Can you use Nuclear Power to Get into Space in Kerbal Space Program?

[@DecidedlyNinja]

Reid is very smart, but I swear he's never seen an airplane. Edit: Years later and I'm still getting comments saying, "actually Reid is dumb." Warms the heart. /s

[@danielp1412]

true

[@dannyboy1350]

he is not smart he just spends alot of time on things that are ok'ish

[@gdigrenadier8252]

@@dannyboy1350 man if you saying he aint smart then that means you are the human equivalent of a goldfish

[@dannyboy1350]

@@gdigrenadier8252 tell me, what makes him smart

[@gdigrenadier8252]

@@dannyboy1350 hes able to make engines, trains, planes all kinds of damn things with games that didnt even have those sorts of 'features'

[@MrEpyLeptik]

Wow, seems like the radiation from that many engines can even rip the bitrate in half

[@ReidCaptain]

It's some nasty stuff

[@urbanarchitect74]

@@ReidCaptainhow much did it cost?

[@Clan_skaven]

@@urbanarchitect74”four hundred thousand to fly the rocket, for 12 seconds”

[@adityapratapsingh1502]

@@Clan_skaven oh my lord i never thought i would get this reference in a ksp video

[@victor_creator]

My intuition is that something smaller would work a lot better here. Maybe the solution isn't just to add more thrusters, but to try and increase the effectiveness of the ones you have. That's what I'd do, anyway.

[@scronchgoose7403]

More thrusters means more “free mass” to work with. If you have one thruster, you only have x amount of weight you can add before overburdening it. This amount of mass is shortened further by the fuel and fuel containers to power it. By adding another thruster, you now have twice the free mass to work with, and you can have them both draw from a bigger fuel container, which has more efficient container mass:fuel mass. This effect keeps stacking. TLDR: moar powah

[@noahtanzell4543]

@@scronchgoose7403 in my own experience, with low power ssto's such as this, their is a certain critical point where adding more mass (fuel and thrusters) simply slows you down. So I do think he's right.

[@jdwoods5790]

@@scronchgoose7403 if you have less engines and more fuel then you’d get farther

[@Tzizenorec]

@@noahtanzell4543 This isn't an SSTO though. With multiple stages, you can add as much mass as you want and always benefit from it to some degree.

[@Swagmaster07]

@@Tzizenorec He built a plane in the end, not the same as a Rocket, can usually have under 1 TWR, and having too many engines / things isn't that great, drag exists buddy. But honestly there is no point in this discussion, this was just a stupid little challenge, nobody would use Nuclear engines for their whole craft.

[@SamWinters]

Spending the entire middle of the video just screaming "CENTER OF LIFT!" at the screen

[@jackcahillmusic]

Just a heads-up dude. That wasn't orbit. That was a ballistic trajectory. Orbit is when it doesn't come back down. What you saw was your speedometer changing modes tracking your speed relative to the surface, to tracking your speed relative to the planet's centre of mass. Hence, surface speed and orbital speed. If you had a bit more juice you could have burned prograde at the top of your trajectory and you would have made it into orbit.

[@magica3526]

the navball switches to orbit mode at set height, where it no longer makes sense to take the planets rotation into account

[@theneonbop]

I think he knows this and just wanted to say he got into "orbit" because he thought he wouldn't be able to achieve actual orbit

[@magica3526]

@@theneonbop I wouldn't accuse him of intentionally lying but I see why you could think that

[@ItsMr_Z]

Shut.

[@dannyboy1350]

@@ItsMr_Z no you

[@labo3900]

Hey, about the tail moving up and down in the end, it is possible that it is your "keep stable" SAS acting up, it happens when you launch a rocket and it is a little bit unstable, the SAS actually makes that instability worse because it tries to compensate for every piece independently instead of the whole structure it seems, that problem also happens to me a lot

[@ReidCaptain]

Yeah, I turned it off intermittently and that seemed to solve the waving. Didn't want to get too into it since it was such a specific issue

[@magica3526]

no, it tries to stabilize your craft, but assumes it's rigid. If it's at all wobbly then the delay and distortion can't be accounted for. It's the opposite of what you're claiming

[@danburrykerman6826]

you can fix this with struts or autostrutting to root.

