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

[phoenix_ca]

I believe they are pretty useful for low-tech interplanetary tugs due to their (optionally) high core temperatures.

Btw, i have a little problem with the gravity lensing mission, in that i'm not sure what place it has in the mod. I just launched my telescope to the 7500 Gm Apoapsis, only to find that it would take 270 years to arrive. by this time i would have already filled my tech tree, leaving the telescope useless.

perhaps this is just me and my unwillingness to let my space program do nothing for a few centuries, idk.

It's definitely weird. Kinda like...you need warp drive, to do the mission, but doing the mission has no point if you've already got the warp drive (highest tech level).

[Threadsinger]

It's definitely weird. Kinda like...you need warp drive, to do the mission, but doing the mission has no point if you've already got the warp drive (highest tech level).

Yea, I thought about that too. I think I launched one in my last save, only to discover that I'd not profit from it from a science POV (although from a game point of view, still pretty cool).

I still like the idea, but I don't know how to balance it to make it worth it for science purposes. Unless you make Warp Drive 100,000 science, and make the gravity experiment give some equally ridiculous amount of science?

As an aside, one of the ideas I was hoping they'd implement (but never will) would be a NewGame+ mode, where you accomplish some difficult objective (land and return a manned mission from all feasible planets, setup a gravity lens experiment or supercollider at the edge of the solar system, etc.), which enables KSPI-type hardware on the second playthrough. That way purists who want to play with real-world hardware and challenges can do so, while anyone else with an eye for the possible (if not practical) could play the enhanced version. Would also give real value to solving really hard logistical problems (such as setting up a gravity lens experiment) using conventional hardware.

[phoenix_ca]

The obvious choice would be to reduce the distance from the Sun required. The real-life mission the idea is based on (the Spitzer Telescope) is in an orbit just trailing behind the Earth. What I would suggest from a gameplay perspective is to scale science rate with altitude from the sun; the farther out you get, the more science per day. That way we'd have a much more interesting and meaningful choice in where we put the telescopes. Put them super-high (like near Jool) and they'll pump-out science, but resupply would be much more difficult. Put them closer to Kerbin and supply would be easier but science output much lower.

As it is it's just extraneous code that has no practical purpose in-game.

[DaveStrider]

If there was another tech after warp-drive i suppose that would justify the mission as well, of course it's hard to think of anything more advanced than FTL...

[undercoveryankee]

The obvious choice would be to reduce the distance from the Sun required. The real-life mission the idea is based on (the Spitzer Telescope) is in an orbit just trailing behind the Earth. What I would suggest from a gameplay perspective is to scale science rate with altitude from the sun; the farther out you get, the more science per day. That way we'd have a much more interesting and meaningful choice in where we put the telescopes. Put them super-high (like near Jool) and they'll pump-out science, but resupply would be much more difficult. Put them closer to Kerbin and supply would be easier but science output much lower.

As it is it's just extraneous code that has no practical purpose in-game.

The "direct planet observation" mission is based on the theoretical possibility of using the Sun as a gravity lens if we could get a telescope out to 550 AU or more. If we could reach 550 AU in the real world, the results would be orders of magnitude beyond anything that Spitzer could produce.

The in-game distance requirement of 550 times Kerbin's semimajor axis is already scaled down from what you would calculate based on the mass of Kerbol.

Getting out to 550 AU within the life span of a helium cryostat without using warp drive isn't impossible, but it's one of those "final boss"-type missions. I ran some back-of-the-envelope numbers for a 400-day, 7500-GM brachistochrone (burn prograde for the first half and retrograde for the second half). The required acceleration would be between 2 and 3 cm/s^2, with delta-v of about 900 km/s.

With enough acceleration and a coast phase in the middle of the trip, you could probably get that down to about 500 km/s.

Since you don't get quantum vacuum plasma thrusters until you get warp drive, the best way to get that kind of delta-v pre-warp drive seems to be a DT Vista.

[Threadsinger]

If there was another tech after warp-drive i suppose that would justify the mission as well, of course it's hard to think of anything more advanced than FTL...

