[0.25]KSP Interstellar (Magnetic Nozzles, ISRU Revamp) Version 0.13

[Fractal_UK]

Seriously. I can very easily make Antimatter now, just, how can it be USED? Cause the most I've got is using the antimatter to power an antimatter reactor (I think it's a reactor), and that could be used to power something else. Only, it creates thermal power, and no actual fuel goes through, so I can't use a thermal rocket, but it can be used to power a regular electric generator, which can then be used to power a plasma thruster, but I tried that. It only gives out 2.1 KN when I try.

I've tried antimatter to thermal, to thrust, but it's still so much less efficient, and so much less thrust than regular liquidfuel engines.

2.1kN is the kind of thrust you get from a nuclear reactor + electric generator and a plasma engine, not an antimatter reactor and electric generator. This an example of an antimatter electric rocket:

The antimatter reactor and thermal rocket thrusts/specific impulses are stated on the first page of the thread. The easiest mistake to make with a thermal rocket is not attaching it directly to the reactor, at which point, it won't work. Such a rocket could, for example, just look like the rocket above but with a thermal rocket in place of the plasma thrust - the result would be 2975kN of thrust and specific impulse of 2741s with LiquidFuel.

[Fractal_UK]

Showing off the DT Vista Inertial Fusion Engine!

With a cool new engine comes cool new mechanics and this engine is particularly cool in how it functions. As stated in the descriptions on the previous page, we are using Lasers to inertially compress pellets of fusion fuel released just at the tip of an engine - this triggers a fusion reaction that propels the vessel through space. In order to do this, we need electricity and lots of it to power the high power lasers. Fortunately, because we are targetting a pellet of fusion fuel with our lasers, our spaceship can get *far* more propulsive energy than we'd simply get by using the laser for direct heating of propellant.

The fusion pellets are ejected at around 30Hz, meaning that this functions, for game purposes as an engine that simply provides continuous acceleration.

Throttling this engine could, in reality, be done in one of two ways. The first is that the pellet repetition rate is changed, meaning that you give up smooth acceleration to accelerate more slowly, due to game constraints, this won't be implemented.

The second and the one that will feature in this mod is to vary the amount of Hydrogen propellant ejected around the pellet. This means that the electrical power consumption of the engine is completely fixed (at almost exactly 1.5GW, meaning you need an upgraded 3.75m nuclear reactor + an upgraded 3.75m generator or better to run it) and changing the throttle changes the specific impulse of the rocket. High throttle means that you want maximum thrust and least specific impulse while on low throttle you get little thrust but massive specific impulse.

I demonstrate this feature here:

Here, at max thrust we get 680kN of thrust and Isp of 15500s. It therefore provides more thrust than all the nuclear rockets but less than any of the antimatter rockets. Its specific impulse at max throttle however, is only surpassed by the upgraded 3.75m antimatter rocket.

At half throttle, our thrust has indeed halved to 340kN as you would expect but look at the specific impulse, it has doubled to over 30,000s!

If we want to settle for some stock NERVA thrust levels, we can get truly ludicrous Isp of 193,748s!

Even on this tiny throttle though, we look at the power draw on the electric generator, we are still drawing the maximum 1.5GW.

[Donziboy2]

NICE Fractal_UK!!!!!

If you guys are having problems then your not doing it right.

This has only one engine and it can lift itself easily and still have tons of fuel left, it also has Kethane Drills so it can land and refuel. If you build something like this without the outer tanks you will get heating effects when you leave the atmo it goes so fast.

You also need antimatter to get this to fly. Since its using a medium AM reactor.

[3_bit]

Darn cool. You, sir, are going to go down in history for the first-ever NON-OP warp drive.

[Rampart]

Just as an FYI, I've made some effort at populating the wiki that Fractal linked on the first page with useful information, basically trying to consolidate the stuff cropping up in this thread, cause I'm starting to see the same questions repeated, hopefully that will lead to less frustration for folks first trying out the mod.

I'm excited to see how this mod could utilize the upcoming .22 research tree. You'd start out with the 1st gen nozzles and nuclear reactors, research upgraded reactors and/or generators, fusion power, AM reactors, etc etc. Maybe add a research node for "upgrading", so that your new rockets/spaceplanes would have the improved versions of reactors and generators, but for things in flight you'd need a science lab staffed with kerbals and maybe a tank of "upgrade parts", maybe rocketparts if you wanted to tie into the extraplanetary launchpads mod, as opposed to science upgrading parts they way they do now. Maybe we can petition for Fractal to get a look a the .22 API.

Also, awesome looking pulse fusion thruster, any thoughts on incorporating the glowy AM reactor model from farther up the thread? Also excited to have components auto-adjust output based on load, that would certainly cut down on how much UF6 my freighters schlepping reactors to Moho orbit lose before they even deliver the reactor

[DaveStrider]

This new engine seems to me to be similar to the orion engine, couldn't you look at the orion engine mod to see how to simulate reducing the frequency of the detonation?

