KSP Interstellar Extended Continued Development Thread

[FreeThinker]

Very impressive, going to put this on the OP

I can't give you any more rep but I can put you on the KSPI Credits list.

I promise to Fix the Habber Process and Perroxide Process this weekend.

Edited July 3, 2015 by FreeThinker

[nobodyhasthis]

Well I said I'd do it, below is the first draft:

http://i.imgur.com/7a4f9yb.jpg

NOTES

- The Peroxide process shown is not that currently in the game but instead represents what this process should be! The version currently in the game uses H2 and NH3 to make H2O and monopropellant. This is chemically incorrect and mixes the stock an interstellar resources. . . . and not in a useful way! I hope Freethinker will correct this in a future version.

- The Sabatier process does not work unless the CO2 is atmospheric.

- The following processes have not been tested (by me) so I can't voucher for their working / accuracy.

Reprocess Nuclear Fuel

Uranium Tetrafluoride Ammonolysis

Aluminum Electrolysis (I'm not even sure this one is still in the mod or at all useful if it is!)

I plan to improve the chart in the future as follows:

- Add the power requirements of each process

- Colour code the resources based upon where they can be found

But haven't yet done enough in game testing to be sure on the details of these bits.

Very nicely done sir. A good thing to point out is this can be affected by other installed mods. For example the Sabatier process does not need CO2 which is atmospheric. TAC life support and Universal storage provide a way to run it using life support provided CO2. NASA is using the Sabatier reaction to recover water from exhaled carbon dioxide and the hydrogen previously discarded from electrolysis on the International Space Station.

I have also have been trying to go the other way and power nuclear rockets with tanks of water! Using the added electrolysis systems to make hydrogen and oxygen. The Oxygen goes in life support storage and the hydrogen can be feed into fuel tanks using TAC Fuel Balance. I also have cryogenic tanks from the Near future Propulsion mod.

On a technical note the Peroxide process is chemically correct now but full of danger. In practice hydrogen peroxide will undergo potentially explosive decomposition if heated too much. It also tends to be very corrosive and hard to store if my memory is correct. It can be used but it can also go boom in wrong conditions. In a very Kerbal way.

Also in future space flight hydrogen is unlikely to stored in it's pure form. It is more likely to be a Hydride which will be processed before use. That could add another loop into resource use.

Edited July 3, 2015 by nobodyhasthis

[gary85]

why quantum vacuum need fuel?

it should be only electricity.

[FreeThinker]

why quantum vacuum need fuel?

it should be only electricity.

Well, technically, it needs to run on a propellant with mass. This is achieved by feeding it by vacuum plasma which is created from nothing using high amounts of power

Edited July 4, 2015 by FreeThinker

[Nansuchao]

@FreeThinker, a little suggestion/request. While we have engines that runs on multiple propellants, and sometimes we need to switch them in a fast way (think about Thermal Turbojet), it will be possible/easy to do, to have a GUI, maybe just in the VAB/SPH to change the propellants order or choose more than just the first one?

It's bad when you switch your TTJ and after air, it burns suddenly all of your Lithium, needed for your reactor. Maybe that's not an issue with Plasma Engines, but for others is disturbing.

[gary85]

it didnt have to in 0.90.

but even so why it is so inefficient?

[FreeThinker]

Dear FreeThinker

I have recently taken much interest in your Interstellar-Extended mod, however when I was testing it out for my youtube series I found that the mod included many parts that I wouldn't ever use that simply cluttered up the VAB parts list. This is made worse by the fact I already have a 2-digit number of spacecraft parts mods already. In addition, I did not like that all the new parts required their own resources, further cluttering up the space and reducing compatibility with other mods. So today I am simply requesting that you release a second, smaller version of the mod that only includes:

The Fission/Fusion/Antimatter Reactors

The Antimatter collector

The Thermal engine

The DT Vista Fusion engine

The beamed power parts

The telescope part

Also I would like it if the release also changed the resources for compatibility with DSEV and NFT:

Fission reactors - use NFT's EnrichedUranium and DepletedUranium

Fusion reactors - use DSEV's Fusionpellets

Thermal engine - use only stock propellants and NFT's Liquid Hydrogen

DT Vista Fusion engine - use DSEV's Fusionpellets

Megajoules - replace this resource with Electriccharge (1Mj = 1000 ec I think)

If you could do this I would be very thankful and would certainly give you a shoutout in my youtube series

Thanks for reading,

Well first of this wish list should have been posted on the forum as it contains a lot of radical design changes.(that's why repost it on the forums)

Regarding part pruning, you list seem to exclude resource tanks which are needed to make those reactors and engines function. Do you think they should be able to create propellant fuel from vacuum?

Notice that that I have already removed a lot of parts by resizable parts. The main reason I did this was not to reduce clutter, or improve customization but to lower maintenance. The list you propose is very specific to your needs as it contains both reactors, science parts and power distribution technology. I suggest you manually remove the parts you don’t need or use an auto pruner utility.

Regarding integration/compatibility with other fuels, I already took several steps to improve KSPI. For example, The Fission reactor now run on EnrichedUranium instead of UraniumFloride.

