[0.17] XMatter Co. - Hi-tech space equipment (Now with Cupola Module)

[katyjsst]

CUPOLA SPACE STATION MODULE

DOWNLOAD

This is an actual module used in the International Space Station.

Planned Features:

Interior?

THE NEW ANTI-MATTER ROCKET Version 0.2!

DOWNLOAD v0.2

Parts:

Anti-Matter 1m Rocket Fuel

Anti-Matter 2m Rocket Fuel NEW!

Anti-Matter Engine

Anti-Matter Engine Lite NEW!

Specialties:

Thanks to this new technology used by Kermans, they are now able to make more powerful and faster rockets that allows them to travel to other planets.

This anti-matter rocket will be most suited for interplanetary travel.

How it works:

Anti-matter stored within the anti-matter fuel tank reacts with the matter in the same tank. When come into contact with each other, they explode causing thrust 300 times more powerful than standard fuel.

Notes:

Since antimatter rocket fuel is not tested to go together with normal liquid fuel engines, they tend to be buggy.

They also tend to be more explosive as antimatter when in contact with ordinary matter will cause an explosion much stronger than nuclear blasts. Don't blame the Kermans, blame nature itself.

Changelog:

v0.1 - Initial release

v0.1.1 - 'name' Error bug fixed

v0.2 - New Fuel and Engine

Future Plans:

BOMBS

3 meter tanks??

Images:

http://imgur.com/a/IPNvT#0

[ATTACH=CONFIG]33814[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]33815[/ATTACH]

Edited October 16, 2012 by katyjsst
cupola module

[Kreuzung]

--removed, bug was fixed--

Edited September 13, 2012 by Kreuzung

[KAPbl4]

All works just fine. But this thing is slightly overpowered.

[TheCardinal]

I like the shape and color of the AM fuel tanks. The only thing is .... where is the matter? Anti-matter rockets can only have extra energy when the anti-matter annihillates itself with matter. Without matter they are as powerful as matter rockets are (without anti-matter). So where is the matter tank?

[katyjsst]

The antimatter reacts with matter in the engine.

[NIN3]

The antimatter reacts with matter in the engine.

Thats fine, till there is no longer an engine to react with. (equivlent exchange, you eat the engine its self, it dont grow back)

Why not add another tank, or just say there is a matter tank inside the antimatter tank? XD (my example being, 2 tanks inside the current tank..)

[Lazurkri]

Well, seeing as a AM/Matter reaction converts the total mass of Antimatter and matter to energy, you don't NEED massive tanks of Reaction Mass, unless you want to, or are planning on going truly interstellar distances. Most of a Antimatter containment unit is magnetic shielding, and cooling for that shielding. I mean, with a AM torch (Antimatter catalyzed with Hydrogen to form a plasma torch) you'd only need about, ohhhh... MAYBE 25 pounds of hydrogen with a small amount of AM to get you to mars in under a week?

[NIN3]

Still need regular matter to react with the anti matter.

[Lazurkri]

Still need regular matter to react with the anti matter.

Read what I said, genius; I SPECIFICALLY mention Hydrogen. That is Matter. Pay attention.

[Fredonia]

I'm a total newbie, and as such, I've had trouble getting to the Mun without crashing. I have a set up in which, ideally, I'd be able to land and take off back for Kerbin. However, that NEVER works(fuel being the big thing).

With this addon, I was able to land on the Mun, not once, but twice and was able to have a successful EVA. This has given me encouragement to continue fiddling with different engines and tank configurations to get me there without using this, even though it is fantastic.

Cheers!

[TheCardinal]

Well, seeing as a AM/Matter reaction converts the total mass of Antimatter and matter to energy, you don't NEED massive tanks of Reaction Mass, unless you want to, or are planning on going truly interstellar distances. Most of a Antimatter containment unit is magnetic shielding, and cooling for that shielding. I mean, with a AM torch (Antimatter catalyzed with Hydrogen to form a plasma torch) you'd only need about, ohhhh... MAYBE 25 pounds of hydrogen with a small amount of AM to get you to mars in under a week?

You're right Lazurkri. I overlooked the fact that only a very small amount of AM - M is neccessary. The magnetic shielding occupies most of the space, so the matter could very well be an integral part of the AM fueltanks.

[Lazurkri]

more than likely the Reaction Tanks would comprise the exterior of the AM tanks itself; In all the "Interstellar" designs for ships using AM I've seen they use water as reaction mass, oxygen, and radiation shielding, with the AM tanks either behind the water tanks or actually deep within the water tanks.

@ Cardinal: Didn't want to make you feel stupid mate, sorry if I did.

[Amilianus]

A new part, Crucial to creating the ISV Venture Star from Avatar!!!

[TheCardinal]

Didn't want to make you feel stupid mate, sorry if I did.

Don't worry, Lazurkri.