[Mekan1k]

Fractal_UK, When you put the inertial fusion engine up, I will download. Looks amazing, and the effects your plugin makes are really really cool.

Well played.

[Jasmir]

Antimatter-Production in the Science-Lab:

- The production seems not going on while the producing "ship" is out of focus. I think, this should be changed.

- The production is _way_ to cheap in my eyes: I put a lab, two large reactors + 4 large Generators on a rover near the launchpad and this thing manage to fullfill the large AM-Container withhin a few ingame-hours.

Do you have the latest version of the mod? Antimatter production in the lab should be working while the ship is unfocused in this version, provided that you leave your generators turned on. The rate of antimatter production should be of the order a few units per day, not a full tank in a matter of hours. The science lab should tell you the rate it's currently producing at. What is that number reading?

The filename i downloaded show "KSPInterstellar-v0.4.2.zip", but just to be sure i downloaded again and testet again. I can reproduce both issues.

I've put a few images up, there can you (hopefully) read a data you need. (The Kerbal Alarm Clock Window in the upper left shows you the time, the windows in the middle the other values):

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[Mekan1k]

Actually, Fractal_UK - will you make a version of the alcubierre drive that does add thrust? Real-time thrust?

The reason I am asking is that was what we were trying to make at PuffinTech- a FrameShift drive (It is like the alcubierre drive, except the warp-distortion bubble is not complete, meaning your max speed is sub-light, but immense thrust and relatively low-power use) for your pack? It might look like the normal warp drives with chunks taken out of the ring, with throttle like a normal engine.

Anyway, it's just a request. I hope this pack keeps improving- It will show up in my AAR if I can get some time to write it...

[wasmic]

Hey Fractal, I heard that you're doing a fission fragment rocket at some point. I just want to say that SasquatschM has a really cool FFR model, and if you ask him, he might let you borrow it - I don't know if he will, but the model is so awesome that you almost have to try. Here's his thread: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/32347-SM-Aeronautics-Release-Thread

[Scotius]

1.5 GW? Holy power hog Batman! O.o Will you be adding fusion reactor Fractal? Just askin'...

[GabrielG.A.B.Fonseca]

I think you might want to make a FAQ, Fractal.

Just saying.

[Ratzap]

I think you might want to make a FAQ, Fractal.

Just saying.

Why bother? The last 3 or 4 pages are full of people asking the same questions over and over. Write a FAQ and not a soul will read it based on the last couple of pages.

[Scotius]

Some will read it. To rest we could say: RTFF.A.Q

[7499275]

Thank you fractunal for your answers and only one last question, how do I upgrade something when I have enough science?

[SeventhArchitect]

Donziboy, your ship creation is very much useless. I'm not here to create monstrosities that launch decent sized ships into orbit, I'm looking to actually make a flying, self-sustaining SHIP, not rocket, and I have already done so. Every bit legit, too, as far as the mods go. Propulsion, though, is a little personal project made so that fuel can be bypassed, and speed is no worry. Nonetheless, requires a lot of power, and a lot of those tiny engines.....

Fractal does this mean that new engine is in the mod? If so, then I'll take the time to update later. Launching A new ship named the Corvette. Thrust is no problem, the systems desired exist fine and harmoniously, only thing now, is to finish the aesthetics.

[Fractal_UK]

The filename i downloaded show "KSPInterstellar-v0.4.2.zip", but just to be sure i downloaded again and testet again. I can reproduce both issues.

I've put a few images up, there can you (hopefully) read a data you need. (The Kerbal Alarm Clock Window in the upper left shows you the time, the windows in the middle the other values)

I've fixed this bug, the problem was hard to spot because I'd set everything I needed up correctly, I'd just then used the wrong variable name in the final calculation. The problem with persistence was actually because the antimatter rate was so high it was more than filling the tanks, which prevented anything from getting added, so it's all part of the same problem.

Thank you fractunal for your answers and only one last question, how do I upgrade something when I have enough science?

Right click on the part you want to upgrade and click "Retrofit."

Donziboy, your ship creation is very much useless. I'm not here to create monstrosities that launch decent sized ships into orbit, I'm looking to actually make a flying, self-sustaining SHIP, not rocket, and I have already done so. Every bit legit, too, as far as the mods go. Propulsion, though, is a little personal project made so that fuel can be bypassed, and speed is no worry. Nonetheless, requires a lot of power, and a lot of those tiny engines.....

You should have another look at Donziboy's ship, it's not a staged rocket, it's an SSTO with almost 28km/s of delta-v in vacuum. It can blast off from any planet in the solar system, with the possible exception of Eve, go to any other planet, land, refuel and then do it all over again. It also has an antimatter collector so it can harvest antimatter along the way to keep the reactor running.

It's not neccessarily easy to build something like that because you need a way of getting full antimatter tanks on the launch pad - meaning you have to return full antimatter tanks to KSC but you can build some very impressive ships by doing it.

Fractal does this mean that new engine is in the mod? If so, then I'll take the time to update later. Launching A new ship named the Corvette. Thrust is no problem, the systems desired exist fine and harmoniously, only thing now, is to finish the aesthetics.

