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in KSP2 i would like to see support for reusable rockets and other craft,
Mostly more parts, but also fixing the issue of not being able to control multiple craft, and also the stupid hard part of landing.
List of things:

More legs (SpaceX and Blue Origin inspired)
Gridfins.
More Airbrakes
Entire movable air surfaces (like starship flaps, or New Glenn fins)

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1 hour ago, The Kerman said:

Gridfins

I never fully got this- what makes gridfins  different from regular fins? It seems like spreading the surface area horizontally isn’t really that important. 
 

As for the movable surfaces, I think we saw those in some video from 2019-2020. 

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23 minutes ago, t_v said:

they apparently do better at higher speeds and at higher angles than standard fins

They're used because they work well at all speeds, as Elon had stated several times.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 8/2/2022 at 4:18 PM, t_v said:

I never fully got this- what makes gridfins  different from regular fins? It seems like spreading the surface area horizontally isn’t really that important. 

Quote

Conventional planar control fins are shaped like miniature wings. By contrast, grid fins are a lattice of smaller aerodynamic surfaces arranged within a box. [snip]

Grid fins can be folded, pitched forward (or backwards), against the cylindrical body of a missile more directly and compactly than planar fins, allowing for more compact storage of the weapon; this is of importance where weapons are launched from a tube or for craft which store weapons in internal bays, such as stealth aircraft. Generally, the grid fins pitch forward/backward away from the body shortly after the missile has cleared the firing craft.

Grid fins have a much shorter chord (the distance between leading and trailing edge of the surface) than planar fins, as they are effectively a group of short fins mounted parallel to one another. Their reduced chord reduces the amount of torque exerted on the steering mechanism by high-speed airflow, allowing for the use of smaller fin actuators, and a smaller tail assembly overall.

- Wikipedia: Grid fin design characteristics

You'd be surprised. Since a gridfin consists of many "smaller" aero surfaces it still has a lot of surface area to deflect the air passing through it. You can imagine it as an airbrake that can swivel to produce yaw and roll once it's open, and isn't as draggy as normal as it's meant to allow air to go through it.

Gridfins potentially answer the question of "I have an airplane on top of my rocket. How do I get the wings to not produce aero force on ascent and screw the launch over?" I say potentially because you don't want to try to replace an aircraft's proper wings with them. There's a world of difference between how these things work and hence, a thick line between when you can use one or the other.

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