General questions

[Kitspace]

Hello

I have started playing recently and I have a few questions.

Is there any way to place a parachute, a dock and an escape system, that will go away during launch all at the forward end of the capsule, on top of each other, like it is often done in the real manned spacecrafts?

Is there a way to get rid of gyroscopic reaction wheels as a maneuvering system, while recreating historic spacecrafts, as they are quite unrealistic?

How to make the end points of external cables and fuel lines snap to alignment grid, like all other parts?

Or can I place components asymmetrically, but on the exactly same distance from the top of the main part?

How to prevent some components from operating as a part of staging sequence, so they could only be controlled independently with their own keys? Or may be place them in the very last stage in the sequence and lock it from inadvertent triggering somehow?

How to find the best place for a burn in orbit?

[Xaelath]

Hi! Welcome to the forums!

I'll try to answer your questions one by one.

1: You can try placing radial parachutes around the LES, then placing a small truss so you can place a docking port on top of it?

2: You can try not adding reaction wheels/SAS onto your craft, and you can disable them too. Just right click the capsule and click on the button that says something about the reaction wheels.

3: I don't think that's possible, you could try placing the endpoints where you think it will look straight.

4: You can use the symmetrical button, the checkered circle next to the align to grid button. (Press X)

5: You can set action groups to them by clicking the button next to the crew button. Action(1,2, until 0) means number 1-0 on your keyboard.

6: Which burn? Also, to increase your orbit or to decrease it, you can burn prograde and retrograde respectively. I recommend burning at your apoapsis/periapsis for such maneuvers.

If you think my post helped, feel free to click the star shaped button next to the blog this post button. Happy launching!

[Kitspace]

Thank you for your reply

1

I know that does not matter in the game, but how would the crew transfer through a docking port that is placed on a truss?

What about placing a docking port on top of the crew module, and placing an escape tower on top of it through a decoupler, so the tower, if not used to abort before, will decouple and fire its engines to go away some time after the second stage ignition, for example, revealing the port, like it is done in reality?

And placing a radial parachute as close to the top as possible really seems the best thing to do, unless you cheat and place parts inside each other, as in the game they are often too big to fit side by side on the tiny cap of the capsule.

What I am trying to simulate is the historical Apollo crew module sequence, where the escape tower goes away with the fairing, revealing the docking probe, then it goes away too with the part of the transfer tunnel before the hatch on top of the pressurized cockpit, and there is a small place for parachute containers on the outer side of the tunnel.

2

I know about the disabling feature, but in the current version all the capsules have built-in ones, and I find having one on board unrealistic, they have weight and consume electricity after all, and for now, I am trying to stick to historic, or at least absolutely realistic designs

4

I know about that, I am trying to find a way to snap to a sort of vertical grid, without having to use the same part on both sides or place them not exactly opposite each other, so I have to place each one manually, and it does not look good, if one part is slightly above or below the next part, when they are supposed to be level.

5

I mean that already in my post.

The question is how to prevent the part from reacting to the space key pressed at all, and make the custom key the only way to control it.

For example, plane engine pylons have decouplers in them, and I do not want my engines to suddenly fall apart after I press the space key two times instead of one inadvertently, but to be jetissonable if absolutely necessary in an extreme emergency.

6

I mean how do I know what is actually the best place to initate some complex maneuver? Is there any technique for that?

For example, is it possible to plan, calculate and execute a maneuver, that would place me on a higher orbit, while keeping it circular in a single burn?

As far as I know they it is rarely done, even with precise and complex real world calculations, as it is considered inefficient, isn't it

[Xaelath]

6. It's only possible if you burn from apoapsis to raise the other end, then going to the periapsis to circularize your orbit.

[Red Iron Crown]

2. IIRC, you can disable the pod torque as well. Though that may be a result of me using the TweakableEverything mod.

4. The EditorExtensions mod has a "vertical snap" feature that aligns vertically at the center of mass of the parent part. Very handy.

5. An item that appears in the staging list cannot be removed, the best you can do is put all the things you don't want stages in Stage 0. FYI, there is a structural pylon that is not a decoupler.