[@labo3900]

@@magica3526 ho alright thank you for the precision !

[@wstoner2237]

@@labo3900 lmao

[@bogeyboiplays4580]

the entire point of the dawn is to go slow, but be efficient about it

[@ReidCaptain]

Absolutely, making it the worst booster stage ever

[@dannyboy1350]

@@ReidCaptain well how do you plane on going interstellar glitchless

[@tackyinbention6248]

Wait till he discovers that you can press shift while using the offset tool to move things super far away without the need for a physical connection

[@michagrill9432]

He seems new to KSP 🤔

[@proxy3386]

@@michagrill9432 yeah.. and I just feel like he just has no idea what he is doing the entire time.

[@Tzizenorec]

@Cameron L I don't think he thinks the Dawn engines are nuclear. It's more that his initial goal was to get to space with "deep space" engines, but he named the video "nuclear engines" because that's what he ultimately wound up using.

[@matsv201]

Your issue is wing efficency. That is, the lighter a wing is loaded, the more efficent it is. Because ksp dont calculate down draft, its possible to just spam wings. A typical modern aircraft have a lift to draf ratio of 15-20. In ksp its easy to get over 50. Pretty much just spaming wings. This also alows it to fly slower, hence needing less engines and being able to carry more fuel. If you want to do it realistically, it should be one really long wing, like a sail plane with a single nuclear engine. Also, drop tanks is recomended. Its also way easier to take of with a aircraft with slower design speed. Also when lifting up, the aircraft should use the same CAS at diffrent altitudes. There is online tools to calculate it. Figure out the aircraft most efficent speed, then calculate the CAS at diffrent airspeeds and just keep to it. Having a fairly slow aircraft also helps put more energy into altitude than air resistance.

[@bradley9856]

This guy does maths

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Indeed, I often end up building triwing plane, but the wings are inside each other and also inside the fuselage.

[@josephpentony4804]

I remember Stratzenblitz75 doing something like this. Its interesting to see someone else’s take on the problem. You definitely need more struts though. Adding staging of some kind would also help considerably in increasing your delta-V.

[@BlackholeYT11]

Something I think would be fun would be to run a subscriber challenge competition in KSP. Like you set a task, you attempt it, your subscribers attempt it, then we see your attempt and also some of the submissions and see how different people approached it and who did the best.

[@Nickgowans]

"orbit" Orbiting what? The centre of the earth? I don't think that counts.

[@ruthmoreton6975]

Pull your gear up as soon as you leave the ground. The landing gear produces a fair amount of drag which your engines have to compete against

[@aarnealplayzgames9580]

You can’t fool me, that ain’t a nuclear helicopter rotor, that’s a nuclear beyblade

[@pokakoka69]

Since you only managed to achieve a ballistic trajectory I think that I will try and do my own take on this challenge as it sounds pretty fun

[@BlackholeYT11]

Didn't see you checking the widgets in the video, but remember, center of mass just in front of the center of drag and your plane won't flip!

[@MrrVlad]

regarding helicopter design - you can get to ~20k altitude using reaction control wheels and solar panels with a useful payload. Need a satellite in stationary orbit right above KSC to use as a target for SAS.

[@AspectDuck]

The issue with the nuclear engines is that they don’t have gimbal, so it’s insanely hard to control

[@ReidCaptain]

Very true, vectoring is generally so good I forget it's even there

[@AspectDuck]

@@ReidCaptain same lol

[@RileyMarkley]

@@ReidCaptain REaction wheels to the rescue

[@rowbot5555]

@@ReidCaptain you can use the action groups to make it control via thrust differentials, or you could use hinges to artificially gimbal it

[@mkzhero]

That's what reaction wheels, wings, and proper craft design are for.

