KSP Interstellar Extended Continued Development Thread

[Arivald Ha'gel]

I'm having a problem with "Double-C Seismic Accelerometer" or rather I still have the ability to do Seismic Scan when Interstellar is installed.

On: https://github.com/FractalUK/KSPInterstellar/wiki/Double-C-Seismic-Accelerometer

We can see that:

Quote

If you want the stock science functionality of accelerometer back, go GameData\WarpPlugin\science.cfg and delete this:
!MODULE[ModuleScienceExperiment]
{
}

So I assumed that Stock Functionality of Seismic Accelerometer should be disabled by default.

Was this discrepancy introduced by default or is it a *bug* in Interstellar? Now I'm not sure if using it will be a *cheat* in my current game or not

[Thobewill10]

Noob question: What causes the difference in "current power" and "max power" seen here? 

Also, I'm kinda confused by the different fusion modes and reactor types. What advantages and disadvantages do they have? 

Edited July 18, 2016 by Thobewill10

[FreeThinker]

I made rendezvous  to Helios (Galactic Neighbourhood) using the Daedalus traveling up to 1% speed of light (10% for kerbal universe)

Notice I had half of the fuel left, allowing me to return back home after 2 years or reach 2% of speed of light, or star a new colony

Edited July 18, 2016 by FreeThinker

[Winebars]

2 hours ago, Arivald Ha'gel said:

I'm having a problem with "Double-C Seismic Accelerometer" or rather I still have the ability to do Seismic Scan when Interstellar is installed.

I reckon it's been like this for a few versions, so working as intended AFAIK.

1 hour ago, Thobewill10 said:

Noob question: What causes the difference in "current power" and "max power" seen here?

Current power: The amount of power your generator is creating (in your case it's the energy required to sustain fusion). Max power: The absolute maximum of power your generator can make (you usually don't need to bother with that, the max power in "megajoules display" is more indicative)

1 hour ago, Thobewill10 said:

Also, I'm kinda confused by the different fusion modes and reactor types. What advantages and disadvantages do they have? 

It's explained in the OP, but some basic info:

D-T fusion: Bread and butter fusion mode. High power output. Some charged particles. Fast reactor embrittlement. Breeds tritium just about to sustain itself.

D-He3 fusion: "Premium" fusion mode. A bit less powerful but most of the power in charges particles (which is good because you can run magnetic nozzle with them + they convert to electricity more efficiently). He3 is VERY expensive and hard to get. Little reactor embrittlement. Breeds a bit of tritium.

T-T fusion: Basically crappier version of D-T fusion, but usable if you for some reason run out of deuterium and don't have access (fuel) to more advanced fusion modes. Also a very good tritium breeder mode.

D-D fusion: Not-so-crappy alternative to D-T fusion. Less powerful but generates more charged particles and doesn't embrittle the reactor so fast. Good tritium breeding.

p-B fusion: Uses boron which is easy to get with ISRU. Note that deuterium is quite tricky to get outside Kerbin. Not very powerful but okay-ish amount of charged particles + no embrittlement.

D-Li6 fusion: Non-embrittling alternative to D-T. Comparable output but little charged particles. Lithium-6 can also be mined pretty much anywhere, albeit much slower than boron. Breeds a bit of tritium.

p-Li fusion: Basically a cheaper (and more high-tech) alternative to D-He3: Lots of charged particles, midrange power output (a bit less than D-He3 though), no embrittlement.

As for reactor types, basically Magnetised target fusion (OMEGA) is great for compact designs (can be 1.25 m) and thermal rockets (better ISP), power output is actually quite comparable to Tokamaks (the other two), but it can't make use of charged particles, which is a major hindrance in a lot of cases.

 

 

 

[Thobewill10]

Thank you! The information in the OP is there but it's mostly numbers and I'm just starting out. It's all very complicated! I have a few more questions

What is reactor embrittlement? How does it affect reactor functioning?

What is the difference between the two tokamak reactors? Does the integrated direct energy converter on the larger tokamak mean that if the reactor is being used for beamed power, no additional generators are needed, or do i still need charged particle/thermal generators?

Edited July 19, 2016 by Thobewill10

[123nick]

hey, how do you get such large ammounts of DT and HE-3? i thought the only storage for HE-3 was the little radial bottle containers, that had the inbuilt decoupler? i couldnt find any bigger He-3 containers.

