[Stock] Molts Mk2

[Jontu]

McHermanson and Sons Psychiatric Institute: Aerospace Division (We also offer a line of gourmet cheeses and fine whines. Demand the best, demand McHermanson and Sons) is proud to present the Molts Mk2 (Mun orbiter lander training ship). Inspired by/learned from Koalemos II, this is a light ship with plenty of fuel for a Mun landing and return and enough extra for screw ups and additional maneuvers (if I can do it anyone can).

[Exovian]

Looks nice! You do need a decoupler between the command pod and the SAS to make it survivable on return to Kerbin, though. Also consider replacing the SAS with an ASAS.

[Jontu]

You want a decoupler it\'s easy enough to add but not necessary, it will survive the return to Korbin with out it. This is a tested design.

An ASAS would serve no purpose. There is nothing to control, i.e. RCS, winglets, or vectoring engine.

[Kosmo-not]

You want a decoupler it\'s easy enough to add but not necessary, it will survive the return to Korbin with out it. This is a tested design.

An ASAS would serve no purpose. There is nothing to control, i.e. RCS, winglets, or vectoring engine.

Actually, it has the command pod\'s SAS that it controls via pitch, roll, and yaw. I actually prefer ASAS instead of SAS on a small landing craft. The magical torque from regular SAS units can make cancelling out horizontal velocity just prior to touchdown a lot harder.

[sal_vager]

ASAS can control regular SAS as well, as it\'s just a variation on the capsules built in control moment gyroscopes, but I find SAS units too unstable as they were never fully fine tuned.

Pasted from the Wiki :

The S.A.S. modules use a P.I.D. system, which stands for “Proportional, Integral, Derivative”.

Proportional means the S.A.S. module applies a turning-force that is proportional to the displacement from the 'target' orientation. In other words, the further off-line the ship, the harder the module tries to correct it.

Derivative means the S.A.S. module takes the rate-of-turn of the ship in to account, and tries to apply a force against the turn. So the faster the ship is pitching, yawing, or rolling, the harder the S.A.S. module tries to stop the turn. This is supposed to dampen the action of the S.A.S module, preventing overshoot, as well as dampening any fast turn or roll.

Integral means the S.A.S. module increases the corrective force the longer the ship is off-target. So if the ship is constantly 'not-quite' on target, the S.A.S. module will ramp up the force used to correct the ship\'s orientation.

The S.A.S module found within the command module itself uses only PD, with no I. The reason for overshoot is that the PID system is not well-tuned yet. The 'I' and 'P' factors are a bit too powerful, the 'D' factor (which dampens movements) is a bit too weak.

Advanced S.A.S. does not produce torque itself, it uses controllable components instead.

The 'Magic' seems to be that KSP\'s gyro\'s don\'t suffer from gimbal lock or build up unwanted momentum that needs to be dissipated, but seeing as even a capsule will tumble in Kerbin orbit if left with it\'s SAS off, I guess that\'s a pretty good if accidental simulation of excess momentum escaping.

I\'ll assume for now that kerbal rockets have sufficient battery power to keep their CMG\'s running for the duration of the mission, though electrical power is sure to be added at some point.