Bepicolombo Mission Comes to Kerbal Space Program. Official ESA Collaboration

The forthcoming Kerbal Space Program update, 1.10 features a major collaboration with the European Space Agency to bring the Rosetta and BepiColombo missions to the game in the form of playable missions and special parts.
I sat down to play through the mission while talking to the real Manager of Spacecraft Operations for Bepicolombo - Elsa Montagnon. Obviously because of quarantine rules this had to be an entirely digital collaboration, but she explains a lot of details of how the real spacecraft is managed while I tried to navigate my way through multiple gravity assists to reach the innermost planet.
Thanks to Elsa for joining me
Discover Kerbal Space Program, and learn about rocket design, dynamics and orbital mechanics while having fun
www.kerbalspac...
Find out more about BepiColombo at the ESA website
www.esa.int/Sci...

[@petermc_grann4192]

Calling in the ACTUAL space flight ops manager of the mission you're reccreating in KSP should be cheating!lol that's quite a card to play, Scott!

[@Pharisaeus]

ESA unfortunately has pretty lousy PR/recognizability, so such collaboration is rather welcome

[@mastershooter64]

@@Pharisaeus ikr most people don't even know there is a space agency called european space agency

[@leszekandhisrandomstuff.9228]

You are correct, definitely cheating. You would expect ESA to be able to do it on their own without Scott.

[@epincion]

@@mastershooter64 In Europe they do.

[@thePronto]

Yeah, they never return my calls.

[@karlgerat2731]

I recall meeting Mrs. Montagnon a while back. Spent an entire afternoon with her and other students talking and learning about BepiColombo.

[@elopeous3285]

Scotts network of scientist and engineers at its finest.

[@raresnetboy]

Thank you for doing this and having Elsa talk to us about all the challenges of the real mission. I really enjoyed having KSP as a backdrop to the conversation as well, without distracting from it. I think this can serve as inspiration for a lot of people out there and maybe a teen girl with a passion for space sees this and thinks she can do it thanks to you.

[@GoogleAreDumb]

I worked on the CAD models for the ion thrusters on the transfer module. It was cool to finally watch the launch, and it's pretty awesome that it's now made its way to KSP!

[@wheresmycar9559]

It's so cool how there are so many people doing small, important tasks that add up to this giant complex mission. I think people forget the humanity behind rocket science. Mainly because of big names infront of aerospace companies, like Musk and SpaceX, Bezos and Blue Origin, Bruno and ULA.

[@GoogleAreDumb]

@@wheresmycar9559 It was definitely a pretty small, cozy team atmosphere for the ion thrusters. A few dozen people split between a couple of different buildings for both the design and testing (not including the life-size cardboard cutout of Tim Peake). The thrusters aren't a high profile part of the mission, but were definitely an interesting one to work on. The main thing I learned? Space-grade bolts are unbelievably expensive. Fancy materials, complex specialised manufacturing processes, small batches, and substantial destructive testing really add up. Turns out when the entire mission is hundreds of millions of euros, ten thousand or so for all the thruster bolts is small change.

[@ivanputignef2418]

I felt the same! I worked on thermal simulations and heat rejection geometries for the high resolution camera on the planetary orbiter. Seeing the launch was emotional, and seeing the mission in KSP is so fun! Can't wait to run the mission!

[@GoogleAreDumb]

@@ivanputignef2418 One of the many things I love about Scott's videos is the fact there are often a bunch of people in the comments who worked on bits of the missions he talks about. First time I've been one of them, and probably the last! Nice to meet you from afar! We never met during development, and will likely never meet. But my work is pushing yours through space, and your work makes sure the science payload survives. All we need now is someone who worked on some instruments to complete the package!