[FreeThinker]

9 minutes ago, 123nick said:

hey, how do you get such large ammounts of DT and HE-3? i thought the only storage for HE-3 was the little radial bottle containers, that had the inbuilt decoupler? i couldnt find any bigger He-3 containers.

Well I tested it in SandBox bode, but it should also work in a campaign. You would have build a Helium3 industry on either the surface (mun, gilly or moho)  or arround a Gas Giant to mine Helium3. It will probably take you several years, to collect enough to a trip to another star. It will be hard be feasable. It would be best to start mining before you actualy build the Daedalus starship

 

[123nick]

Just now, FreeThinker said:

Well I tested it in SandBox bode, but it should also work in a campaign. You would have build a Helium3 industry on either the surface (mun, gilly or moho)  or arround a Gas Giant to mine Helium3. It will probably take you several years, to collect enough to a trip to another star. It will be hard be feasable. It would be best to start mining before you actualy build the Daedalus starship

 

i know that, but where do you store THe he-3? which part can contain the most He-3? i tried finding a storage for he-3, and i found none.

[FreeThinker]

3 minutes ago, 123nick said:

i know that, but where do you store THe he-3? which part can contain the most He-3? i tried finding a storage for he-3, and i found none.

Well, the is a Cryo Tank which can sotre helium3 but for the Daedalus spacecraft, I added the Helium3 to the Sphere tanks as well

[123nick]

Just now, FreeThinker said:

Well, the is a Cryo Tank which can sotre helium3 but for the Daedalus spacecraft, I added the Helium3 to the Sphere tanks as well

awesome, and i assume you can store Det. in the spherical tanks aswell?

[FreeThinker]

6 hours ago, Thobewill10 said:

What is reactor embrittlement? How does it affect reactor functioning?

Reactor embrittlement is the gradual weakening of the solid structure of the reactor due to neutron activation where atoms are converted into differt elements after high energy neutron capture. The effect is that the maximum performance of the reactor drops both in power and temperature. THe rate is faster if you have insufficient Lithium to convert the neutron and convert them to usefull energy.

Reactor embrittlement is introduced in KSPI both for realsim and for game balance as it makes the choice for what fusion fuel to use more intresting. D-T fusion is the most powerfull fusion mode, but also the dirtiest, so players have make a choice between power verus reactor lifetime.

Edited July 19, 2016 by FreeThinker

[raxo2222]

6 minutes ago, FreeThinker said:

Well, the is a Cryo Tank which can sotre helium3 but for the Daedalus spacecraft, I added the Helium3 to the Sphere tanks as well

If Deuter is here, then Tritium could be here along with hexaborane.

This way it could contain every fusion reactor fuel except lithium, as it is solid.

Or it could be warmed up (something like reverse of cryogenic tank), and you could use Lithium6/7 as long as tank is warm

Edited July 19, 2016 by raxo2222

[FreeThinker]

3 minutes ago, 123nick said:

awesome, and i assume you can store Det. in the spherical tanks aswell?

Yes. off cource. Storing helium3 in a low insulated tankk of cource does has the disadvantage that it requires a lot of power, but a starship will spend most of it's time between stars, so it's not a major issue.

[FreeThinker]

13 hours ago, Winebars said:

D-T fusion: Bread and butter fusion mode. High power output. Some charged particles. Fast reactor embrittlement. Breeds tritium just about to sustain itself.

D-He3 fusion: "Premium" fusion mode. A bit less powerful but most of the power in charges particles (which is good because you can run magnetic nozzle with them + they convert to electricity more efficiently). He3 is VERY expensive and hard to get. Little reactor embrittlement. Breeds a bit of tritium.

T-T fusion: Basically crappier version of D-T fusion, but usable if you for some reason run out of deuterium and don't have access (fuel) to more advanced fusion modes. Also a very good tritium breeder mode.

D-D fusion: Not-so-crappy alternative to D-T fusion. Less powerful but generates more charged particles and doesn't embrittle the reactor so fast. Good tritium breeding.

p-B fusion: Uses boron which is easy to get with ISRU. Note that deuterium is quite tricky to get outside Kerbin. Not very powerful but okay-ish amount of charged particles + no embrittlement.

D-Li6 fusion: Non-embrittling alternative to D-T. Comparable output but little charged particles. Lithium-6 can also be mined pretty much anywhere, albeit much slower than boron. Breeds a bit of tritium.

p-Li fusion: Basically a cheaper (and more high-tech) alternative to D-He3: Lots of charged particles, midrange power output (a bit less than D-He3 though), no embrittlement.

