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

[TerLoki]

Not sure if I'm missing something, but I downloaded the plugin from the first post and no new parts appeared. Is there a second link I need to download?

[xfrankie]

you can get around that. If you EVA have your kerbal take the science from the pod and then store it back you can take another crew report. useing that method you can take as many reports as you want long as each is from a different biome state(aka flying high over/low over/landed)

Awesome, thanks! Didn't know that one

[NeoAcario]

Hey Fractal... Seems I found a few problems with your science integration of Impact science.

3 Things I've discovered.

1, if you do the science with less than a perfect 6 point survey system set up, you will not get the full ammount. In so doing you will permanently LOSE the science that you lost out on by not setting up the experiment perfectly... forever.

2, if you try and reset a sensor, as I did because I took the science on the wrong probe (one without an antena), you will instead lose the experiment and amount of science... forever.

3, if you load a quick-load after collecting impact data... the data and experiment are lost.. forever.

Something to look into.

~Steve

EDIT:

So what should the max be fore the first impact on the Mun? I know the max total is 2500... I think I got 875 on my first Mun impact. Is that max for first experiment before diminishing returns? 33.4%

Edited February 11, 2014 by NeoAcario

[merendel]

1) How do you upgrade parts?

2) I can't seem to find the New Impactor Science Item mentioned on the main page which was supposedly added in v10.

1 Most parts are automaticly upgraded on new craft once you've purchased the apropreate node in the tree. Ships already in space when you purchase the upgrade are not automaticly retrofited although you can choose to spend more science to upgrade the parts individualy. Personaly I just replace the ship if I want the upgraded parts on it. The computer core and the warpdrive are unique in that their upgraded versions are not automatic and you must pay to retrofit each individual one you launch. Make sure your happy with the design of your ship before you upgrade those as you dont get do overs on that.

2 the impactor is added to the Double-C Seismic Accelerometer and in fact replaces the default funtionality of that part. Just slap the accelerometer on a probe, land it(gently) on the target planet/moon of choice, and then land some other controlled object significantly less gently on the same planet/moon. Include a transmiter and a rather significant sorce of power on the sensor probe as it requires quite a bit of power to transmit that much science back.

Awesome, thanks! Didn't know that one

I didnt either till I saw scott manly doing it in his current interstellar serries.

[xfrankie]

Just found out this: for anyone who absolutely can't live without the stock Accelerometer but also wants the Impactor, install B9 ( with the fixes to make it work ), it has the "sensor bay" thingy with all the stock equipment (Thermometer, Barometer etc.), there the Accelerometer has its original properties.

[JDCollie]

What are the requirements for the actual impacting craft? I know it needs to be the active vehicle, but is there a weight/speed requirement? I've slammed several probes into Minmus with no effect, while the ship used to get them there worked just fine for the job.

[NeoAcario]

What are the requirements for the actual impacting craft? I know it needs to be the active vehicle, but is there a weight/speed requirement? I've slammed several probes into Minmus with no effect, while the ship used to get them there worked just fine for the job.

I get an error about 1 in 10... they just don't work or produce any science. Not sure why. I use a standard 3 part design for impactors... 90+% work just fine. Tiny octo, tiny fuel tank, tiny in line engine. Get about 8 seconds of fuel for about 1250 dV.

~Steve

Edited February 11, 2014 by NeoAcario

[merendel]

I also use a 3 part design for my impactors although I'm useing toroidal and the ant engien. Longer burn but lighter. I think the only requirement on the impacting probs is it needs to be controlled at the time of impact (aka need a probe core of some sort) and it needs to be going at least 40m/s on impact. I havent had the problem of impacts not registering that others have reported, not sure why. Its possible I've had all my impacts to date going at about 1km/s might have had something to do with it. I did upgrade my delivery vessle to have a bakers dozen impact probes. the 7 of the origonal didnt quite milk mun of all its impact data and since the things are quite light I figured adding more to future missions wouldnt hurt.

Incidently watching the bits of dibris that sometimes survives impacts is quite entertaining. I had one bit that flew off the impact site with enough velocity to put it on an escape vector... from kerbol

[Neowulf]

Impacting object just has to be focused on, not necessarily controlled.

I get get 6 impacts out of my simple rocket design: 4 micro-probes (core, engine, tank, dock), the carrier probe, and the transfer stage that got everything to the body of choice. Just start out with a decent orbit, retrograde to impact, release the bottom stage, get the probe cluster back into a stable orbit, then focus on the spent stage and follow it down to the ground. Then release and de-orbit the micro-probes one by one, and finally the carrier probe.

[Spyre2000]

1 Most parts are automaticly upgraded on new craft once you've purchased the apropreate node in the tree. Ships already in space when you purchase the upgrade are not automaticly retrofited although you can choose to spend more science to upgrade the parts individualy. Personaly I just replace the ship if I want the upgraded parts on it.

