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

[DGamer135]

What fuel does a plasma thruster use?

Edited November 6, 2013 by DGamer135
Typo

[Fractal_UK]

What fuel does a plasma thruster use?

You can change it on the fly. The default is LiquidFuel (Hydrogen) but it can also use Argon or Xenon, giving increasingly more thrust but lower specific impulse. If it's upgraded (right at the end of the tech tree) it also has a vacuum plasma fuel option which uses no propellant at all when outside of atmosphere (in atmosphere it will flameout right away).

[DGamer135]

Where do I get Xenon fuel?

[DGamer135]

I figured out how to get Xenon fuel but when I engage it it says I need power, where do I get power for it? I have an antimatter reactor and an electric generator, but that is on the opposite side of the ship

[rosenkranz]

Looks like my question got lost in the crowd. The RAM usage for this is over 100mb (mostly in textures). As much as I love zzz's parts i'm consistantly hitting ram limit after which, the game become unstable

I'm using a fair number of mods, I know. I'm aware of that and so I'm using the texture reduction packs wherever I can (B9, Squad, NP2). Those are the only mods which add parts as I use a number of partless mods such as FAR, DRE, editor extentsions, etc. They help tremendously which is what brings me to this question.

Any other suggestions would be helpful though I've likely already looked at/done most of them already.

[forsaken1111]

I guess you could overwrite the textures with blank files and deal with untextured models... or cut out a few lesser used mods. 100mb isn't much considering the limit for KSP is 4GB

[Jason_25]

This is actually pretty reasonable, once you start talking about large high power output spacecraft, it's not unreasonable to be looking at 50% of the dry mass of the spacecraft being radiators. Certainly, the mass of the radiator and generator are massively outweighed by radiators. Things are nowhere near that extreme in the mod.

Given the massive reduction of parts that the powerful rockets in the mod give you, including a massive list of new capabilities, I don't think it's unreasonable to balance that against asking you to install a couple of radiators. Since working on this, I've never had to build a craft that remotely challenged my computer's ability to run it.

Yeah I am not having trouble with part count right now, only in theory. I have an example case I will post soon that may expose a bug with the radiators then. This thing is being weighed down by radiators for some reason.

I can only think you must be doing something wrong if you think this to be the case. The antimatter powered thermal jets are twitchy at the amount of power they produce at the moment, making them more powerful would just make them unfliable. I'm not really seeing how 607kN of thrust without using any propellant is not ludicrously impressive by any possible definition of the word. Strap two of them together and you almost have a mainsail that uses no fuel.

I'm failing to see how that can be defined as 100% useless on any level.

I must be, because my planes all end up with a crappy TWR now. I will try again though.

They need 2 parts attached together, you don't even need a generator if you only want to use the rocket.

Antimatter tank, reactor, and nozzle right? That is a pretty long assembly. Is one of the nuclear options better for a vtol thermal rocket?

All the antimatter reactors scale linearly with mass in terms of power output. The smaller antimatter reactors actually have better TWR because they are lower temperature, that means they make faster jets and better launch vehicles.

That could be my problem. I will look into making jets with the smaller reactors.

[Makeone]

I figured out how to get Xenon fuel but when I engage it it says I need power, where do I get power for it? I have an antimatter reactor and an electric generator, but that is on the opposite side of the ship

Do you have AntiMatter fuel on your craft with proper tank obviously? And they do need a LOT of power in order to provide good thrust, look at the table in the 1st post of the thread.

[BrickedKeyboard]

Yes I'm using LFO with the lighest possible aircraft (7 tons), but because of the reactor weight as I said I get better results out of regular turbojets, which is a shame. It might consume zero fuel, but it has to carry a nuclear reactor and a radiator, which don't make up for the 100 LF I carry with my regular spaceplane to get it to the edge of the atmosphere. It's still great to tour Kerbin and make atmospheric readings of all the biomes I guess.

The hilarious thing is that reactor probably leaks a little, and I can just imagine the Kerbal scientists wondering why every biome they take a reading of has various transuranic elements in it...

