Kron series (Kron 6 end of mission) - temporary halt of program

[Zaddy23]

send Kron 5 to Ablate.

Oh dear, this sounds like it will be FUN

Is the Sentar expansion even compatible with OPM, or are you just picking & choosing planets?

[lajoswinkler]

Oh dear, this sounds like it will be FUN

Is the Sentar expansion even compatible with OPM, or are you just picking & choosing planets?

Kron 5 would be in KSP v1.0.4. (Kron 4 is in v.1.0.2.), so OPM would not be included to save on RAM.

Neidon is still under construction, so the most logical thing is to go with Krag's PF.

[Zaddy23]

Okay, gotcha!

[Geschosskopf]

Let's end today's screenshot spree with a salute to Urlum.

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/449584197690636646/011ECE14EB3CE8E84F1E99C7FE150427719B46D0/

To be continued.

Very cool pic . Keep up the good work.

[lajoswinkler]

I sure will.

Valentina deployed the flag and the rest of the team went on with their work.

Bob was extremely interested to observe the crater floor, even though Valentina had her concerns about the depth. Vertical difference between the rim and the floor is around 4.1 km.

That did not stop Bob from getting down there. He had an extra refueling tank for his EVA jetpack.

It's easy to miscalculate the falling speed.

An interesting discovery was made by Bob. Crater floor is rich in methane and carbon(IV) oxide ices, unlike the rim which is mostly water ice.

[Mister Dilsby]

Great, great stuff. You're steadily planting a bug in my brain for a Kerbfleet mission to Sarnus...maybe for V1.1

[Sharkman Briton]

Wow, this is amazing! Keep up the good work, can't wait for the next part and Kron 5!

[Yukon0009]

The Kron 5 mothership will look a lot different from the current Kron 4 and 3 right?

[lajoswinkler]

I will do my best to keep the basic 3.75 m pod design, but a lot of things will have to be removed. Ablate is such an insanely difficult target, especially now when we have heat simulation. Actually I have no idea if it will even be possible.

At least it won't have an aerobraking shield which was really a horrible thing to push around.

Kuzzter, OPM will get ground scatter, you might want to wait for that to get eyecandy screenshots.

[Sampa]

How well simulated are planetary gravity slingshots?

[Geschosskopf]

I will do my best to keep the basic 3.75 m pod design, but a lot of things will have to be removed. Ablate is such an insanely difficult target, especially now when we have heat simulation. Actually I have no idea if it will even be possible.

At least it won't have an aerobraking shield which was really a horrible thing to push around.

The heat at even just Moho is brutal these days, so I imagine Ablate would be near suicidal. What's its orbit in comparison to the winners of the Solar Limbo Challenge?

Heatshields aren't useful as sun visors because they do eventually reach thermal equilibrium and stop offering protection. But even worse, they unrealistically evaporate in vacuum instead of needing the passage of air to scrub them off (so you won't have them for use back at Kerbin when you return).

[lajoswinkler]

How well simulated are planetary gravity slingshots?

In KSP? You can get pretty good results, but mind that in reality, supercomputers do that, so eyeballing in KSP usually results in spending more fuel for corrections than if you simply went straight for the target.

The heat at even just Moho is brutal these days, so I imagine Ablate would be near suicidal. What's its orbit in comparison to the winners of the Solar Limbo Challenge?

Heatshields aren't useful as sun visors because they do eventually reach thermal equilibrium and stop offering protection. But even worse, they unrealistically evaporate in vacuum instead of needing the passage of air to scrub them off (so you won't have them for use back at Kerbin when you return).

It's survivable... barely.

The problem will probably be timewarping above 100x which equalizes ship's temperature levels so the most vulnerable stuff gets ruined.

BTW heatshields do not get rubbed away, they indeed just boil off during reentry. It's the air ramming heat that radiatively heats them up.

[Geschosskopf]

It's survivable... barely.

http://s12.postimg.org/nbvezu6j1/ablatelw_1.png

Heh. Yesterday my SENTINEL found an asteroid in a nearly identical orbit to your ship there. The Boffins are considering rendezvousing with it at its Ap and riding it down just to see what happens. I have a feeling the asteroid itself might vaporize if it quits being on rails.

The problem will probably be timewarping above 100x which equalizes ship's temperature levels so the most vulnerable stuff gets ruined.