6. When completing a burn, the point at which you are burning always remains a part of the orbit, so the type of maneuver you are describing is very, very difficult to execute. The classic two-burn Hohmann transfer is usually more efficient, sometimes a three-burn biecliptic transfer is more efficient still.

[Amaroq]

For #2, it sounds like what you're really looking for is a mod - and you'd need to make it yourself.

The good news is, it should be a simple Module Manager config file - to delete the reaction wheels for any part that also has the command module.

Incidentally, to get that to fly well during launch, you may find that you need the FAR mod to get aerodynamic forces to act as stabilization for your craft.

If either of those interest you, come on over to the mod forums.

[Claw]

Hello

I have started playing recently and I have a few questions.

Hi! And welcome to the forums.

Is there any way to place a parachute, a dock and an escape system, that will go away during launch all at the forward end of the capsule, on top of each other, like it is often done in the real manned spacecrafts?

Yes, but you have to build it. That's also the nice thing though, is that you get to build it!

You can flip over a decoupler (using WASD keys) and attach it to the top. Then build what you need from there.

Is there a way to get rid of gyroscopic reaction wheels as a maneuvering system, while recreating historic spacecrafts, as they are quite unrealistic?

As has been said, you can disable but not remove it. There are mods out there that include pods without torque modules. Some historical capsules used torque, but the units in KSP are quite strong.

How to make the end points of external cables and fuel lines snap to alignment grid, like all other parts?

They simply don't in stock. It mostly has to do with how they attach.

Or can I place components asymmetrically, but on the exactly same distance from the top of the main part?

You also cannot do this automatically in stock. You have to eyeball the height when placing asymmetric parts.

How to prevent some components from operating as a part of staging sequence, so they could only be controlled independently with their own keys? Or may be place them in the very last stage in the sequence and lock it from inadvertent triggering somehow?

You can't exclude them from the staging list, but you can move them. Click once on the icon of the part in the staging list and it should turn green. When it is green, click and hold, then drag to the stage you want that part to activate in. You can add new stages by clicking on the little plus sign that pops up. You can also move an entire stage up or down by clicking and dragging the top part of the stage tab.

How to find the best place for a burn in orbit?

This question really depends on what you are trying to doo. There are too many scenarios for me to label one spot as "the best." Generally if you are simply moving your orbit higher/lower, then do those changes at the AP/PE tags.

[Kitspace]

Thank you everybody!

What mod forums do you mean?

Can you post a couple of links to good ones, please?

What historic capsules used reaction wheels?

That seems to be really interesting. What did they do with the gyroscope drift, and how did they actually produce enough torque for the whole capsule?

[benschwab]

With Respect To the escape system: I don't use the stock escape tower but I put my own escape system on my maned craft. Several players do the same. Mine aren't towers so I do not have first hand experience of designing a custom tower but other players have done so. You might also search for a mod part that is combination docking port and parachute. See http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/sdhi-service-module-system/ and http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/57988-0-23-x-RealChute-Parachute-Systems-Bugfixed-v1-0-5-18-04-14

With Respect To staging: as others have pointed out, you can set the part to stage in stage zero. This will allow you to stage everything else is sequence and not stage the past you want kp Claw has detailed instructions in the reply above mine. To set command groups you need to look for the command group icon at the top of the screen in the Vertical Assembly Building: VAB. There are three buttons which switch the display at the left of the screen in between parts, command groups, and Kerbalnauts active for the current mission. To set or change what a relevant keyboard button does you need to click on that button in the command group section, then click on the part you want it to do something with on your craft, then in the menu in the command group section under the part in question switch over the action you want that button to do. Most of the buttons towards the top already have actions associated with them but actions can be added to these. The backspace button is reserved for an abort sequence which is something that you have to set yourself. The buttons 1 through 0 correspond to the keyboard buttons 1 through zero above the letters on a QWERTY keyboard. I make frequent use of these to do things like deploy or stow all solar panels at once. You could set the decouplers you want only to be used in an emergency to stage zero and use the command group to activate the decouplers when the abort button (backspace by default) is pressed. Command grouping are saved when the craft is saved. I hope you understand this explanation.

