Base-In-A-Box. Expandable modular surface base!

[Rune]

It's back! And with a vengeance! Now fully tested to be compliant with 1.04, and with delivery methods (yes, plural) rated for anywhere but Tylo*.

There, a sample basic base. What you can see in the background is the new delivery method, actually, the C.R.A.D.L.E. (Container Rated for Atmospheric Descent and Landing Envelopes). Those babies are the simplest delivery method, and actually deserve the moniker "base in several boxes", to be more precise, because the basic base is divided among three of those. One carries all the crewed spaces (Hab, Lab and Node), another the utility stuff (Fuel Dump and Resource Module), and the final one a buttload of corridor sections (6), plus a construction/science rover. I find it the most convenient for base expansion, if I need more crew space or fuel handling facilities I can pick one of them as it suits me. They have a heatshield (mostly emptied), retrorockets with >1 TWR and >1km/s dV under the maximum load, chutes, and extra RCS to tip over (and do so safely!) even under kerbin gravity on a plain, for module drop. To dispose of them after the cargo is safely horizontal and detached on the ground, you can also use RCS on low-grav worlds, or the extra kick of some separatrons on higher gravity worlds. Make sure to quicksave before trying out, tough, in case kraken!

[table=width: 1000]

[tr][td][/td][td][/td][/tr][/table]

Then there is the good 'ol fashioned method of landing each module with a dedicated lander based on an orbital depot. Cheapest by far! In that case, the whole basic base pack can fit inside a shroud, and I have created both a very simple and rugged rocketcrane lander to go with it that should handle the job, even on high-ish gravity worlds like Duna (DL below), and the Trident, which you can see in the latest pics and is an actual SSTO on oxygenated atmospheres on top of being just as capable as an airless moon lander. That one you would have to grab from its own thread. Obviously Eve is a one way trip, I advise using disposable CRADLEs there. An extensive net of refueling depots is all you would need for this, cleverly using the (refueled) upper stage of the launcher to tug the base around, and keeping the shroud if you plan on aerobraking at your destination. You could also dispose of it and tug it through Sr. ports, of course, it will maintain structural stability. Careful unpacking! It will create some debris that you will have to clean if you are not in an unstable orbit when you do so.

[table=width: 1000]

[tr][td][/td][td][/td][/tr][/table]

To assemble it together, if you don't know how yet (perhaps you missed when user Temstar popularized the method for the first time), you basically grab the modules from the bottom with the rover and drag them into a perfect land dock. In theory. In reality, there are a few more considerations:

-Land docking in different gravity regimes is tricky. It can be done, basically because the rover is a rocket VTOL that can take care of the sag of the wheels, and you can also raise gears on the target to increase sag. With some patience you'll get the trick, remember to be gentle and quicksave often.

-Most of the modules can be up-righted if they fall over, especially in low gravities, but doing so is often tricky. Careful! You may end up having to build a wall to push against with other modules, and on high gravity worlds, when a lab module with a spent uprighting mechanism (the legs on the side you can drop with a decoupler) falls over, it is pretty much toast.

-The corridors can drop their legs, in order to reduce part count when the base is assembled. Careful with that, you can move them afterwards with other modules, but if they fall to the ground without legs, they are as good as lost.

-You should have ample power so each module can stay alive, but don't go timewarping at x1000 or something crazy: most of the modules are only battery-powered, and sometimes you need to grab control to open ports and actuate legs and such.

-I put science equipment on the rover. Who knows why, since you literally need almost all the nodes already unlocked to build this thing, but hey, you might be a completionist like me!

