Welp... designed a couple rockets that I got safely into orbit (and back again). Designed a couple absurd ones that blew up. Now I'm bored with this game.
* ardichoke ADDs off
Try putting payloads into orbit and getting home without disturbing them. I can do one, trying to find a way to do 3.
Next I will try to get them back down on target... Then I'll work on the orbit part. But it is SO fun to get that baby going as fast as possible and hit that point where it doesn't slow down. Maybe 8000 m/s constant will be my next task.
Heh - yeah. So what's the fastest anyone's crossed the 4.5-5M threshold at? With the original parts, of course, not with the cheater fuel tanks, tall solid boosters, etc.
So was I. You need a more stable rocket. Think of the horizontal plane as a 2D wheelbase. I found that it gets more stable as you distribute power over a greater area.
Some rockets I've built were strong enough to get off the pad with the liquid engines at 30%. Anything more and the rocket wouldn't be steerable at all, it'd wander as soon as I took the SAS off. Too much power in a given area, given the relative height of the rocket.
Basically, a 1-meter (one engine) area where power is applied works fine for a 1-liquid rocket (maybe 3 meters tall) A 10-meter tall rocket with one engine is more difficult, but a 10-meter tall rocket with 10 engines seems to be easier to control, as long as you throttle them back.
Ans as usual, symmetry is your friend. Don't trust your eyes. One booster that's slightly taller than the others can build a different pressure area on that side of the rocket when it's pushing on the pressure areas of the liquids next to it. It'll tip you or spin the rocket easily.
Ans as usual, symmetry is your friend. Don't trust your eyes. One booster that's slightly taller than the others can build a different pressure area on that side of the rocket when it's pushing on the pressure areas of the liquids next to it. It'll tip you or spin the rocket easily.
Symmetry is not my friend. If I arrange 8 SRBs around the base for initial launch, all lined up perfectly with symmetry, the dang thing still spins like crazy as soon as I take off. (The big SRBs from the mod pack are even worse; they smash against everything due to lack of bracing AND spin it.) Do the wings do anything at all? :/
Heh - yeah. So what's the fastest anyone's crossed the 4.5-5M threshold at? With the original parts, of course, not with the cheater fuel tanks, tall solid boosters, etc.
First attempt: 6 stage rocket!
4.5Mm in 17:48, 7636 m/s
Symmetry is not my friend. If I arrange 8 SRBs around the base for initial launch, all lined up perfectly with symmetry, the dang thing still spins like crazy as soon as I take off. (The big SRBs from the mod pack are even worse; they smash against everything due to lack of bracing AND spin it.) Do the wings do anything at all? :/
From my experience, the wings make it spin like crazy and that's all they do.
SRS modules are more effective at stability than wings. I think one of my bigger rockets had something like 12 of them. (they would be jettisoned off as they became redundant - no need to carry 12 into your last stage)
Every rocket I've put wings on has been terribly hard to control, even with lots of stabilizers. As soon as I dropped the wings off them, they'd fly nice and straight and under control.
Every rocket I've put wings on has been terribly hard to control, even with lots of stabilizers. As soon as I dropped the wings off them, they'd fly nice and straight and under control.
Maybe I just have too many solid booster engines, but they overheat and explode before they use up their fuel, and there's no way to get them to detach until their fuel is used up because the force they give out is too much for the next stage's engines to overcome.
And thanks so much for the mod links, makes a big difference!
Maybe I just have too many solid booster engines, but they overheat and explode before they use up their fuel, and there's no way to get them to detach until their fuel is used up because the force they give out is too much for the next stage's engines to overcome.
And thanks so much for the mod links, makes a big difference!
I'm not positive, but I don't see any radial decouplers between your solids, when you stick them directly together you usually get bad heat issues.
Comments
Try putting payloads into orbit and getting home without disturbing them. I can do one, trying to find a way to do 3.
So was I. You need a more stable rocket. Think of the horizontal plane as a 2D wheelbase. I found that it gets more stable as you distribute power over a greater area.
Some rockets I've built were strong enough to get off the pad with the liquid engines at 30%. Anything more and the rocket wouldn't be steerable at all, it'd wander as soon as I took the SAS off. Too much power in a given area, given the relative height of the rocket.
Basically, a 1-meter (one engine) area where power is applied works fine for a 1-liquid rocket (maybe 3 meters tall) A 10-meter tall rocket with one engine is more difficult, but a 10-meter tall rocket with 10 engines seems to be easier to control, as long as you throttle them back.
Ans as usual, symmetry is your friend. Don't trust your eyes. One booster that's slightly taller than the others can build a different pressure area on that side of the rocket when it's pushing on the pressure areas of the liquids next to it. It'll tip you or spin the rocket easily.
Your mom was going for my innuendo last night.
kind of an anthology
Symmetry is not my friend. If I arrange 8 SRBs around the base for initial launch, all lined up perfectly with symmetry, the dang thing still spins like crazy as soon as I take off. (The big SRBs from the mod pack are even worse; they smash against everything due to lack of bracing AND spin it.) Do the wings do anything at all? :/
First attempt: 6 stage rocket!
4.5Mm in 17:48, 7636 m/s
From my experience, the wings make it spin like crazy and that's all they do.
A winnar is CannonFodder!
Maybe I just have too many solid booster engines, but they overheat and explode before they use up their fuel, and there's no way to get them to detach until their fuel is used up because the force they give out is too much for the next stage's engines to overcome.
And thanks so much for the mod links, makes a big difference!
I'm not positive, but I don't see any radial decouplers between your solids, when you stick them directly together you usually get bad heat issues.