No, there's no update yet, I'm working on it but I need to finish off the code for the new engine and try to make sure that no new bugs have appeared - I've rewritten a lot of code to add the background power management but the results should be very nice.

[Railgunner2160]

Either you and squad had the same idea about research and transmission or they ripped you off.... Saw the .22 update features vid on they're youtube channel and part of the R&D system is sending up various science modules, running experiments, getting crew reports, and then transmitting them! Well at least the stock antennas will finally have an actual purpose.....

[theSpeare]

New models for the reactors please!

I'm using that engine over everything else happily just because it looks so amazing

[Donziboy2]

It's not neccessarily easy to build something like that because you need a way of getting full antimatter tanks on the launch pad - meaning you have to return full antimatter tanks to KSC but you can build some very impressive ships by doing it.

It actually sips AM, so you can put like 1-2k in it and it will get into orbit.

Edited September 10, 2013 by Donziboy2

[SeventhArchitect]

It actually sips AM, so you can put like 1-2k in it and it will get into orbit.

You see, I can onw understand that you are able to do that, bringing Antimatter Back to KSC. But I'll tell you this now, I copied your get up, and even with the antimatter, the power generation only makes the thermal rocket engine go about 1.2Kn.

See, I would only be sitting here, telling you people you're wrong, because I've tried this. Yet you people sit here and still tell me that what you've built works, then why won't it work for me? How can mine possibly be different when it's an exact replica?

[Fractal_UK]

I think I've managed to code in the radiation danger of these engines effectively. The new vista engine poses an unparalleled radiation hazard primarily because the power output they achieve is enormous (around 250GW) but most of that energy is wasted as neutrons thanks to the fusion products of D+T fusion. Because the fusion occurs outside the ship, we can shield the ship's crew effectively but we cannot shield the people outside.

The range of the (deadly) neutron flux is 2km, if there are any Kerbals within this range, the engine will note the number of Kerbals that it is posing a radiation hazard to. This could be EVA Kerbals or it could be Kerbals on other ships/space stations.

If we try and throttle up the engine, it won't let us. There are all sorts of highly complicated Kerbal regulations and red tape that prevent the activation of deadly neutron producing engines near Kerbals, if you do it "by mistake" here is the result.

Upon further investigation, it appears that government bureaucracy consists of pushing one button. That is the "Deactivate Radiation Safety" button. Push the button and we're back underway, government red tape brushed aside!

Poor Herlin Kerman should've taken a ship with less murderous colleagues.

In the future, I may improve this by adding mechanics for shielding kerbals nearby but for now, this should get the idea across pretty well, and hopefully provides a small disadvantage to an otherwise exceptionally useful engine. Afterall, death is not guaranteed to nearby Kerbals, it is merely a possibility. The more Kerbals you have in the area, the more likely at least one will die.

If you keep the safety features on, there is no chance of unexpected Kerbal death.

Edited September 10, 2013 by Fractal_UK

[Fractal_UK]

Oh, additionally, the probability of death due to radiation diminishes following an inverse square law. So, if you're coming in to dock a little bit too fast, you can probably get away with turning off the safetys and making a burn at around 2km from your destination without much risk. Of course, the nature of the inverse square law means that every second you leave it before turning them off, the more likely it is that death will result.

This really demonstrates that maxim of spacetravel: the more effective any propulsion system is as an engine, the greater its effectiveness as a weapon. Indeed, for advanced interstellar spacecraft, the rocket on the back is likely by far the most dangerous thing around, regardless of what bizarre and powerful military technology a civilisation may have.

Edited September 10, 2013 by Fractal_UK

[SeventhArchitect]

Alright. I'm going to apologize here, becuase so far, I've been frustrated about how I couldn't get a thruster to produce mroe than a few Kn for a logn time. thing is, I really had to think. Of course, getting Antimatter to the ship is harder than making it On Board. Problem with that is, Fuel don't flow through the research lab part...

So, after so long of trying to figure things out I made a small, self-sustaining AM Gen that can rove around on Kerbin, and creates AM, filling a tank full within maybe 4 hours in game. And thanks to Lazor Systems, transfer is that much easier.

Now, with this, I can definitely make something bigger and more valuable.

[Rampart]

Oh, additionally, the probability of death due to radiation diminishes following an inverse square law. So, if you're coming in to dock a little bit too fast, you can probably get away with turning off the safetys and making a burn at around 2km from your destination without much risk. Of course, the nature of the inverse square law means that every second you leave it before turning them off, the more likely it is that death will result.

This really demonstrates that maxim of spacetravel: the more effective any propulsion system is as an engine, the greater its effectiveness as a weapon. Indeed, for advanced interstellar spacecraft, the rocket on the back is likely by far the most dangerous thing around, regardless of what bizarre and powerful military technology a civilisation may have.

I do believe that's classically known as the Kzinti Lesson

As in, what happens when you are overconfident in an attack an "unarmed" human ship that happens to use a ram scoop fed fusion powered photon drive.