What do launch towers do or help with excatly?

[Vane]

I have some launch towers but i never actually used them because i rather have a parachute on the capsule than another rocket hehe.

So my question is what do they do exactly, More speed or what?

[Pursuedtank]

Are you talking about the launch escape system? If you are then it is to be more realistic in that you can get your kerbals away from the rocket in case of a massive failure. They are also used on real rockets.

[Vane]

Are you talking about the launch escape system? If you are then it is to be more realistic in that you can get your kerbals away from the rocket in case of a massive failure. They are also used on real rockets.

Oh the launch escape system yeah that! The part(s) in my part list called it a launch tower. May start using those.

And using radial parachutes, But will be kind of hard considering i installed DEADLY REENTRYYYYYY (Que Loud Commercial Voice Echo)

I can use this incase i run out of fuel on accident in space and no way to get them back, I can use my escape tower to get a orbit and get my kerbals reentering kerbin, Right?

[Amaroq]

Its actually intended as a launch escape vehicle, for when your launch goes awry and you're tumbling wildly / disintegrating about halfway up .. queue "abort", launch vehicle escapes and lands safely even whilst the rest of it goes kerbal all over the place.

[Vane]

Its actually intended as a launch escape vehicle, for when your launch goes awry and you're tumbling wildly / disintegrating about halfway up .. queue "abort", launch vehicle escapes and lands safely even whilst the rest of it goes kerbal all over the place.

Hahahahaha! Thanks!

[Taki117]

On a side note, Deadly Reentry, when done correctly, isn't all that deadly. Just be sure you include a heat shield and keep it pointed in the right direction.

Launch Towers (Not the LES) help with stability prior to launch, the Launch Escape System is designed to get your capsule out of the way of the explosion developing below it due to a rapid unplanned dis-assembly.

[Skorpychan]

Is there any point to the LES, if you have a decent TWR on the upper stage and just set up the Abort action group to skip straight to that stage?

Mostly because I'm switching to moving crew up either solely in landers, or in dedicated crew shuttles derived from my Mun lander design.

[Red Iron Crown]

I never bother with abort actions or LES, any manned launcher has been thoroughly tested before I do a "real" flight.

[ScottyDoesKnow]

Is there any point to the LES, if you have a decent TWR on the upper stage and just set up the Abort action group to skip straight to that stage?

Mostly because I'm switching to moving crew up either solely in landers, or in dedicated crew shuttles derived from my Mun lander design.

Mostly your lower stages will tend to have higher TWR than your upper stages, and if a tank + engine breaks off from the lower stage, you don't get much higher TWR than that. Try staging before a stage is out of fuel, that stage will almost always fly into/past your rocket.

[doik27]

They also provide some power I do believe

[Mitchz95]

On a side note, Deadly Reentry, when done correctly, isn't all that deadly. Just be sure you include a heat shield and keep it pointed in the right direction.

Only if you have a small ship. Try aerobraking with a large expedition vessel, even with that huge inflatable heatshield, and the slightest imbalance in your center of mass will send your ship and its crew tumbling to a fiery demise. RIP Jeb, Bill and Bob.

[Skorpychan]

Mostly your lower stages will tend to have higher TWR than your upper stages, and if a tank + engine breaks off from the lower stage, you don't get much higher TWR than that. Try staging before a stage is out of fuel, that stage will almost always fly into/past your rocket.

That's why 'abort' also shuts down all the lower stages and hits all of the decouplers.

Of course, you don't need to get higher than a departing booster, just AWAY from it, or far enough away from the explosion and debris to pop the drogue chutes.

Then watch everyone freak out as the upper stage flips upside-down and decelerates rapidly.

[ScottyDoesKnow]

That's why 'abort' also shuts down all the lower stages and hits all of the decouplers.

Of course, you don't need to get higher than a departing booster, just AWAY from it, or far enough away from the explosion and debris to pop the drogue chutes.

Then watch everyone freak out as the upper stage flips upside-down and decelerates rapidly.

Well I assume you're hitting abort because the rocket is breaking, and you can't shut off engines that have already detached.

Edit: although if just an engine is knocked off or something, I can see where you're coming from.

Edited April 3, 2014 by ScottyDoesKnow

[cantab]

Is there any point to the LES, if you have a decent TWR on the upper stage and just set up the Abort action group to skip straight to that stage?

In KSP, probably not in most cases. You can set the Abort group to instantly shut down the lower engines, fire up the upper one, and decouple, and know it will work every single time. In the real world there are part failures to think about.

[Jouni]

In the real world, we know that a launch escape system helps, if the rocket is burning on launchpad, and it takes 20 seconds to figure out how to activate the LES. Everything else is pretty much hypothetical.

Russians also have some experience in succesfully aborting the launch and escaping with payload engines.

[EliteShadowLeo]

They provide you with the chance to abort mission if the launch of a rocket goes upside down. They help bring the Kerbals back safely!

[GoatRider]

They help bring the Kerbals back safely!

In other words, they're useless.

[KerikBalm]

In KSP, probably not in most cases. You can set the Abort group to instantly shut down the lower engines, fire up the upper one, and decouple, and know it will work every single time. In the real world there are part failures to think about.

Except when you're using SRBs.

Especaly the new really big ones.

If something goes wrong while those are still running, you can be in for trouble.

That said, radially mounted sepratrons have always worked fine for me (and once got me back from minmus when I failed to bring enough fuel to acheive orbit - it not only got my pod to orbit but also back to kerbin)

[John FX]

This is the abort system I built with the new escape tower. Notice the ejection of the protective cover as the chutes are deployed.

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