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Once again, KSP influences a new, real rocket

babbo

By babbo
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babbo

babbo

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It seems that KSP is becoming the sort of worldwide cultural and scientific phenomenon that does not come along very often, now influencing an entire generation of engineers and physicists and conditioning how we reach and explore space.

To wit, when faced with the challenge of designing a better, cheaper rocket, Esa have just chosen to take a true and tested path for the upcoming Ariane 6: more solid boosters!

Not only that, but inspired by Sepratrons, the new remote control rocket parts, and the many discussions on this forum about how to prevent space junk, they decided that they will deorbit the last stage of the rocket instead of leaving it to its own devices!

So fellow space program managers, when Ariane 6 first goes up, be proud and remember that we were there first. You're welcome, Esa.

Take a peek at the rocket we inspired here.

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astropapi1

astropapi1

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We didn't inspire it. How did you think the Shuttle SRBs separated? And deorbiting last stages, That's just common sense, You don't want cluttered orbits. :)

Just as a reference, Watch the past Falcon9/Dragon launches, they alway deorbit the secon stage after coasting away from the capsule so it'll burn up in the atmosphere... Until they start landing them back on the launchpad.

And watch the Apollo launches, The first stage used "sepratrons" to get away from the rocket, and IIRC, the second stage did too. :)

Edited by astropapi1
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Flymetothemun

Flymetothemun

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I'm gonna analyze what's wrong with this post:

It seems that KSP is becoming the sort of worldwide cultural and scientific phenomenon that does not come along very often

It may be worldwide, it may be cultural, but it is not Scientific. You're using what real-world science and maths has provided us, e.g. Oberth Effect, Newton's Laws, Rocket Design, but we are NOT discovering new things in science because of this game. Also, ever heard of fads? They're phenomena that come around frequently as the result of a new video game i.e. Minecraft, or as the result of a celebrity promoting a particular product.

Now influencing an entire generation of engineers and physicists and conditioning how we reach and explore space.

Anybody who's done their homework about the Unity physics engine wouldn't even consider letting this game influence their design of rockets, rocket parts, and payloads. That's all i'm saying.

To wit, when faced with the challenge of designing a better, cheaper rocket, Esa have just chosen to take a true and tested path for the upcoming Ariane 6: more solid boosters!

Anybody in their situation would add more boosters. It's simple logic, If you can't cut weight, add more thrust. This is NOT an idea birthed from KSP.

Not only that, but inspired by Sepratrons, the new remote control rocket parts, and the many discussions on this forum about how to prevent space junk, they decided that they will deorbit the last stage of the rocket instead of leaving it to its own devices!

1. Sepratrons are not from KSP.

2. Do you seriously think that rocket designers will be looking on the forum of a video game for tips?

3. They probably made the decision on their own to deorbit the last stage, because they know that there's a lot of debris up in space. Debris leads to impact. Impact leads to abortion of missions, wasted money, and bad public image.

So fellow space program managers, when Ariane 6 first goes up, be proud and remember that we were there first.

We weren't there first. Laika the space dog was there first.

You're welcome, Esa

The rotten cherry on top of the arrogance pie.

What we can conlude from this thread is that the poster is either very arrogant or very young. I expect the former and the latter. Seriously, you can joke about Kerbals all you want, but you shouldn't joke about real-world space/scientific matters. The constructors, designers, engineers, manufacturers, mathemeticians, scientists and so on deserve utmost respect for what they do. Without past engineers, mathemeticians, etc., this game probably wouldn't exist.

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babbo

babbo

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Alas, it would appear that Poe's Law strikes again.

Indeed. I am amused and alarmed. :huh: One more of these and I swear, I am editing the original post and adding a disclaimer.

I'm gonna analyze what's wrong with this post:

Fellow forum dweller, allow me to drop you a hint or two. I am an engineer (true story). Lately, I have not been letting KSP influence my work much, though it is difficult to ignore this world-changing piece of software that has been the subject of much discussion by the wise and the powerful of this planet. This may explain my recent engineering successes, really, because my earlier attempts at using KSP as a design tool had landed me in hot water - or, to be more specific, in a hot flaming ball of burning fuel. Call it a major career-limiting move. But I digress. I do think that, despite my occasional long face, real-world space and scientific matters should very much be joked about, because if not, my workplace would be full of sad gits. Current engineers, mathematicians - scratch that, not these guys, just engineers - deserve to laugh, too. We need it. It is for our sanity. It is for science.

Edited by babbo
I made a typo and it embarassed me. Since I don't like to blush, I edited.
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babbo

babbo

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Even as an engineer you may - some day - reach the conclusion that irony and sarcasm only work so well in written communication.

While I have no doubt that everyone will take your sage writing advice to heart, what remains is that one can only adjust the level of any communication so much. In other words, it's fairly unbelievable that some (few, I concede) readers would think that someone who claims that KSP is a "worldwide cultural and scientific phenomenon" that influences space exploration is serious, unless they're trolling hard. Make it any more obvious, and you're talking about pink elephants flying through the Himalayas. I understand that there may be an age or a language gap in some cases, but it is no reason to reach for the lowest common denominator.

Take a look at the BBC piece that the link points to instead. It's a neat write-up about the project.

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babbo

babbo

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Does anyone notice the 2nd picture? It looks a lot like the AIES satellite parts.

See? Exactly my point. Not only are they using KSP as a source of rocketry know-how, they also are using mods. They are likely to become pretty mad when 0.21 breaks their mods, though, because that will mean major delays to the project. Mod makers, don't waste time: space exploration now also depends on you!

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  • 1 year later...
Teoman2

Teoman2

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I do join in the hate of the community to this person, but why all the hate comments? Why can't we look past our noses and not care about the stupid mistakes that Babbo has said, and be happy that the Ariane 6 will be launched with MOAR BOOSTERS and in the end, isn't that all that matters...

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