[dev/beta] Fission Rockets (Spacekiss)

[Maffif]

 

SpaceKiss Engine Pack:

Volume one, Fission Rockets

 (for testing only; no reviews) 
https://github.com/Maffif/Volume-One/releases/download/v0.3/Christmas.Build.zip
NEEDS: B9PS, CRP, modulemanager (for whichever KSP version you are using)



Update: Between KSP2 and grad school applications, this is dangerously close to "dead mod" territory.  I may end up putting together a cleaned up release proper but no promises.

 

The cfgs and code in this pack (many of which were adapted from *Kerbal Atomics/CryoTanks*) are distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode). You are free to share and adapt the materials only for non-commercial purposes and when providing appropriate attribution. Any derivatives must be distributed under the same license.

The models and textures are licensed as All Rights Reserved; They are not to be redistributed, reused or otherwise adapted without permission from the artist (Jonathan Kissner)
That said, ask away.  
FreeThinker has permission to use these assets for KSPI-E

 

Kerbalized Endgame Progression

The flagship for volume one, the Superbulb

 

Spoiler

 

Kerbodyne KL-70 Whirlpool  this vaguely stockish model is deprecated; the stats and concept remain, but it will be given a different company, a unique steering method and model.  It will still look like a fat NERV.

"This water-fueled monstrosity is built around a huge molten reactor core. The core takes some time to spin up/down when engaged. This system was first proposed on laundry day after tests of a stolen LV-N, when a washing machine started melting and, expelling water at a high velocity, thrust itself into the next building. Kerbodyne tells us the green glow of the exhaust is just an incandescence, and any radioactive material is confined in the centrifuge... They promise."

 

 

Note that this release will be a test version; it is by no means ready for review- and this is also my first stab at anything Blender/Unity.  End goals include custom plumes, proper progression/balance adjustment, CTT integration, ISRU/better engine configs, persistent thrust modules, and ensuring each engine has a proper niche at its respective tech level.
 

 

This is (will be) an engine pack, filled with parts ranging from real to futuristic and exotic, but all theoretically possible and realistically implemented.

Disclaimer: some bits might end up only as realistic as the stock ion engine* so ‘realism’ should be taken with a grain of salt.  Simplicity and playability are prioritized over absolute realism, although some parts may be suited for a futuristic RSS game.  The goal is to make endgame-level operations available while maintaining stock simplicity. These parts will enable new/emergent gameplay- like how to get 200T+ engine to LKO, figuring out brachistochrone trajectories, harvesting other CRP resources, escaping gravity wells with snail-like thrust, and what to do with all this dV.

 

Future dependencies/recommended mods

Spoiler

 

Dependencies:

 

-CRP

-B9 Partswitch

-module manager 

Strongly Recommended (on 0.5 release)

-Mods with Landing Gear (Lithobrake Exploration Technologies, Kerbal Foundries, or Kerbal Reusability are good places to start)

Of the engines even suitable for landing, many are colossal.  Stock landing gear will NOT give enough ground clearance and a few of the engines are rather touchy.

-Planet Pack(s), Science Packs

It would be difficult to fill out the community tech tree in the stock system alone, especially without an experiment package.  The engines included are also wildly OP for a stock system- they were balanced with long range interplanetary (or even interstellar) travel in mind

Recommended mods (on 0.5 release):

-provision for orbital assembly

  -EL (extraplanetary launchpads)

  -SimpleConstruction (very lightweight)

  -Ground Constrution/MKS

-Science pack (DMAGIC, Coatl Aerospace)  

-Planet/star system packs

  -Extrasolar/Other Worlds (why not both?) 