[seanDNRC]

Thats fine, till there is no longer an engine to react with. (equivlent exchange, you eat the engine its self, it dont grow back)

Why not add another tank, or just say there is a matter tank inside the antimatter tank? XD (my example being, 2 tanks inside the current tank..)

That's exactly how Robert Zubrin's photon rocket works. Instead of doing all the tricky work of bringing equal amounts of matter and antimatter together in a controlled reaction you just blast anti-protons against a block of tungsten or graphite. Heating it immensely and sending photons the other way out a mirrored nozzle. Simple and gets you up to 50% of light-speed with little trouble. Much simpler than a plasma drive. And when then annihilation block is exhausted you just replace it. You don't need to replace the whole engine.

But you still have to burn a solar system's worth of energy to make the antimatter.

[Hammaneggs]

This makes me think the mod should work like an SRB in terms of how to control throttle.

[Accelerando]

No, it shouldn't. SRBs work like they do because the reactants are all in solid form. Blasting antimatter against a matter reactant means using a controllable particulate, or fluid, stream.

[Lazurkri]

But you still have to burn a solar system's worth of energy to make the antimatter.

No, just have a really efficient way of creating and storing it... I've seen theories put forward where if you were to increase the current AM generation efficiency rate by about 25-35%, and put a power station in orbit around the sun, you could generate a LOT of AM, relatively quickly too.

[SciMan]

Accelerando, that sounds a lot like it could be built like a hybrid rocket with quite the... unconventional propellant combination.

The "fuel" might be water ice, and the "Oxidizer" would be, of course, an Amat particle beam.

In this case, the water ice would serve two purposes; firstly, it would be the "normal" matter that the AM-particle beam annihilates. Secondly, a portion of the water ice that does not react with the beam would be vaporized into steam and then superheated by the energy created by the matter-antimatter reaction. The superheated steam would then be exhausted out of a conventional bell-shaped "De Laval" nozzle to provide thrust.

this setup could also use regular liquid water, and most likely be more effective that way as well, but I chose to use water ice because it fits the "hybrid rocket = solid fuel and throttled liquid/gaseous oxidizer" analogy better, as well as helping to avoid the need to separate steam from liquid water.

[Lazurkri]

Accelerando, that sounds a lot like it could be built like a hybrid rocket with quite the... unconventional propellant combination.

The "fuel" might be water ice, and the "Oxidizer" would be, of course, an Amat particle beam.

In this case, the water ice would serve two purposes; firstly, it would be the "normal" matter that the AM-particle beam annihilates. Secondly, a portion of the water ice that does not react with the beam would be vaporized into steam and then superheated by the energy created by the matter-antimatter reaction. The superheated steam would then be exhausted out of a conventional bell-shaped "De Laval" nozzle to provide thrust.

this setup could also use regular liquid water, and most likely be more effective that way as well, but I chose to use water ice because it fits the "hybrid rocket = solid fuel and throttled liquid/gaseous oxidizer" analogy better, as well as helping to avoid the need to separate steam from liquid water.

You forget, liquid water would be advantageous because it can be also used as your oxygen supply and Radiation Shielding when at high percentages of C

Edited September 13, 2012 by Lazurkri

[Lead_poisoning]

The engines act like they're a lot bigger than their models as far as placement. You have to space them more than their own width apart to attach them. The fuel tanks are also very picky about what they can be attached to radially.

Aside from that, cool mod.

[seanDNRC]

No, just have a really efficient way of creating and storing it... I've seen theories put forward where if you were to increase the current AM generation efficiency rate by about 25-35%, and put a power station in orbit around the sun, you could generate a LOT of AM, relatively quickly too.

that last part was hyperbole, somewhat. But you're right, at the moment it'd cost in the trillions to fuel an interstellar mission. Even a 1,000x increase in efficiency would still make antimatter 10,000x as expensive as equivalent fusion fuel, but fusion will never get you beyond 10% of lightspeed.

Using water as the fuel of our AM rocket would get expensive rather quickly. a single ounce of antimatter annihilating an once of matter has a destructive force of 1.22 megatons. You'll need a lot of water, like an iceberg a second.

[Shadoworgon]

but fusion will never get you beyond 10% of lightspeed.

thats not necessarily true, if you had enough fuel to keep any engine accelerating in space you will eventually reach .99c, it just might take a few years. There is no 'maximum speed' for a engine in space except lightspeed itself, thats the beauty of space travel.

[seanDNRC]

That's theoretically true. But a good engineer, and Dr. Zubrin certainly is one, will tell you that a practical spacecraft can be engineered to achieve a speed about twice that of its engine's exhaust velocity. in a D-He3 fusion rocket that is about .05C, which means the spaceship could get up to about 10% of C. (Entering Space, Robert Zubrin 1999)

In Kerbal things are different of course.

[PLB]

The thing about light speed is that it is only the limit for objects with a mass of a photon and up. Things less massive can go as fast as they want, like Neutrinos.They go faster than light. Google zem if you don't believe so!