Double-C Seismic Accelerometer

Double-C Accelerometer/Box

The Double-C Accelerometer measure how fast a craft is accelerating.

Usage

Attached to the side of an ascent stage this environmental sensor can be used to control your acceleration during launch to provide a better and constant ascent, using less fuel for the same orbit. The Double-C displays 4 significant figures, offering much better precision than the g-meter on the navball. On upper and cruise stages the Double-C Accelerometer can be used to estimate the time needed to accelerate to a certain speed.

Additionally it can be used to measure the spacecraft's current mass indirectly using Newton's second law. To estimate the mass, activate the accelerometer and fire the engines so that the craft isn't rotating.

$m={\frac {F}{a}}$ Given the force F by adding all engines forces together and the acceleration a by the accelerometer the current mass is the division of both. But as the craft is losing mass by this the acceleration is increasing over time. Thus it's only accurate at a low fuel burn rate over a short period of time. This will also change the craft's orbit, so maybe a retroburn afterwards is necessary.

Since version 0.20 this method serves little purpose, because the exact mass of a vehicle can be seen in the map view and tracking station.

While active, the accelerometer drains 0.0075 Electric Charge per second (27 E/hr).

Description

“

A device for measuring the local acceleration of a spacecraft (either through movement, or the gravity of a planet). Warranty void if shaken — Probodobodyne Inc.

”

Changes

0.22

• Added Functionality

0.18

• Initial Release