 - GPO

-Kerbol Origins

  -OPM

  -KSS

  -GPP and all the other rearranging packs, probably

-Any sort of life support (adds another dimension to gameplay)

Todo list (Mostly chronological)

Spoiler

 

I plan to fill out the relevant portions of the community tech tree to its furthest reaches, in a light and simple pack- letting users visit faraway bodies with realistic tech, without doubling down on the performance hit already taken with extensive planet/star packs.  To that end, parts will be as simple as I can make them while still looking good/like their chalkboard counterparts, and when possible, part count will be kept to a minimum (Engine-reactor-radiator combos, for example)

 

CRP is supported; the NTRs run on liquid hydrogen and hydrogen/oxidizer for LANTR modes. I may eventually make some dedicated CRP based mining parts so a few exotics can be mined for profit 

Planned parts:

Spoiler

 

-Arcjet (Ec-hungry, bimodal: IntakeAtm or closed cycle) (Useful for atmospheric hovercraft; hover module sold separately)

-Active intake (Ec-fed intake for stationary IntakeAtm gathering)

-Active intake ISRU (processes atmospheric resources and collects intakeAtm while stationary)

-FFR (various models)

-Dusty plasma FFR (Pathetic thrust, but give it a few weeks and it’ll get you to a noticable fraction of C: 527,000s/100kN)

-Sabre turborocket

-Atomic turborocket

Note, the current plan for heat intensive drives is to build the engines as radiator/truss/engine/shadow shield all in one part (The FFR, for example, will probably take up 30-50% the VAB height), treat it as a closed system and handwave the heating, sidestepping stock heat issues.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/48/66/05/486605106c0fefab408d82cadca094a1.jpg

-Kerbalized MPD

-Kerbalized VASIMR (3k-30k variable isp, once I figure out the module)

-RTG/NTR

-NSWR

-Gas core NTR (MANY models, a lot of the progression will be here)

-Low profile, high TWR NTR’s (Ideal for landers)

-Other NTRs

-He3* Fusion/confinement torch Drives

-He3 Scoops for gas giants*

-Thermal jet engines of varying types (Including SABRE variants)

-Aerospike/plug/vacuum/alternate nozzle variants for parts in the pack

Considered parts

-Ghost D-D Fusion drive (would need massive downscale/balance)

-Epstein style sublight torch (possibly NSWR or fusion)

-Antimatter catalyzed/pure AM  reactors/parts

-Beamed power receivers (if connected to KSC, outputs EC) (Inflated cost to balance)

 

*May sub more Kerbalized resources for exotic engines such as Karborundum instead of He3; looking for opinions on this. Also, to make He3 harvestable would require a cfg patch for CRP to increase its abundance, which is unacceptable by community standards; will address this in future.

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

*The stock ion engine has realistic isp performance, however its thrust is on the order of 1000 times higher than the real-life equivalent.  For keeping things fun and avoiding superlong burns, some other hyper-efficient engines should have their thrust likewise increased from mN-N range to the low kN range- and a persistent thrust module will be added to eliminate some tedium

 

below is a throwback to what the same "lightbulb" engine looked like before I learned anything about modeling

*special thanks to CobaltWolf for never letting me settle for mediocre art.  Seen above is my initial art for the very same engine pictured on the top of this post*

Edited March 18, 2020 by Maffif

[Maffif]

Spoiler

 

Looking promising, only a matter of time now @JadeOfMaar

Edited June 6, 2018 by Maffif

[Barar]

I have a weakness for different rockets, this looks nice.

On 4/28/2018 at 10:35 AM, Maffif said:

Resource discussion: I am looking for opinions/feedback on what set of resources to use.

You could make it compatible with both. A bunch of ways to go about it. Some I could think of, probably a bunch more.

Spoiler

This would delete the old stock module and replace if CommunityResourcePack is found.

@PART[whirlpool]:NEEDS[CommunityResourcePack]
{
    !MODULE[ModuleEngines]
    {
    }
    MODULE
    {
        name = ModuleEngines
        thrustVectorTransformName = thrustTransform
        exhaustDamage = True
        ignitionThreshold = 0.1
        minThrust = 0
        maxThrust = 60
        heatProduction = 80
        fxOffset = 0, 0, 0.21
        EngineType = LiquidFuel
        exhaustDamageDistanceOffset = 0.34
        PROPELLANT
        {
            name = LiquidFuel
            ratio = 0.9
            DrawGauge = True
        }
        PROPELLANT
        {
            name = Oxidizer
            ratio = 1.1
        }
        atmosphereCurve
        {
            key = 0 345
            key = 1 85
            key = 3 0.001
        }
    }
}

 

Spoiler

This would activate only certain resource use ,if you have specific mods installed.

