doesn't this brake the laws of physics?

[Spyritdragon]

Kerbal engineers have actually pioneered designs that can fly forever inside an atmosphere using the magic of control surfaces.

You've gotta take Kerbal physics with a grain of salt - all of this just adds to the goofiness of the game .

[Fel]

The problem here is that it's way too easy to reach such ridiculously high speeds in KSP.

TurboJet's are specifically designed to reach those speeds (and upto 2400). It's in the cfg file ;p

[jwenting]

Who knows, for now we can safely assume that Kerbals are masters at materials science, and have been able to create materials for the skins of their vehicles that can withstand these speeds and stresses with no ill effect whatsoever that can't be corrected during routine maintenance.

Just because us humans, better pilots though we might be (why else are we hired to replace Kerbals as guidance units), can't create such materials doesn't mean they can't be created by Kerbals.

It'd probably need a pretty efficient heat sink of course, THAT might be tricky.

[technicalfool]

Who knows, for now we can safely assume that Kerbals are masters at materials science, and have been able to create materials for the skins of their vehicles that can withstand these speeds and stresses with no ill effect whatsoever that can't be corrected during routine maintenance.

Just because us humans, better pilots though we might be (why else are we hired to replace Kerbals as guidance units), can't create such materials doesn't mean they can't be created by Kerbals.

It'd probably need a pretty efficient heat sink of course, THAT might be tricky.

Alternatively, maybe my theory on Kerbals being an offshoot of the Orkish race and therefore incredibly powerful psykers who just don't know it is more correct than I thought?

oOOooOooooOoooo... (creepy sound)

[Danger2007]

I'm not sure about the laws of physics, but it makes for a cool picture!

[falofonos]

Keep in mind, Jeb has been known to strap pork chops under the wings and cook dinner this way. He likes 'em crispy.

Ah, that's why he always has porkchop plots!

[Viper_607]

Would it be possible for such a ship to create a curtain of gas along it's hull that keeps the Hull from directly being heated by the atmosphere?

[doggie015]

It doesn't break the laws but it think it is a bit beyond our current level of tech. if you find a material that can tolerate the temps involved or devise a way to insulate the plasma from actually touching the skin of the craft it would be entirely doable I think.

neither of which we are currently capable of, as far as I know

Not necessarily... We can already control superheated plasma in fusion reactors such as ITER and it should be relatively simple matter to keep a superconducting magnet at near absolute zero on a spacecraft while it is literally blazing through the atmosphere(!)

[Stealth2668]

I know that there's no re-entry heat, but it would still disintegrate in real life. There is no on/off button for re-entry heat in real life.

What does real life have to do with KSP?

[Stealth2668]

wait, how does one "brake" physics, what velocity is physics going? would braking physics break it?

That's a question for this guy, er... dino

[msyblade]

Think I may not be getting the question here, but we all know how the Columbia orbiter was lost, don't we? Slight crack in the frame, plasma got inside the structure during re-entry at some ungodly speed, and ripped the internals apart. Re-entry is performed from orbital speeds in RL. They don't stop in space and fall down, they come screaming in at mach 5 over the pacific to land in Florida on the Atlantic. Dont they? maybe Im supremely misinformed from years of American press covering it, but that pic is pretty much what I picture in RL, gussied up for visual effects.OT: You guys see the video of the meteor in Russia a couple of months ago? Rrrruuuuummmmmbbbbbbbbllllllleeeeee...KABOOM!

[Guest]

Getting near hypersonic speeds while still fairly low in the atmosphere? Ludicrous, perhaps... but doesn't violate any laws of physics.

Correct. No natural laws voided, just the warranty on the aircraft.

[Fried]

Think I may not be getting the question here, but we all know how the Columbia orbiter was lost, don't we? Slight crack in the frame, plasma got inside the structure during re-entry at some ungodly speed, and ripped the internals apart. Re-entry is performed from orbital speeds in RL. They don't stop in space and fall down, they come screaming in at mach 5 over the pacific to land in Florida on the Atlantic. Dont they? maybe Im supremely misinformed from years of American press covering it, but that pic is pretty much what I picture in RL, gussied up for visual effects.OT: You guys see the video of the meteor in Russia a couple of months ago? Rrrruuuuummmmmbbbbbbbbllllllleeeeee...KABOOM!

this is correct the shuttle dose not have nor need enough fuel to stop its orbit completely just enough to deorbit.

[Fried]

Correct. No natural laws voided, just the warranty on the aircraft.

you are not factoring in the thinner atmosphere on kerbin. (same down low but thinner up high.)

[llamatoes]

Shenanigans, I made orbit in a Jet with half as many Jets, and no rocket.

[Festivefire]

The main reason this "breaks physics" would be that with earth tech, the plasma would melt the plane, but ksp doesn't have re-entry heat added yet, as well as we don't know how well they would stand up to re-entry, but you can do the same thing with deadly re-entry installed, you just have to point the bottom of your spacecraft forwards and take a shallower re-entry angle. so i don't really see how this breaks anything.

[Fried]

I brought the design down to one engine and increased the fuel, and was cruising at 24000m at 1500 m/s this dose not seem at all right.

[Holo]

I brought the design down to one engine and increased the fuel, and was cruising at 24000m at 1500 m/s this does not seem at all right.

1500 m/s is only Mach 4.4, which is within the realm of plausibility.

EDIT: Observe the North American X-15 aircraft model, capable of flight at over Mach 6. 1500 m/s is child's play compared to that.

Edited June 21, 2013 by Holo

[Mirage23]

Indeed, the super heating is the issue at that speed, however we are in the realm of plausibility with the latest tests that DARPA has completed. They are done with the current program testing and are beginning a new one.

[magnemoe]

1500 m/s is only Mach 4.4, which is within the realm of plausibility.

EDIT: Observe the North American X-15 aircraft model, capable of flight at over Mach 6. 1500 m/s is child's play compared to that.

Yes, however that was high as in the edge of the atmosphere, same with sr71.

Missiles for used against planes or ships can reach over 3000 km/h in low atmosphere.

Plane will not come apart if build well, however it will brake down to mach 2 or something unless it had some pretty unreal engines, rocket engines would do it for an short time.

---

I did an test with the orion pulsed nuclear rocket.

I accelerated up past 100.000 m/s and went to Eve in around a day, now I aerobraked

Interesting 24km attitude was enough to stop me. The braking force was peaked on over 7000 g, yes this caused damage to ship. everything who was radial connected fell off, guess an larger structure on the top would also collapse.

[DaRocketCat]

Use the deadly re-entry plugin, I assure you that the plane would not have survived .

[Whirligig Girl]

It doesnt brake the laws of physics, although it's unlikely to happen. if anything, though, it breaks the laws of physics.

[NeoMorph]

Scotty: "It canna take it Cap'n. I canna break the laws of English."

[FITorion]

SR71 black bird.

Does it do that?

no.

Why do I bring it up?

Well it leaks all over the place on the ground. It has to refuel once it gets up in the air. All the seals and the like seal themselves once they warm up and at the pressures encountered during flight. At the speed and altitudes it flys at it's skin anneals itself during the flight due to the heat from friction with the atmosphere.

So while it doesn't produce reentry effects like that... if you got a plane going fast enough... it would produce effects like that. such a plane would have to have a lot of heat shielding components as any normal plane parts would melt.