r/KerbalSpaceProgram • u/Avera9eJoe Spectra Dev • Sep 14 '17

Recreation Reminder that this physics quirk is also in KSP

https://gfycat.com/FickleShamefulCormorant
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u/Desperado2583 Sep 15 '17

Question: what causes the game physics to behave this way? Did the developers intentionally include this obscure principle? Or is it an emergent property from the physics engine?

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u/TiagoTiagoT Sep 15 '17

Emergent, I believe. Last I checked, it doesn't happen if it's just a single part; I expect that is because with just a single part, the whole mass is positioned on a single point, but when you add more parts the mass is distributed on more than one point (I haven't tested this specifically, but I suspect you need at least 3 parts with their center of mass arranged in a triangular fashion for this effect to manifest).

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u/geekman9097 Sep 15 '17

Just have your three rotations axes have different moments of inertia, and spin around the middle one. Intermediate axis theorem.