[@armypilot94]

What CAD software were you using? I'guessing CATIA, if it was for ESA

[@soubaxsoub3990]

Woah ! I discover this video today, as a spacecraft operations engineer for Bepi since 4 years, I was directly under the responsibility of Elsa, and man, she know her stuff ! And as a KSP fan, this is very nice :)

[@thomasblethyn9639]

There's another "things kerbal doesn't teach" in this video; it seems as though solar heating is a lot more of a mission constraint in real life than it is in Kerbal.

[@PHHE1]

It actually is. But that basically goes for any system in the spacecraft, not only thermal management. There are many things to think about, constantly.

[@dogmaticpyrrhonist543]

The thermal system in ksp is really a bit dodgy. It could do with a fairly serious revision. And most of the main data is there already, it just all interacts badly

[@thomaslauermann2494]

It totally is! I worked on the solar generator for that spacecraft and can tell you finding materials that survive the stress is stressful in its own right :-O

[@simonwhite8474]

I love listening to enthusiastic space types. They stay down here on Earth but they speak as if they're travelling along with their probes. Thanks Scott, et merci Elsa.

[@Anvilshock]

This channel needs more real space folks appearances!

[@pentagramprime1585]

And the next time a mission fails I want to see someone blame it on their cat.

[@UNSCPILOT]

Agreed, far better than any TV interview and most TV in general honestly

[@Alex2Buzz]

This is great. Scott doing a mission while talking to someone working on the real equivalent of that mission is amazing.

[@mushylog]

What a great video Scott !! This expansion looks promising ! I sat through the whole 35 minutes and it was suuuper interesting to listen to Elsa, you can definitely feel the passion, I love this :D

[@-Kerstin]

This is a great way to get me excited about a space mission I had no idea existed. I hope you get to present more space missions in similar collaborations!

[@jeffreyjefferson536]

This is an awesome collaboration, I love it! Talking shop with Elsa from ESA while doing the playthrough in KSP - how cool is that?! And the educational value is off the charts. Imagine if science would be taught like this in school... *sigh* Massive thumbs up, this is one of the coolest videos you've done so far!

[@joinedupjon]

'delta v' sounds fantastic when spoken with a French accent

[@alexanderl8794]

You're so right

[@heyarno]

It's amazing how she seems to have a intuitive grasp on all those details, that where surprising for me. I think the planning and manoeuvres are beautiful though.

[@JaittPenguin]

That was a brilliant insight. Thanks both for pulling it together

[@MoonWeasel23]

One day it’s going to be a live stream from the ISS on this channel just casually

[@pentagramprime1585]

If he'd done that today I wouldn't have been late to the comments section. More work on the ISS batteries next Wednesday as I understand.

[@potatoking8759]

I rarely see so much love in the comment section. It’s nice ❤️ 🙂

[@ns2358]

I can't believe you pulled that off! I love your videos anyway, but this time you really outdid yourself!

[@vikkimcdonough6153]

13:57 - And now we know who at ESA is responsible for pressing F5.

[@harry979]

The original intro!

[@pyrotection]

Well no not really

[@davidhuber6251]

Scott, you never cease to amaze me. The educational content and entertainment value are amazing. Thank you for doing what you do.

[@kerbonaut2059]

Ahhhh, the intro gets me every time.

[@Scanlaid]

Really enjoy hearing Scott say Bepicolumbo, clicked just for that

[@sukubann]

thanks Elsa & Scott :) half hour of surprises, superior content rocket science for dummies, learning every day - this was the day :D

[@amaarquadri]

This is an awesome video and an awesome addition to KSP!!!!! Can you do a video on the semi-auto-orbital insertion using the sun's gravity? Seems like a fascinating concept!

[@quoniam426]

Doesn't work in stock KSP with its Keplerian gravity system. You need Principia mod to use the properties of the Newtonian gravitational system.

[@amaarquadri]

Yeah makes sense. I figured it probably relies on 3-body effects.

[@NoxDNA]

This. Is. Amazing!

[@Formula1st]

@GrandProtectorDark what do you mean nah?! It’s awesome!

