Too easy to get into orbit?

[NFunky]

Hey all,

So I know it's much easier to get into orbit around Kerbin than it is to get into Earth orbit in real life (or RSS, but I haven't tried that yet). However, I recently discovered that, using only starter parts, I can easily build a rocket that will get into LKO and even have enough fuel to deorbit.

My rocket consists of a command pod, a parachute, 10 or 11 FL-T200 tanks and an LV-T30. As long as I fly an efficient, nicely curved flight path, I can get apoapsis above 70km, cruise up there and make final insertion. I've gotten into a nice circular 130km orbit, then deorbited and carefully reenter using the engine and fuel tanks as (exploding) heat shields.

This doesn't seem right to me for some reason. I feel I should at least have to have two stages for a successful orbit, unless I have some really advanced engines. Could it be FAR or DR or some other mod? I use those two, plus visual enhancements, chatterer and TAC life support. Or is that just how KSP is?

I'm hesistant to start messing with the real solar system mod, cause it seems to require the whole realism overhaul to really work right. Anyone know if I can use RSS without the extra mods?

Thanks

Edited December 10, 2014 by NFunky

[Taki117]

Far lowerers the amount of dV required for orbit to about 3200 m/s, if you want to up the difficulty again I suggest KIDS or you could try the 1/10th RSS config (Which will change your solar system to the real one, while keeping the same stock size, atmosphere goes up to 130km.)

It is entirely possible to use RSS without the overhaul, just use the 1/10th config (There is a link to it in the RSS OP)

[rodion]

i agree that KIDS is the way to go if you want to return the game to stock behaviour, and if you don't want all of the features it offers it supports custom profiles to change the Isp behavior to whatever you think is reasonable for your game.

[NFunky]

Thanks guys. The Isp mod did the trick. I'm still curious about the RSS, but I keep reading about bugs/issues with textures and such.

[Rabada]

Far lowerers the amount of dV required for orbit to about 3200 m/s, if you want to up the difficulty again I suggest KIDS or you could try the 1/10th RSS config (Which will change your solar system to the real one, while keeping the same stock size, atmosphere goes up to 130km.)

It is entirely possible to use RSS without the overhaul, just use the 1/10th config (There is a link to it in the RSS OP)

I think you mean the 10x RSS config and not the 1/10th. The 10x RSS config makes the Kerbol system 10 times bigger, the 1/10th makes it 10 times smaller.

Personally I prefer the 6.4x config over the 10x config.

[NFunky]

Whoa! I've just been playing with the Isp Scaler in "FAR to real life" mode and my rockets are burning up on ascent. I guess you really have to ride the throttle with KIDS. This all reminds me that I've been looking for a reference/chart of some sort that shows what the approximate terminal velocity is at various altitudes using FAR. Anyone know of one?

[Taki117]

Whoa! I've just been playing with the Isp Scaler in "FAR to real life" mode and my rockets are burning up on ascent. I guess you really have to ride the throttle with KIDS. This all reminds me that I've been looking for a reference/chart of some sort that shows what the approximate terminal velocity is at various altitudes using FAR. Anyone know of one?

You don't need one. If you open up the far panel during flight, and then click the FLTDATA button (Or something similar) it will pop open a window and down near the bottom it shows your current Terminal Velocity.

Also, as long as you follow the instructions in the RSS thread TO THE LETTER! you should be ok.

@Rabada: No, I mean the 1/10th config. Normally RSS transforms the solar system into the Real Solar System (hence the name of the mod) with appropriately sized planets. The 1/10th config gives you the real solar system, but at Kerbal sizes, what changes the amount of dV needed is the extra atmosphere, it ends at 130km instead of the normal 70km.

[NFunky]

Thank you. I've never looked at the FAR panel before. I always just assumed it was just for settings.

It looks like the terminal velocities are actually really high. Much higher than the speeds I've been going when the Stayputnik burns up. I've been at ~22 km up and going ~900 m/s when that happens. Is this reasonable or is something wrong with my mods setup? I'm also now using procedural fairings, but they don't seem to protect from overheating.

[NathanKell]

Get the latest Deadly Reentry beta. DRE had a big bug with proc fairings.

Also, now that we have CKAN, installing RSS is incredibly simple. Just a couple clicks, or three lines on the command line, and you will have a complete RSS/RO install.

[Pecan]

...using only starter parts, I can easily build a rocket that will get into LKO and even have enough fuel to deorbit...

The problem is that Squad think it's fun to start with manned rockets that can go to Mun and beyond (not just LKO and back), so they're the starter parts in the tech-tree.