for what is the ion thruster?

[JtPB]

it is not useful at any situation

[UmbralRaptor]

Yes it is.

Use them for small craft with high ÃŽâ€V and low TWR requirements. Or possibly moderate TWR requirements now, assuming one doesn't go overboard with solar panels and payload mass.

[Richy teh space man]

I find them very useful for small probes orbiting a planet/moon for scanning purposes.

[Sky_walker]

Small, light, long range probes.

Can be used for planes or landers too, though, especially for landers, you'll have to spam them.

They're engines like any other. Their advantage is in efficiency - disadvantage in energy consumption and low thrust (which means you'll need patience... sometimes a lot... I read some reports where people spent over 4 hours making a single burn).

[xtoro]

They're perfect for small lightweight satellites used for scanning and RemoteTech. That tiny tank of gas will get you really far.

[xtoro]

Small, light, long range probes.

Can be used for planes or landers too, though, especially for landers, you'll have to spam them.

They're engines like any other. Their advantage is in efficiency - disadvantage in energy consumption and low thrust (which means you'll need patience... sometimes a lot... I read some reports where people spent over 4 hours making a single burn).

They're perfect for small lightweight satellites used for scanning and RemoteTech. That tiny tank of gas will get you really far.

JINX! lol

[LethalDose]

As stated above, ion engines are useful for very small probes (usually < 1 tonne). They're efficient for transit of extremely small payloads and several other

Also, please check for other threads on a topic before creating a new one. There's at least 2-3 "y r ions bad?" threads a week, and the question gets the same answer every time. Same for LV-1® and the Mk 55 radial engine. (Nvm, the Mk55 really is just bad)

[tater]

They are useful for small stuff, though I never use them since they are supposed to be used in continuous thrust trajectories, something basically impossible in KSP, so I just pretend they don't exist.

[Caelib]

It is actually the most efficient form of propulsion in the game, and to say it's not useful is just down-right absurd! To the contrary, it's actually QUITE useful -- using a small probe, you can explore every moon around Jool with one small tank and one ion engine -- trying do that with liquid fuel and you will quickly realize its power.

[KerikBalm]

Actually, Turbojets are the most efficient in the game, but ions, unlike turbojets, can work anywhere at any speed

[pauldbk99]

I found it usefull for sending my probes to moho.

[merendel]

It is actually the most efficient form of propulsion in the game, and to say it's not useful is just down-right absurd! To the contrary, it's actually QUITE useful -- using a small probe, you can explore every moon around Jool with one small tank and one ion engine -- trying do that with liquid fuel and you will quickly realize its power.

if you've got patience and do it right you only need a couple hundred dV to do flybys of all those moons. Gravity slingshots are really powerful tools. Even a conventional engine can pull that off easy. Ions do allow you to be alot more agressive on the burns though.

[Random Tank]

Same for LV-1® and the Mk 55 radial engine. (Nvm, the Mk55 really is just bad)

With the new O-10, the LV-1 is bad as well. More thrust, no weight, lighter fuel, cheaper fuel. The only advantage is that the O-10 costs more (I think).

I agree though, the Mk55 is just bad... I don't how many times people have said about it, and it could have been changed in an update, yet still hasn't... Ah well, i'll just change it for me

[Caelib]

Actually, Turbojets are the most efficient in the game, but ions, unlike turbojets, can work anywhere at any speed

True, but I only meant in the vacuum of space

[Othuyeg]

If you ever find yourself in a situation where you want to do alot of small orbital manouvers, changing orbits etc. they can be used in even bigger ships.

I had a savegame where I had multiple stations and wanted to take ships between them etc. just to roleplay my different operational hubs and found ions to be great.

[Sky_walker]

Turbojet engines are OP too.

We should make a competition / survey on which engine is most overpowered in KSP

[MalfunctionM1Ke]

The ion engines are for self inflicted torture

[Stratzenblitz75]

Ion engines are one of the most overpowered engines in KSP, right up there with the turbo jets. Their TWR is absolutely ridiculous for an ion engine, they are extremely efficient and they don't even use that much power. You only need 6-8 OX-4 Solar panel arrays to power them all the way out to Eeloo (that's only 0.14 tons in solar panels), even less if you want to use them in the inner solar system. This means that you can use them to build landers capable of landing a Kerbal on bodies up to the size of Moho. LANDERS powered by an ION ENGINE. The power and efficiency you can get out of an ion engine is simply absurd. Heck, if you spam a bunch of ion engines, you can use them to replace NERVAs and power your interplanetary transfers as well. You just have to put up with a longer burn.

[Wallace]

On a small probe, the burn times are not even that long. I just sent 2 probes to Eeloo, one carrying an rcs powered lander, one with goo and science jr to use in orbit, and they each only took 5 mins burn from LKO to get the eeloo intercept. And they have enough DV to go there and back about 3 times, I will probably send them to Jool afterwards to rendezvous with my expedition there.

[Francois424]

The problem with Ion Engines aren't so much their ISP, but rather the EXTREME tedium of using them in-game without falling asleep in the process. 2 units of thrust just is not cutting it. Even a thrust of 5 is annoyingly slow. Obviously, as Wallace said, if you have a really tiny craft, no biggies. But if you want to do science bays, goo containers, and a mobile lab ? yeah, forget it.

IMHO minimum tolerable thrust is 20 to keep the fun factor going in the game.

The Basic Ion has to little use as it is.

That being said, I did toy with modding stock partsback in .23, Ion are really fun with a thrust of 60 (if only huge electricity eater, makes for good build challenges), and so is the 1000 thrust Nuclear engine. A THR60 ion-engine makes for really fun small planes, good trip speed to Duna and even Jool, very good planetary rovers, etc...

[Wallace]

If you're trying to move the mobile lab with the ion thruster, then of course you're going to have a bad time, but a 3 ion cluster can shift a science jr and a few goo cans pretty well.

It's just a case of picking the right engine for the right craft, why would you expect the same engine to work well for large and small craft?