KSP v NASA capsule size comparison

[Temstar]

I found a size comparison of the three NASA space capsules and thought it might be neat to see how the KSP capsules compare:

For the record, these are the capsule diameter:

Mercury: 1.9m

Gemini: 3.05m

Apollo: 3.9m

Command Pod Mk1: 1m

Mk1-2 Command Pod: 2m

Jesus, from the look of things Rockomax Mainsail is about the same size as LEM descent engine.

Edited October 15, 2012 by Temstar

[bsalis]

Nice work.

Methinks we need 5m parts now

[Banbite]

But then Kerbals are only 1m tall so they don't need bigger capsules

[segaprophet]

hence, little green men

[LaydeeDem]

hence, little green men

That's why they aren't adding aliens. They're already in the game!

[SunJumper]

5m parts are in the NovaPunch pack - and I find them to be quite crashy. Be careful what you wish for.

[Kreuzung]

Mercury: 1.9m

Gemini: 3.05m

Apollo: 3.9m

Command Pod Mk1: 1.25m

Mk1-2 Command Pod: 2.5m

Another one who learned about rescaling from me:sticktongue:

Until .15, standard size 1 was 1m to keep it simple. When adding EVA, they had to find a size for the Kerbals, and they decided them to be 1m because the physics behaved weird for smaller Kerbals.

Therefore they had to rescale the existing parts by 1.25 and add a new standard size to make Kerbals fit into the pods.

[quadro7f]

Now, this is intresting. So if kerbals are 1m height, and average male human is 1.8m height, then to get rescale coefficient we must calculate like this: C=(100x100)/180=55,55%. This means, what if we need to make real world vessel, lets say Apollo (3.9m) and scale it down to kerbals world scale with same kerbals proportions to space craft as human relative in real world, then we will get: 3.9m*55,55% = 2.16m

And if its right, then we will get a scale coefficient table for different human heights:

1.8m = 55,55%

1.75m = 57,14%

1.7m = 58,82%

1.65m = 60,60%

1.6m = 62,5%

1,55m = 64,51% <--- this one matches with Mk1-2 Command Pod: 2.5m ( 3.9m*64,51%=2.51m - very close) and with Command Pod Mk1: 1.25m (1.9m*64,51%=1.22m - pretty close)

But we cant use 1.55m as standart marker, because this is very short height, even for chineese people (avg 1.7m).

According this document, Nasa's astronauts candidate must have a standing height between 62 and 75 inches.

1 inch = 2.54cm wich means 1.57m-1.92m. Avg will be = 1.74m

So, i think final standart scale factor must be C=(100x100)/174 = 57,47%

And Apollo, for example, will be 3.9m*57,47% = 2.24m in kerbal world.

And all this crazy stuff means what i need to increase my shuttle size from 45% to 57,47% - so it will become a little bigger, hehe =)

P.S. Or maybe its better to use 1,55m, as its matchs the vanilla parts? In this case shuttle will become even more bigger - up to 64,51%!

Edited October 16, 2012 by quadro7f

[Temstar]

1.55m seems wrong but it could be reasonable, afterall they're not 1m tall humans. Remember Kerbal and human body proportions are different. A 1.7m tall human might have a head that's 30-35cm long? A 1m tall Kerbal will have about 50cm being head. When an astronaut stretches out his arms and legs from the fetal position (say he's getting out of his chair to put on his EVA suit) the volume he takes up increases by a lot, where as if a Kerbal does the same the volume only increases by a little bit because of how short their arms and legs are relative to the rest of their body.

Incidently given the size of their forehead a Kerbal will probably have a lot bigger brain than us. When you then take into account their small build it gives them a much much higher brain to bodymass ratio than us.

Edited October 16, 2012 by Temstar

[ETHANW]

all of those crashed ships must have be a trick! don't let them know we are on to them

[NovaSilisko]

As Kreuzung said, the mk1 pod is 1.25m in diameter, the mk1-2 pod is 2.5m in diameter. It's also commonly misquoted as 1m and 3m, as well as 1m and 2m, none of which are correct.

Kerbals themselves are exactly 1m tall. Whether that includes helmet, I don't know.

[Temstar]

I'll make an updated version of the size comparison for 1.25m and 2.5m

On a related note, I got the transparent png of the command pods off the wiki. Anyone know how wiki contributors managed to make those png? They don't look like they were screenshotted out of the game.

Since the NASA spacecrafts are actually whole spacecrafts rather than just the capsules I would like to do the same with KSP and also show two rockets each capable of putting their corresponding command pod to LKO on the larger scale against the NASA rockets. Is there an easy way of getting KSP craft in that kind of "blue print" view with transparent background and no one-point perspective thing from VAB?

[quadro7f]

Here, i made some measurements using 64% as its vanilla's scale factor. I think, i gonna use this one for all my projects, since its pretty close to real world's spacecrafts dimensions, relative to humans =)

[Resender]

That's why they aren't adding aliens. They're already in the game!

The term alien literally means coming from a different culture or origin, so all of us are technically aliens to the other

[RoboRay]

Like many terms, the specific application of the meaning can vary with context.

It's blatantly obvious what meaning "aliens" has to a sci-fi setting involving space-flight.

[igor290506]

i like if real sized parts will be added

[worir4]

26 minutes ago, igor290506 said:

i like if real sized parts will be added

But don't forget Kerbin is like 1/10th the size of Earth so the rockets would be even more overpowered than they are currently. 

I suppose that is also why the Mainsail is the same size as the descent stage of the LEM althought Kerbin has more gravity than the Moon.

Edited July 26, 2016 by worir4
Oh man i did not notice that necro (sorry)

[Red Iron Crown]

@igor290506 Please check the date of the last post before bumping old threads, this one is close to 3.5 years old. Closed.