Example Engine
    MODULE
    {
        name = ModuleEngines
        thrustVectorTransformName = thrustTransform
        exhaustDamage = True
        ignitionThreshold = 0.1
        minThrust = 0
        maxThrust = 60
        heatProduction = 80
        fxOffset = 0, 0, 0.21
        EngineType = LiquidFuel
        exhaustDamageDistanceOffset = 0.34
        PROPELLANT
        {
            name = LiquidFuel
            ratio = 0.9
            DrawGauge = True
        }
        PROPELLANT
        {
            name = Oxidizer
            ratio = 1.1
        }
        PROPELLANT:NEEDS[CommunityResourcePack]
        {
            name = Antimatter
            ratio = 0.005
            DrawGauge = True
        }
        atmosphereCurve
        {
            key = 0 345
            key = 1 85
            key = 3 0.001
        }
    }

You could also do Multimode Engines and switch between resources.

This would also work with the ISRU's, just could require some tough balancing if you don't play with a particular mod that uses a specific resource.

I do find it less intrusive to add to a part,  then to change the parts existing stats, as it could mess with other people's balancing. That may be one of the benefits of creating your own resource, no conflicts with other mods. Using water for instance, you happen to make water too easy/hard to get with a MM tweak, and it affects a bunch of life support mods.

 

Way to discourage use of certain engines in homeworld (or worlds with life, for mods like KSS) (Or Not)

Going off the above statement, many of these engines would be absolutely unacceptable to use for atmospheric operation (Most notably: open cycle GCR and the NSWR).  Note I’m not deadset on this; perhaps the Kerbin EPA is lackadaisical towards large-scale radioactive pollution?

The FTL mod has an ability where you cant jump your drive unless you are far enough away from a planet. It gives a % chance for FTL jump. I wonder if you could do something similar. Engine wont start unless X amount away from a planet, or maybe random parts could blow up.

 

On 4/28/2018 at 10:35 AM, Maffif said:

CRP1 (Kerbalized) (would include ISRU)

-Water (leave reactor fuels alone); blutonium?

-Liquidfuel/(blutonium??)

I know Blutonium is used in Solaris Hypernautics which hasn't been updated for a bit.

I look forward to seeing your work.

[TheRedWolf2099]

this looks good

[Maffif]

On 4/30/2018 at 12:36 AM, Barar said:

(Lots of things)

Thanks.  That was my plan for optional CRP integration, but I didn't know offhand how to write it.

Right now I'm leaning towards using LH2 for some rockets, water for others, and giving a small few (Like the whirlpool, which needs some buffing to keep it competitive with other engines) a GTindustries multimode option.

 Likewise I plan on making the NTR's consume very small amounts of (undecided expensive resource); the torch drive (Nuclear saltwater) will use the same resource set, water and X, but at a proportion closer to 1:5.

For now I'm giving the leakier GCR's (and later, the NSWR) pathetic isp at 1atm or greater.  With that, I invite any to behold the first truly big engine:

"A huge monstrosity of an engine, Kerbodyne's late entry gas core rocket is peerless among atomic rockets in terms of specific impulse.  The tradeoff is very poor thrust performance; this rocket will not lift itself off of Kerbin- probably for the better, considering the engine is constantly ejecting its vaporized nuclear ractor. This is also the only thermal rocket incorporating nonregenerative cooling."

188 Tons, 1800kN/5222s (vac)

(Still making some cfg tweaks to keep heating balanced between generation and loss; the part should do both at roughly equal rates)

There are six seven NTR's tested/ready and a bonus switchable truss completed, with three more NTRs and a few more extras on the way.  My current hurdle is putting multiple mu's in one folder, since I use an atlas texture. Whether or not I figure that out, there should be a primitive release very soon.

Edited May 3, 2018 by Maffif

[Barar]

Looking at that, I wonder if it would look nice on my mining base with a Command lookout on top surveying the land. With those radiators soaking up the heat from my Drills and ISRU's.