[@maxk4324]

@@Formula1st just a troll, leave him be

[@eclipsioredstoneyt9580]

The amount of electronics required for this is really amazing..

[@Eagle3427]

Great collaboration, Scott ! Interesting to compare Kerbal mechanics & parts with "real life's ones".

[@roflchopter11]

I'd love to hear how they divide the mission design up among people. It seemed like everything would be very tightly coupled and hard to divide/delegate.

[@KS-nz8ij]

How freaking cool dude. Grateful for you and your guest

[@unperfil]

Awesome interview, thanks a lot! Really enjoyed it

[@millenity9245]

Never actually heard of esa before ( I’m Canadian btw ) it’s good to hear about a company I haven’t heard about and there great accomplishments :D

[@scottmanley]

Canada is a member of ESA

[@ThePixel1983]

"company" 🙈

[@blueflames6961]

Wow. Never realized KSP ion engines have 10,000 times the thrust of their real like counterparts.

[@221b-l3t]

Yeah you'd have to burn for hours to achieve anything. And no time warp during burns so that wouldn't work. Major maneuvers take months.

[@simongeard4824]

@@221b-l3t Yeah, real ones just wouldn't be usable in the game engine... they have very poor thrust, and rely on very long burns, something their high efficiency permits. But that makes them kind of unsuited to a game where you can't just leave them running in the background...

[@jimmyjames6318]

That was totally awesome. Though, for the first time, I had to enable the Closed Caption 😁

[@VincentGroenewold]

lol Scott desperately trying to get responses out of the scientist at the beginning, love it. I'm was wondering at that point if she would know a lot about the rocket though as it's about the spacecraft that's on it.

[@HarryNicNicholas]

i would love to know how the decision for the assists was made, was the first "flight plan" direct and then someone said "uh-oh, you can't do that" or was there some existing data that suggested several assists from different planets? how did that come about? what a delightful guest too, great stuff. lol. i'm 17 minutes in and i've only just figured out who this guy mcrae is...........

[@dodleboper]

1st flyby of mercury last night!

[@5Andysalive]

Any excuse for a rare SM KSP video. Also a reminder to all us maneuver node cowboys, how insanely complex and complicated the real world missions are. And that many a million € or $ ride on it. Not to mention the distinct lack of a F5 and F9 key.

[@reformCopyright]

I have to protest that it's version "one point ten" (10 is the number that comes after 9, after all). I was confused at first since 1.1.0 was a long time ago.

[@dimi575]

Numbers after a decimal point should be pronounced digit by digit like Scot did or as "one and 10 hundreds". Saying "one point ten" is wrong. Of course you can also claim that this isn't a decimal number but two separate numbers consisting of major revision and minor revision, which would make your pronunciation more correct.

[@reformCopyright]

@@dimi575 That is exactly what I claim. Version strings are not decimal fractions (which is obvious when they have more than two components). Plus he said "1.1" at the end.

[@BlackEpyon]

People who decide revision numbers don't know how the decimal system works.

[@rob9726]

This channel is amazing!!

[@keegan707]

Please do more ksp! That's how I found your channel and I really enjoyed those videos.

[@namedtruman]

I’m glad I got into KSP as a child.

[@therealpbristow]

@ 12:40 - "I love big margins and I cannot lie!" =:o}

[@arddenouter4553]

Would be nice to get a realtime trajectory on some website. I do follow the BepoColombo factsheet of NASA/Esa. Saw the satellite at ESA being prepared. It is a bit of a father/daughter thing.

[@DC2022]

Thanks to both of you Scott and Mrs Montagnon for those insights on Bepi Colombo mission! Hope Kraken will stay away from our spacecraft!

[@reactorfour1682]

I remember doing a Moho mission and waiting 20 minutes for the ion engine to complete a 10,000 m/s burn.

[@tonyr.5652]

Scott Manley's KSP yay! I miss the old good interstellar quest and other mission...

