Question Thruster ISP

[StevoPistolero]

I created a ship, LP-13, and the thrusters are burning through my fuel tanks. How do I increase the efficiency of just the thrusters using Spacecraft3?

 

[dgatsoulis]

The burn-time is [math] T_{burn}=\frac{m_{fuel}\cdot u_e}{F_{thrust}}[/math]
where [math]m_{fuel}[/math] is the fuel mass,
[math]u_e[/math] is the exhaust velocity (SC3's ISP)
[math]F_{thrust}[/math] is the thrust of the engine

So for a given fuel mass, you can increase the burn-time by raising the exhaust velocity and/or by lowering the thrust of the engine.

 

[StevoPistolero]

The main engines are fine, I am talking about maneuvering thrusters.

 

[DaveS]

The main engines are fine, I am talking about maneuvering thrusters.

In that case, you're toast. In SC3, all thrusters share the same ISP and propellant tank (main, RCS, retro and hover).

 

[StevoPistolero]

In that case, you're toast. In SC3, all thrusters share the same ISP and propellant tank (main, RCS, retro and hover).

Can it be done if I write a custom module outside of Spacecraft3?

 

[DaveS]

Can it be done if I write a custom module outside of Spacecraft3?

Yes. Any thruster can be assigned its own thrust, ISP and propellant tank. The above mentioned problems is just with SC3 as it is so old. The last update of SC3 dates all the way back to 2005 and it has not received any updates since then. The "replacement" is GenericVessel: http://www.orbiter-forum.com/showthread.php?t=30362