[@paggnut]

Last video was an intercontinental balistic missile, now you are testing with nuclear power... I see where you are going and I dont know if I like it btw would it be possible to build a boat in ksp?

[@ReidCaptain]

Oooo a boat would be fun, I'll add it to my list!

[@joeladams939]

@@ReidCaptain yes

[@jacobmiller3933]

@@ReidCaptain make it an aircraft carrier and launch a plane from it

[@keesvdb]

Yes boats are possible as well as submarines

[@Terminarch]

Boats and submarines are possible.

[@dylansimmons799]

This is physically painful to watch

[@proxy3386]

As a experienced KSP player I agree.

[@dylansimmons799]

@@proxy3386 It's so hard to watch after playing hundreds of hours of it

[@proxy3386]

@@dylansimmons799 Yeah..

[@shy8054]

Fallout Spaceship.

[@Superwazop]

Fall out of the sky

[@erikez0584]

How he turn in nuclear engine

[@samuelcaponi4516]

*Jason Bright would like to know your location*

[@snowboyz0825]

Thank you for mentioning that

[@ethangbb]

Project Orion could be a better example

[@Sigurther]

If it werkz, it ain't stoopid." KSP Lead Rocket Scientist Kerbher Von Braun, 2022

[@YMandarin]

he went down the spaceplane ssto rabbit hole

[@Aptol]

"It's Spinning So Fast That The Ion Engines Are Expanding" Struts And Autostruts:

[@crinkledalebob9234]

Be careful your kerbals might come back with 11 toes

[@NeutronicalGaming]

I've taken a nuclear ssto to the moon before so i knew this was possible, if you go with 5 or so of them and keep the craft as light as humanly possible it can work.

[@PhoenixTwoFiftySix]

nice job, the game autoswitched the speed notation from relative to the surface to relative to earth itself aka orbital speed. you got on a suborbital trajectory with nuclear engines.

[@JuanPretorius]

"but stuff started exploding and that was kind of a problem" very much a KSP video, nice!

[@SuprSBG1]

There were so many things that made me go AAAAAAGHG as an experienced KSP player but hey it's ok

[@proxy3386]

Yeah, I am experienced as well and I can clearly tell this guy has no idea whatsoever about what they are doing.

[@datb0013]

Oh god yes. No wonder he was going slow he didn’t use nosecones at all

[@ryan1034]

less weight ❌ more thrusters ✔️

[@DataDownLynk]

I'm tempted to give this a shot, if I do I'm gonna use your stage setup, with a rocket launch sled, a space plane stage, and a rocket pod final.

[@bcrides1639]

Man Please for the love of god use the center of mass and aerodynamics button

[@ivyr5339]

i just love how the first few pods shaped like circles are called "pea pods"

[@myselfbutwhoiame3401]

Hmmmm IT smells like 1970 america here

[@ReidCaptain]

Yes

[@jackrose5077]

This is certainly one of the best parts of this game, where you can run experiments like a mad scientist.

[@christopherhoward2487]

This is not orbit. KSP switched to show orbital velocity vs surface speed. The change is not an indication that you reached orbit. Orbit is much faster.

[@joshallison4857]

I was not ready for that cut at 9:21 😆

[@FlyingLemur17]

Best youtuber I’ve seen in a long time

[@ArriEllieJelly]

This is one of the most hilarious things I have seen in a long time, thank you :)

[@bobjoebo8933]

You need to rescue the rest of your Kerbals!

[@Buffalo_Soldier]

13:40 this doesn't mean that you are in orbit. It just shows you orbital velocity (It's derived from angular velocity in regards to center of planet) Also - you can click on speed-meter and it will switch between surface and orbital velocities :) I believe when you're landed you have like ~300m/s orbital velocity in eastern direction.