Wormholes? Point-to-point jumps? Would that fit into the spirit of the real-world derived technologies and concepts that is KSPI?

Can it even be programmed?

Edit: Not seriously suggesting that this be added, just thinking of what comes after warp drive

Edited May 20, 2014 by Threadsinger

[phoenix_ca]

Sure, and it'd be great if getting the telescope out that far meant "ZOMG SO MUCH SCIENCE", but I don't think that is mutually exclusive with adding a curve so that you can try a Spitzer-type mission with some success.

[undercoveryankee]

Sure, and it'd be great if getting the telescope out that far meant "ZOMG SO MUCH SCIENCE", but I don't think that is mutually exclusive with adding a curve so that you can try a Spitzer-type mission with some success.

The "deep-field survey" that the telescope can do anywhere in space (once the bugs in the plugin are fixed) seems to correspond to what Hubble was capable of.

If I were doing a version, I'd kick the science of the 550AU experiment even higher to reflect the final-boss nature of doing it without warp drive, and add an intermediate experiment that requires you to be somewhere in Sun SoI.

As far as scaling the science yield with where you are in the Sun's SoI, I'm trying to get my head around why one location in the Sun's SoI would be better than another.

[phoenix_ca]

As far as scaling the science yield with where you are in the Sun's SoI, I'm trying to get my head around why one location in the Sun's SoI would be better than another.

Because it would work from a design perspective.

[blitz2190]

There's already a hyper jump mod that does point to point

[cy-one]

Inspired by Manley's satellite... How big can a solar satellite be?

Foldable, of course.

Edited May 21, 2014 by cy-one

[Alewx]

Inspired by Manley's satellite... How big can a solar satellite be?

http://i7.minus.com/iZBBo7v3Q4I8B.png

Foldable, of course.

Awesome! Yeah Scott Manley gave a good inspiration for such an sattalite, mine is still under construction but it feels a bit like "challenge accepted"

I'm so obsessed with symmetry I don't even know that mine will work out.

[cy-one]

I'm used to folding satellites, did a lot when I played with RemoteTech But I like his construction, especially the engine-placement. But that in my picture is currently just a dummy with one 1.25m fuselage, probe-core, transceiver and a ****load of solar panels.

[Alewx]

I'm used to folding satellites, did a lot when I played with RemoteTech But I like his construction, especially the engine-placement. But that in my picture is currently just a dummy with one 1.25m fuselage, probe-core, transceiver and a ****load of solar panels.

Sounds like you have already a bigger one in Progress?

[Atrius129]

Inspired by Manley's satellite... How big can a solar satellite be?

http://i7.minus.com/iZBBo7v3Q4I8B.png

Foldable, of course.

I was just thinking about suggesting some kind of contest with this. How much solar power can you get?

I was messing around and I managed to get a power station with 8 balkas at <200k km. Their power doesn't seem to be working at the max, but will be fixable whenever the balka's are patched. It is foldable of as well; the two main arms fold out and the ship just points into the sun.

I wish inline batteries weren't so springy. I am going to try to double the number of balka's on the next one.

Edited May 21, 2014 by Atrius129

[Parokki]

Hey guys, could someone explain antimatter initiated reactors to me? I've got a pretty decent grasp of all the new tech so far and have constructed both a fission-powered beamed power relay network and fusion-powred space station for producing antimatter. I figured this new type was basically a lighter fusion reactor that requires some antimatter to function, but the craft that I built (http://i.imgur.com/28Ut0Bc.jpgcraft) to test them out isn't working. The bit just above the engine is a 1.25m antimatter storage unit with 13 units in it. It keeps complaining about not having enough power to continue the reaction, but shouldn't it produce way more than enough power to keep itself going after it's been started up once like other fusion reactors? Here I had just undocked from the antimatter station, but even while docked it refused to go above a couple of kilowatts.

Is there something big that I'm missing here? Should I have a small fission plant aboard even though they're not really required with other fusion plants?

