[1.12.*] Deadly Reentry v7.9.0 The Barbie Edition, Aug 5th, 2021

[Overfloater]

Hi, i got a quick question - how do I configure Deadly Re entry for RSS + FAR?

The main page got me confused, it says not to change anything, use shields from R.O.

But in the FAQ there's a link to a config file. Is that for realistic heating or "easy" mode?

I wanna configure mine for realistic heating without installing any additional mods.

[Starman4308]

I wanna configure mine for realistic heating without installing any additional mods.

That config file changes the DRE-included heatshields to be much sturdier and capable of surviving RSS-level reentries. You almost certainly need either those heatshields, or tweak your DRE config for much less heat generation.

Last time I used it, it seemed to have replaced the heatshield decouplers with a a couple which looked like they were supposed to be size-tweakable, but were not size-tweakable (maybe it assumed TweakScale would be there, which I don't have installed).

[NathanKell]

Yes, now that that file has other stuff in it, DRE will need its own "non-RO heatshields for RSS" file...

[Starwaster]

Yes, now that that file has other stuff in it, DRE will need its own "non-RO heatshields for RSS" file...

I've been working on such a file, but it's going to be a (configurable) non-issue as of the next update. If a particular property (can be set separately per difficulty) is set then shields can't (shouldn't) reach their max temp. (watch me be proven wrong)

This is definitely one of those things that RO may want to do a MM patch for.

So the only real thing I'll need to address in an RSS patch is how much more shield is ablated (if any). I'm about to run a bunch of practice runs WITHOUT the RSS / RO patch to see how it holds up and whether or not I should change how much ablates.

Also, there's going to be a minor extra surprise in the next update. I wonder if anyone will notice it. (no fair peeking at the code Nathan! See if you can find it in the game )

[Milkshakefiend]

Im hoping the extra surprise is steak sauce to disguise the taste of extra well-done Kerbals. Mine are coming back slightly blackened and occasionally not at all due to vaporisation.

A quick Q regarding this if I may: I'm using the 64k RSS config - I'm having no problems at all with capsule lifting reentries, but my spaceplanes are getting extremely toasty despite very gentle shallow reentry - less than 1 degree. Most of them result in the aforementioned vaporised Kerbals, but I've managed to get one shuttle down from orbit by riding right at the temperature threshold although it took almost an entire orbit of ascend/descend to bleed off 6km/s. Am I just being a wuss and should suck it up or am I an idiot and should be altering DRE or part shielding configs to take the 6km/s orbital velocity into account?

Love this mod, despite the rising costs of developing a functional shuttle. (4 mil funds and counting)

[Starwaster]

Im hoping the extra surprise is steak sauce to disguise the taste of extra well-done Kerbals. Mine are coming back slightly blackened and occasionally not at all due to vaporisation.

A quick Q regarding this if I may: I'm using the 64k RSS config - I'm having no problems at all with capsule lifting reentries, but my spaceplanes are getting extremely toasty despite very gentle shallow reentry - less than 1 degree. Most of them result in the aforementioned vaporised Kerbals, but I've managed to get one shuttle down from orbit by riding right at the temperature threshold although it took almost an entire orbit of ascend/descend to bleed off 6km/s. Am I just being a wuss and should suck it up or am I an idiot and should be altering DRE or part shielding configs to take the 6km/s orbital velocity into account?

Love this mod, despite the rising costs of developing a functional shuttle. (4 mil funds and counting)

Depends on the spaceplane... if it's particularly massive then its ballistic coefficient is going to be a lot higher. Or was it lower? I always forget... anyway, point is that if it's got a lot of mass then its inertia might be overcoming its drag. I have landed space planes using nothing more than the standard 25% reflection that their heat shields had; no ablative. Landed the smaller KSO the same way. Then the KSO25 came out and suddenly I was extremely challenged to come up with a non-ablative config that could protect it. Which, bottom line, is the heart of the problem. Spaceplane parts are protected with a scheme that mimics the Space Shuttle's tile system which was non ablative and it works fine for small planes.

So the answer is I don't have an easy answer right now. Let me know what parts and some craft files to test with because I haven't made many space planes lately.

(and, no, it's not steak sauce . Let's just say it does not substantially contribute to game play so much as it contributes to immersion....)

[NathanKell]

Hmm, did you finally add the blackout/redout filters that should have been in at the start of kerbal G damage?

Reflectivity should be bumped up for 64K, I think, and moreso for RSS.

