Landing on asteroids

[Robonoise]

I’m hoping that in the new ksp you can land on asteroids. Technically, you can in ksp 1 because Gilly is an asteroid, but what about asteroids floating through space? We could use them for resources and bases maybe? I think connecting two astronauts into a refueling outpost would be cool. 

[GoldForest]

36 minutes ago, Robonoise said:

I’m hoping that in the new ksp you can land on asteroids. Technically, you can in ksp 1 because Gilly is an asteroid, but what about asteroids floating through space? We could use them for resources and bases maybe? I think connecting two astronauts into a refueling outpost would be cool. 

There are asteroids floating around in space in KSP 1.

We can use them for mining resources.

[Ratwerke_Actual]

14 hours ago, Robonoise said:

I’m hoping that in the new ksp you can land on asteroids. Technically, you can in ksp 1 because Gilly is an asteroid, but what about asteroids floating through space? We could use them for resources and bases maybe? I think connecting two astronauts into a refueling outpost would be cool. 

Just two? How about connecting 17?

 

[shdwlrd]

1 hour ago, Ratwerke_Actual said:

Just two? How about connecting 17?

 

Nice!!!  (Really missing the reactions.)

[Robonoise]

On 9/28/2019 at 1:21 PM, shdwlrd said:

Nice!!!  (Really missing the reactions.)

Nice is an understatement, that’s amazing! 

On 9/27/2019 at 9:41 PM, GoldForest said:

There are asteroids floating around in space in KSP 1.

We can use them for mining resources.

Even if you can use them for mining, you can’t have you kerbals walk on them, build bases, set up outpost, or anything else without an arm meant for asteroid redirect.

[Superfluous J]

56 minutes ago, Robonoise said:

Even if you can use them for mining, you can’t have you kerbals walk on them, build bases, set up outpost, or anything else without an arm meant for asteroid redirect.

I'd be surprised if KSP2 had asteroids big enough to be worth modeling gravity. I'd be more surprised if they actually DID model gravity for them.

In both cases I'd be happily surprised, but surprised nonetheless.

[Daniel Prates]

Seems indeed unlikely. Even the big asteroids in KSP1 are too small to have anything but negligible gravity. Unless of course they are planning some really big asteroids in an asteroid belt or something, but then, those would more likely be individual bodies with tailored characteristics and not just a part of a broad asteroid gravity feature.

[kspnerd122]

I feel that asteroids should have enough gravity that if you are moving at less than 10 m/s you can orbit it but only for E class asteroids.

[Terwin]

4 hours ago, kspnerd122 said:

I feel that asteroids should have enough gravity that if you are moving at less than 10 m/s you can orbit it but only for E class asteroids.

What should happen if you have a probe orbiting a class E and then it is grappled and towed away or joined to another class E?  Try to put a class E in orbit around another Class E?  Then put another one in orbit of those two?

Gravity for any movable body will require n-body physics.

I am happy to make-do with klaws.

[kspnerd122]

dude i intended that to only work for ships not other asteroids

mainly so I can do an asteroid landing also E class asteroids are almost impossible to move in the first place you cant do it without using cheats

[Ratwerke_Actual]

31 minutes ago, kspnerd122 said:

dude i intended that to only work for ships not other asteroids

mainly so I can do an asteroid landing also E class asteroids are almost impossible to move in the first place you cant do it without using cheats

This is incorrect...

The station I pictured above was built entirely stock, without cheats. All 17 asteroids were flown to the spine. The spine was launched legit.

5 hours ago, kspnerd122 said:

I feel that asteroids should have enough gravity that if you are moving at less than 10 m/s you can orbit it but only for E class asteroids.

That's Gilly...

An E class asteroid would have so little gravity that standing up or walking would be escape velocity.