 

 

 

This is actualy a good explanation for starters, but you forget to mention He3-He3. Pure He3, althouh less powerfull, is usefull if you ran out of Deteurium and is actualy the only fusion with no neutronic side reactions.

 

Edited July 19, 2016 by FreeThinker

[raxo2222]

24 minutes ago, FreeThinker said:

This is actualy a good explanation for starters, but you forget to mention He3-He3. Pure He3, althouh less powerfull, is usefull if you ran out of Deteurium and is actualy the only fusion with no neutronic side reactions.

 

And wasn't there pure Li6 fusion?

[FreeThinker]

1 hour ago, raxo2222 said:

And wasn't there pure Li6 fusion?

It was replaced by p-Li6 fusion. Note it will only require 50% protons 

 

 

Edited July 19, 2016 by FreeThinker

[raxo2222]

1 hour ago, FreeThinker said:

It was replaced by p-Li6 fusion. Note it will only require 50% protons 

 

 

Hmmm and what purpose of this p-N and pure H fusion?

One use for pure H fusion would be used for orbital fusion power plants powering microwave network around planets -  with big enough scoops you can gather enough Hydrogen. Thanks to no neutron release during reactions reactors can last forever.

What are other uses?

RSS tweak suggestion:

Can you increase range of microwave transmitters/receivers/relays 11 times (range where power received/transmitted/relayed starts to fall), when RSS is installed?

Distances between planets and sun in RSS are 11 times bigger -

Kerbol - Kerbin is 13.6 million kilometers, where Sun Earth is 150 million kilometers.

 

Edited July 19, 2016 by raxo2222

[FreeThinker]

9 minutes ago, raxo2222 said:

RSS tweak suggestion:

Can you increase range of microwave transmitters/receivers/relays 11 times (range where power received/transmitted/relayed starts to fall), when RSS is installed?

Distances between planets and sun in RSS are 11 times bigger -

Kerbol - Kerbin is 13.6 million kilometers, where Sun Earth is 150 million kilometers.

 

From my understanding it is already at RSS level (most of KSPI is). It is Non RSS which needs to be adjusted

9 minutes ago, raxo2222 said:

Hmmm and what purpose of this p-N and pure H fusion?

One use for pure H fusion would be used for orbital fusion power plants powering microwave network around planets -  with big enough scoops you can gather enough Hydrogen.

 

p-N will be an effective method of power generation on any planet/moon  atmosher containg Nitrigen (4th gen)

pure Hydrogen Fusion Mode will be usefull near any Hydrogen source (Gas Giant or Water/Ice) (5th gen)

Edited July 19, 2016 by FreeThinker

[raxo2222]

Just now, FreeThinker said:

From my understanding it is already at RSS level (most of KSPI is). in Stock KSP it tends to be too effective.

Ah so you need to build separate microwave networks, if you want to colonize whole solar system.

So initially you would have to put reactors of your choice on upper stage, so it actually could maneuver around other planets, when far from home.

 

[FreeThinker]

On 19-7-2016 at 7:17 PM, raxo2222 said:

Ah so you need to build separate microwave networks, if you want to colonize whole solar system.

So initially you would have to put reactors of your choice on upper stage, so it actually could maneuver around other planets, when far from home.

 

Well Realisticly, you would have create 2 networks, one from the initial starting point and a second at the destination. The transfer vessel would use an accelerated hufman transfer to travel to it's destination and a second desceleration at the destination..THis would technically allow you create very cheap links between planets. But You still would have to intialy send a reactor vessel to the destination

http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/infrastructure.php#id--Solar_Power_Stations--Beamed_Power

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beam-powered_propulsion

 

Edited July 21, 2016 by FreeThinker

[raxo2222]

53 minutes ago, FreeThinker said:

Well Realisticly, you would have create 2 networks, one from the initial starting point and a second at the destination. The transfer vessel would use a accelerated hufman transfer to travel to it's destination and a desceleration at the destination..THis would technically allow you create very cheap links between planets. But You still would have to intialy send a reactor vessel to the destination

http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/infrastructure.php#id--Solar_Power_Stations

So first extraterrestrial microwave network would be around Mars, and later it could be built around Jupiter/Venus, Saturn/Mercury and then expand outward.

And what about laser power transmission?