With Respect To raising one's altitude and keeping one's orbit circular: this is not physically possible. Performing a burn does not change where one is but where one is going. When a maneuver is performed the resulting orbit must pass through the location that the maneuver was preformed at. Changing from a circular orbit at one altitude to a circular orbit at a different altitude necessarily involves more then one maneuver. The Hohmann transfer and bi-elliptical transfer are the most efficient ways to do this (depending on the particular situation). Instructions on how to do these are here: http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Tutorial:_Advanced_Orbiting and you can ask for more instructions. I suppose one could burn continuously throughout an entire orbit to change from one circular orbit to another at a different altitude but this would be both inefficient and would require precise throttle and orientation control. This would not be the most efficient maneuver to achieve the desired end, there is no utility that can do this for you (I believe), and the orbit will not be circular during the transfer.

I hope you enjoy the game.

[Red Iron Crown]

With Respect To raising one's altitude and keeping one's orbit circular: this is not physically possible.

It is, but it is very difficult. Start burning an infinitesimal time before apoapsis, keeping your thrust so low that you keep it just barely ahead of you. The orbit will very slowly inflate like a balloon.

[KerikBalm]

Is there any way to place a parachute, a dock and an escape system, that will go away during launch all at the forward end of the capsule, on top of each other, like it is often done in the real manned spacecrafts?

...

What about placing a docking port on top of the crew module, and placing an escape tower on top of it through a decoupler, so the tower, if not used to abort before, will decouple and fire its engines to go away some time after the second stage ignition, for example, revealing the port,

Yes, this will work, and you don't need the decoupler. On your pod, place a docking port, on top of the port, add the LES. On the sides of your pod, place radial parachutes.

If you right click on the docking port during flight, you should see a "decouple node" or "Undock" option. In fact, anything stackable, you can stack on top of a docking port, but once you undock, there is no redocking (unless it is another docking port). I recommend an action group for this, to decouple and fire the LES at the same time (to get rid of the LES, not to abort), otherwise, use a stack separator/decoupler(rotate it 180, so the decoupler remanant remains on the LES and not your capsule) and use staging.

Also, before the LES was added, some of us made our own LESs using trusses/Ibeams and sepratrons, feel free to make something like that as well (though it won't look as nice)

Is there a way to get rid of gyroscopic reaction wheels as a maneuvering system, while recreating historic spacecrafts, as they are quite unrealistic?

Toggle torque on the command pod, don't add any reaction wheels.

Their realism is... meh, they should have a buffer, than once reached, needs something using reaction mass to reset, they also seem to generate too much torque for their size.

The infinite torque in the same direction is pretty bad, eventually they'd break like an overspeeded centrifuge.

In principle, you can turn spacecraft with reaction wheels, but these kerbal reaction wheels are perhaps orders of magnitue too effective - something you'll again encounter with solarpanels/RTGs +Ion engines.

How to make the end points of external cables and fuel lines snap to alignment grid, like all other parts?

Dunno, text file editing?

Or can I place components asymmetrically, but on the exactly same distance from the top of the main part?

I wish there was a way to asymetrically remove parts that were place with symmetry. I don't know an answer to this... other than text file editing.

How to prevent some components from operating as a part of staging sequence, so they could only be controlled independently with their own keys? Or may be place them in the very last stage in the sequence and lock it from inadvertent triggering somehow?

How to find the best place for a burn in orbit?

Place them in the very last stage (you can even add empty stages as a buffer) and action group them

[Kitspace]

Thank you

I will certainly try the dock and parachute part. The need to have the small capsule hanging at a fourty degree angle on a small parachute in a huge heavy radial container, that does not fit...

About the towers, I have made one as described, for the Mercury capsule, as the stock Apollo tower is way to big and thrusty for it, but it seems to be a bit buggy and destroy itself somehow sometimes when it is fired to go away...

And besides, what parts do you use as a base fairing for the truss to sit on top of the capsule, and as a top for the whole thing.

How can I build an escape system not in a form of a tower and make it removable, if not used until a certain moment or after usage?

Do stages, that have decoupled already, work on their own, when I reach them in sequence? For example, I have jettisoned an engine without using it, and it is floating around. The next time the space key is hit should fire it. Will it work?

