So I saw this article...

[cephalo]

So I was reading the news and came across this article about hypersonic flight.

[url]http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/24/aviation/spaceliner-mach-25/index.html[/url]

And my first thought was... Pfft. So easy. I could throw this together in under an hour. :D

Has KSP turned me into an aerospace genius? I think so.

[NecroBones]

[quote name='cephalo']
Has KSP turned me into an aerospace genius? I think so.[/QUOTE]

Totally. I don't think there's any other possible conclusion. ;)

[Tank Buddy]

[quote name='NecroBones']Totally. I don't think there's any other possible conclusion. ;)[/QUOTE]

Accurate.

I would embed but I'm on mobile now.
[url]https://xkcd.com/1356/[/url]

[NecroBones]

[quote name='Tank Buddy']Accurate.

I would embed but I'm on mobile now.
[url]https://xkcd.com/1356/[/url][/QUOTE]

[IMG]http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/orbital_mechanics.png[/IMG]

Embedded.

[MalfunctionM1Ke]

To understand the Orbital Mechanics in KSP take these small steps:

1st) High School Physics
2nd) Get a Physics Degree
3rd) Get hired by NASA

:D

But seriously, KSP is awesome. Allthough it was hard at first to get your head around it, I learned a lot from doing so.
Plus it made me think outside the box, which is nice :)

[cephalo]

[quote name='NecroBones'][URL]http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/orbital_mechanics.png[/URL]

Embedded.[/QUOTE]

Too funny. Look at my earliest posts just a few months ago. I'm like "What is this... delta.. v?"

[Warzouz]

I like the green washing of that article : "this plane will be clean : H2 + LOx = water + energy"


Please remind me from here H2 come from ? Ah, methane...

And even if it came from electrolysing water, 85% of energy comes from fossil energy, mostly coal and gas.

So basically this plane would run mostly on coal.

:D

[KerikBalm]

Well, its as green as the energy source....
If we had a 100% solar/wind/hydro energy grid (or throw nuclear, particularly fusion in there), it would be "green"

[Kerbol Macrosystems]

Nasa has studied this kind of stuff before. They're easier in KSP, because you don't get as bad with the weird interacting mach effects on booster seperation

[URL]http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19980231024.pdf[/URL]

[URL]http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20040084364.pdf[/URL]

[IMG]http://lisar.larc.nasa.gov/IMAGES/SMALL/EL-1998-00050.jpeg[/IMG]

[Warzouz]

[quote name='KerikBalm']Well, its as green as the energy source....
If we had a 100% solar/wind/hydro energy grid (or throw nuclear, particularly fusion in there), it would be "green"[/QUOTE]
Well you seems to be swiss so you might understand this sentence in french (I don't know if it translate well in English) : "Quand les poules auront des dents"

[Vermil]

Well, it's easier in KSP because KSP space plane technology is buffed to about 2080-level, while KSP rocket technology is about 1960.

[cephalo]

That''s cuz they're doing it wrong. Separate in orbit and it's all good.

[Venusgate]

[quote name='Warzouz']I like the green washing of that article : "this plane will be clean : H2 + LOx = water + energy"


Please remind me from here H2 come from ? Ah, methane...

And even if it came from electrolysing water, 85% of energy comes from fossil energy, mostly coal and gas.

So basically this plane would run mostly on coal.

:D[/QUOTE]

This logical fallacy especially falls apart when talking about high altitude flight.
Aircraft dump ridiculous amounts of non-capturable pollutants into the upper atmosphere. Developing the technology for an end product that will not take pollutants to where they do the most harm is more than a step in the right direction. The rest down here is just politics.

[Warzouz]

[quote name='Venusgate']This logical fallacy especially falls apart when talking about high altitude flight.
Aircraft dump ridiculous amounts of non-capturable pollutants into the upper atmosphere. Developing the technology for an end product that will not take pollutants to where they do the most harm is more than a step in the right direction. The rest down here is just politics.[/QUOTE]
Not if it need ten time more pollutant per travel. See "Rebound effect".
[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebound_effect_%28conservation%29[/url]

Anyway, it's green washing

[Mikki]

[quote name='cephalo']... Has KSP turned me into an aerospace genius? I think so.[/QUOTE]

Sure. We are [I]serious[/I] rocketscientists. What else? :rolleyes:

[Venusgate]

[quote name='Warzouz']Not if it need ten time more pollutant per travel. See "Rebound effect".
[URL]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebound_effect_%28conservation%29[/URL]

Anyway, it's green washing[/QUOTE]

It doesn't need pollutant to travel, it needs electricity to travel. Your comparison is connected only by the current state of politics and earthbound technology that links pollutants to electricity.

