Underwater features

[DunaManiac]

On 4/24/2022 at 1:44 PM, t_v said:

Back in 2019 and 2020, Nate Simpson was interested in adding underwater exploration to KSP 2, though probably not at release. The reason I personally think that underwater exploration should be a prevalent part of the game is that a big portion of space exploration is actually planetary exploration. A lot of our missions to mars (aside from relay satellites) were to deliver rovers, which initially might not seem immediately relevant to space travel. But rovers and planes, and by extension boats and submersibles, are very important for fully exploring celestial bodies, and underwater environments on any celestial body would give us immense amounts of information. What is the difference between the rock on Titan’s surface and the rock at the bottom of its oceans? Knowing that could help us answer myriad questions on planetary evolution. So, I definitely wouldn’t consider it a peripheral feature to spaceflight, any more than rovers or bases. But at the same time, despite it being probably more relevant than rovers for the next few decades of exploration, I could see it being developed after the game releases. 

Well, I believe the opposite, but that's probably from personal bias on my part rather than objective reasoning.

I'd like to ask you, what are some practial applications for submarines that you could see?

On 4/24/2022 at 1:44 PM, t_v said:

But at the same time, despite it being probably more relevant than rovers

I'm also interested in the reasoning behind this comment. Not many planets will most likely have a liquid ocean to explore, so I at least see rovers being more versatile in that sense.

Edited April 29, 2022 by DunaManiac

[THE_JUDGE]

2 hours ago, DunaManiac said:

I'm also interested in the reasoning behind this comment. Not many planets will most likely have a liquid ocean to explore, so I at least see rovers being more versatile in that sense.

I mean just from the trailers there's Kerbin, Eve, Laythe, Puf, Merbel, Gurdamma, and possibly Lapat are planets/moons in KSP with oceans, which is enough that I think having at least more underwater exploration options than KSP 1 is worth it, although I do agree rovers are more important.

[t_v]

4 hours ago, DunaManiac said:

Well, I believe the opposite, but that's probably from personal bias on my part rather than objective reasoning.

I'd like to ask you, what are some practial applications for submarines that you could see?

I'm also interested in the reasoning behind this comment. Not many planets will most likely have a liquid ocean to explore, so I at least see rovers being more versatile in that sense.

To answer both questions, Jupiter and Saturn exploration. We have lots of rovers on mars, and we will probably be sending more, but when on Titan or Europa, rovers can only scratch the surface, literally. Missions to the outer moons will most likely come with aquatic capability to be able to fully explore these celestial bodies. Hope this clears things up!

Oh right, and the reason this is going to be relevant  in the next few decades is because a big part of space exploration is trying to find living microbes on other planets, and these celestial bodies hold a lot of promise for life. 

[Fletch4]

On 4/29/2022 at 12:48 PM, DunaManiac said:

Well, I believe the opposite, but that's probably from personal bias on my part rather than objective reasoning.

I'd like to ask you, what are some practial applications for submarines that you could see?

Well, to explore Kerbin, for one thing. Look at Earth, for example. There is so much life under the ocean that we haven't even found yet, including massive amounts of geographic evidence for multiple things, and we (as a species) have been here for almost 300,000 years. we have learned so much just from ocean exploration, and that is something that I think would carry over to other planets in KSP.