But that's what I'm saying, There is NO Upgrade Node in the tech tree. The only nodes are the ones that unlock the parts in the first place. After that they have their default stats and even if I purchase every item on the tech tree they do not improve. I selected the KSP Interestellar Tree when the prompt came up the first time the mod loads. And I have the full tech tree with the last item costing 10K Science and has the warp drive in it.

But every single part, as far as I can tell, outputs at non-upgraded level. I do most of my testing by creating new basic ships with various reactors and just put them on launch pad and see their output.

[Lightwarrior]

You will not see any specific "upgrade node", you should read first post carefully, there is info which upgrades require which node unlocked. You also can read in part description what is the difference between upgraded/non-upgaded part.

[NeoAcario]

But every single part, as far as I can tell, outputs at non-upgraded level. I do most of my testing by creating new basic ships with various reactors and just put them on launch pad and see their output.

The difference between atmo and vac dV and Thrust is so huge... you aren't going to see the difference on the launchpad. Put it in orbit.

~Steve

[Orbital Debris]

There's 600+ pages, so it'd take me a month to find out if someone has already asked this question... For some reason my Science Labs (Fully manned) are generating 0 science. It says it has 0 of the 500 mW required... Why isn't it getting any power? Do I have to have a nuclear reactor strapped directly to it? Will it not feed off the batteries and (copious ammounts of) Solar Panels I have on my station?

[celem]

Quick question for you KSPI types regarding Aluminium Hybrid refueling...

I put a base on Mun, reactor, heat management, 4 refineries. So far so good. I then built an aluminium hybrid powered rocket and landed it at the base. Hooked it to the main craft with a KAS pipe link. My problem is that while the refineries will mine Alumina, and electrolyse it, they are producing only oxidizer. I know they should make more oxidizer than aluminium, but im getting 0 aluminium.

There are no AH rockets on the base itself so the main structure doesnt technically have anywhere to store aluminium, just alumina in the refineries and oxidizer all over the place. Is this the problem? I was under the impression that a KAS pipe link works exactly like a docking port, so these 2 vessels are now 1 craft in the game's eyes. Why isnt it storing the aluminium in the hybrid rockets?

edit: done some fiddling with part files and my persistent file and determined that the aluminium will indeed not refine into the AH rockets linked via KAS. Is this resource set to not flow somewhere? Gave the refineries a little aluminium storage and they began producing it correctly, but I still have to manually shunt it from the refinery into the rockets. While this may be as intended, I would like the aluminium produced at the refinery to behave like stock liquid fuel when it comes to locating and auto-assigning storage space for it, can anyone tell me which variables I need to alter to get this behaviour? (I really really want to avoid giving my AH craft their own refinery)

Edited February 11, 2014 by celem

[NeoAcario]

Quick question for you KSPI types regarding Aluminium Hybrid refueling...

Why isnt it storing the aluminium in the hybrid rockets?

Fuel Balancer Is your friend! Why worry about whether certain resource types will flow based on how they're connected?!

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/25823-0-23-TAC-Fuel-Balancer-v2-3-22Dec

As long as there is even the tiniest of reserve (ISRU's have a tiny capacity for Alumina), you can set to "Balance All" on any resource type with fuel balancer and you'll be fine. I originally got this mod for Kethane mining, so that I didn't manually have to channel fuel and such around while I time accel mined... but I find this mod works for ALL fuel related issues.

Fuel Balancer has the added bonus when doing any kind of process that requires a resource type to be channeled into the ISRU.. again.. just Balance All (for that resource type) while you do it.. problem solved.

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Impactors.

6 sensors, perfectly placed all 90 degress off eachother on Minmus. 180, 90, 0, 270, N Pole, S Pole. 25 Impacts that ALL recorded and were transmitted. The last 4 showing 0 science value.... but I'm still at only 89% complete on this science in the R&D center.

Any ideas why I'm missing out?

FYI... this ship is kinda nuts. I think I might refine it just a bit to be more easily moved by my Warp Tugs.

~Steve

Edited February 11, 2014 by NeoAcario

[forsaken1111]

There's 600+ pages, so it'd take me a month to find out if someone has already asked this question... For some reason my Science Labs (Fully manned) are generating 0 science. It says it has 0 of the 500 mW required... Why isn't it getting any power? Do I have to have a nuclear reactor strapped directly to it? Will it not feed off the batteries and (copious ammounts of) Solar Panels I have on my station?

Science labs require Megajoules, not Electric Charge. The only practical ways to power the lab are to either put a nuclear reactor onboard coupled to a generator, or to beam power from other craft via the microwave transceivers. Either way, solar power alone will be very difficult to use to power your labs unless the solar craft is in a low orbit around the sun. Even then, solar panels output Electric Charge, not MJ. To upconvert it to MJ you'll need to beam it from another craft. There is still no way to convert EC -> MJ on the same craft that I know of.