Your Idea for using DSEV’s Fusion pellets is interesting. KSPI Confinement Fusion Reactor has the option to switch between many different kinds of Fusion Mixes. I could simply add DSEV's Fusion pellets as an additional mode. For The Vista it actually makes for a preferred fuel/propellant as it really uses pellet for propulsion and it it’s always in the correct mix. To facility it further, I would be useful to allow production of the pellets in the Refinery or Vista Engine. Allowing it to create Pellets from Deuterium / Tritium. This is not a trivial thing as Tritium is a very expansive resource and is most effectively created in any neutronic reactor. Also Tritium is radioactive and spontaneously converts into lithium again.

Megajoules are required to maintain stable power control. It prevents energy starvation, and handles time acceleration. Megajoules are already also automatically converted into Electriccharge when used.

- - - Updated - - -

it didnt have to in 0.90.

but even so why it is so inefficient?

your trying to pull quantum particles from nothing and use them for propulsion. First it requires a lot of power to create the particles and second you need to propel them to generate thrust. Obviously, this is a lot harder than just propelling normal particles. According to Wikipedia QUantum Vacuum Plasma requires 50 W to produced about 50 µN. This means it required 1 GW to produce 1 kN!!

Edited July 4, 2015 by FreeThinker

[FreeThinker]

@FreeThinker, a little suggestion/request. While we have engines that runs on multiple propellants, and sometimes we need to switch them in a fast way (think about Thermal Turbojet), it will be possible/easy to do, to have a GUI, maybe just in the VAB/SPH to change the propellants order or choose more than just the first one?

It's bad when you switch your TTJ and after air, it burns suddenly all of your Lithium, needed for your reactor. Maybe that's not an issue with Plasma Engines, but for others is disturbing.

Your point is a valid one, but the problem it's larger than just Lithium. Basically any resource that is shared by multiple systems has the problem of unintentionally beeing used. For example, you can accidentally use the Crew Water as a propellant, and discover your crew died from Dehydration at the space station.

I'm looking for solutions to solve this problem. One solution, is to introduce new resources specially for propulsion which can be freely converted, or at a specific energy cost between their counter parts. An good example would be Water. For propulsion, we could create a LqdWater resource which has the same density/cost as normal water except it would be specificly be used for Propulsion. It could be freely converted to TAC Water, create LqdWater from TAC water. The same could be applied to Hydrogen and Lithium. LqdLithium would be the propellant counterpart if Lithium which would be used to breed Tritium which LqdLithium could be used for propulsion. To achieve this, I want to add a reservoir abiity to the Interstellar Fuel Switch part module. The reservoir would also function as the boil-off buffer, allowing you recover a limited amount of boiloff. It would also allow you to convert resource like CO2 to LqdCO2 which could be used for propulsion.

Edited July 4, 2015 by FreeThinker

[ChrisSpace]

Can an optional sub-patch be made so that all the mod's current resources be removed and all parts use Stock/NFT/DSEV Resources? Obviously important things like antimatter will be kept as unique resources, but things like all the different thermal rocket fuels, all the different reactor fuels, etc etc would be replaced. As for Megajoules, can you expand on how it maintains stable power control?

I mean, I like the mod but the resource tanks and collection mechanisms really clutter up the VAB.

[FreeThinker]

Can an optional sub-patch be made so that all the mod's current resources be removed and all parts use Stock/NFT/DSEV Resources? Obviously important things like antimatter will be kept as unique resources, but things like all the different thermal rocket fuels, all the different reactor fuels, etc etc would be replaced. As for Megajoules, can you expand on how it maintains stable power control?

I mean, I like the mod but the resource tanks and collection mechanisms really clutter up the VAB.

remove what exactly? if you don't want to use a specific resource, don't use it or remove it. Anyone is free to create a patch if they desire, I made SKPI extended specificly for this purpose in the first place. But I don't have the time for it. It did this in the past for NFT but quick found that it was difficult to maintain, so I integrated it into KSPI.

Edited July 4, 2015 by FreeThinker

[Nansuchao]

snip .

That's great. I said Lithium just as an example, but Water as you said or Hydrazine would be good examples too.

Divide the resources would be a great idea, otherwise, maybe a GUI (similar to Part Command Mod) would be maybe less invasive.

[FreeThinker]

To answer your question about MegaJoules. the reason KSPI uses MegaJoules instead of ElectricCharge, first read the original kspi wiki. Beside this, MegaJoules also allows me to create a more realistic electric model. In contrast to Electric Charge, MegaJoules are not storable. It can only maintain a buffer, which scales with time warp. If you turn the Electric Generator off, all Megajoules will disappear in a matter of seconds. The more power generated, the larger the buffer. In the past it allowed you to store 1000 MegaJoule of power, Indefinably. This kind of made batteries pointless. KSPI Extended fixed those isues by limiting the amount of stored Megajoules just enough to make all system run smoothly.

- - - Updated - - -

That's great. I said Lithium just as an example, but Water as you said or Hydrazine would be good examples too.

