Rocket Size and Scale

[PeterMueller]

Hi all!

Usually for my rockets I take real world rockets as a reference, measure the real ones, convert the size to 1/2 and rebuild them as closely as possible in Kerbal. Looks nice and realistic, I like it.

This 1/2 scale worked really nice for Delta and Falcon sized rockets. Unfortunately this scale doesn't work out with huge Saturn sized rockets. There are no parts big enough to match the Saturn main tank. Stitching Rockomax tanks together looks a bit hackish. Using a 1/4 scale works for big rockets but produces really small toy rockets (?).

So I wondered – has anybody scratched his head about this? What do you think is the scale the developers were thinking of in Kerbal?

Rebuilding real world rockets in 1/2 Scale

+ Rockomax parts match the Falcon or Delta rocket bodys (~5m). Also Space Shuttle Boosters would be this size.

+ Small parts match Delta boosters (~2,5m) for example but are rather useless except from this.

+ The Kerbelnaut count matches with real world astronaut count on most missions.

– No parts are big enough in diameter for Saturn or Space Shuttle Main Tank sized rockets (~10m).

Rebuilding real world rockets in 1/4 Scale

+ Rockomax parts match the Space Shuttle Main Tank and Saturn main rocket (~10m).

+ Small parts match Delta and Falcon style rockets (~5m).

+ The solid rocket boosters of Kerbal would match the real world counterparts (~5m).

– This scale produces really small rockets. Most mission will be 1-Kerbal missions.

Best, Peter

[vexx32]

I believe Kerbin is roughly 1/9th the size of Earth (by radius/diameter), but that means that if you had a rocket that was 1:1 scale with something like the Saturn V, you'd end up going pretty dang far. Sure, gravity's the same as Earth's, but getting into orbit is significantly easier, since you need much smaller orbital radius to attain orbit.

As to the scale the devs were thinking of... no idea, really. I figured they'd just done some testing and figured out that the sizes we're now using work pretty darn good all round.

[generalmiller]

If you want a 1/2 sized rocket that isn't tanks welded to the side of other tanks I would suggest Novapunch which has 5m parts.

[PeterMueller]

Yes, I was also thinking about NovaPunch. Reduces part count a lot and looks real high quality. You think 5 m parts will be added one day as stock? Heard of any plans?

* installing NovaPunch *

[problemecium]

It occurred to me yesterday that KSP is, like Minecraft, a great setting for getting a sense of scale for sci-fi spaceships. I imported a ship from Space Engine (well actually I made it in SE's editor) at full scale and Jebediah looked like Spock EVAing into V'Ger.

Edited January 28, 2014 by parameciumkid

[magnemoe]

I believe Kerbin is roughly 1/9th the size of Earth (by radius/diameter), but that means that if you had a rocket that was 1:1 scale with something like the Saturn V, you'd end up going pretty dang far. Sure, gravity's the same as Earth's, but getting into orbit is significantly easier, since you need much smaller orbital radius to attain orbit.

As to the scale the devs were thinking of... no idea, really. I figured they'd just done some testing and figured out that the sizes we're now using work pretty darn good all round.

On kerbin you need 4.5 Km/s to reach orbit, more than twice as much to reach orbit around Earth. Add that most kerbal systems are smaller than real life as kerbals is a meter high.