Frequently Asked Questions - sswelm/KSPInterstellar GitHub Wiki

1. Will the science lab generate research when my ship isn't the active vessel?
2. I have a science lab but it is not generating science?
3. I have a telescope in orbit but it is not generating science?
4. Will my ship continue collect/produce antimatter while my collector/science lab isn't on the active vessel?
5. I can't seem to connect the side node of the ISRU refinery to anything in the VAB even with part clipping enabled. Am I doing something wrong?
6. I'd like to test out some ships without worrying about dissipating WasteHeat, how do I do this?
7. My fusion reactors won't start, what do I do?
8. I have a refinery on the Mun and I'm trying to refuel my Aluminium Hybrid Rocket but I'm not getting any Oxidiser, why is this?
9. I've built a thermal rocket with a reactor on the launchpad but I'm not getting anywhere near the thrust it says in the table, why is this?
10. How do I upgrade components?
11. How do you switch fuels in the nuclear reactor?
12. I added radiators to my ship, but my waste heat keeps going up! What's wrong?
13. Can you make the thermal helper window go away? I experience anguish every time I see it.
14. Why does the Sabatier Process consume energy?! It's exothermic!
15. In career mode, the tech tree does not display the same tree as what I see in your screenshots! What the what?
16. In career mode, some of the KSPI parts are grayed out when I try to use them in the VAB or SPH. How do I fix this?

Will the science lab generate research when my ship isn't the active vessel?

Yes it will. In order to receive the science from your labs, you will need to switch back to the science lab after you have been using other vessels, at this point you will see a message on screen which will tell you how much science has been added to the R&D centre.

I have a science lab but it is not generating science?

In order to produce science with the Science Lab you need 5MW of energy from a Generator/Reactor or a Microwave Receiver. It is independent of the E/C you have. The stupidity of your Kerbals also affects how much science you will get. Visit Science Lab for more info.

I have a telescope in orbit but it is not generating science?

As of Interstellar version .11 the telescopes are currently bugged. The best way to get the science is to edit a quicksave to give yourself the amount of science you should have received.

Will my ship continue collect/produce antimatter while my collector/science lab isn't on the active vessel?

Yes it will.

I can't seem to connect the side node of the ISRU refinery to anything in the VAB even with part clipping enabled. Am I doing something wrong?

No, unfortunately this is a problem with the base game. It is the same issue that prevents the stock 6-way hub part from being attached in certain orientations. In both cases it is only possible to attach the part to another part along one axis, e.g. top-bottom, rather than, for example, top and right.

It is, however, possible once you have placed the part to attach other things to it via the side node.

You can swap which node is available by swapping the order of the "node_stack_right = " and "node_stack_bottom =" lines in the part.cfg file found in GameData/WarpPlugin/Parts/Utility/Refinery

I'd like to test out some ships without worrying about dissipating WasteHeat, how do I do this?

In the GameData/WarpPlugin folder you will find a file called WarpPluginSettings.cfg, in this file you will see the line "ThermalMechanicsDisabled = False" change this to "ThermalMechanicsDisabled = True", save the file and reload KSP.

My fusion reactors won't start, what do I do?

Fusion reactors require a continuous supply of electricity in order to contiue to function, this is required to heat the plasma to the high temperatures needed for initiation of a fusion reaction. Adding a microwave transceiver or a small fission reactor to your ship is a good way of getting the power.

I have a refinery on the Mun and I'm trying to refuel my Aluminium Hybrid Rocket but I'm not getting any Oxidiser, why is this?

Oxidiser requires fuel crossfeed capable components or fuel lines in order to be transferred between parts. Fuel lines from refineries need to go in the opposite direction to what you expect - i.e. from the hybrid rocket to the refinery.

I've built a thermal rocket with a reactor on the launchpad but I'm not getting anywhere near the thrust it says in the table, why is this?

In the base KSP game, rockets have specific impulses that vary between a sea level and vacuum rating, however the thrust of base game KSP engines is fixed. That means fuel needs to be pumped into the engine faster on the ground compared to in space. That isn't terribly realistic, real rocket engines pump fuel at the same rate, they simply have to deal with lower thrust on the ground and that is the way that the thermal rocket works as well.

Once in space and even in the upper atmosphere, you will see much improved thrust.

How do I upgrade components?

