Adapter

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Revision as of 06:26, 24 October 2013 by Toa Aerrow (talk | contribs) (Added a list of adapters, organised and fixed information in the document, added the main uses of adapters)
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An adapter is a part which allows to place multiple stacks of parts below a single stack.

Types

With version 0.21 there are twelve different types of adapters:
Six one-to-one adapters, four connecting a tiny size to a small size, and two connecting a small size to a large size.

Three one-to multiple adaptors, connecting one small to several small parts.

And three equivalents of the previous ones, each connecting small to large.

Atributes

All of these parts are Fuel Crossfeed Capable, meaning that when there is a fuel tank and an engine both connected to the adaptor on different sides, propellents, liquid fuel and oxidizer, will flow through the adapter on the way to the engine.

The branches are unsupported and prone to bending or breaking if the weight and thrust are not properly distributed. Rockets incorporating an adapter are also likely to wobble, unless the stacks are opportunely bound together with struts.

Uses

The main uses of these adaptors include connecting a small payload, such as a space probe, to a large launcher, or using several small engines on the bottom of a large fuel tank to increase efficiency. If a one-to-multible adaptor is on an upper stage which has engines underneath it, adding decouplers at the bottom of the engines and an upside-down one-to multiple adapter can allow for a large launcher underneath a powerful interplanetary vehicle.

Another, unconventional use of those parts is as a landing 'foot' when landing very large craft (such as bases). The stock landing legs aren't big or powerful, even though in version 0.22.0 they were re-modeled to include pistons for making a landed craft more stable. Using the strut parts as 'legs' and an adaptor such as the Tri-Coupler as a 'foot', it can artificially make its own landing leg. Although, it will be mostly useless on sloped terrain, since it, unlike the landing legs, wouldn't have any pistons for keeping it from falling over on a slope.