying the mission.

[Vanamonde]

There\'s something I\'ve been wondering about. Strictly speaking, every object in orbit is following its own great circle path, which means no two orbiting objects can stay precisely parallel because their paths will intersect at 2 points each cycle. But how precise is KSP\'s simulation? I have been wondering about ejecting something like a decoupler, matching its velocity precisely, and then watching it for a full orbit. If everything works ideally, it should drift gradually away for the first quarter of an orbit, then come right back and bump into you at the halfway point. I haven\'t had the patience to try it, but as long as you\'re going to be floating around anyway, why not? (Of course, one\'s ability to precisely match initial velocity has an error margin probably as big as the whole experiment.)

[Candre]

Hmmm.... Have your Kerbals developed an affinity for spicy foods? Are they, perhaps, feeling a little euphoric? Maybe you can monitor their yearning to get home...

[Max Grant]

I have been wondering about ejecting something like a decoupler, matching its velocity precisely, and then watching it for a full orbit. If everything works ideally, it should drift gradually away for the first quarter of an orbit, then come right back and bump into you at the halfway point. I haven\'t had the patience to try it, but as long as you\'re going to be floating around anyway, why not?

I\'m going to try that right now! Very cool idea.

[SteevyT]

Perhaps trying to rig up some stuff with damned robotics parts? No idea what though.

[maltesh]

Measure the mass and radius of Kerbin.

By knowing the period, apoapsis altitude, and periapsis height on two significantly different orbits, you can solve for the radius.

Once you know the radius, you can solve for the mass.

[VincentMcConnell]

I already know the radius. 600KM. How do you think I do all my orbital mechanics equations?

[ping111]

I want you to see how saplings from trees grow in low gravity.

[maltesh]

I already know the radius. 600KM. How do you think I do all my orbital mechanics equations?

Measure it nevertheless. See how close the value you get is to the accepted value. You did ask for scientific experiments that you could do.

[VincentMcConnell]

Already done and done. Semi Major axis calculations of various orbits and subsequent orbital period equations that I have performed while in orbit validate the figure of 600KM for the radius (1200KM for the diameter).

[Kosmo-not]

Measure the distance from Kerbin to the Mun. The only information you can use about the Mun is its angular velocity relative to Kerbin.

[VincentMcConnell]

Angular velocity? Does that have anything to do with the number of degrees it moves in 'x' amount of time?

[Katalliaan]

Angular velocity? Does that have anything to do with the number of degrees it moves in 'x' amount of time?

Yes, although IIRC it\'s easier to do with radians than it is with degrees.

[Endeavour]

I already know the radius. 600KM. How do you think I do all my orbital mechanics equations?

But have you done the experiment to confirm that radius?

[VincentMcConnell]

But have you done the experiment to confirm that radius?

Yes. It\'s easy. Using the radius 600KM, say we\'re in an orbit at 100KM.

The diameter of Kerbin is 1200.

100KM(2)+1200=1400

1400/2=700

700KM = SMA

Then calculate the orbital period using the SMA, Pi and the gravitational parameter of Kerbin.

We get a figure of 32.6407379499691583270083333 minutes at a 100km orbit.

That means it will take a little under 33 minutes to make an orbit at 100km. That\'s only correct if the radius of Kerbin is 600KM. Now take a stop watch and test it at 10x time warp.

[Phoxtane]

Play around with a tether system for adjusting your orbit instead of RCS and the engine(s).

[cardgame]

Tether system? Please elaborate.

[Phoxtane]

A tether system is some sort of long cable attached to a satellite that can be used to do various things in orbit depending on how the tether is constructed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_tether

Since we don\'t have magnetic fields or solar wind in-game yet, he can only really try the formation flight and momentum exchange.

EDIT: Post number 1000! Hurray!