Antimatter - sswelm/KSPInterstellar GitHub Wiki

Each unit of antimatter represents 1mg of Anti-Hydrogen. When combined with matter it violently annihilates, producing lots of energy to power your reactors if done in a controlled fashion or exploding with cataclysmic results if handled improperly.

Antimatter is present in varying amounts in each planet's sphere of influence. The density depends on the location within that planet's magnetic field. Larger magnetic fields trap more antimatter and thus open that resource up to collection with Antimatter Collectors.

Resource Collection

Antimatter can be obtained via one of two methods, both of which are time consuming and energy intensive. Both issues can be dealt with by either scaling the operation upwards or simply using time warp.

Important to both methods is that the antimatter be put somewhere where it will be stored properly. [Antimatter Containment Device](Antimatter Containment Devices) are the appropriate place to put antimatter that you don't want to interact with regular matter. These must remain powered the entire time that there is antimatter aboard the craft. 30 seconds without power will result in the antimatter being released with high explosive potential. This typically means the complete loss of the attached vessel. It is highly suggested that ships containing antimatter have backup generators with long life spans (e.g. molten salt fission reactor designs) so that the containment devices have continual power. Depending on the size of the collection operation, a single SAFE-1500 fission reactor should have enough power to handle a small number of 2.5m antimatter containment devices.

Antimatter Collectors

This method utilizes Antimatter Collectors to gather antimatter from the planet/moon that you are currently orbiting. For each planet/moon, there are specific orbits which are optimal for collection, although the device will attempt to collect antimatter as long as it is powered.

The vessel with the antimatter collectors does not have to be the ship currently in focus for it to collect antimatter. Once you switch back to the ship, then the antimatter generated on that orbit for the amount of time that it has been in the background will become available to you.

Antimatter Generation

The second method is to utilize the Science Lab's "Antimatter Factory" option. This will convert power, up to 5GW, into antimatter at an extremely low efficiency rate of 0.5%. When fully powered, the lab will generate 2.78x10^(-4) mg antimatter/second or 24mg/day. Much like the antimatter collectors, these labs do not need to be the vessel in focus for them to generate antimatter. They do require a dedicated power supply to guarantee full antimatter production.

Resource Transfer

Antimatter can be shifted around from tank to tank like most resources through the left-click method or via a plug-in such as TAC Fuel Balancer. Antimatter is a non-stack separated resource, similar to monopropellant.