[BrickedKeyboard]

Heat Mechanic : 2 major complaints

1. I suppose I would have to do the math to prove this, but I feel like the "heat capacity" stats are far too high. If you aren't radiating waste heat just as fast as you are producing it, most real life objects don't have the thermal mass to soak up the excess for very long.

2. It shouldn't furl your solar panels, it should cause them to shut off for a period of time. Well, realistically, it wouldn't be the solar panels that were overheating, because that is not where the waste heat is being produced, but I can understand killing the output of the panels because a thermal regulator tripped, and the panels being offline until the temperature of the spacecraft cools.

I lost 2 space probes so far from overheating, and the problem was, it took hundreds of game-days for the overheating to happen. Then, BAM, sucked out of time warp and my spacecraft is effectively destroyed. (since the panels furl up, I get no chance to unfurl one before my batteries are drained and I lose power). It feels unrealistic and forced this way.

On an unrelated note, do antimatter containment units require power to work? That's a fun fact I recall about antimatter containment, there's no way to do it passively, you need a small amount of power to operate some control electronics at all times or the containment will fail. Realistically, it could fail in a non-explody manner - any competent engineer would design a spacecraft antimatter containment system to vent the antimatter to space if it was about to fail for lack of energy. Of course, this is Kerbals we are talking about...

Edited November 6, 2013 by BrickedKeyboard

[Tanya Sapien]

Okay, so I came up with a concept, pictured below, that would work in theory. However, I'm having a minor issue concerning power losses.

The problem stems from misaligned microwave transmitters and receivers. Currently my proof-of-concept surface station generates 640KW of solar power, and theoretically would only have 30% loss in transmission, but instead it's getting roughly 78% loss because by time I switch over to the destination point, the stations have drifted out of optimal alignment. Infernal Robotics helps with aligning the dishes on the ground stations manually, but those can't be set to track targets.

Does anybody know if transmitters with tracking ability are planned for addition? Better yet, if anybody knows a plugin or mod that would allow me to inject tracking ability by adding a pivot, hinges, or overriding On-Rails orientations of satellites that would be great.

Theoretically this system would allow me to beam in excess of 100MW to tiny, lightweight ships, allowing them to take full advantage of plasma engines, but as it stands now Helios Two is dead in the water.

[theSpeare]

Fractal, still having some problems with electric charge running down to 0 at full time warp. This doesn't really affect anything majorly as nothing blows up and everything pretty much sorts itself out after coming out of warp, but it creates a big issue with kOS where it requires electricCharge to continue its program. I can't do things like automated warp drive travel as kOS powers off before it can continue its "planet is getting pretty close, kill time-warp!" functions

[DGamer135]

I was wondering if I could load the mod's science tree on a career game I have already played on and unlocked alot of tiers on?

[DGamer135]

I tried it, and it worked, but I just want to know, how far into the tree is the stuff in the mod?

[Tharios]

Okay, so I came up with a concept, pictured below, that would work in theory. However, I'm having a minor issue concerning power losses.

[snipped image]

The problem stems from misaligned microwave transmitters and receivers. Currently my proof-of-concept surface station generates 640KW of solar power, and theoretically would only have 30% loss in transmission, but instead it's getting roughly 78% loss because by time I switch over to the destination point, the stations have drifted out of optimal alignment. Infernal Robotics helps with aligning the dishes on the ground stations manually, but those can't be set to track targets.

Does anybody know if transmitters with tracking ability are planned for addition? Better yet, if anybody knows a plugin or mod that would allow me to inject tracking ability by adding a pivot, hinges, or overriding On-Rails orientations of satellites that would be great.

Theoretically this system would allow me to beam in excess of 100MW to tiny, lightweight ships, allowing them to take full advantage of plasma engines, but as it stands now Helios Two is dead in the water.

I haven't played with that yet, but I kind of saw the problem coming. A system like that really only works with geostationary satellites, and it's not possible to achieve stationary orbit around any of the moons.