[Milkshakefiend]

So the answer is I don't have an easy answer right now. Let me know what parts and some craft files to test with because I haven't made many space planes lately.

(and, no, it's not steak sauce . Let's just say it does not substantially contribute to game play so much as it contributes to immersion....)

My first 4 - 5 oopsies were definitely due to ballistic coefficient being just plain wrong - I kept forgetting to vent the unused OMS fuel after de-orbit and was bringing in some 17 tons of fuel.

This is a brief view of my shuttle

After venting the OMS fuel, it comes in at around 17 tons dry(ish) weight, but still requires a significant portion of an orbit to slow down without melting. My re-entires use the large control surface to keep the craft at about 30-40 AoA until some serious aero forces kick in - the procedural wings and control surfaces are tweaked in FAR to have a mass/strength of under 0.5 for all surfaces so they can't take huge amounts of abuse. I thought the large wing surface and relatively lightweight wings would basically make a 'sail' in the upper atmosphere and distribute the main drag forces away from the fuselage pieces, but the main body tends to erode from the nose onwards, with wings only being destroyed after the craft has become unstable from fuselage damage.

If you'd like the craft file I can upload it, but as I'm using a myriad of mods I thought that might be more trouble than it's worth for you, especially if its a PEBKAC error!

EDIT: I should probably point out that I manually added Touhou's SP+ nose to the SPP.cfg to give it the same shielding as fuselage pieces, etc. and that I bumped the reflectivity up to 0.3

Edited November 8, 2014 by Milkshakefiend
Addition

[Starwaster]

Wait, where did you get that cockpit-less nose???

Also, on the subject of the PEBCAK:

PEBCAK (Geeks)

• Common Name: PEBCAK
  
• Scientific Name: Cranium voidii
  
• Geographical Range: Any technologically advanced country
  
• Age: NA
  
• Description: Closely resembles a human. Most field-trained computer technicians can spot them at thirty yards.
  
• Habits: A common misconception on the Internet is that PEBCAK is an acronym for Problem Exists Between Chair And Keyboard. However the PEBCAK is an actual creature and quite common in the United States, Canada and Europe.
  
• PEBCAKs are fascinated by any technology that humans use. Unfortunately, PEBCAKs have not evolved to the point where they can actually make use of it. The five-digited "hands" of the PEBCAK are actually sensory antenna that it uses to taste its environment. This is one of nature's miracles of mimicry.
  
• The PEBCAK is not a primate despite its appearance. Rather, it is an arthropod related to the Whip Scorpion which shares a similar temperament when it doesn't get its way.
  

[Zeenobit]

I have the latest version of this mod, and I'm noticing a similar VFX/Sound flicker and stutter issue with reentry as this user:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/54954-0-25-Deadly-Reentry-v6-2-1-Oct-12-2014?p=1078720&viewfull=1#post1078720

I searched around and seems like I'm not alone. But I couldn't find any resolution to the issue.

Anyone know the fix for this?

Thanks for the awesome mod!

[Starwaster]

I have the latest version of this mod, and I'm noticing a similar VFX/Sound flicker and stutter issue with reentry as this user:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/54954-0-25-Deadly-Reentry-v6-2-1-Oct-12-2014?p=1078720&viewfull=1#post1078720

I searched around and seems like I'm not alone. But I couldn't find any resolution to the issue.

Anyone know the fix for this?

Thanks for the awesome mod!

No, I don't think anybody ever figured out what his problem was and you're only the second person I've ever seen report something like that.

[Milkshakefiend]

Wait, where did you get that cockpit-less nose???

That's Touhou's mk2 SP+ nose, available HERE. I like it as I believe an aircraft's awesome factor is directly proportional to it's nose-pointyness.

[rdamiani]

So I had a rover going down a hill and my Kerbals catch fire then explode. Is there a way to tweak it so rovers on the ground don't suffer this weird issue? I was on the hill west of the KSC using the packrat rover mod. When they caught fire I stopped. Got scarey then. Combustible Kerbals... Who knew right.

[Starwaster]

So I had a rover going down a hill and my Kerbals catch fire then explode. Is there a way to tweak it so rovers on the ground don't suffer this weird issue? I was on the hill west of the KSC using the packrat rover mod. When they caught fire I stopped. Got scarey then. Combustible Kerbals... Who knew right.

Well they're probably 70% LiquidFuel instead of water and they build everything out of corbomite so it makes sense.