Edited April 29, 2014 by Kitspace

[KerikBalm]

"I have jettisoned an engine without using it, and it is floating around. The next time the space key is hit should fire it. Will it work? "

No, the only way to activate something on a spent stage is if the engine firing is simultaneous with the decoupling.

[Kitspace]

Thank you!

Sorry, what text files do you mean?

If I use some separatrons fitted on the side of the capsule for aborting, is there a way to prevent them from working at all if they are not used during launch? The default radial decouplers are just way too big for such small parts, so for now they have to stay there for the whole flight on my spacecrafts. Is there any other solution?

[Red Iron Crown]

Sorry, what text files do you mean?

You can manually edit the .craft file where a ship's configuration is stored with a text editor to make things perfect, but in my experience this is more tedious than just being as careful as possible when building in the VAB or SPH. The files are not easy to understand, especially if you're not a programmer.

[benschwab]

How can I build an escape system not in a form of a tower and make it removable, if not used until a certain moment or after usage?

The escape system I use involves the use of Sepratron I solid fuel engines (http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Sepratron_I the example in the picture isn't mine but I do something slightly different) on the same stage that I have my capsule. I don't bother getting rid of them if I don't use them as they are light. Instead I use them to help slow down during landing (also to get rid of the fuel so they don't explode if I land sideways on land or on a mountain). You could put radial decouplers on your command pod stage, add your escape system, and toggle the decouplers by action group or on a specific stage.

[Kitspace]

The example on the picture is actually the very same thing I do on most of my manned pods launched so far.

The problem is that if they remain unused they could fire or even explode accidentally at some point, so you always have to think of a way to empty them for safety reasons.

What do you do differently here?

Thank you.

[benschwab]

It's basically the same thing except I keep a battery, RCS system, and torque system attached to my command pod. I put the Sepratron I's lower on these systems. I fire them during re-entry to avoid explosion on touchdown. One could use them once one enters space to empty them as well. Unless exact timing is necessary this would, if anything, save you liquid fuel. If need be one can put radial decouplers on the sides of my system to jettison them but I find using them up to be the best solution.

Also, in an unintended experiment, I've discovered that the Sepratron's can explode without damaging the Kerbal in the command pod.

[Kitspace]

Hello again

I have another one problem

I have installed some mods into my game and now it does not start at all.

It starts loading the normal way, but then gets stuck at some point like loading a texture or something of that sort.

What might be going wrong?

How to make the game start?

Thank you!

[Claw]

Hello again

I have another one problem

I have installed some mods into my game and now it does not start at all.

It starts loading the normal way, but then gets stuck at some point like loading a texture or something of that sort.

What might be going wrong?

How to make the game start?

Thank you!

Depending on how many mods you have installed, you might be running out of memory. That will cause it to quit loading or to crash out entirely.

[Red Iron Crown]

In addition to what Claw said, the first time you start KSP after adding a mod can sometimes take a very long time, it seems like it's hanging but it isn't. Subsequent starts will be faster (though not as fast as a stock install).

[Kasuha]

Hello again

I have another one problem

I have installed some mods into my game and now it does not start at all.

It starts loading the normal way, but then gets stuck at some point like loading a texture or something of that sort.

What might be going wrong?

How to make the game start?

Thank you!

Another option is that some of mods you installed is not compatible with your KSP release.

Probably best approach is to install them all and try to start KSP after each of them. If it loads, add another mod. If it doesn't load, uninstall the last mod and put it aside.

[Claw]

In addition to what Claw said, the first time you start KSP after adding a mod can sometimes take a very long time, it seems like it's hanging but it isn't. Subsequent starts will be faster (though not as fast as a stock install).

Ahh, yes. This is a very good point, especially if you just loaded a texture compressor (and it's hanging on a texture, like you said). I believe one of the texture mods takes something like up to 20 minutes the first time you run it.

If you need mod compatibility help: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/74457-ARM-Pack-0-23-5-Mod-Compatibility-Thread

[Kitspace]

If I strongly suspect running out of memory, is there any solution to make things work?

If I leave three to five mods or less in the game and get rid of the rest, it works just fine.

[Red Iron Crown]

Active Texture Management can reduce memory requirements.