[@galacticalliance4801]

lmao you got the manager of spacecraft operations on to talk, thats fuckin awesome.

[@johncarnett2668]

10:47 Were you eating while talking to the ESA Operations Manager? Just... Wow.

[@efari]

You confused me so hard with “update one point one oh”. Why not just say “one point ten”??? I thought this was a reupload at first

[@DickHolman]

Because you say each digit after the decimal point separately. It helps prevent confusion.

[@Condorito380]

Could have been even better...go full pilot and call it one point one zero.

[@BlackEpyon]

Mathematically, it doesn't make a difference past the decimal point how many zeros you have at the end. 1.1, 1.10, 1.100, or 1.100000, each equal one and one tenth. When listing version numbers, people tend to make each decimal set into an integer, which can be confusing.

[@-TheRealChris]

Going to try this new KSP mission, hang on ill just get the Manager of Spacecraft Operations from the European Space Agency on the line, no big deal haha. This was AWESOME!

[@ufolew]

Right x Scott Manley= Infinity

[@strezalenys1526]

At the risk of asking a stupid question can someone please explain why when a probe photographs the planets we often see the 'polygon shaped' spaces that could not for whatever reason be photographed?

[@thomassnoek8265]

On console we just got the update where we can see our apoapsis and periapsis in the bottom left of our screen

[@indycar1007]

Any rockets using a booster fuel to increase specific impulse? Much like adding NO2 injection to can car?

[@jacobcollins2818]

The name of the manager of SO was said... the kids heard it.... now a certain Disney movie is being watched.... ..... just let it go

[@vikkimcdonough6153]

12:36 - "Okay, I hate to say [???] in operations..."

[@m0ck3ry]

"Comfortable", I think...

[@randomkerbal]

So, is there any mod that makes the alternate variant of "poodle"-Ariane5's second stage engine, into a new part?

[@simonz5905]

Très bel accent Kerbalien, Elsa ;-)

[@quoniam426]

On a besoin d'une Elsa Kerman maintenant...

[@ThePixel1983]

@@quoniam426 Responsible for untangling orbital maneuvers.

[@vertigo2893]

Even when interviewing ESA scientists, Scott Manley is playing KSP :)

[@janedoe9940]

Ok, that's super cool. I mean having those missions on KSP, so that we can all experience the details is so amazingly cool. I mean I just went to my bf to explain him how cool it is! :) P.S. Also the mission is amazing, really. Imagine the amount of calculation involved in all those flybys. And as Elsa said, it's not a visual maneuver mode fiddling. It's actual high-precision crunching of numbers.

[@BlackEpyon]

They used to do those calculations on slide rulers before they designed the Apollo Guidance Computer. It actually doesn't require a lot of power to do.

[@janedoe9940]

@@BlackEpyon It's a good question for anyone working in planning those maneuvers. Because I've heard that you actually need a lot of precision. Maybe for the Moon they didn't need it because the Moon is nearby. But Mercury is just like Moho - small, fast and far away. Though probably the many flybys allow for correcting all kinds of errors. I don't know, but I'd love to know.

[@BlackEpyon]

@@janedoe9940 Of course, the greater precision you're capable of, the less course corrections you need to make. But the actual calculations can be done on paper if you can plot them all out ahead of time (which, of course, they do). If you REALLY want to get into the technical end of the computer that got man to the moon, CuriousMarc has a playlist on his channel where him and a few of his vintage-computing buddies got to take apart and repair one of the two only remaining AGCs. Currently, it's now the only one that actually works. It's all transistor-transistor logic. CPUs weren't a thing back then.

[@-NxPx-Phoenix]

Did you and Shadowzone rockpaperscissored who's is doing which mission?

[@Zandiv]

I love this shit,..just brilliant. Thank you!

[@patrlim]

This is amazing, hope I can play this some day

[@tom23rd]

Hurray, Scott in KSP once again.

