ISRU in an MK2 cargo bay

[Red Shirt]

I have a stable flying SSTO that is capable of landing on Minmus with fuel left over. My intent is to make it an SSTA but I need advice on packing stuff in the MK2 cargo bays. I have one short bay, opening from below, for the drill-o-matic jr. I used a second bay, opening from above, intended for solar panels. After installing I learned the gigantors will not fit without clipping and the 1x6 panels aren’t adequate to power the small ISRU. So looks like I need power cells. I also need ore tanks and batteries, along with some radiators. I can’t figure out how to get everything inside two bays. Anyone have a working set up that you can share how you stuffed the bays?

One more thing. I noticed the radiators in the cargo bay heat up while going to orbit. Anyway to prevent this? Should I be concerned? Is it likely to explode on reentry?

 

[KerbonautInTraining]

Try putting a fixed radiator on the fuel tank next to the bay holding the ISRU.

The rads heat up during ascent sucking as much heat as possible from the craft, they won't overheat before anything else.

[KerikBalm]

I don't think fuel cells and a small ISRU are a good idea, you need a certain outputto break even, and I'm not sure that'll happen even with a lvl 5 engineer and a good resource spot.

The very idea of ISRU in a mk2 bay is why I'm not a fan of the idea of these smaller ISRUs. The ISRU was already too small and easy to use IMO.

That said... I don't see why you wouldn't be able to get some gigantors to fit, or you couldn't use more of the smaller panels.

I made a small ISRU mun/minmus hopper with 2x small drills, and 1x small convertor, and 6x 1x6 solar panels powered it and its radiators.

Maybe with a lvl5 engineer, and a bit better resource locations, the convertor would start to suck too much power... but at the rate my 2x drills with a lvl3 engineer at a good spot on the mun (in career with resource abundance set to... 80% I think), it was fine

[MiniMatt]

Suspect this may be only of limited help, my two cargo bay science + isru combined subassembly setup:

Combines a couple of mini power cells, a couple of radial ore tanks, battery power, isru, mini drill, all science gear (including the all important surface scanner) and an antenna.

Extra solar power and radiators I usually find room for elsewhere in the craft. A personal favourite of late has been incorporating an edge radiator into the tailfin/rudder assembly.

[Red Shirt]

39 minutes ago, MiniMatt said:

(including the all important surface scanner) and an antenna

Came back with the intention of deleting my post as right after posting I figured it out (after two days of trying). Now I see I forgot the scanner and the antenna. To the SPH! 

Thanks for the visual help and the reminder. 

I did a quick test take off and noticed the radiators did not overheat today. I think I had them clipping the doors earlier. Moved them. Seems fine.

[Rune]

17 hours ago, Red Shirt said:

Came back with the intention of deleting my post as right after posting I figured it out (after two days of trying). Now I see I forgot the scanner and the antenna. To the SPH! 

Thanks for the visual help and the reminder. 

I did a quick test take off and noticed the radiators did not overheat today. I think I had them clipping the doors earlier. Moved them. Seems fine.

Also, note that if you haven't scanned a body with the big dish, the other smaller antenna won't work. And yeah, packing the big one is hard. You can take a look at my Javelin, and even tough I use the big old ISRU and big drills, the rest of the stuff is packed in a Mk2 bays.

 

Rune. You might have to use two big ones, though, unless you clip like crazy.

Edited February 26, 2016 by Rune

[Red Shirt]

1 hour ago, Rune said:

unless you clip like crazy

Doing my best not to clip except structural parts that in real life we would make work.

Doesn't the big ISRU overheat in atmosphere? Well, obviously not, but I would not have thought to do it this way. I love the forums. So many cool ideas.

[Rune]

6 hours ago, Red Shirt said:

Doing my best not to clip except structural parts that in real life we would make work.

Doesn't the big ISRU overheat in atmosphere? Well, obviously not, but I would not have thought to do it this way. I love the forums. So many cool ideas.

When I first built that ship, there was no small ISRU, neither were there radiators or a thermal system... However, when those came, the fixes where simple: I un-clipped the ore tank to use the small one, and slapped some radiators. In your case, you could put use another downwards-facing bay for the ISRU and drills. but you still need to put that big satellite dish somewhere, and the only way to fold it out from a Mk2 bay without clipping is to put it in a probe... or use IR.

 

Rune. If the ISRU has a worse drag coefficient than a standard tank, I haven't noticed.