[PineCone]

I read an article about the DARPA XS-1 a few days ago, and my first thought upon seeing the illustration was: "I could make this in KSP."

[gogozerg]

[quote name='NecroBones'][URL]http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/orbital_mechanics.png[/URL]

Embedded.[/QUOTE]

It's sad but it's true.
Well, I don't have a job at NASA, but it's sad I had to wait for KSP to have a deeper understanding of things I should have understood in high school. Edited November 24, 2015 by gogozerg

[kiwi1960]

I have to admit, before KSP, I thought I knew space mechanics and flight thanks to Star Trek and other sci fi shows... how wrong I was.

For example... call me ignorant then, but not now... I never knew about gravity turns... I never really knew how NASA got to the Moon... I assumed, thanks to sci fi, that you took off and flew there in a straight line...

How ignorant I was.... but praise the Lord Squad.... I found Jebus.... I found the Church of the Holy Kerbal...

by no means an expert in real life... and still not an expert in KSP ... but brothers and sisters... I have been saved! (from a life of ignorance!)

I love KSP! :)

[NecroBones]

I thank (or blame) KSP for my deeper understanding of orbital mechanics now too. The funny thing is that I had a decent handle on the [I]*concepts*[/I] beforehand. But an intuitive understanding? That's a bit different. And I've learned so much more since then. Particularly about what kinds of maneuvers are more efficient than others.

[quote name='PineCone']I read an article about the DARPA XS-1 a few days ago, and my first thought upon seeing the illustration was: "I could make this in KSP."[/QUOTE]

The crazy thing is that my similar reactions have gone beyond aerospace. I was watching something about ocean life, in which they mentioned a "40 ton humpback whale", and my immediate thought was "Only 40 tons? I can put that into orbit with my eyes closed." :confused:

[KerikBalm]

[quote name='Warzouz'][quote name='KerikBalm']Well, its as green as the energy source....
If we had a 100% solar/wind/hydro energy grid (or throw nuclear, particularly fusion in there), it would be "green" [/quote]Well you seems to be swiss so you might understand this sentence in french (I don't know if it translate well in English) : "Quand les poules auront des dents"[/QUOTE]

Which is funny considering that energy production in France is 77% nuclear, 15% renewable, and only 8% from fossil fuels.
Here in Genève (side note, I live in Switzerland for now, but I am not Swiss, I'm a PhD student... not sure where I'll live after I finish, which is soon), the electricity is 100% "green"(at least in the low-greenhouse gas sense), mostly from hydro.
Sooo..... the hens already have teeth. (side note, all birds have toothed ancestors), also, through genetic modification, we have made chickens with teeth... so a new saying is needed... or a lot of strange things should start happening about now :p Edited November 25, 2015 by KerikBalm

[Elthy]

Also you have to remember that this thing wont fly for a long time, if we are still buring fossil fuels we are in for a realy bad time.

[lost_in_space]

[quote name='cephalo']So I was reading the news and came across this article about hypersonic flight.

[URL]http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/24/aviation/spaceliner-mach-25/index.html[/URL]

[/QUOTE]

Going fast is easy. It's the slowing down that's tough. I notice they didn't touch on that part.

[Xavven]

[quote name='lost_in_space']Going fast is easy. It's the slowing down that's tough. I notice they didn't touch on that part.[/QUOTE]

Not only that, but it takes off vertically with rockets. Anyone following space news this year remembers the multiple failed launches we've had in a row attempting to resupply the ISS. It's dangerous business. And with no LES there is no way you could even pay me to get on that thing. The Space Shuttle was a death trap because it was strapped to the side of a giant fuel tank, instead of on top where you can escape. This craft looks very similar.

Nope, it looks unsafe to me.