[@CalgarGTX]

Considering all the mass and delta-V limitations we have to deal with these days, space science and exploration is going to take a massive leap forward when they can throw stuff all over the place from "cheap" reusable starships that have Saturn V class or even better payload

[@BlackEpyon]

Remember the contractor's pyramid. Fast + Good = Not Cheap Fast + Cheap = Not Good Good + Cheap = Not Fast.

[@Lince7722]

Still growing knowledge

[@kilianclasen5521]

How do you manage to keep that rocket straight? When I tried that mission it started rolling and pitching out of control.

[@canadianragin]

Nice video! My only suggestion would be to also include your camera in the video call, so it doesn’t seem like your guest is talking to an ethereal being :)

[@scottmanley]

That was the plan, but skype broke it.

[@canadianragin]

Scott Manley ok, we’ll get ‘em next time

[@davebrooks69]

Wait... What? They don't have software that lets them play with the trajectories like you can in KSP?

[@ChadSimplicio]

...and I have yet to tackle the TLI tutorial after buying the game a few weeks ago via GOG.

[@_tyrannus]

24:17 A wild "hein" appears!

[@charlesballard5251]

AWESOME!!!!

[@BernardLangham]

Elsa is a steely-eyed missile woman.

[@johnp2436]

6:10 “most players of the game will launch Eastwards just because that’s the easiest.” I thought about this and when I started playing the game, I don’t know if I would have realized launching East was easiest. I would have just brute forced it. I launch East because Scott Manley told me to.

[@Trevor21230]

This was really, really cool!

[@brunocunha3114]

What do you think about the game "simple rocket's 2"

[@imashanzem8128]

Well done!

[@pegzounet]

That. Was. Awesome.

[@tbirdland]

cool video! I always love to see ksp back on your screen. One thing though, I think it would be a little less weird to just not have the guest video up during the sections where you do post commentary, idk

[@oldgoodfred]

Merci pour la vidéo. I hope it won't break too much mods though !

[@janfarkas7081]

this ... was amazing !

[@CFG-eb3my]

Outstanding

[@ecophreak1]

Straight from the horses mouth so to speak, love seeing this kind of content!

[@DreamskyDance]

This waw really informative and awesome... :D

[@phoule76]

I wish the real mission included a lander.

[@gabrielpena2070]

What computer do you have? What specs?

[@НикитаДородный]

amazing

[@stephengloor8451]

If you are interested in the electric propulsion here is a paper describing it in detail - www.researchgate.net/profile/C_Steiger/publication/335927980_BepiColombo_-Solar_Electric_Propulsion_System_Operations_for_the_Transit_to_Mercury/links/5d848d6f299bf1996f7e6d78/BepiColombo-Solar-Electric-Propulsion-System-Operations-for-the-Transit-to-Mercury.pdf?origin=publication_detail Also qualifies as the longest URL ever ....

[@liamlive2972]

DO YOU PLAY ON HARD?

[@jamesmee4227]

Brillinat!

[@coffmanlove2020]

Awesome

[@SergKiev87]

How do you plot that initial orbit before the launch, in KSP?

[@scottmanley]

It’s part of the mission, you can’t do it normally.

[@SergKiev87]

@@scottmanley That is the shame, I could really use those to take full advantage of Oberth effect for interplanetary injection burns. Instead I'm just going polar for this, cause I can't guess the proper orbit.

[@RexRegire]

I'm french... . But french accent.... Dear Loooord... save our souls (I'm not better than her, even worst..^^)

[@kobby2g8]

Hi Elsa from ESA

[@SgtSayWhat]

Well this is fucking cool

[@mylotic9709]

Ksp!

[@DamithaNadeeshaWanniarachchi]

Why is it called "BepiColombo"?

[@DC2022]

Explained in the video

[@fellipec]

Loved her accent, but harder to me understand as I'm not so good with English.