Does the antimatter need to be directly next to the reactor or something?

Am I reading things correctly that they produce way more charged particles than thermal power? Finally a use for direct conversion generators?

[artforz]

Needs Helium-3 to run (note the 0.00/500).

Did the math a few pages back, they need *very* little antimatter. 0.008 AM is enough to burn through 500 units of D and He3

[Toggl3]

First off, let me apologize if this has been answered before, but with 950 pages, and the search function bringing me to about page 600, I don't have time to read ~350 pages of thread to find the answer.

Is there any way to make the data gained from an impact collectable? I've tried modifying the science.cfg to simply add the "dataIsCollectable = True" and other lines from other parts, but to no avail. Like a dumbass I didn't put an antenna on my ship and have 875 science just sitting there...

[phoenix_ca]

Yes actually, the antimatter may need to be next to the reactor to work. I haven't actually played with AIRs, but the antimatter resource flow IIRC isn't set to ALL_VESSEL. (You could just do an MM config on it and change that.) Edit: Yes, it's set to STACK_PRIORITY_SEARCH, which is the same used for liquid fuel. So...yes, it would seem it needs to be attached, and more to the point, has to be in the stack. STAGE_PRIORITY_FLOW might make more sense (so it behaves like monopropellant), though ALL_VESSEL would be easiest.

Fusion reactors have a few weird glitches in behaviour that can cause them to shut-down. Someone else might be able to go into more detail (I think WaveFunction and Fractal have a good grasp of what's going on). If you're having problems, you can always just ADD MOAR BATTERIES.

And yes. More charged particles, actually useful for direct conversion. Stick another generator on it to suck-up the remaining thermal if you want, but note that that'll cause a display error and it'll look like you should be getting twice the amount of power the reactor can provide. It's not actually providing that much, but it does render the MJ GUI somewhat useless.

Edited May 21, 2014 by phoenix_ca

[MarkyJ279]

Hey guys, could someone explain antimatter initiated reactors to me? I've got a pretty decent grasp of all the new tech so far and have constructed both a fission-powered beamed power relay network and fusion-powred space station for producing antimatter. I figured this new type was basically a lighter fusion reactor that requires some antimatter to function, but the craft that I built (http://i.imgur.com/28Ut0Bc.jpgcraft) to test them out isn't working. The bit just above the engine is a 1.25m antimatter storage unit with 13 units in it. It keeps complaining about not having enough power to continue the reaction, but shouldn't it produce way more than enough power to keep itself going after it's been started up once like other fusion reactors? Here I had just undocked from the antimatter station, but even while docked it refused to go above a couple of kilowatts.

Is there something big that I'm missing here? Should I have a small fission plant aboard even though they're not really required with other fusion plants?

Does the antimatter need to be directly next to the reactor or something?

Am I reading things correctly that they produce way more charged particles than thermal power? Finally a use for direct conversion generators?

Short answer; what artforz said.

Long answer. There's a bit of debate about the use of that particular reactor going on right now. Mostly centered around the availability of He3 (and it being a pain in the proverbial to extract). Currently the only place to get He3 is from Jools atmosphere but it is difficult and for the ammount of energy expended, usually not worth it. Pheonix_ca posted a MM config file on page 937 which adds He3 to the Mun and Tristavius described a Jool He3 mining operation on page 925 so if you want to extract He3 I'd try one of those.

If you're already extracting He3 then if I remember correctly the reactor pulls antimatter from anywhere stack mounted and He3 from everywhere on the ship so you don't need to connect either of them directly to the reactor, although you should make sure you antimatter is in the same stack as the reactor at least. A small fission plant is still useful to power the antimatter storage units however and its an alternative to solar panels for power if you don't wan't the AIR to run constantly.

Edited May 21, 2014 by MarkyJ279
Ninja'd by Pheonix :)

[Darkeners]

Hi, my first post here

I try google ansfer, but I can't find anything.

I play KSP whitout any mods, I have unlocked almost all basic KSP technologies (only 3x technologies for 550 are not unlocked, and that one for Asteroid grabing.)