[a__gun]

@Fractal_UK

Had a look at the code for FNImpactorModule to try and get a handle on exactly how science is calculated for each impact and found this:

                        } else {
                            net_science += (1.0 - Vector3d.Dot(surface_vector, net_vector.normalized)) * 50 * PluginHelper.getImpactorScienceMultiplier(body);
                            net_vector = net_vector + surface_vector;
                        }

From what I can tell (and its a long time since I've properly looked at matrices and dot-products) this would suggest that the determining factor for how much each sensor boosts the science received is the angle from the sensor to the site of impact, and how this compares to the average of the angles for previously checked sensors. I.E. for maximum science return per impact, sensors should be placed equiangularly around the site of impact (2 sensors 180° apart, 3 sensors 120°, 4 90° etc).

If this is indeed the case and distance to impact has no effect, then theoretically you could place three sensors 10m apart and still maximise your scientific returns as long as you can land in the middle of them (AND not damage your sensors!).

Also well done on a great algorithm - seems like a fairly realistic way to model the benefits of multiple sensors

TL;DR (If I am right) for best results with impacts, create a circle of sensors and crash in the middle of them

[Fractal_UK]

@Fractal_UK

Had a look at the code for FNImpactorModule to try and get a handle on exactly how science is calculated for each impact and found this:

From what I can tell (and its a long time since I've properly looked at matrices and dot-products) this would suggest that the determining factor for how much each sensor boosts the science received is the angle from the sensor to the site of impact, and how this compares to the average of the angles for previously checked sensors. I.E. for maximum science return per impact, sensors should be placed equiangularly around the site of impact (2 sensors 180° apart, 3 sensors 120°, 4 90° etc).

If this is indeed the case and distance to impact has no effect, then theoretically you could place three sensors 10m apart and still maximise your scientific returns as long as you can land in the middle of them (AND not damage your sensors!).

Actually, the position of impactor doesn't ever appear in the calculation, it is assumed that regardless of the location that the impactor lands you will be able to get good readings of the seismic data. The initial vector is the position of the first accelerometer so the problem is simply one of spreading out the sensors as much as possible up to the single impact science cap.

[harlikwin]

So I recently got this mod and I have a few questions. I've read the FAQ, and wiki but apparently I'm not understanding a few things.

I've been using the sandbox mode to learn how to build various things. And I've managed to figure out the thermal rockets in general.

The issue I'm having is trying to get the DT Vista engine working. What exactly do I need to get it to run? Do I use the standard LOX fuel supplemented with deuterium?

From the wiki I've got a fusion generator on the ship which I can power up using a small nuclear reactor, it then almost immediately overheats, despite having a pair of Huge radiators on the ship. Do the radiators need to be attached directly to the generator? (that doesn't seem to be the case for my previous thermal ships)

Thanks!

[Ethan3369]

I was wondering because I cant see the info any were how do you upgade fusion reactors?

[forsaken1111]

I was wondering because I cant see the info any were how do you upgade fusion reactors?

Once you get the Antimatter Power tech, the D-T Inertial Fusion Reactor upgrades to a High-Q Intertial Fusion Reactor

It's in the wiki.

https://github.com/FractalUK/KSPInterstellar/wiki#wiki-technology

[a__gun]

Actually, the position of impactor doesn't ever appear in the calculation, it is assumed that regardless of the location that the impactor lands you will be able to get good readings of the seismic data. The initial vector is the position of the first accelerometer so the problem is simply one of spreading out the sensors as much as possible up to the single impact science cap.

So is it the angle of the 2nd to nth sensors in relation to the first sensor, or the distance between them, or something else entirely..?

[Lira]

How can I disable Solar Planels from generating Waste Heat?

I have some legacy spacecraft that do not have any radiators and I would like to keep them in service, however they keep retracting their solar panels due to overheating. With RemoteTech installed, on the unmanned spacecraft, I then loose communication and my spacecraft become inoperable. For the same reason, I cannot simply retract my Solar Panels while not in use since then I loose communication with KSC and the spacecraft becomes inoperable.

I would like to either disable Solar Panels from generating Waste Heat,

OR

I would like to enable the Command Pods to dissipate a small amount of Waste Heat.

Both solutions seem reasonable since it would be hard to imagine a Solar Panel overheating in the dead of space. The equipment would radiate the limited amount of heat generated.

Please help!

[NeoAcario]

Fractal, I'm still confused as to why there's 11% unrecoverable amount of Science from Minmus impacts, even though I did it perfectly (as shown by the first impact producing the maximum 35% return of 875)... also the 3 issues I pointed out in another post. Problems with implementation. Or is it just something you can't fix?

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/43839-0-23-KSP-Interstellar-%28Thermal-Helper-Solar-Sail-Impactors-Fusion%29-Version-0-10-3?p=962751&viewfull=1#post962751

~Steve -still waiting for his direct conversion reactor-microwave transmitter fix.

Edited February 11, 2014 by NeoAcario

[vardicd]

Can someone please explain what the pre-cooler does? I'm not even sure I'm using it right. Does it need to be connected to a certain part to work, how do I know if I even need one? I looked on the wiki and the FAQ and can't find anything searching through the forum posts, but with 663 pages.... Help?