OLD! Explosions with Hypothesis, CLOSED. But mods, keep this open for discussion.

[Whirligig Girl]

Not your normal challenge.

Yes, it's a flag! And also terrible MS Paint art! I'm better with pencil and paper.

Welcome to the bi-monthly science fair!

(Bi-monthly as in every two months)

This is a basically pointless challenge, and will be judged not upon points, but rather by people! You must apply the scientific method to your entry, and make it prettyful. The point is to promote more science in KSP, rather than aimless playing-around. It may even end up bringing breakthroughs in what is possible in KSP, and this will doubtless give you a higher grade. Now, just because it's pointless, does NOT mean it is guideline-less.

GUIDELINES/RUBRIC

*Not absolutley required.

Each item you will get negative 1 to positive 4 points, these will be averged together into the judge's own score, which and the average between the judge's results will be put in as a score.

-You must use the scientific method.

-You can submit your entry on the forums, or as a *Microsoft Office (Slideshows and whatnot) or *WordPad document. Your entry can consist of *multiple mediums in one entry, Including *video. You must have pictures. You will be judged on the amount of pictures, and their relevance.

-*Your entry should have some bearing in practical use in KSP, Such as "What engine to use? or "How so I keep a Kerbal alive?"

-You may use any mods other than Over-Powered mods, you may use hyperedit or debug-cheats, as long as it falls into the context of your project.

-You may use any version of KSP, or even *multiple versions of KSP.

-You must imbed the images, no links, if you are using the forums.

-YOU MUST USE LAYMEN'S TERMS, NOT FOR MY SAKE, BUT FOR THE OTHER JUDGE'S SAKE.

CATEGORIES

Of course, there will be more than one winner, 2nd, and 3rd place prize.

General: Where everything else goes.

-Ground-Based Physics: This involves gravity, force, motion and stuff that happens on or near a planet's surface.

-Air: This involves anything to do with planes, aside from competitions between planes and other types of vehicles, those go in general. I recommend using Ferram Aerospace Research, unless you want to use specifically KSP default air physics.

-Space-Based Physics: This involves gravity, force, motion, and stuff that happens in space, that is, Weightlessness or Orbital Physics.

-Rovers: Anything that involves the ground, but not quite hard physics goes here.

-Rocketry: Anything to do with efficiencies, thrusts, and physics of rockets.

PRIZE FOR WINNING

Everyone gets bragging rights!

My Entry:

Microsoft Word File

Rich Text File

Edited September 28, 2013 by GregroxMun

[Whirligig Girl]

JUDGING WILL TAKE PLACE ON AUGUST 1st OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

If you wish to become a judge, PM me.

We currently have on the judging staff:

Me

An Elementary School Teacher

A little girl who doesn't know very much of KSP, But enjoys Danny2462.

My friend who wishes to remain Anonymous. Just so you know, you are not allowed to judge your own project.

bgraves, a forum user.

Edited June 24, 2013 by GregroxMun

[Whirligig Girl]

CATEGORIES

Of course, there will be more than one winner, 2nd, and 3rd place prize.

Red is an unfinished entry. Green is a finished Entry

General:

SirJodelstein

Agent30632

-Ground-Based Physics:

-Air:

Ninety-Three

-Space-Based Physics:

-Rovers:

The Jedi Master

KevgloB

-Rocketry:

GregroxMun (My Entry)

Edited July 19, 2013 by GregroxMun

[Ninety-Three]

I wish I'd documented it more thoroughly, I did a bunch of testing a few weeks ago which proved that a craft's drag coefficient is equal to the weighted average of all its components. Is that the sort of science you're thinking of?

[Whirligig Girl]

Yes, Ninety-Three, that is exactly what I'm looking for.

Edited June 12, 2013 by GregroxMun

[Whirligig Girl]

Alright, we are now accepting entries!

[SirJodelstein]

I am preparing an entry the air category. But it has nothing to do with planes. Will need some more days for scientific experimentation and documentation. Stay tuned

[Whirligig Girl]

Thank You!

[Whirligig Girl]

Added new Rocketry category.

[SirJodelstein]

I hereby submit my paper for review and inclusion in the contest. I have written a scientific examination of this situation here

Yep, thats two Kerbals on a large metal plate that is hanging in mid-air without any support.

The entry could go into the "Air" category or into "General" for material sciences.

MHMP.pdf

MHMP-LoadTest.wmv

[Whirligig Girl]

I'll put your into General, SirJodelstein. While I can not judge your entry yet, I do like how it was put together, although, the video appears to be broken.