I instal KSP interstellar mod, I activated, restarted, I even bought technology Experimental Electric for 1000 TP, but right now I cant use most of my regular items, or new ones.

They are on list, but they are like pernamently clicked, grey. I can build Rocomax Tanks, but I can't use any engines, even those basic engines. I can use only ultra large engine from NASA pack, those which cant be used whit decuplers.

[Rabada]

I was just thinking about suggesting some kind of contest with this. How much solar power can you get?

I was messing around and I managed to get a power station with 8 balkas at <200k km. Their power doesn't seem to be working at the max, but will be fixable whenever the balka's are patched. It is foldable of as well; the two main arms fold out and the ship just points into the sun.

~snip~

I just did almost the same thing, but not quite as large. I have a 6 Balka solar panel equipped microwave relay that in very low Kerbol Orbit. I didn't know about the bug with the double balka panels. They are not generating waste heat, and my transitter is only putting out like 20 some MW of power.

Is there any quick fix I can do to get the double Balka panels to work like they should? If not I think I'm gonna just cheat a new sat into the same orbit as my balka sat.

EDIT: I Figured out a work-around to get the double Balka panels to work!!! The double Balka panels have 2 modules to deploy the panels. What I think is happening (and I could very easily be wrong) is that the first module has this line" chargeRate = 0 " that makes the interstellar plugin think that the Balka doesn't produce any power. I changed the charge rate in the first module to 400 and set the charge rate in the second module to 0. I don't know why it worked, but it did. Here's the code for the 2 modules.

MODULE
{
	name = ModuleDeployableSolarPanel

	animationName = rotary
	raycastTransformName = sunCatcherRight
	pivotName = Main_Rotary_Pivot
	resourceName = ElectricCharge

	chargeRate = 400

trackingSpeed = 0.1

	powerCurve
 	{
		key = 206000000000 0 0 0
		key = 13599840256 1 0 0
		key = 68773560320 0.5 0 0
		key = 0 10 0 0
 	}
}

MODULE
{
	name = ModuleDeployableSolarPanel

	animationName = open_panel
	raycastTransformName = sunCatcherLeft
	pivotName = ArmLeft01_main
	resourceName = ElectricCharge

	chargeRate = 0
	trackingSpeed = 0.1

	powerCurve
 	{
		key = 206000000000 0 0 0
		key = 13599840256 1 0 0
		key = 68773560320 0.5 0 0
		key = 0 10 0 0
 	}
}

Edited May 21, 2014 by Rabada

[phoenix_ca]

Hi, my first post here

I try google ansfer, but I can't find anything.

I play KSP whitout any mods, I have unlocked almost all basic KSP technologies (only 3x technologies for 550 are not unlocked, and that one for Asteroid grabing.)

I instal KSP interstellar mod, I activated, restarted, I even bought technology Experimental Electric for 1000 TP, but right now I cant use most of my regular items, or new ones.

They are on list, but they are like pernamently clicked, grey. I can build Rocomax Tanks, but I can't use any engines, even those basic engines. I can use only ultra large engine from NASA pack, those which cant be used whit decuplers.

You need to "buy" those items from the science centre again. Download this and then it should only be a one-click solution.

[BigD145]

I just did almost the same thing, but not quite as large. I have a 6 Balka solar panel equipped microwave relay that in very low Kerbol Orbit. I didn't know about the bug with the double balka panels. They are not generating waste heat, and my transitter is only putting out like 20 some MW of power.

Is there any quick fix I can do to get the double Balka panels to work like they should? If not I think I'm gonna just cheat a new sat into the same orbit as my balka sat.

Yes there is a way and it's in the forum. Short answer: open the cfg and swap the two modules that track the sun. It probably won't fix your existing satellites.

[Rabada]

Yes there is a way and it's in the forum. Short answer: open the cfg and swap the two modules that track the sun. It probably won't fix your existing satellites.

I edited my origional post with a work-around that I figured out. It was able to fix my sat!