[@cptnraptor]

Watching videos like this makes me feel like I've been lucky to have people like Matt Lowne and Scott Manley make spacecraft. If your engine isn't very good in atmosphere, the answer is not more bad engines, it's more lifting surfaces. The way to get to space is to counter your weight with thrust, lifting surfaces reduce the apparent weight of a craft based on the density of the atmosphere and the aerodynamic forces acting on it.

[@jonathancox92]

Nukes aren't "awful". At least most places that aren't the surface of Kerbin. Once you're in space, the nuclear engines are in fact, quite legitimate. Think about it: most of the bodies in the Kerbol system are low-gravity, airless rocks. You can pretty easily make a Duna Lander with nothing but nukes! They actually save you a lot of play time by allowing for smaller and lighter interplanetary ships, and not having to waste time launching absolute monstrosities to LKO. Still a cool video though! Maybe work on your aerodynamics and try again? Your planes are flipping because they're not balanced well, have too much drag and no auto-struts. (I honestly don't know why they're not turned on by default) I HIGHLY recommend looking up old Scott Manley videos to improve!

[@atomixx_9958]

2:48 I like how he said it is getting a little unstable As proceeds to rip the fabric of the Universe apart

[@nomekop777]

Another issue with the big s delta wings is that they store fuel. If you were planning on having enough with the fuel tanks themselves, you could save a decent amount of weight by emptying the wings

[@TotallyNoAim]

bro, the fuel is usable and you even have to put it in so they have it in. You get way more delta-v with fuel in the wings (m/s/weight)

[@soulfireechogaming4313]

Always love your content Reid. Keep it up!

[@SlingshotPhighting]

You vids are "AWESOME"

[@SlingshotPhighting]

*AWESOME*

[@sierra7.]

They are

[@roostydoo2]

This is the person that has all the games that you didn't know you wanted except you always wanted them

[@lordrynogaming1553]

its like some sort of nuclear death frisbee, i love it

[@silly_sheep09]

ahhh the good ol kerbal way. Strap stuff together until it works and you have a giant mess (that works)

[@arericarnau4773]

''it looks preaty good'' while a storm of nuclear powered engines spill all of their hazerdous materials all over the dessert

[@NemNess1125]

" it gets a little unstable" Meanwhile, the creation: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[@fo-ef8qo]

"Hey boss, do you we need some sort of steering mechanism for before the plane gets airborne?" 'Nonsense! 40 nuclear rockets will be fine!'

[@manrajdahry2755]

At 9:26 I was amazed that this was a plane Nice video!

[@boucwol]

Nerv nuclear engines are actually my go to for the transfer stage of basically all my rockets, they are extremely powerful in a vacuum.

[@dydunyatv4286]

Juat 60 kn

[@CyanZone69]

yes another KSP vid!

[@maybebasssing3291]

I would love more KSP

[@wayacrazy.]

This is the first ksp video i ever watched

[@jbatesist]

imagine being a kerbal, getting on a plane that has a ton of engines, fuel tanks and big wings and still dying.

[@prshow6905]

The plane was just twerking in the end🤣

[@Dept_Of_Homeland_Security]

Why in gods name do you need such a massive fucking plane **remembers hes trying to get into space** Oh thats why

[@drknight0988]

"it does actully destroy the crew capsule but it goes up a bit." the us in a nutshell

[@SpaceDogLaika]

Remember to pull in your landing gear after takeoff :P

[@skylarhurst4093]

Autostrut? Hold my beer and watch this

[@KaneyoriHK]

I've tried this challenge, it's why I ended up going with a space plane and go off the airstrip, helped me get into the air more reliably. Good in space travel for long periods of time cause low-no gravity, but gravity just makes it terrible.