[Maffif]

Nuclear Thermal Rockets: Meet the family

L-R top first

-Vapor Core: early unlock, first engine to make SSTO (without payload) feasible. Slightly better than the NERV; still has really bad T/W (600/900s)

-Truss: Fuel line is toggleable. Later on I'll probably make various switchable tubes (Crew etc) and more sizes

-Liquid Core 2: Huge, T/W=10. Efficient, sluggish throttle response, will later incorporate optional water-hydrogen fuel toggle to switch to poor thrust/great isp (1111s vs 2000s); this engine can SSTO Eve.

-Gas core 2: Efficient, powerful vacuum engine.  Fills same niche as Kerbodyne's Rhino

-Lightbulb 1: Small, highly efficient. Works well even in atmosphere; most efficient vacuum engine until GC4, but poor T/W (2010s)

-Lightbulb 2: Large, responsive, versatile.  It isn't the best at any one thing, except maybe T/W.  VERY good SSTO engine.  Future revised model will have spots to mount legs (or use EEX for unlimeted offset)

-Gas Core 1: Same as GC2 but in a smaller package.

-Gas Core 4: Interplanetary rocket system.  Incorporates a 0.8 Gw radiator system (6222s isp gas core rocket generates MASSIVE waste heat, and also needs to be away from the crew a ways)- VERY poor T/W, unusable in atmosphere. Late unlock.

Not present:

-Liquid Core 1: Probe engine; abysmal T/W, 2000ish isp

-Gas Core 3: relatively low profile engine with decent T/W, mounts for gear, and possibly an integrated heat shield.  Late unlock.  This will be a good engine for landers- possibly suitable for SSTO or booster-assisted STO on distant worlds with unknown atmospheric profiles.

Edited December 7, 2018 by Maffif
Edit: scratched out old plans because scope is being revised

[Maffif]

Revamp in progress; The initial release has been delayed (it would've been out weeks ago) but I want the quality to be closer in line with new stock/recent mod work
Seen here: Revamped Lightbulb engine

Edited June 10, 2018 by Maffif

[Maffif]

New mesh for colossal gas core system 

[GrandProtectorDark]

Hmmm I really like semi futuristic engine packs which aim to be a bit more balanced. 
Nerteas Far Future technologies had always been my favorite (The one that's hidden away on his github). So I'm looking forward to where this mod will be going. 
(This mod also looks like it won't have all that unneeded baggage of complexity which KSPI has).

[Maffif]

Mesh for Nuclear Saltwater rocket is about done.  This will be the endgame of the pack, a CTT capstone.

Ignore the crookedness in the boxes at the right (top)- that's just Unity importing wrong.
Right-end: Storage for ~20 tons of fissile salts, corresponding to 400 tons of water for mixing. (I may just leave the water for this and other engines as "liquidfuel" for stock/ISRU simplicity, but hydrogen engines will still use LH2)

Contemplating a mesh-switch option for more fuel storage options.
Forcing integrated fission salt storage puts some minor limitations on this seriously broken engine; Even with the proposed 20T limit, a vessel with a mass ratio of 4.5- conservatively heavy, at 150 tons dry - could achieve 700 km/s

Edited June 6, 2018 by Maffif

[Maffif]

B

Brief update. I haven't stopped working; Good/bad: I keep growing as a modeler and having to scrap obsolete work/develop new workflows.  This is how things are looking now.

[GrandProtectorDark]

IT'S ALIVE!

Jokes aside, Good to hear that you are still working on this mod.

[Maffif]

Yes, I am here. Aside from a vacation and skyrim/building a new pc, this is what I have been up to:
 

Spoiler

I've been trying to figure a more efficient process, while learning along the way.  Mirroring details, using the specular map to bring areas in or out, better ways of unwrapping (practiced on the mess of tubes seen earlier)
Compare this to the previous two or three iterations of the 'bulb, and imagine the same thing with all the other models seen above.  

Edit: updated OP

Edited August 14, 2018 by Maffif

[FreeThinker]

On 4/30/2018 at 7:36 AM, Barar said:

Going off the above statement, many of these engines would be absolutely unacceptable to use for atmospheric operation (Most notably: open cycle GCR and the NSWR).  Note I’m not deadset on this; perhaps the Kerbin EPA is lackadaisical towards large-scale radioactive pollution?

 

A possible method would be to link engine fuel flow in Kerbin Atmosphere with loss of Prestige.

