KV2 'Pea' Reentry Module

[Satan]

What's up with this thing? My ship with the MK1 command module gets to like 300k altitude, when i replace it with the pea thingy, it gets to like 10k? It just starts flipping as soon as i decouple the main thrusters on the bottom, no matter how many fins i place and where i place them..

[Aranador]

It is almost like the pea is a much worse aerodynamic shape than a cone, and weighs more ! If only you could tuck it into some sort of aerodynamic fairing for lift off.

[Satan]

I'm just getting started, I have barely unlocked anything but i need this thing to ferry my VIP to suborbital flight. I managed to do it , just barely, but it works..

[Aranador]

It isnt KSP if it doesnt blow up a few times.

[Chibbity]

The Pea has no built in reaction wheels.

(Being a "re-entry" module as the name implies, it doesn't need them.)

Which is why it's flipping on ascent.

[BlocklandRunner]

"the Pea is a worse aerodynamic shape tthan a cone"
then technically the same can be said about the KV-1 and 3?

[MechBFP]

You have to put those into a fairing. Those things absolutely suck in an atmosphere and have incredibly high drag.
Get the crew cabin cylinder thing instead and use that with the regular mk1 command pod.

[ghpstage]

The size and shape of the re-entry pods gives them horrible aerodynamic performance, if you want to use them then thinking outside of the box helps. This was how I got to orbit in my Kerbal Onion Program career.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1684836653

[Satan]

Originally posted by MechBFP:

You have to put those into a fairing. Those things absolutely suck in an atmosphere and have incredibly high drag.
Get the crew cabin cylinder thing instead and use that with the regular mk1 command pod.

Thanks :)

[gregoryk64]

Originally posted by Satan:

Originally posted by MechBFP:

You have to put those into a fairing. Those things absolutely suck in an atmosphere and have incredibly high drag.
Get the crew cabin cylinder thing instead and use that with the regular mk1 command pod.

Thanks :)

The crew cabin is the best way to go for VIP and tourist missions, but they can be very tricky on re-entry. So if I may offer a couple of tips...

Be sure to add a couple of coolant radiators to the cabin along with a heat shield. Without them, you stand a good chance of cooking your passengers on re-entry. Also, use drogue chutes along with your main chute.

If possible, use a pilot leveled up enough to hold retrograde automatically while re-entering the atmosphere. It can be done just using stability assist, but there is a much greater chance that your vessel will flip prograde in lower atmosphere and you can't recover. The ship will then accelerate nose first toward the surface and continue to gain speed, preventing you from slowing enough to deploy chutes. Nothing left to do then except watch your Kerbals crash and die.

[Chibbity]

You shouldn't need radiators, heck you can even drain all the ablator off the heat shield.

[gregoryk64]

Originally posted by Chibbity:

You shouldn't need radiators, heck you can even drain all the ablator off the heat shield.

Maybe not for very low suborbital flights, but I've found it pretty much impossible to return a tourist mission from orbit without the crew cabin burning up if the radiators aren't installed. And that isn't even with a steep rate of descent. Unless I'm doing something wrong, which could very well be.

[Chibbity]

Originally posted by gregoryk64:

Maybe not for very low suborbital flights, but I've found it pretty much impossible to return a tourist mission from orbit without the crew cabin burning up if the radiators aren't installed. And that isn't even with a steep rate of descent. Unless I'm doing something wrong, which could very well be.

Well, I'm not sure what exactly it would be, but yeah; you are doing something wrong.

Just de-orbited this from 80/80, no ablator. Didn't even get that hot.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1688669592

What kind of re-entry Pe are you setting up? I like 35k, it get's you down through the hottest part of the atmo faster. Steep can be good, as going shallow will mean spending lot's of time heating up. It's a bit counter intuitive admittedly to what your common sense may be telling you, try experimenting with some steeper angles, I think you'll find they are actually safer.

[AoD_lexandro]

Originally posted by gregoryk64:

Originally posted by Chibbity:

You shouldn't need radiators, heck you can even drain all the ablator off the heat shield.

Maybe not for very low suborbital flights, but I've found it pretty much impossible to return a tourist mission from orbit without the crew cabin burning up if the radiators aren't installed. And that isn't even with a steep rate of descent. Unless I'm doing something wrong, which could very well be.

You only need radiators for mining operations or for extreme proximity to the Sun. for anything else they are completely useless and dead weight. If your craft are exploding on re-entry with heatshields attached you have an issue with the game and/or settings.

[MechBFP]

Originally posted by gregoryk64:

Originally posted by Chibbity:

You shouldn't need radiators, heck you can even drain all the ablator off the heat shield.

Maybe not for very low suborbital flights, but I've found it pretty much impossible to return a tourist mission from orbit without the crew cabin burning up if the radiators aren't installed. And that isn't even with a steep rate of descent. Unless I'm doing something wrong, which could very well be.

Did you turn up the entry heating setting in the difficulty settings? That would do it for sure.

[gregoryk64]

Originally posted by Chibbity:

Originally posted by gregoryk64:

Maybe not for very low suborbital flights, but I've found it pretty much impossible to return a tourist mission from orbit without the crew cabin burning up if the radiators aren't installed. And that isn't even with a steep rate of descent. Unless I'm doing something wrong, which could very well be.

Well, I'm not sure what exactly it would be, but yeah; you are doing something wrong.

Just de-orbited this from 80/80, no ablator. Didn't even get that hot.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1688669592

What kind of re-entry Pe are you setting up? I like 35k, it get's you down through the hottest part of the atmo faster. Steep can be good, as going shallow will mean spending lot's of time heating up. It's a bit counter intuitive admittedly to what your common sense may be telling you, try experimenting with some steeper angles, I think you'll find they are actually safer.

My go to on orbital passenger missions is 95-100K circular orbit, then when I hit Ap I bring Pe to 30-35K for my re-entry angle. I've already eyeballed Pe so I can be pretty certain of a water landing. After the Pe adjustment, I keep the vessel prograde and ditch my engines at 80K altitude. At 75K I turn retro and wait for re-entry. Atmosphere burn on the heat shield starts around 50-52K altitude (airspeed is around 2300) and doesn't let up til about 20K. With that setup, my passengers pretty much cook and explode by about 30K if I don't use a radiator even with a heat shield.

I'll have to try one with a steeper rate of descent and see it it helps. Thanks for the suggestions.