[@guy_who_does_job]

The fall on the ion engine propeller test was so depresing

[@sussybawka9999]

KSP Theorem: Any object that can generate any motion can get you into space, and beyond

[@Lexyvil]

Didn't even know the game had rotors or helicopter physics!... I mean sure I know aerodynamics is a thing in the game, but didn't expect it to be down to that detail! Amazing!

[@jweebo1463]

Diminishing returns means nothing to this man 😂

[@cejic2199]

just discovered your ksp vids, gotta say i like em a lot! anyways try getting to the mun without maneuver nodes

[@ReidCaptain]

I think I could even try getting to duna or something but the amount of save scumming would be wild

[@jan_Sanku]

@@ReidCaptain I mean with enough Δv for constant course corrections and proper planning of transfer windows it shouldn't be too difficult as long as you can look at the map. Now, doing it _without_ the map would be a real challenge, but it should be possible with sufficient planning

[@ckeimel]

Playing KSP the right way Great video!

[@proxy3386]

Right way?

[@joops110]

You're trying to shoot a reversed arrow. Center of mass goes in front of the center of lift! Kerbal 101!

[@HarryLarsson-b2n]

my brother in christ AUTOSTRUT LITERALLY EXISTS

[@regentwaynekerr]

the kraken was literally playing with you lmao

[@Lme31]

Advice for Reid, do the basics, wings and vertical and horizontal stabilizers then if the wings are huge compared to the plane make them smaller, some time less weight is better

[@CrimsonTintedGlasses]

My man made an entire nuclear powered bey-blade. Holy crap.

[@Zorro9129]

Today I learned your plane shouldn't be back-heavy....

[@TsunauticusIV]

Wt absolute f is this build progression style? 😂 love it

[@blakethesnek1]

Didn't know that xenon actually worked in-atmosphere.. Thanks.

[@vizender]

Technically that’s not orbit, but a suborbital trajectory. But still, nice job

[@wdelgenio]

@5:37 GEAR UP!! @6:34 GEAR UP!!!!! @8:37 GEAR UP!!!!!!! CMON! Is this rage bait? This has to be rage bait.

[@wholelottamiata6976]

A lot of the problems could have been solved with better weight and balance. The CG was too nose heavy which increases stall speed, created extra drag, and made it very unstable.

[@Conservative_Patriot]

Hey I think more videos weekly would be awesome because I love your videos and I love how you run your channel we just need more content it’s awesome

[@johnmoore5104]

Struts, better center of gravity vs center of lift, and less drag and more thrust to weight.

[@bautistamercader4737]

Move the wings back, and the delta wings looks very heavy

[@gregdrivesajetta]

You calling these engines bad is like judging a fish on its ability to climb a tree.

[@pembobro]

DUDE KERBAL SPACE PROGRAM 2 IS ALMOST READY TO LAUNCH ON STEAM

[@Phoenix2.5D]

That's very environmentally friendly. Yup.

[@YeensWrath]

When it doubt.. You just gotta add more.

[@freevbucks8019]

center of gravity, center of lift and center of thrust. You're welcome

[@zerotakis]

It's hard to say if the world was more shocked by this complete overkill of rocket design or the sudden focus of the space program toward finding a cure for acute radiation sickness.

[@Benjius21]

“its a BIT unsteady”

[@Lele_MHR]

Next video: using only RCS engines to land on Eeloo!

[@rakszy]

Early gang! Love to see topics I enjoy in my free time.

[@lehazing5957]

cool video but hey, i still dont think --yet-- that u re in orbit when the speed in ksp switches to "orbital measurement"

[@proxy3386]

Yeah, you need to circularize above the Karman Line at Appoapis

[@that_hoser_143]

He buys a game and uses it completely backwards

[@rawchicken3463]

I haven't seen a whole lot from KSP but I've never seen someone manage to make a glider

[@xteremestudio2307]

I watched this whole video while playing sinkrate warning

[@Radioactive_195]

Reid until he finds out reaction wheels exist:

[@cookie__bros9089]

Reid’s channel is so unappreciated