[WIP] Opening/Closing reusable Heatshield(now less obstructive-still wip)

[ximrm]

Lunatics Aeronautics presents:

Ever had to separate your heatshield, landed and thought :

"Damn, I have lots of fuel left and i'd like to see [insert planet with atmosphere here]. I wish I had my heatshield"?

This experience will be erased from your memory with the new Lunatic Aeronautics heatshield!

Pix:

Closed

Open

In motion(opening):

Alternative version:

To Do:

-More details

-Flatter/higher shape version

-Textures

-Alternate Textures

-Colliders

-Mod supports (I think I'll leave out life-support)

If you want coolant to be used on the heatshield, then I'd like a programmer. Atm I have no clue how to do that except creating the ressource but not the way it works.

If someone wants to help with the technical stuff(anything except modelling,texturing), I'll gladly take any help.

Edited November 17, 2014 by ximrm
added different version,still testing styles

[LitaAlto]

I'm not sure how it works as a heatshield, but it looks cool as heck.

[Sean Mirrsen]

I'm not quite clear on what practical purpose it serves, besides looking cool as heck. How is it an improvement over a regular heatshield?

Also, how is it an improvement over the tried-and-true three-leaf design that the Shielded Docking Port uses?

[ABZB]

I suspect he might plan a final stage to the animation - where the blades extend rotationally and connect to form a solid piece. I would to him recommend having the final extended shape be a cone, not a flat surface.

[ximrm]

I just posted the opening animation, of course you can close it and use it again.

[Sean Mirrsen]

What I mean is, right now it seems to be unfolding from a heatshield to an airbrake, and that's the only possible use I can see for it. The "open" form is neither easy to store not particularly sturdy or aerodynamic. By all accounts that heatshield would best remain closed, unless its purpose would be to release something from the hole that opens up in its center when it opens. I mean, it even prevents landing legs to be used around it, like a regular heatshield would, even if you could hide a landing engine underneath it.

[kiwiak]

I hope that it will not be ablative heatshield.

Instead i woudl like some actively cooled shield, it woudl by spraying coolant on its surface or something.

Thanks to that, player woudl be able to easily reuse heatshield by just replenishing coolant, right now i dont really see way to replenish ablative material in DR shields

[Sean Mirrsen]

I'm not questioning the parameters, I'm questioning the design. Okay, so it's a reusable shield that you don't detach, but what do you do with it if you don't detach it? That opening mechanism seems to do everything possible to prevent anything at all being used once the shield is open, unless something was actually under the shield. I.e., you could probably use an engine tucked away in there, but then you have the problem that you can't actually land with it, because all the fins on the outside prevent you from using landing legs.

What is the reasoning behind such a pretty, but obstructive and decapitation-friendly design?

[ABZB]

this is particularly useful for designs with radial engines - the heatshield can be mounted in the stack, and expand to protect both the engine mounts and other sticking-out bits that are vulnerable to re-entry.

the DR download has a 6.25 expanding one that I use for that (edited its config to make it not one-shot) but it is very tall - so making a lander (say for Eve) that can both use it and actually stand on legs is difficult.

[ximrm]

There seems to be some confusion...

This is still WIP and the animation is not final. Sure this version might not work for all designs, but it is not only useful for engines, a karbonite drill could be at that position.

As I mentioned in the to do list, there will be different versions and there will be space for landing legs. so don't hang yourself on the blades.

I just wanted to show that the heatshield CAN open. I just need another keyframe to rotate the blades to a less obstructive position.

The way it works:

open->space for engine or drill to be used

closed->heatshield

edit: yes it could be used to protect outer engines.

I'll take all criticism into account.

Edited October 2, 2014 by ximrm

[FleetAdmiralJ]

Oooh I see. So let's say one had a return mission from Kerbin to Laythe, one could put this under the lander engine, use it as a heatshield down, open it up for a powered landing (if needed - or for the burn back home) and then close again for kerbin re-entering, without having to use multiple headshields...interesting

[ximrm]

I played a bit with the animations to make a less obstructive version.(Blades sliding into the base)

Textures(except for the blades, which will look as in the first picture), shape and animations are by far not final.

There will also be different versions of each.

Edited October 11, 2014 by ximrm

[Sean Mirrsen]

Okay, that's much better for usability. Still looks dangerous as heck, and I'm not really sure the iris-like curved segments are necessary in this setup (are they flatter that way?), but now it actually looks like something purposeful.

You're on the right track, keep it up.

[ximrm]

I did this Iris design because I like the style and with the rotating animation I intended they are indeed a bit flatter. I'm also planning a different with a totally different shape. But that will be a surprise.

I'm not satisfied with the base and might make the lower part broader, so the blades can slide in without sticking aand theoverall shape being a bit flatter, like regular heatshields.

However I'll keep it as a version so people can choose the most fitting design for their ship.

[Enriched Uranium]

This really does look cool Xim. Let me know if there is something I can do to help. I have quite a bit left to learn but I will help where I can.

[Entropius]

I'm looking forward to this eventually being a usable part. I've wanted a non-ablative (reusable) heat shield for a while, so that I can have reusable landers for places with atmospheres.

[Capt. Hunt]

all heatshields are ablative, that's how they work, some are just less ablative then others.

[NathanKell]

No, not all heat shields. Some are thermal sink, some are hot structure and insulation.

[SmarterThanMe]

Nightmare fuel!

[randomness5555]

So the idea of this is to have it cover your engines during re-entry right?

[ximrm]

So the idea of this is to have it cover your engines during re-entry right?

yes, or other parts like a drill