 

Edit: With launch site switch I could build ground power plant somewhere at equator far from stock launcher (in RSS launch site is at Florida), lets say in Europe or Japan/China, and then launch 3 or more relays into geostationary equator orbit.

Ground based reactors could go like this: Molten salt -> Dusty Plasma (core temp of 4100 degrees and tasty charged particles) -> Closed Field Magnetic Confinement fusion reactor (Reactor names in OP aren't consistent with reactor names in game) using low embrittlement fusion reactions, preferably ones, that have even higher charged particle ratios than Dusty Plasma  -> Inertial Electrostatic Confinement using pure hydrogen as cheapest fusion fuel   (is this one with solar panels in game?)

AIM and Antimatter reactors would be allowed for orbit only and far from any planet.

But it seems like microwave powered aircraft would have slight trouble at high latitudes - microwaves would have to cut trough atmosphere at shallow angle.

Also thermal radiation shouldn't be harmful to surroundings?

You cant just simply dump 100 GW of waste heat into air and not excepting superheated oxygen start forest fires.

 

Edited July 19, 2016 by raxo2222

[FreeThinker]

@raxo2222 I did some reseach an it appearch KSPI current formula for tranmission are flawed. the correct formula is

recieved power capture  = distance-to-spot * wavelength / ( surfacearea  sender / reciever diameter

Note that we are slightly to cheat as we say our sender uses surface area instead of diameter, otherwise would needed insane big senders.

Now in order to send power from the surface to space, you need to send the power by 3 cm length microwave power

This effectively meas that that  in order to send power from the surface to orbit, you going to need  transiever in low orbit , otherwise you transiers have to be to big.

Example : 70.000 * 0.03 / 200 = 10.9 diameter ( = large phaged array reciever)

Long distance have to be achieve using laser light, which wavelenth is much smaller (1micron)

A nice idea I got is that the beamed power network should also work with standard KSP solar arrays. this would mean you could send use vessel with solar array much further than allowed without beamed power.

 

Edited July 19, 2016 by FreeThinker

[raxo2222]

13 minutes ago, FreeThinker said:

@raxo2222 I did some reseach an it appearch KSPI current formula for tranmission are flawed. the correct formula is

recieved power capture  = distance-to-spot * wavelength / ( surfacearea  sender (m2)) / surfacearea reciever

Now in order to send power from the surface to space, you need to send the power by 3 cm length microwave power

This effectively meas that that  in order to send power from the surface to orbit, you going to need  transiever in low orbit , otherwise you transiers have to be to big.

Example : 70.000 * 0.03 / 200 = 10 (about standard recieiver size)

Long distance have to be achieve using laser light, which wavelenth is much smaller (1micron)

A nice idea I got is that the beamed power network should also work with standard KSP solar arrays. this would mean you could send use vessel with solar array much further than allowed without beamed power.

 

Hmm so we could have upgradeable transmitters. First microwave, infrared,  then red laser, blue laser (2x shorter wavelength), and as short wavelength UV or even X ray, if these can be used for power transmission.

Edited July 19, 2016 by raxo2222

[FreeThinker]

13 minutes ago, raxo2222 said:

Hmm so we could have upgradeable transmitters. First microwave, infrared,  then red laser, blue laser (2x shorter wavelength), and as short wavelength UV or even X ray, if these can be used for power transmission.

Yes, sounds like a great idea.  X-ray would be unlocked with Ultra High energy Physics which allows direct conversion of X-rays into energy.

(note I already made some requesr for additional electrical technologies technodes for CTT, which allow me to spead of beamed power upgrade technologies)

I want to make the MIcrowave Transmitter & thermal reciever available before electric power transmitting becomes avialable , it would be able to transmit power to any solar array in range or any thermal reciever.

Edited July 19, 2016 by FreeThinker

[raxo2222]

54 minutes ago, FreeThinker said:

Yes, sounds like a great idea.  X-ray would be unlocked with Ultra High energy Physics which allows direct conversion of X-rays into energy.

(note I already made some requesr for additional electrical technologies technodes for CTT, which allow me to spead of beamed power upgrade technologies)

I want to make the MIcrowave Transmitter & thermal reciever available before electric power transmitting becomes avialable , it would be able to transmit power to any solar array in range or any thermal reciever.

Wonder if gamma rays would be usable too.

Also here are few ground powerplants that I made

What if I placed these underwater?

 

Edited July 19, 2016 by raxo2222