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[Super Wabbit]

I guess I should hop over to the Mun. I'm having a lot of fun trying to build heavy lift vehicles and think that might be advantageous when traveling beyond Kerbal orbits. Although, the lower majority of this station is an untapped fuel tank that could be used by any out-bound flights.

[Dynamite Dan]

Remember that bigger isnt always better (ask my Girlfriend) the more weight you have, the more fuel you need to move it, more fuel = more weight, its an endless circle.

On my Duna flights, i just use a few Nuke engines and detatchable SRBs. so once you have fired them, you can drop the dead weight, after all your SRBs have been dropped, your left with a light (ish) craft that is really fuel efficient.

Id suggest, if your worried about fuel, to establish a fuel tanker in orbit abound the Mun, that way, you can top up before you crashLand. Or top up on your return flight.

[Dynamite Dan]

do you know you can transfer fuel between tanks at your discretion?

[Super Wabbit]

[Finger]

Did you know that the Rockomax HubMax Multipoint Connector is not a docking port?

You have to add docking ports to it before you can dock with it.

I found this out after I tried docking a crew/power supply module to it.

So now I'm wondering if I should send up another ship with the sole intention of installing docking clamps or if I should scuttle the initial core and build a new one to dock with the crew module.

Suggestions?

[Dynamite Dan]

Build a new one, I made the same mistake as you at first, I too thought the multi point adpator was a docking module.

On the new one you can add extra stuff

[Super Wabbit]

Can't...Stop...Building...Large...Stations...

http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/902131725076450422/48D3C2FE2118C47DFB370ED766CED61E4460F3B9/
http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/902131725076448859/922FB8CA9241C719C6F9DD1B8F535BA262D95D90/
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/902131725103046863/09F6BAE95F3046703E7E7EC67C8EC62E9D4F4AD6/

[Dynamite Dan]

The 3rd on in that list looks really good, definatly lots of room for Kerbals, are all these in orbit at the same time or do you just start again?

[Super Wabbit]

Sadly, everything is in shambles...

The first station is basically tearing itself apart in orbit. After docking the large habitat portion to the bottom everything is starting to flex uncontrollably. Since most of the components are only held together with docking ports, there is too much flex. I would love to add a truss section to my stations but to my knowledge you cannot have a module docked to the same station in 2 places. So I'm not sure how to actually stabilize large stations like these.

The last station I just linked is having a hard time getting to orbit. The craft does continuous flips during it's gravity turn. From what I've been able to figure out, reading forums and such, is that the top half of this rocket is inducing for more aero drag than the bottom boosters. So far, I've tried adding tail fins, then canards, then winglets, then the B9 large stabilators. None works. Even using RCS isn't enough to keep stable. So I thought I might try adding drag...added 18 B9 aero brakes...still not enough. I guess it's a combination of it being top heavy and having a high drag station on top.

Even starting the grav turn much later, say 10km or 12km returns the same flips.

Actually, looking at the Vessel Info, shortly after take off the craft has a mass of 1266 tons. I know the station half is only 176 tons - this means that it shouldn't be top heavy, per say - am I correct? The majority of its mass is in the booster stages.


I'd like to get a station the size of both of these put together. The only feasible way of getting them to orbit is by sending up portions 1 at a time. Again, I run into a structural issue when I connect large stations together. If anyone has any idea how I should be stiffening them, I'm all ears.

[Dynamite Dan]

It is possible to add strength into large stations by using multiple docking ports at once, they have to be perfectly aligned though, so id suggest doing some ground testing first to get the spacing right.

picture to follow in 10 mins, ill show you what i mean

[Dynamite Dan]

I give you Wabbit 1 and Wabbit 2

just as a proof of concept, docking multiple ports together at once will give you greater stability, you could use 4 x symmetry for greater strength


http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=173130996

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=173131037

[Super Wabbit]

[Dynamite Dan]

You'll have to do it manualy.

Use MJ to get you near, say 30m. Then take her in by hand, remember that all the ports need to connect at the same time, so take your time and use the RCS just a bit at a time.

[Super Wabbit]

Ah, so I don't actually have to set the docking collars as a target? They act just like magnets then?

[Dynamite Dan]

yep, get within about a foot of them and the magnets kick in.
if you want to get really anal, like i once did, i created a small alignment tool around the ports like a male and female socket, one ship was male, the other female. arrange the guide fins at an angle, so even if you are off, the guide fins will centralise you.

[Super Wabbit]

[Dynamite Dan]

Ill upload a demo pic tomorrow

[Super Wabbit]

Thanks! you've opened a whole new door into this. I had wrongly thought that to dock you had to set a docking collar as the target which made me infer that you could only dock 1 thing at a time. I have so many ideas now! No more 150+ ton heavy lifters - simple, cheap, fast small stages to shoot up and dock. This is awesome.

[Dynamite Dan]

No, the setting of a target is optional, and is only used and an aid if your using the nav ball to line up for docking. (some people dock from the IVA view just using the nav ball alone!)

[Dynamite Dan]

How is the multi-docking port gameplay going?