[Terwin]

1 hour ago, kspnerd122 said:

dude i intended that to only work for ships not other asteroids

mainly so I can do an asteroid landing also E class asteroids are almost impossible to move in the first place you cant do it without using cheats

As soon as I attach my klaw to an asteroid it becomes part of my ship, should that make anything currently in orbit of the asteroid stop orbiting and go flying off into space?

I also participated in an asteroid collection challenge(I think I may even have won, as I went to Dres and collected them there), so hauling class E asteroids is not as big a problem as you might think. (I even avoided drilling them as much as feasible as asteroid mass was a big part of the score).

Found my image gallery: 5 class E and one class C, all linked together with Klaws:

https://imgur.com/OMDpV4t

Edited October 4, 2019 by Terwin

[kspnerd122]

no the asteroid would still have gravity even if you used the claw to attach to the asteroid

[Terwin]

19 minutes ago, kspnerd122 said:

no the asteroid would still have gravity even if you used the claw to attach to the asteroid

Then how would you not need N-body calculations when you have multiple asteroids, each with a vessel attached, all orbiting each other?

Or, have a vessel try to orbit a group of linked asteroids?

[kspnerd122]

but i cant get to gilly even after 400+ hours in the game

 

[DoctorDavinci]

4 hours ago, Terwin said:

Then how would you not need N-body calculations when you have multiple asteroids, each with a vessel attached, all orbiting each other?

Or, have a vessel try to orbit a group of linked asteroids?

A part module attached to the asteroid in the case of KSP 1

I even posted some code for asteroid gravity a month or so ago ... needs some work but the concept is sound

If a vessel is within the 'gravity well' of an asteroid then a force proportional to the asteroids' mass is applied to the vessel

Given that an asteroid is a vessel and a craft attached to an asteroid is one vessel, I am sure you can see how it could be achieved ... each of the vessels would have an effect on the other

I think I may just revisit the asteroid gravity code I did and actually release it as a mod since the subject of asteroid gravity has come up a few times on the forum

Edited October 4, 2019 by DoctorDavinci

[Ratwerke_Actual]

Only problem with any of this as others have pointed out, is asteroid masses in this game are ridiculously small. 

How would you accomplish anything on a body that has an escape velocity of mm/s.

Put a Kerbal on Gilly, see how hard it is just to walk, then multiply that by a million.

 

http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/en/topics/20181225e_AstroDynamics/

Here's an example for a 450 Million Ton rock.

Edited October 5, 2019 by Ratwerke_Actual
Added link

[pandaman]

7 hours ago, Ratwerke_Actual said:

How would you accomplish anything on a body that has an escape velocity of mm/s.

That is the problem.

It is not that gravity on/of asteroids is a bad idea at all, or that it may be difficult to implement.  It is simply that the force is so small on the sizes of asteroids currently in KSP as to be negligible and therefore a pretty pointless thing to include.

If much, MUCH larger asteroids got added then then it may, just, be a more worthwhile feature to consider.

[kspnerd122]

I feel there should be a few asteroids the size of gilly but orbiting the sun and with low inclanations although there cannot be inclanation and ecentricity because thats why I cant get to gilly or eeloo

12 hours ago, DoctorDavinci said:

A part module attached to the asteroid in the case of KSP 1

I even posted some code for asteroid gravity a month or so ago ... needs some work but the concept is sound

If a vessel is within the 'gravity well' of an asteroid then a force proportional to the asteroids' mass is applied to the vessel

Given that an asteroid is a vessel and a craft attached to an asteroid is one vessel, I am sure you can see how it could be achieved ... each of the vessels would have an effect on the other

I think I may just revisit the asteroid gravity code I did and actually release it as a mod since the subject of asteroid gravity has come up a few times on the forum

I would definitely get that mod please make it

[kspnerd122]

add big asteroids or make a gilly sized moon around duna because honestly duna has to be more interesting and a more worthwhile destination than just land on duna, maybe land on ike, go home to kerbin.

i think that duna would become a cool destination again with a new moon the size of minmus/pol

Edited October 11, 2019 by kspnerd122
typo