[FreeThinker]

On 6/6/2018 at 9:31 PM, Maffif said:

Mesh for Nuclear Saltwater rocket is about done.  This will be the endgame of the pack, a CTT capstone.

Ignore the crookedness in the boxes at the right (top)- that's just Unity importing wrong.
Right-end: Storage for ~20 tons of fissile salts, corresponding to 400 tons of water for mixing. (I may just leave the water for this and other engines as "liquidfuel" for stock/ISRU simplicity, but hydrogen engines will still use LH2)

Contemplating a mesh-switch option for more fuel storage options.
Forcing integrated fission salt storage puts some minor limitations on this seriously broken engine; Even with the proposed 20T limit, a vessel with a mass ratio of 4.5- conservatively heavy, at 150 tons dry - could achieve 700 km/s

Although the Nuclear Salt engine stats are OP, there are several ways to balance it.

A: make it produce a lot of heat, forcing you to use large amount of radiators to keep it cool

B: make it propellant storage (NuclearSaltWater) which need to prevent it from spontaneously fissioning seriously heavy which would motivate players to use the engine in short bursts while refilling the storage tank with water and uranium and salt.

C: Prevent usage or seriously punish the user when using it in Kerbin Atmosphere. A little partmodule controller can be written to achieve that

D: High Cost, producing a Molten Salt  Rocket engine would be very expensive due to all the nuclear contamination. THe NuclearSaltWater tanks would besides their high mass also be very expansive (compaired to LiquidFuel)

 

Edited October 15, 2018 by FreeThinker

[FreeThinker]

On 5/3/2018 at 2:04 AM, Maffif said:

Thanks.  That was my plan for optional CRP integration, but I didn't know offhand how to write it.

Right now I'm leaning towards using LH2 for some rockets, water for others, and giving a small few (Like the whirlpool, which needs some buffing to keep it competitive with other engines) a GTindustries multimode option. out, there should be a primitive release very soon.

 

I would recommend using existing resources as much as possible and use resources that are also used by other Mods like Nertia Far Future Mod which has defined NuclearSaltWater resource. 

RESOURCE_DEFINITION
{
	name = NuclearSaltWater // Nuclear fuel
	displayName = #LOC_FFT_resource_NuclearSaltWater_title
  abbreviation =#LOC_FFT_resource_NuclearSaltWater_abbrev
	density = 0.00105
	unitCost = 4
	isTweakable = true
  isVisible = true
	flowMode = NO_FLOW
	transfer = PUMP
	volume = 1
}

 

Edited October 15, 2018 by FreeThinker

[Maffif]

 

Hi @FreeThinker,
The current plan is to use preexisting resources; however, for gameplay simplicity I am more likely to use a small number of them rather than find the explicit match, for local commonality.  

IE, plutonium or EnrichedUranium + Liquidfuel instead of the nuclearsaltwater resource- which means that other fission rockets such as the dusty plasma would share ISRU.  
As far as balance, I have part high weight and an inordinate fuel cost, as well as the engine (and most of the strong engines I am making) being fairly unwieldy.  This one in particular is very long, has no gimbal and is very thrusty- these factors together make atmospheric usage almost impossible without auxiliary control engines, and restrict it to use as an interplanetary/interstellar drive.
 

[FreeThinker]

10 hours ago, Maffif said:

@FreeThinkerThe current plan is to use preexisting resources; however, for gameplay simplicity I am more likely to use a small number of them rather than find the explicit match, for local commonality. 

IE, plutonium or EnrichedUranium + Liquidfuel instead of the nuclearsaltwater resource- which means that other fission rockets such as the dusty plasma would share ISRU.  
As far as balance, I have part high weight and an inordinate fuel cost, as well as the engine (and most of the strong engines I am making) being fairly unwieldy.  This one in particular is very long, has no gimbal and is very thrusty- these factors together make atmospheric usage almost impossible without auxiliary control engines, and restrict it to use as an interplanetary/interstellar drive.

