Actual use for the electric engine

[ToTheStone]

I ma very new to ksp so I have ben experimenting lots, I came across the electic porpulstion engine and was like " yay I can get as far as I want in space withou worrying bout running out of fuel" I got it up into space, activated it, and nothing happened, the force was so miniscule it could not move my tiny rocket. In what circumstances could I uses one.

[Quivico]

Interplanetary travel.
You also do know that it needs Xenon, right?

[ToTheStone]

Originally posted by Quivico:

Interplanetary travel.

But I was alredy in space, was I too close to the planet do you think?

[ToTheStone]

Yes I did use xon

[koimeiji]

Ion Engines need electricity to support function, and Xenon Gas as fuel (which goes down very very slowly.)

They also only have 2 kN of thrust.

Can you go anywhere with an ion craft? Pretty much.
How long will the burns take? Literal hours.

[Quivico]

The engine is used for long, effecient burns as an alternative to the nuclear engine. Don't use it for quick boosting.

[Melfice]

Originally posted by lucas.veltkamp:

Originally posted by Quivico:

Interplanetary travel.

But I was alredy in space, was I too close to the planet do you think?

Distance from a planet doesn't really matter.
The thrust is really low, but with a small amount of Xenon and quite a bit of electricity, you can go anywhere.

That's the power of the ion. You can go far. Just not fast.

[ToTheStone]

thanks

[dwringer]

Yeah kind of sucks since a lot of long-range trips require extremely long burns if you use these efficient engines (ion or nuclear) ... not to mention that the ion engines are incredibly heavy and thus almost worthless except on tiny relay satellites (at least in my experience - I'm sure SOMEBODY can find a better use for them). I hate making a trip to Jool or something, though, and realizing I have to hold my ship on course for the next 40 minutes. THAT, and that ALONE, is the only reason I can see for mandating something like MechJeb ... but MAN, it is mandatory.

[Gertjan]

anything bigger than a stayputnik will be quite heavy for an ion (you need doesend of them for the thrust of an LV-909).
i have found that a simple LVT-400 and a nuke can also get everywhere you'd want, and a lot faster to boot

[AlexMBrennan]

In what circumstances could I uses one.

1) place a small probe with xenon tanks and ion propulsion in low kerbin orbit, and use the ion engines to get to far away planets and transmit science back home
2) theoretically, for very lightweight long-range planes (e.g. Eve's dense atmosphere means you can take off at slow speed, and thus hit a lot of biomes with a small ion powered glider)... but a KAX electric propeller would make more sense

But I was alredy in space, was I too close to the planet do you think?

The closer you are to the planet, the more fuel you need to escape its gravity and go anywhere, so yes, if you were further away from Kerbin ION engines would work better... because you've already used the wasteful engines to get you halfway to the destination.

I hate making a trip to Jool or something, though, and realizing I have to hold my ship on course for the next 40 minutes. THAT, and that ALONE, is the only reason I can see for mandating something like MechJeb ... but MAN, it is mandatory.

Jeb can help you with that now!

[ToTheStone]

Thnak you all I have learnt lots

[Euruzilys]

Originally posted by AlexMBrennan:

In what circumstances could I uses one.

1) place a small probe with xenon tanks and ion propulsion in low kerbin orbit, and use the ion engines to get to far away planets and transmit science back home
2) theoretically, for very lightweight long-range planes (e.g. Eve's dense atmosphere means you can take off at slow speed, and thus hit a lot of biomes with a small ion powered glider)... but a KAX electric propeller would make more sense

But I was alredy in space, was I too close to the planet do you think?

The closer you are to the planet, the more fuel you need to escape its gravity and go anywhere, so yes, if you were further away from Kerbin ION engines would work better... because you've already used the wasteful engines to get you halfway to the destination.

I hate making a trip to Jool or something, though, and realizing I have to hold my ship on course for the next 40 minutes. THAT, and that ALONE, is the only reason I can see for mandating something like MechJeb ... but MAN, it is mandatory.

Jeb can help you with that now!

What is Jeb? Im new lol.

[IkkYuSoJuN]

Electric Ion engines are very good for small wheeled rovers on the 4 or 5 small moons in kerbal. they will turn a rover into a ship at a low weight cost

[AlexMBrennan]

What is Jeb? Im new lol.

Jeb (full name Jebediah Kerman) is one of the three orange suited "hero" kerbonauts you start the game with; as of 0.9, kerbonauts have skills and Jeb's pilot skill allows him to, among other things, keep the rocket pointed at the manoeuvre node.

Also, here's a plane I made earlier which has enough fuel to stay airborne for over five hours: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=373125068
Either needs a lot of solar panels (which are complete pain to place because of how they clip with anything that isn't a 1.25m fuselage) or thermal generators.

[Mack Yuu]

Normally, ion engines are used for lightweight probes once you're in orbit. As others have said, they have incredible efficiency (though xenon gas is still limited), but at the same time, they give out trash thrust power. If you're going to go interplanetary with them, it better not be anything heavier than a small remote satellite. I have a stock "basic satellite" for contracts that just require you to get the thing somewhere in the Kerbal SOI, but if it takes a materials bay or goo container, I'm more likely to go with a LV-909 probe.

However, while it took some engineering, I'm working on a reusable lander for Minmus contracts that alternates between using monopropellant engines for takeoff and landing and an ion engine for actual directional burns. Even if it does work, it would really only work on Minmus, though, because the low gravity lets it actually have a TWR > 1.0. So it *may* work on other moons if any have similarly low gravity, but I haven't had a chance to try it out on them (haven't gone interplanetary yet).