On rails? Ship starts rotating when not in physics range.

[LN400]

There is one thing that has always ticked me off ever since I got the demo some years back: The tendency of a space craft (SAS on) to rotate while in orbit and out of the physics bubble so that say, solar panels no longer get the amount of sunlight they could get. Even after aligning the panel with the sun, going to the space center for a few hours then coming back to the ship, it has rotated so the ship no longer gets the energy it needs, and give it enough time, it will have depleted its batteries. Of course, this is only an issue with static panels and can be sorted by using self aligning panels but they are heavier and costlier than the static ones, and they are only available later on.

Is there a way to make sure the on-rails-ships keep their orientation? If not then that would be a much welcome change in any upcoming version of KSP.

 

[Starhawk]

Ships on rails maintain a consistent orientation with respect to the fixed stars.

Therefore the sun will always move relative to the ship.  If you have panels spaced equally around the craft and you are orbiting in the ecliptic, then you can just point the craft normal (or anti-normal) and as the sun's apparent position changes it will change which panels it's shining on without power loss.

If, for example, your craft has only a single static panel then there is no way to make sure it receives sunlight all the time.

Happy landings!

 

[LN400]

12 minutes ago, Starhawk said:

Ships on rails maintain a consistent orientation with respect to the fixed stars.

Therefore the sun will always move relative to the ship.  If you have panels spaced equally around the craft and you are orbiting in the ecliptic, then you can just point the craft normal (or anti-normal) and as the sun's apparent position changes it will change which panels it's shining on without power loss.

If, for example, your craft has only a single static panel then there is no way to make sure it receives sunlight all the time.

Happy landings!

 

Thanks but this really goes against what I see happening in this game. Not only is the ship's orientation not fixed but it can be waaay off when I return to a ship. 90*, 180*, no problem. When I look at the orbit, that orbit is fixed in space. The sun's apparent movement, Kerbin's movement, they are all irrelevant, I understand that but here is the latest example from real life gaming:

A space station I have in polar orbit was pointing anti-normal. In an orbit, that should be a constant heading relative to the stars.

When I returned to it later, it had rotated to point prograde. That is not possible unless the ship rotates when on rails, or am I totally wrong here?

[Starhawk]

Just now, LN400 said:

Thanks but this really goes against what I see happening in this game. Not only is the ship's orientation not fixed but it can be waaay off when I return to a ship. 90*, 180*, no problem. When I look at the orbit, that orbit is fixed in space. The sun's apparent movement, Kerbin's movement, they are all irrelevant, I understand that but here is the latest example from real life gaming:

A space station I have in polar orbit was pointing anti-normal. In an orbit, that should be a constant heading relative to the stars.

When I returned to it later, it had rotated to point prograde. That is not possible unless the ship rotates when on rails, or am I totally wrong here?

Ah, I see.

That certainly sounds like a bug to me.  It would appear that the game is somehow losing track of the craft's heading.

Happy landings!

[LN400]

Just now, Starhawk said:

Ah, I see.

That certainly sounds like a bug to me.  It would appear that the game is somehow losing track of the craft's heading.

Happy landings!

Funny thing is, it has always been like that for me, ever since the demo. Mods, no mods, on 2 different machines, none of that ever mattered. I took it for intended behaviour after a while. Annoying but hey, not the end of the universe  For a bug, this one is strange indeed.