But seriously, how fast were you going? And have you made any configuration changes? (If you have a custom.cfg file in your DeadlyReentry folder, please post the contents of it)

Edit: I'm also thinking that I should try to find out what the maxTemp of a Kerbal is but you'd still have to be going very fast to raise their temperature above ambient...

Edited November 9, 2014 by Starwaster

[drtedastro]

I tried to find out the MaxTemp of a Kerbal.... Problem was that they smell like really good grilled corn and they get eaten before they can get to the final BooM.....

[NathanKell]

EVA kerbals have a max temp of 900C according to source, unless you changed it.

[Starwaster]

EVA kerbals have a max temp of 900C according to source, unless you changed it.

Nope, haven't touched it. Probably SHOULD if it's that high... or are their suits supposed to be made of asbestos or something?

How recent is your information though? Maybe it changed in 0.25

I think I'll take Felix Kerman up to high altitude and drop him and see what happens....

[rdamiani]

Well they're probably 70% LiquidFuel instead of water and they build everything out of corbomite so it makes sense.

But seriously, how fast were you going? And have you made any configuration changes? (If you have a custom.cfg file in your DeadlyReentry folder, please post the contents of it)

Edit: I'm also thinking that I should try to find out what the maxTemp of a Kerbal is but you'd still have to be going very fast to raise their temperature above ambient...

Nope changes made at all. Speed about 20 m/s then 0 m/s when I started braking out of sudden personal combustion fear.

[Noio]

No, I don't think anybody ever figured out what his problem was and you're only the second person I've ever seen report something like that.

I'll be the third, I too have an NVIDIA card and see the exact same stuttering in both sound and video.

[Whovian]

I just wanted to ask: with FAR, is dipping into the thin bits of Jool atmosphere without a heat shield a reasonably safe method of aerocapture, or is some form of shielding necessary?

Edited November 10, 2014 by Whovian
Grammar

[NathanKell]

Starwaster: here.

[Starwaster]

I just wanted to ask: with FAR, is dipping into the thin bits of Jool atmosphere without a heat shield a reasonably safe method of aerocapture, or is some form of shielding necessary?

You should use a heat shield. I suggest the inflatable for maximum braking.

Starwaster: here.

oh oops I misunderstood.

[JT2227]

Problem:

The landing gear, Infernal Robotics parts, and Engineering panel that I place inside the craft (between the parts like so) burn up on reentry.

http://i.imgur.com/soo2PYp.jpg

The parts that should protect them survive reentry, but the parts inside burn up. Also, the landing gear should have deadly reentry heating, yet they always blow up.

Soultion?:

[MartGonzo]

I just wanted to ask: with FAR, is dipping into the thin bits of Jool atmosphere without a heat shield a reasonably safe method of aerocapture, or is some form of shielding necessary?

You can get away with some aerobraking in Jool's atmosphere without a heat shield, don't go below 130 km

Problem:

The landing gear, Infernal Robotics parts, and Engineering panel that I place inside the craft (between the parts like so) burn up on reentry.

http://i.imgur.com/soo2PYp.jpg

The parts that should protect them survive reentry, but the parts inside burn up. Also, the landing gear should have deadly reentry heating, yet they always blow up.

Soultion?:

Yes, I had problems with clipping parts exploding too, still working on finding a proper solution but I did find that attaching clipping parts to a cubic octagonal strut rather that directly to the airframe can help.

Edited November 11, 2014 by MartGonzo

[Starwaster]

Problem:

The landing gear, Infernal Robotics parts, and Engineering panel that I place inside the craft (between the parts like so) burn up on reentry.

http://i.imgur.com/soo2PYp.jpg

The parts that should protect them survive reentry, but the parts inside burn up. Also, the landing gear should have deadly reentry heating, yet they always blow up.

Soultion?:

I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that you mean that the landing gear shouldn't blow up because they have heat shields and not because they have 'deadly reentry heating'. (seriously, that part made no sense because it's the reentry heating that MAKES things blow up )

That said, several things come to mind looking at your picture.

That docking adapter that you're trying to stick things in seems to me to have a convex collider. It's going to be difficult to get it to shield anything. The only thing that might (EDIT: And that's a big might. No guarantee) work is if you put it directly under the doors and if the doors can be detected by a raycast.. If you're doing it the other way around (and it looks like you are) then the raycast is originating inside the docking adapter's collider so there's no way that it will hit the adapter's collider.

The landing gear has heat shielding. I have no idea how you're getting it to explode unless it's having heat transmitted to it through those robotic's parts.

Edited November 11, 2014 by Starwaster