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Hauling heavy loads?


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Ok, so I'm currently doing test runs on a little Mun base. I've attached landing gears to the hab module so I can move it in case of an inprecise landing. And to move the hab module, I made a little land tug, which is pretty much a cockpit, Rovemax 1 wheels, some NUKs, and a KAS winch. I ran into problems when I tried linking the two together, and trying to back up. Apparently the model 1 wheels don't have a very high towing capacity. I've slapped some 24-77 rockets on the tug, but it didn't do much. In fact, I think the rockets pushed AGAINST the hab module.

And this leads me to my question. How do you figure out how much force is needed to haul a given load? I know, there's thrust ratings on the rockets, but heavy math and I go together like peanut butter and dish soap. I want the bare minimum of force so I don't destroy my poor tug. Hell, if the Model 3 wheels work, that'd be fine, too. Although, I'd have to figure out how a stubby little kerbal can reach that high.

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Rocket exhaust is physicsless, it won't bounce off a surface and push it away - although in that situation is does seem to have a bug where the force vanishes entirely.

Without friction it's simple enough. Force = Mass x Acceleration.

Force (in kN) divided by mass (in tons) gives you your acceleration (in m/s²) The mun's gravity has a strength of 1.6m/s² so 1 thrust per ton (1m/s²) would be sufficient over flat ground and most slopes if you had frictionless wheels.

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Rocket exhaust is physicsless, it won't bounce off a surface and push it away - although in that situation is does seem to have a bug where the force vanishes entirely.

That's false. You can blast kerbals and other parts at hundreds of m/s using rocket exhaust. Try it: Put an engine on an action group, back up the nozzle to a small part in orbit, then full throttle and switch the engine on suddenly and then off again. Your velocity will be only slightly different, but the other part will be moving hundreds of m/s. I use this trick to deorbit small space junk like stage separators.

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Thanks, Endless. The equation will do me well. But I do have to agree with Horn Brain. I've seen the effects of rocket exhaust many times on a lot of debris, plus all those vids of part launchers and kerbal...."accelerators."

That said, I found the problem. I only had two landing gears on the craft, which caused it to tip backwards, which caused it to dig itself in, so to speak. I fixed it by putting on another two to stabilize it, and it worked fine. Feeling kind of stupid, now... :blush:

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That's false. You can blast kerbals and other parts at hundreds of m/s using rocket exhaust. Try it: Put an engine on an action group, back up the nozzle to a small part in orbit, then full throttle and switch the engine on suddenly and then off again. Your velocity will be only slightly different, but the other part will be moving hundreds of m/s. I use this trick to deorbit small space junk like stage separators.

Also if the fire hit something on the ship you will not get any effect. The distance is pretty long as in 10 meter or more.

However here I wonder if the problem might be towing with KAS, have you tried to release the winch, drive away then put on brakes and winch in?

However why did you not put rover wheels on your lander, then you can move it by it self, four of the medium wheels are not that heavy.

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