In real life, you'd think that a ship spending sufficient time in an area with a given ambient temperature would eventually reach thermal equilibrium at that temperature. And for the most part, that seems to be the case in the game. The only problem I've had is if I get to a hot place (like Moho orbit) and immediately leave that ship for another while its engines are still hot from its last burn. Then it might reach equilibrium at higher than ambient and explode next time I focus on it. But if I stay with it and let the radiators remove the excess heat before leaving it, then no problem.

BTW heatshields do not get rubbed away, they indeed just boil off during reentry. It's the air ramming heat that radiatively heats them up.

I guess it depends on what it's made of. Seems to me some heat shields are more just insulation, like a fire-rated wall in a building, instead of physically removing the heat by boiling away.

[lajoswinkler]

Heh. Yesterday my SENTINEL found an asteroid in a nearly identical orbit to your ship there. The Boffins are considering rendezvousing with it at its Ap and riding it down just to see what happens. I have a feeling the asteroid itself might vaporize if it quits being on rails.

Interesting, keep me informed on this because I don't know how resistive to temperature asteroids are.

In real life, you'd think that a ship spending sufficient time in an area with a given ambient temperature would eventually reach thermal equilibrium at that temperature. And for the most part, that seems to be the case in the game. The only problem I've had is if I get to a hot place (like Moho orbit) and immediately leave that ship for another while its engines are still hot from its last burn. Then it might reach equilibrium at higher than ambient and explode next time I focus on it. But if I stay with it and let the radiators remove the excess heat before leaving it, then no problem.

This is not reaching the equilibrium because it ignores radiators and shields. It stops using them and the vessel behaves as it's just one homogeneous object exposed to Kerbol's rays. It's not realistic at all. :/

I will have to re-check all this, though. I haven't really played the latest version.

I guess it depends on what it's made of. Seems to me some heat shields are more just insulation, like a fire-rated wall in a building, instead of physically removing the heat by boiling away.

Space Shuttle's shields were mainly insulating and they dumped heat by radiation (hence their black color). Capsules usually (always?) have stuff that chars and sublimates. Expendable stuff.

[lajoswinkler]

Kerbal engineers are making first concepts for Kron 5, which will visit Ablate.

First calculations put the thermal equilibrium on its surface at some 1300 K, which is more than enough for melting sodium chloride.

[meve12]

It was the one whose muscles made of gold Kerbals like very much.

....What?

[tygoo7]

....What?

This will explain it.

[lajoswinkler]

The Ministry Of No Better Things To Do has started an Ikar program: series of probes for Ablate.

Today a solar powered, flyby probe for Ablate, called Ikar 1, was launched from KSC. Its purpose is to scan for any changes on the dwarf planet, and to properly measure radiative heat conditions in its SOI. It will fly less than 20 km from the surface of the scorched body.

[56464]

Is moho the closest planet.

[lajoswinkler]

Is moho the closest planet.

In the stock game, yes.

I'm using Outer Planets Mod which adds Sarnus (Eeloo is used as its satellite, as it was planned by NovaSilisko with their gas giant #2), Urlum, Neidon and Plock.

Now I'm using a pruned version of the resurrected Krag's Planet Factory, called Sentar Expansion. I've left Ablate, Ascension and Inaccessable cause I don't care about others as they are either goofy or repetitive.

Ablate is one of those bodies classified as Vulcanoids and I'm strongly supporting the idea of implementing it in the stock game.

[Mister Dilsby]

Wondering if Ablate is tidally locked to Kerbol, and if that is taken into account in the radiative heating model? If so it could be fun to attempt a shielded approach to the 'safe' side.

[lajoswinkler]

Original Ablate is tidally locked. This one is not... yet, because Borisbee made a mistake. He will correct it.

The radiative heating is compatible with Ablate. You'll see, it's just outside the edge of total KSP parts destruction. Kerbals can not survive outside for more than half a minute. It's horribly hot. But it is possible to get and land there. It really is, and it takes a different approach to the problem.

[lajoswinkler]

Bob has sampled the crater floor and has returned to the landing site.

He has spent his entire EVA propellant tank, too.

A nap had to be taken until the ship was in the correct position.

And in the morning, back to the ship.

[DMSP]

Nice moon.

It really does look like Minmus.

[lajoswinkler]

Ikar 1 made a scary close flyby of Ablate which was arranged at Kerbin's orbit.

This all happened in less than 4 seconds, so there wasn't even time for proper terrain loading.

The probe found that the thermal equilibrium is established at no less than 1250 K. Several instruments exploded.

Next probe, Ikar 2, will try to enter into orbit around Ablate and measure other qualities, including the equilibrium temperature in Ablate's shade.