Kerbal Space Program

PinkFloyd said:
See people talking about delta-v calculations and stuff on the official forum. No idea what they're on about lol. Glanced at the summary of it and just felt stupid!
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At a basic level they're actually rather easy. Just plugging numbers into equations, most of which aren't that complex. The problems arise when that comes up with an answer you know can't possibly be right and have to find the problem/where you've been an idiot :p

For a ship, Delta V = Ve * ln(R, R is easy to find (initial mass over mass when all the propellant is used up). Exhaust velocity can be found by using the equations 'Thrust = Specific impulse * Mass flow * Gravity' and 'Specific impulse = Exhaust velocity / gravity'.

Calculating the requirements for a mission is... harder.

I realize i'm probably just alienating people more, but if you're interested then this site is a brilliant resource, will teach you everything you're ever likely to need to know about rocket science ;)

http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/
 
successfully made a vtol flyer just now! Basically a giant flying board with an engine on each corner and centrally mounted fuel tanks. Uses RCS thrusters (10 of) to move forward back and roll/pitch but made it up to 10km and back down successfully. Almost impossible to control even with ASAS, but not bad for a first attempt!
 
Made it :D

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:( crashed into the earth, but I shouldn't off. Only command module, only 14m/s
 
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PermaBanned said:
I wonder if they'll ever implement a budget system... how much more would that have costed you than a rocket stage to do a similar job? ;)
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Lot less, if you can land the plane and reuse it, would also need more realistic physics.

Fill it up and off you go again, compared to even recoverable rocket parts, need a full strip down and rebuild.
That's why STO planes are the holy grail.

And yes they are going to add budget, revenue systems and reserch.
 
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God damnit Hohmann! So many steps to work out the requirements for a maneuver to take you from one body to another. From one orbit around a body to another orbit around the same body is cool. But if you're orbiting one body and want to travel to another body that is also orbiting that body you have to work out the injection burn to get you near enough, make sure that wouldn't make you go shooting off into space, work out the orbital velocity of the body you want to orbit then the difference between that and the velocity you're travelling at when you reach apoapsis. God only knows what it's relative to. Sigh :p
 
Finally plopped down the money for the game, totally worth it.

Had a quick go at making a space plane and its bloody hard!
Oddly the one I made always pulled to the left immediately, couldn't figure out why.

Any tips?
 
Reppyboyo said:
Finally plopped down the money for the game, totally worth it.

Had a quick go at making a space plane and its bloody hard!
Oddly the one I made always pulled to the left immediately, couldn't figure out why.

Any tips?
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Don't go over the top with the engines, too much thrust will hurt if you don't know what you're doing. Obviously make sure it's as balanced as you can make it. Large wings are your friend, you can join half a dozen 'Sept Wings' (or whatever they're called) together which makes planes a lot easier to fly... but it will usually fall apart if you try to turn. Make sure you've got plenty of control surfaces, and unless you want to be fighting with the controls the entire time advanced SAS can work wonders.

Oh, and if you find the plane climbing or falling when you want it to travel straight (at a reasonable altitude) then you can adjust the trim by using 'alt+s/w', you can see the pitch thing move in the lower left corner of the screen.
 
Oh wow so they have added space planes now then?

So it it possible to build a spaceplane then have a shuttle on the back of it that goes off to the moon?

Also is it possible to land on the moon properly now with stock parts without exploding?
 
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