When you research the appropriate technology in the R&D center (see Home#technology), any parts that you construct are automatically upgraded. Any upgradable parts that are on craft already in flight are not automatically upgraded; you can right click on them and upgrade them individually.

How do you switch fuels in the nuclear reactor?

See the reactor page for all the details, but basically you eva and do a manual shutdown, then wait for the most dangerous daughter products to themselves decay away (a 9hr half-life), then you can refuel or swap fuels. Make sure you have enough room to put the uranium after it comes out of the reactor; the larger reactors need more than one tank's worth of space.

I added radiators to my ship, but my waste heat keeps going up! What's wrong?

In all likelihood, nothing is wrong. In version 0.9, waste heat mechanics were changed. Prior to that, if you had enough radiators, your ship would never accumulate any waste heat at all. Otherwise, your waste heat would accumulate slowly until you overheated. When the version 0.9 came out, it was changed so that your radiators' temperature was dependent on your level of waste heat. This means that you will gradually accumulate waste heat until your radiators heat up enough to dissipate the heat at the same rate as it is produced.

If you have enough radiators for your ship, you will eventually reach thermal equilibrium and your waste heat level will stabilize. You can visit Waste Heat Management for more details on how to determine how many radiators is enough.

Can you make the thermal helper window go away? I experience anguish every time I see it.

Fractal_UK mentioned back when this was introduced that he is planning on improving it, and on integrating it with the toolbar mod but he didn't want to delay the last release.

Why does the Sabatier process consume energy?! It's exothermic!

Yes, the Sabatier process is exothermic. However, the mod has simplified things very slightly. The Sabatier process combines hydrogen gas with carbon dioxide gas to produce methane and water. The point of this process is to produce fuel while on Duna (or anywhere else that may happen to have a CO[sub]2[/sub] atmosphere. However, you require oxygen in order to burn fuel. Remember that triangle thing they taught you in school? Heat, Fuel and Oxygen; deprive a fire of any one of them and it dies. The refinery is automatically electrolyzing the water to recover hydrogen gas from it, as well as the oxygen. It uses this extra hydrogen gas to produce more methane, and the oxygen to produce Oxidiser. (Actually KSP Interstellar makes the simplifying assumption that LiquidFuel represents liquid hydrogen, and that Oxidiser represents liquid oxygen.) The upshot is that electrolyzing water takes power, and quite a significant amount of it. When you read about the Sabatier process on Wikipedia, it doesn't include step.

Tech tree does not display the same tree as what I see in your screenshots.

If you start a career mode game and then later add KSPI to your list, then KSP is attempting to use the stock tech tree with KSPI parts thrown in different nodes all over the place. This can be a bit frustrating. Some parts do not even display in the tree, others only come in a few sizes. The easiest solution is to switch to the KSPI tech tree. The main difference is that there are added nodes to represent the difficulty in researching a capable FTL drive that does more than simply hold snacks.

The way to make this change is to edit the gamesave file. If this makes you nervous, then simply start a new career mode game and you should be prompted for which tech tree you want to use (select "KSP Interstellar"). Even if you are not nervous, are feeling particularly frisky, and want to edit your gamesave, still do the previous step.

Exit Kerbal Space Program. Make a backup of your "saves" folder. Just in case.

Open the gamesave persistent file for your new career mode game and the one for your old career mode game. One of the first lines in the file is one which determines which tech tree is used. In the old career mode game that you wish to update, simply replace that line with the text from the new career mode saved game which specifies the use of the KSPI tech tree. Save your file for the old career mode game. Restart Kerbal Space Program. Bask in the glory that is the KSPI tech tree. Go forth and make Jeb proud!

This should not be an issue if running the game in sandbox mode.

In career mode, some of the KSPI parts are grayed out when I try to use them in the VAB or SPH. How do I fix this?

This should only be an issue in career mode. Check the answer to the question above this one. If you are using the KSPI tech tree or have recently switched to the KSPI tech tree then you may need to go back and "research" particular items in already unlocked tech tree nodes. Go to the science building, and for each tech tree node that has a red circle and number on it, you must click on the parts which are not yet researched. This must be done individually. This should not cost anything in terms of research if that node has already been unlocked. Once this is done, then return to the VAB/SPH and your parts should be ready to use. Enjoy!