Divide the resources would be a great idea, otherwise, maybe a GUI (similar to Part Command Mod) would be maybe less invasive.

Yes, that's also an option. I was planning to create better GUI for all switchable engines. But again this would require quite some time to implement. A precious resource which I have little of. Perhaps if other developers would volunteer to help we could implement it faster.

Edited July 4, 2015 by FreeThinker

[FluffyDragon]

How are you supposed to upgrade the reactors? I mainly use Sandbox mode and whenever i connect an Antimatter reactor to my ships, it shows that it can be upgraded, but it doesnt give an option to choose the upgraded version of the reactor. Please let me know. This is very different from using Interstellar when it was a bit easier in 0.90.

[FreeThinker]

In Sandbox Mode, everything is already upgraded. But it still shows some update information. Sorry for the confusion

[gary85]

ye we got antimatter reactor so i dont see the problem

[FreeThinker]

[h=2]Version 1.2.5 for Kerbal Space Program 1.0.4[/h] Released on 2015-07-05

• Fixed Sabatier Pocess
  
• Added Tritium Breeding overflow prevention
  
• Tritium Breeding now also create Helium
  
• Helium added as an NTR propellant
  
• Fixed Part Exception in Deteurium Tank
  

[Sacnoth]

Hello Freethinker,

First of all thank you for maintaining this mod, its a must have for KSP as far as I'm concerned.

However I did notice something odd on my current science playthrough.

I've just unlocked the fusion generator and when I attached a thermal rocket under it, it seemed to quickly drain the reactor at full throttle up to the point where it couldn't maintain fusion and shut down.

Is this normal? Other engines I place under it like the attila will drain the thermal power but go no further. Also are there any pans to include a jumpstart option for the larger fusion reactors? I noticed the small ones have one, but the larger ones do not.

[FreeThinker]

Before I can help you, exactly what part configuration did you use (reactor, generator, engine) and what KSPI tech have you unlocked (fusion tech or higher)

[ExEvolution]

Does KSPI Extended work without Interstellar Fuel Switch? Trying to get the CKAN repository updated so it stops registering real fuels as a conflict to KSPI Extended due to KSPIE being marked as requiring Interstellar Fuel Switch

If Interstellar Fuel Switch and Real Fuels don't conflict at all, thats even better

[Sacnoth]

Before I can help you, exactly what part configuration did you use (reactor, generator, engine) and what KSPI tech have you unlocked (fusion tech or higher)

It was a non upgraded fusion reactor (5GW), I tried both generator types, both had the same problem. And a thermal rocket nozzle underneath. I only have fusion tech unlocked.

[Profit-]

Just finally cleaned up my save and converted some of the stuff over to KSP 1.04. I had to lose KIS and KAS, but everything else is there and I am back.

As my first thing I did I managed to land my interstellar ship. It does NOT land well, but I did get it to finally land safely on Laythe.

*Side note: I had originally planned on landing this back on kerbin but I am thinking with as unstable as it is during landing that I am gonna orbit it instead and bring down the science and the kerbals on parachutes.

Edited July 7, 2015 by Profit-

[FreeThinker]

Does KSPI Extended work without Interstellar Fuel Switch? Trying to get the CKAN repository updated so it stops registering real fuels as a conflict to KSPI Extended due to KSPIE being marked as requiring Interstellar Fuel Switch

If Interstellar Fuel Switch and Real Fuels don't conflict at all, thats even better

Well, technically, Interstellar Fuel Switch is not a hard requirement, but if you wish to use more than just stock fuels, you need to replace it with a mod that provide you with tanks for the propellants/fuels you want to use.

- - - Updated - - -

It was a non upgraded fusion reactor (5GW), I tried both generator types, both had the same problem. And a thermal rocket nozzle underneath. I only have fusion tech unlocked.

For this first generation fusion reactor, for now, you are adviced to also use a fission reactor to provide the electric power required to keep the the fusion reactor active durring full power usage. Technically the Fusion reactor will then become a Furnace, which you activate when need thrust and disable when you are in transit. In contract to fission reactor, fusion reactor can quickly deactivated and reactived. Edited July 7, 2015 by FreeThinker

[Weywot8]

Version 1.2.5 for Kerbal Space Program 1.0.4

Released on 2015-07-05

• Fixed Sabatier Pocess
  
• Added Tritium Breeding overflow prevention
  
• Tritium Breeding now also create Helium
  
• Helium added as an NTR propellant
  
• Fixed Part Exception in Deteurium Tank
  

I'm probably being slow today - can't seem to find the download link for the latest version (looked at OP, tried looking for github version). Could anyone give me a hint/directions please?

Thanks in advance.

[FreeThinker]

I'm probably being slow today - can't seem to find the download link for the latest version (looked at OP, tried looking for github version). Could anyone give me a hint/directions please?

Thanks in advance.

Alright, I increased the Fond Size on the OP. This should make it easier for you to find the download link

[Trigger1112]

Hello

The fusion reactors seem to be missing their fuel switches and the charged particle generator seems to have the wrong efficiency in the description.

http://imgur.com/a/OrmrN