I need a quick answer to a stupid theoretical question.
Imagine a Spaceship travelling in outer space, i.e. almost perfect vacuum. Could the propulsion system theoretically be placed far off center of mass and still move the ship in the right direction without eventually causing the ship to enter a spin?
My theory is that since there is no air resistance, it should be possible. Or am I missing something?
angular momentum
You could, but it would be inefficient.
This.
Give it a go in KSP and let us know how it works out for you.
It'll spin.
You could use reaction wheels to counter the spin, or thrust in pulses as you rotate. Overly complex and inefficient though.
Ok, so I did miss something. Ty, at least you saved me from having to reinstall KSP again
Yeah, but the Atlus isn't designed to go straight with those boosters. They want the angular momentum to assist getting into orbit.
The drive can be far from the center-of-mass.
Rockets have their engines at the very tail.
But the line of thrust has to point THROUGH the center of mass or the ship will simply twirl like a pinwheel instead of going places.
Real rockets can gimbal the motors a few degrees to ensure the thrust stays through the mass-center. Early rockets like the V2 pushed deflector vanes (rudders) into the exhaust stream rather than trying to swivel the single motor. This works, but the wear and tear on the vanes is terrific. They'd say, "If you see glowing fireballs coming out the exhaust, she's lost her vanes -- so RUN!"
>Spaceship with propulsion system at the center
It'll work just as well as this one did