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Recoverable stages, parachutes


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If it works anything like my unfortunate findings with Retro Thrusters, as of 0.14 this has become (temporarily) impossible. There used to be a function in the part.cfg file - activatesEvenIfDisconnected = true/false - that allowed parts to activate even if in a stage during or after their decoupling. In 0.14 I found that due to the way persistence works it\'s not possible to do this; the string no longer does anything.

The only thing I can suggest is that you put the parachute in a stage just before decoupling and activate it very rapidly. Might result in spiralling catherine wheels of doom where your ascent stage used to be, however.

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What a bummer! And yes, same problem with retro thrusters! :\'( I have noticed that if you activate the parachutes at a high altitude, like >10-20km, they will fall to a lower altitude before opening. It\'s just that having them in a separate stage before decoupling takes away precious seconds before I can drop that extra weight. I\'m sure this will be fixed eventually, though, because I imagine it would be a really big part of the full game, as far as money management goes. That\'s actually why I\'m making some designs like that.

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I\'ve been doing some testing on 0.14.1 and chutes attached to boosters seem to be perfectly capable of saving the boosters when set in the same stage as the decoupler, and I\'ve done no edits. However, boosters are usually used up while still travelling vertically, and if their surface speed happens to drop very close to 0 as they stop ascending and begin descending, the chute will disappear.

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I\'ve been doing some testing on 0.14.1 and chutes attached to boosters seem to be perfectly capable of saving the boosters when set in the same stage as the decoupler, and I\'ve done no edits. However, boosters are usually used up while still travelling vertically, and if their surface speed happens to drop very close to 0 as they stop ascending and begin descending, the chute will disappear.

Only problem is booster arent reusable in RL( think)

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Only problem is booster arent reusable in RL( think)

Yes they are (at least the shuttle boosters are...)

'Following each space shuttle launch, crew members of Liberty Star and Freedom Star pull the spent boosters out of the ocean and return them to Hangar AF at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Once they are processed, the boosters are transported to Utah, where they are refurbished and stored, if needed.'

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Correct me if I\'m wrong but currently there is absolutely no point to putting parachutes on anything except the command pod. I am sure that will be changed once the part recovery mechanic is implemented in the game, but right now any part that is dropped from your rocket is considered debris, and if you place the parachutes in the same stage as the decoupler that releases the part, when you drop it the parachutes will open nicely (if you follow it down it you can see that it will probably even survive the landing), but as soon as you move farther away from it than 2.5 kilometers it will simply be deleted if its altitude is lower then 20km or so... This is because of the current debris atmosphere reentry mechanics - unless it\'s landed, any debris is deleted as soon as it drops below 20-25km if it is on rails (which it is as soon as it is farther than 2.5km from your ship).

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you\'re right, VincentMcConnell, it does work... was I imagining things?! Maybe they were damaged :P And I know it\'s not really important right now Awaras, but it will be, so what better time than now to figure out how I want it to work?

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you\'re right, vincent, it does work... was I imagining things?! :P

I think you might have just not seen the parachutes deploy. They open up at around 600 meters. If you were launching straight up, my best guess is that you passed out of eye shot with them.

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