What do you think about new nuclear engine?

[Pawelk198604]

This engine have thrust only 60, what it's advantage over other engines?

[kknight13]

i think the point of it is that when in space it has a high specific impulse (something to do with thrust). when in deep space it has a low fuel consumption and still produces good results as far as movement goes. it does have a less then impressive result in atmosphere but i think it's meant for space.

[Enture]

Specific impulse hasn't anything to do with thrust; it tells you how efficient an engine is, i.e. how much your momentum (m*v) will be changed for each unit of fuel you burn. So in the case of the NERVA, its specific impulse being two times higher than the other engines at your disposal, the engine will need two times less fuel than the other engines to do the same momentum change. So with the NERVA you either need much less fuel to reach your destination, or you can go way further than with conventionnal engines for the same amount of fuel. Note that this is only true in vacuum, as its specific impulse in atmosphere is similar to the other engines.

However, since it has a very low thrust, the burns will need quite some time to be completed, which isn't a problem when dealing with interplanetary distances.

[togfox]

Low thrust and long burn times can royally mess up well timed interplanetary travel.

For the moment, im sticking with the 'real' LFE's.

[The Destroyer]

I am loving it. with sutch high impulse in vaccum, it is perfect for interplanetary transfers!

[cardgame]

Good luck getting to Jool without one.

[Pawelk198604]

Really this engine works i managed to crash land on Duna, with small help form MechJeb :-)

I wonder when they add ION engines.

[Ziff]

This engine have thrust only 60, what it's advantage over other engines?

Once in orbit, thrust only determines how long you have to burn in order to make orbital maneuvers. However, the engine has an Isp (Specific Impulse) of 800 which makes it twice as efficient as the small LV909 engine.

[Stoup]

Only issue I've had with these engines is that, when using them for interplanetary transfers, one tends to have to get a parking orbit in high kerbin orbit in order for the window of opportunity to be long enough that the transfer is successful... by the time I reach escape velocity I'm extremely far from the escape angle, and it makes the transfers nigh impossible. Should I start thrusting before I reach the ejection angle?

[Astronomer]

It is one of the most efficient engines in the game, making it non-op due to it's low thrust... I LIKE IT

[Endeavour]

I like it. I feel like it is the only thing that keeps me from cheating for infinite fuel

[sholden]

For low acceleration for a long trip. So that you actually have the fuel to get back again...

Once our of the atmosphere and in orbit low thrust is irrelevant (assuming you don't mind how long the trip takes).

[ouion]

i wish there is a nuclear fuel tank

[RoboRay]

i wish there is a nuclear fuel tank

Why? The best liquid rocket fuel and the best nuclear thermal rocket propellant are the same thing... hydrogen.

Yes, the liquid rocket fuel tanks also include the oxidizer, but NTRs can use that as propellant too... just not as efficiently as the hydrogen due to its greater mass. However, considering that real NTRs would be able achieve in excess of 900 seconds Isp, they may already be taking this efficiency loss into account with the fuel tanks.

[RoboRay]

im sticking with the 'real' LFE's.

Nuclear thermal rockets are real. Design of the first one began in the late 1950s. They've even been ground tested. They just haven't flown in space.

[Maxed-Rockets]

I love it! It feels perfectly balanced, but it would have to be an expensive late-game technology in campaign mode.

100th post yeah!

[bsalis]

Well, yes I like them. Especially when they stay attached to your craft.

Somewhere in transit this one decided it did not want to be a part of my mission to Eve. I completed the mission without it.

IMO the thrust is too little. My 2c is both thrust and weight should be quadrupled. So that's Thrust 240, Mass 9. Then have it such that they will not work in atmosphere at all (for "safety" reasons).

[spikeyhat09]

I think the devs realized that reaching one of the other planets would already be incredibly difficult for the layman, and to ease some of the frustration, eliminated the prospect of running out of fuel. the result: a ridiculously efficient motor (more than twice the efficiency of the next best rocket engine) that has little thrust (but doesn't really need it either, especially if you carefully and thoughtfully design your vessels) and is too tall to me used in a lander stage (the legs wouldn't reach the ground unless you used hardpoints, but then what about the ladder :/). I think they should reduce the impulse in vacuum to 550-600. getting to the mun/min is WAY too easy now.

[Exclipse]

The engine is a great addition, if they tweak it I hope they keep it's efficiency the same. But give it 40 extra thrust and add 2T of weight.

[Ziff]

I think they should reduce the impulse in vacuum to 550-600. getting to the mun/min is WAY too easy now.

When the campaign and tech tree comes along, that engine obviously won't be available to the Kerbals during their initial Mun and Minmus missions. There will eventually be other planets beyond Jool and that engine will be required to reach it. I think it functions well for it's purpose.

[spikeyhat09]

The engine is a great addition, if they tweak it I hope they keep it's efficiency the same. But give it 40 extra thrust and add 2T of weight.

See, that's the problem. It doesn't NEED the extra thrust. On the vast that that is interplanetary travel, 60 thrust is plenty enough. Adding more thrust would simply make it MORE overpowered. And, it would actually make it quite annoying, since in order to nail planetary intercepts, you need to fire very small amounts of thrust once you get it close.

[UNSC]

I like it the way it is; if you need more thrust, add more of them.

[MaverickSawyer]

Well, I like the low thrust. If you need more time to break orbit, just start your mission 2-3 orbits sooner, and begin your burn. once you start having issues with the angle, shut down the engine, coast until periapsis, and start again. Repeat as many times as needed.

[Exclipse]

See, that's the problem. It doesn't NEED the extra thrust. On the vast that that is interplanetary travel, 60 thrust is plenty enough. Adding more thrust would simply make it MORE overpowered. And, it would actually make it quite annoying, since in order to nail planetary intercepts, you need to fire very small amounts of thrust once you get it close.

The reaon I say it needs extra thrust is because I think currently it is over powered with how light it is. It should be harder to get into space but better once there.

Right now it is to easy to use.

Even with 40 extra thrust it is not even half the thrust of the other standard engines...

[Pawelk198604]

I feel a little cheated, i built decent rocket, but my capsule lose RCS fuel tank and parachute, that i attached to top of capsule, i lose in unexplained way, when i send capsule into interplanetary travel to Duna. I don't have problem when i send it to Mun and Minmus.

I used my modifed Mun rocket