Kerbal Space Program

An ablator part presently functions as a near-magical and almost indstructible insulator/radiator when it's at 0 ablator. Even interplanetary re-entries can usually be performed with a completely depleted heat shield.

This appears to be because of the 3300K temperature tolerance combined with the fact that the part sets conductivity to 0.01 (reentryConductivity) when its bottom surface is exposed.

It'd be extremely helpful if reentryConductivity only applied when the ablator quantity was nonzero. Or even better, only when ablator is being consumed, i.e. when pyrolysis is actually providing a shield of emitted gas between the oncoming shock wave and the craft skin.

I've tried (https://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/8q1k37/modding_heat_shields_so_it_matters_when_ablator/) to make an ablator where you have to care about running out. But it's very hard to make one that won't explode on a fairly reasonable re-entry and still fails when it runs out. I think it really needs core support, and the simple fix is probably to restore the original part conductivity when the shield runs out of ablative material.

(While you're at it, can you nerf the temp tolerance on service bays a touch, so they're not also magic super-heat-shields you can use to slam into the atmosphere at 5000m/s?)

Personally I think it's a bug that reentryConductivity applies when the ablator is exhausted. But I'm being cautious and filing as feedback.