7

Ok, but do you intend to make any matching storage tank for the Nuclear salt water reactor or do you expect players to use any ordinary liquid fuel storage tank and some third party enriched uranium container. Realistically I don't think you can say A: Nuclear Salt Water Reactor without B: Nuclear Salt Water storage container, otherwise you might as well call it a nuclear engine and throw all pretend of realism out of the window. What I would suggest is to make a nuclear salt water container which includes a stock processor for converting  Enriched Uranium + LiquidFuel/Water into your NuclearSaltWater resource, that way you are still fully compatible with any existing ISRU and have a very good way to make the whole system balanced

Edited November 5, 2018 by FreeThinker

[GrandProtectorDark]

One could also use LiquisFuel and regular ore when only stock resources are present and use a patch for actually appropriate resources when appropriate mods are installed.

 

Although I personally would prefer dedicated resources and custom storage tanks (like nertea did it)

Edited November 5, 2018 by GrandProtectorDark

[Maffif]

The Fissile salts have their own dedicated storage, aside from the water.  I know it isn't perfectly realistic, but between the two tankages (Plutonium and Liquidfuel) the mass should be similar to the array of tubes required.  This way the tankage can be used in other engines that only need the Plutonium dust (like a dusty plasma or fission fragment rocket)

The top section here is built into the engine, but will also be available as a standalone part in multiple profiles (I made sure that the ambient occlusion would work with it) to use in other setups.

I'd sooner use stock xenon for stock-only, but that is moot;
Given a very high need for LH2, I'm going the CRP route.  Stock liquid fuel is far too dense for any sense of balance with very high-isp NTR's, so aside from another art pass on the engines, I am making some custom cryogenic storage.

 

Edit: I could make the nuclear fuel boxes (or engine)  rapidly ISRU into nuclearsaltwater maching Nertea's definition, which the engine then consumes, but don't see much of a use for that (since the end result is identical)

Edited November 5, 2018 by Maffif

[FreeThinker]

On 11/5/2018 at 4:54 PM, Maffif said:

Edit: I could make the nuclear fuel boxes (or engine)  rapidly ISRU into nuclearsaltwater maching Nertea's definition, which the engine then consumes, but don't see much of a use for that (since the end result is identical)

2

The problem is that the literature does not support the idea of creating nuclear salt water at the speed you want to consume it.

creating nuclear saltwater on the fly is not as straight forward, for starters, standard uranium is not something that is easily transported. You cannot realistically pump it, unless it is coated into a ball like uranium nitrate pebble balls or turned into a powder. second, mixing uranium with saltwater isn't as easy as it sound but requires carefull chemical process which takes time and mass. These disadvantages are big enough that dedicated salt water tank are more attractive than mixing it just in time on the fly using on board isru process.

Edited November 7, 2018 by FreeThinker

[Maffif]

You are correct. The idea in situations like this is to use systems that mathematically approximate realistic function. 

My point is this : Creating special tankage for the nuclear saltwater (and all the other highly niche resources, like plutonium carbide, water, UF4, and the myriad of fusion resources down the road) will take up both scope and prime real estate in the end user's RAM, especially with the modeling standard I hold myself to. Right now the only planned extra tankage is a size3 cryogenic stack.

 

I could maybe add some tube array tanks, with very economical UVs but that would take time I barely even have to model. I might go back on this later if I learn to model more quickly and there is a sufficient demand for it, but for now this is the plan.  

 

Imagine the two tanks together (working fluid and nuclear fuel vaults) as a closed system that can be approximated as the assembly of tubes required for safely storing nuclear saltwater.  The gameplay is no different beyond that threshold. Taking this approach will keep the scope narrower and make the mod much more lightweight on the user's end, which is one of my main goals. 

[theonegalen]

 I really like this idea. I will be keeping an eye on it.

[Maffif]

More work has been done: Several more art passes on the main engine in the pursuit of ever better art; now with two lightbulb main variants (radiative high efficiency, and regenerative decent efficiency)
Both variants have LH2 solo and oxidizer afterburning modes (with dedicated SFX for each!), and both have 3 mount variants using carefully reused texture space/ managed texel density
 

 

Spoiler

I also took another art pass on this bad boy.  New emissives and plumes all around!

The more observant among you may notice a tentative release at the top.  This is for testing; I welcome feedback.
Don't make me regret this, internet