EDIT: Video is fine.

Edited June 13, 2013 by GregroxMun

[The Jedi Master]

Announcing an entry that will be written soon:

Can any of the rover wheels get good traction on Minmus? Why or why not?

I'm guessing this would be in the rovers section?

Also, would using the debug menu for science be allowed?

Edited June 13, 2013 by The Jedi Master

[Whirligig Girl]

Yes, It is.

[The Jedi Master]

Yes, It is.

Yay! I hope I can contribute to this well!

EDIT: The rover+skycrane apparently dosen't do gravity turns... this is going to be harder than I thought...

Small rover wheel experiment complete! Mid-size next!

Edited June 13, 2013 by The Jedi Master

[Whirligig Girl]

What do you mean? In the atmosphere? Just use a real rocket, you don't HAVE to cheat just because you want to.

[The Jedi Master]

What do you mean? In the atmosphere? Just use a real rocket, you don't HAVE to cheat just because you want to.

Hey, I got it working. This is a good idea, by the way.

Mid-size test complete! Now for buggy wheels...

Buggy wheel test complete! Finally, big wheels...

Edited June 13, 2013 by The Jedi Master

[Whirligig Girl]

you are quite welcome.

[The Jedi Master]

I'm done!

-----------

A Study Of Rover Wheel Traction On Low-Gravity Worlds

By The Jedi Master

Head of the Jedi Space Program

You may be aware that low-gravity rovers don’t tend to work. The gravity is too low for anything but an “old school†rover to work. Right? Lets see…

Hypothesis: Only the big wheels will work, because the can dig into the ground the hardest.

Experiment 1: Small Wheels

The small wheels worked, but they didn’t work very well. This may be partially because I popped some wheels during the landing, but with four wheels left, I think the wheels were just too small to get any traction in the low gravity. One thing I noticed is that the rover was over-torqueing in the low gravity. Is this the real problem with low-gravity rovers? Hmmm… In any case, the test was a success.

Experiment 2: Mid-Size Wheels

The mid-size wheels were better, but still had the same problem, over-torque in low gravity. This may have also been caused by the fact the suspension was higher than the other two non-large wheels. So, suspension may be an issue too. The test was a success.

Experiment 3: Buggy Wheels

The buggy wheels, added in 0.20, performed the best by far. It still over-torqued a bit, but it wasn’t too bad. I noticed that the suspension was the lowest of all the wheels. So, perhaps this is why it performed so well. The test was a success.

Experiment 4: Big Wheels

The big wheels, completely contrary to the hypothesis, performed the worst by far. I had almost no control, and the brakes weren’t working so I had to end the flight (though the brake problem may also be because I was on a slope). These wheels, of course, had the highest suspension. I do believe that the idea of the suspension, not traction, being the problem has been confirmed. So, the test was a success.

Experiment 5: Small Wheel Redo

I was informed that docking mode makes these little guys work better. So I tried it, and it worked FAR better. Still not as good as the buggy wheels, however, as it did skid around a bit, something the buggy wheels did not do. In any case, another successful test.

Conclusion

The problem with these wheels is not traction. It’s suspension. Because of the high suspension on many of the wheels, the low gravity has much more effect on the rover. Because the buggy wheels have the lowest suspension, they were the least affected by the low gravity, and therefore worked the best.

So, next time you want to scour Bop in search of the kraken, be sure to pack a rover with the buggy wheels!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well?

Edited June 13, 2013 by The Jedi Master

[Whirligig Girl]

I like your project. However, I feel obligated to tell you that you can use docking mode to fix the probe torqeing problem. If you could redo the first test, which woulc benifit most from a fix, I would then think it totally complete.

[The Jedi Master]

I like your project. However, I feel obligated to tell you that you can use docking mode to fix the probe torqeing problem. If you could redo the first test, which woulc benifit most from a fix, I would then think it totally complete.

OK, I still have that rover on Minmus, and I can shoot up a new one If you'd prefer.

[Whirligig Girl]

thank you. btw your sig has a typo. "...What I tell all Kerbals who are nto Jeb..."

[The Jedi Master]

thank you. btw your sig has a typo. "...What I tell all Kerbals who are nto Jeb..."

Thank you for informing me.

[The Jedi Master]

Fixed it. See the post.

[Whirligig Girl]

Also, I parodied your sig with a quote from the latest Reusable Space Program. But anyway, back to buisness.

[Whirligig Girl]

Daily Bump.