EVA chair VAB tweakable to add kerbal mass

[quantumpion]

I would like a simple mod which modifies the stock EVA chair part to add a tweakable option to include the mass of a kerbal in the chair. This would allow more accurate delta-V estimation for landers, and allow very small craft to be carefully balanced (e.g. using RCS build aid).

Edited January 20, 2015 by quantumpion

[FleshJeb]

That would be a really nice Quality of Life feature. Count me in on this suggestion.

[2001kraft]

Yas plz.

Also the ability to spawn Kerbals in the seat like with the command pods.

It's so annoying to always hitch a crew pod with the darn thing

[Fwiffo]

Agreed, this is a great suggestion.

In the meantime I've been using an electromagnet from KAS to simulate the mass of a kerbal.  I surface mount the chair to a part with an attachment node (e.g. oscar fuel tank), mount the electromagnet, then offset it to be roughly centered on the chair.

[Drew Kerman]

There was a mod for this back before v1.0 but no one has updated it since

[Phineas Freak]

I am not sure if it is taken into account for the CoM but for the actual crew mass (accounting for Delta - V) you can use the following ModuleManager patch:

@PHYSICSGLOBALS
{
	%kerbalCrewMass = <FLOAT>
}

You can use any mass that you want but the only limitation is that the value must be in metric tonnes (e.g. for a mass value of 80 Kg you must enter 0.08 as the crew mass).

[swjr-swis]

4 hours ago, Phineas Freak said:

%kerbalCrewMass = <FLOAT>

Default mass of a Kerbal appears to be 94kg (0.094) in 1.1.2, as inferred from the difference between MJ/KER readouts before/after boarding the EAS while still on the launchpad.

 

[Phineas Freak]

@swjr-swisweird, the default Physics.cfg file defines it as being 0.

[not-working-at-work]

It would also be great if we could edit the MMU in the VAB.  Adding an antenna, extra oxygen tanks, parachutes, extra RCS fuel.

 

We should be able to bring the MMU up as a part in the VAB, and stick things on it just like any other ship.  Save it, and that becomes the new MMU for the mission.  Of course, there would be a weight limit to stop things from getting ridiculous.