Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, children have spent a lot of screen-time, often being admonished by their parents. Rohan Woodcock tells us what he has learnt while he has been, according to his mother, playing games!
Of the many games in my collection, Kerbal Space Program (KSP) is easily one of my favourites. Behind what may seem like a children’s game to the unassuming viewer, lies a complex orbital simulation; teaching of the perilous nature of spaceflight and struggle of engineering.
The premise of the game is quite simple: you are in charge of a space program much like NASA – except instead of humans, the population consists of short, green beings known as ‘Kerbals’.
The objective of the game is up to you. Constructing space stations in orbit around the various planets and moons of the Kerbol system, landing on those planets, or sending probes out to far flung asteroid belts are all worthwhile endeavours. However, in order to complete any of these tasks, one must understand how to build rockets and probes capable of reaching destinations millions of kilometres away, and escaping Kerbin’s thick atmosphere to enter orbit.
Rocket design takes place in the VAB (vehicle assembly building), based off the real VAB at NASA. Parts are selected from a list of more than a hundred and can be attached to each other to form a rocket.
When building the rocket, the mass of each stage must be considered, lower stages should have sufficient thrust to lift the whole rocket, while also burning for long enough to increase the rockets velocity to orbital speeds. Different rocket engines also have a varying specific impulse (ISP) – which measures how efficient they are. This means that engines with a higher vacuum ISP are used in higher stages as they will be more effective when the rocket is in space. This can lead to a lot of complexity, especially when designing rockets that need to travel a far distance, as every stage must be optimised.
Once the rocket is ready, lift off is as easy as pressing spacebar and hoping for the best. Once the rocket is about 10,000 metres high, a 45 degree tilt eastward is needed to accelerate horizontally, while also raising its apoapsis. The apoapsis is the highest point that an object will reach on its trajectory. Once this is in space, the rocket is tiled horizontal and accelerates to orbital velocity. Without this stage, it would fall back down to Kerbin.
Once the rocket is going fast enough, it is in orbit and the engine can be switched off. Unlike real life, where orbits gradually deteriorate due to the slight presence of atmosphere in space near earth, our spacecraft will stay in orbit forever. From here, the mission task can be completed.
I hope you have enjoyed this short article about KSP. Below are screenshots of various creations that I have made.
Sounds like an interesting and fun game, Rohan. I guess this one can be allowed 😉