I've always thought the LoS effect was a little too strictly enforced in a game where you're forced to realign everything manually. There's also the fact that LoS and the distance loss is going to become a real problem for anyone who ends up using the Rescaled Kerbin Mod.

But, we'll see what happens.

[db48x]

I tried it, and it worked, but I just want to know, how far into the tree is the stuff in the mod?

It adds new nodes to the end of the tree; there's an annotated screenshot in the first post. Enjoy!

[Fractal_UK]

I tried it, and it worked, but I just want to know, how far into the tree is the stuff in the mod?

The first parts you'll see are probably some of the small radiators and the magnetometer, which appear about half way through the tree. Parts start appearing much more quickly as you get nearer to the end of the stock tree.

[DGamer135]

yeah im only at the 6th row of tiers. I wish I had a good way to get alot of science I already did Mun/Minmus fly-bys and landed on the mun. (and couldnt return from landing on the mun)

[Tharios]

yeah im only at the 6th row of tiers. I wish I had a good way to get alot of science I already did Mun/Minmus fly-bys and landed on the mun. (and couldnt return from landing on the mun)

Watch Scott Manley's second science acquisition video. It'll make you weep at your own ineptitude. I know it did for me.

[Decoherent]

Sorry if this has been asked tons of time, I did briefly skim the thread, I promise! I'm confused by the thrust produced by the thermal rockets. I put together a 3-man test platform consisting solely of the 3-man capsule, a stock fuel tank, the 2.5m generator, the 2.5m (basic) reactor, and the 2.5m thermal rocket. According to the table in the OP, this should produce 222 kN thrust at 686s ISP, but what I'm actually seeing (see screenshot) is 59 kN at 275s ISP. Is there something obvious I'm overlooking?

[Skoot]

I haven't played with that yet, but I kind of saw the problem coming. A system like that really only works with geostationary satellites, and it's not possible to achieve stationary orbit around any of the moons.

You can get a synchronous orbit around Minmus actually. You can also get 2 sats in a fixed position relative to the Mun's surface, orbiting Kerbin on the same plane of the Mun just oustide its sphere of influence (one in front and one behind). I've done it before, but they tend to get captured eventually and then thrown away in outer space... Or you can get a semi-synchronous orbit around the Mun.

The main problem with synchronous orbits is that the slightest default will quickly get amplified after half a year of time warping, and you can't just spend half your time fixing their position. Well you can, but it gets frustrating. Just rotating the ship, or even just loading it is enough to get it out of place.

[DGamer135]

Watch Scott Manley's second science acquisition video. It'll make you weep at your own ineptitude. I know it did for me.

Link please?

[Skoot]

Sorry if this has been asked tons of time, I did briefly skim the thread, I promise! I'm confused by the thrust produced by the thermal rockets. I put together a 3-man test platform consisting solely of the 3-man capsule, a stock fuel tank, the 2.5m generator, the 2.5m (basic) reactor, and the 2.5m thermal rocket. According to the table in the OP, this should produce 222 kN thrust at 686s ISP, but what I'm actually seeing (see screenshot) is 59 kN at 275s ISP. Is there something obvious I'm overlooking?

Well you're not in a vacuum for starters, and the table is a bit our of date. Try that again in space and see what the numbers tell you, but iirc thermal rockets are less effective than the stock atomic motor until you get your reactors upgraded.

[Tharios]

Link please?

[db48x]

Sorry if this has been asked tons of time, I did briefly skim the thread, I promise! I'm confused by the thrust produced by the thermal rockets. I put together a 3-man test platform consisting solely of the 3-man capsule, a stock fuel tank, the 2.5m generator, the 2.5m (basic) reactor, and the 2.5m thermal rocket. According to the table in the OP, this should produce 222 kN thrust at 686s ISP, but what I'm actually seeing (see screenshot) is 59 kN at 275s ISP. Is there something obvious I'm overlooking?

The chart was for vacuum; you're testing in atmo.