-Of course, I give you one fully functional base, but the possibilities for expansion with additional modules are, literally, what you CPU handles. And the basic pack is a mere 172 135 parts when fully deployed, so you can push it a lot! Check out what I did in previous versions, with its predecessors:

Boy do I need to get cracking at this base building stuff, that screenie looks old now . Anyhow, perhaps a final word (or two) on delivery methods. The CRADLEs are tested without refueling on a self-delivery to Minmus, and they get there with dV to spare and all upper stages on impact trajectories for a clean straightforward mission with no support. You might have to tap into the fuel of the Fuel Dump+Resource Module CRADLE (designation B2 in the files), but hey, you carry a drill, and that CRADLE ends up with the highest dV if you do so. In fact, the thing can be used as a miner for the other modules, if you are veeery cheeky about it, on extremely low gravity worlds. The possibilities there I leave to the user's imagination. That also means, of course, that Mun is doable (not trip back, remember? And there is a nice margin, plus they can exchange fuel in low munar orbit) without depots or refuelling, as well as Duna and Eve. To go further, or to save a ton of money, I suggest using the Base-In-A-Shroud model and/or SSTOs to put the modules up, and the rocketcrane to deliver them one by one (the corridors can ride on the outside port to save some trips). You will need fuel depots and tugs, but at this point, my advice is probably redundant and you already have your own ideas on how to go about it.

Also, as a bonus, this time I am also giving out quite a few subassemblies to go with the pack (each separate module, the rover, and a couple of corridor packages), so you can build your own custom packages! Plus, I am also including a modded module, in case you want to go that way: a clone for the fuel dump, but with a KIS container instead of fuel, which can house enough equipment to actually store USI life support stuff enough to supply a crew of three with fresh-grown veggies (you can actually see it on the pics, because I use those should-be-stock mods). A module for every need indeed! Free to grab what you want from this, innovate on it, and share the fruits of your labor here with us, I always appreciate a good screenie with a story behind it, be it glory or fail.

So now, I (finally!) leave you with a very confusing album that needs some reorganizing and more pics added to it (on it!), and the juicy juicy downloads. Those Eve surface base contracts won't know what hit them!

IMGUR ALBUM:

Javascript is disabled. View full album

DOWNLOADS:

Base-In-Several-Boxes, crewed modules

Base-In-Several-Boxes, ISRU modules

Base-In-Several-Boxes, construction rover + corridors + fuel dump

Base-In-A-Shroud

Base Rocketcrane

Base Subassemblies

Rune. Lego'ing IN SPACE!

*Some refueling/tugging may be required to deliver the packages on transfer trajectories beyond the kerbin system, depending on location and delivery method.

Edited September 6, 2015 by Rune

[Frozen_Heart]

Woop! Its back!

Trying to develop my own version and failing quite a bit atm.

[PhylumCnidaria]

This is a hell of a base!

Have a rep!

[Rune]

This is a hell of a base!

Have a rep!

Thanks!

Woop! Its back!

Trying to develop my own version and failing quite a bit atm.

Thanks! feel free to lift any ideas from here and remember, in rocketry, less is more!

Rune. In KSP, with the CPU limitations, doubly so.

[ryan234abc]

Okey doeky.

Got myself the new 1.0.4 version. Many screenshots will entail. I'll miss the old BiaB; my first surface base EVER was with that, and I've never gotten rid of it.

As I said, screenshots soon!

[Rune]

Okey doeky.

Got myself the new 1.0.4 version. Many screenshots will entail. I'll miss the old BiaB; my first surface base EVER was with that, and I've never gotten rid of it.

As I said, screenshots soon!

Hope to see those soon! In the meantime, my crew arrived on site, so I have spent some time sparring with KAS and KIS, and my idea to create USI hydroponic farms on-site is indeed doable, even tough the greenhouses can't be carried by kerbals. The trick is to get on a stool so you can directly place it from the container into the ground. Cheeky, right? Look how cute the base looks now!

Rune. Now to update the mod and see if the new mechanics broke anything.

[Dr Farnsworth]

Hydroponic tomatoes taste funny. Hydroponic beef jerky is wonderful.

[vestradeus]

This gives me lots of ideas! Thank you!

[PhylumCnidaria]

Minmus base FTW!

[Rune]

Hydroponic tomatoes taste funny. Hydroponic beef jerky is wonderful.

We are a strict hydroponic noodle shop.

This gives me lots of ideas! Thank you!

You are welcome! Getting inspired is what we all come to the exchange for, right?

Minmus base FTW!

The first basic package for bigger Munar one is on the way... I only have to figure out which interesting place has a high enough ore concentration. The useless general scanner says the poles, so we might have a bit of a complicated orbital dance to perform... still, Minmus makes for a great fuel extraction site.

Rune. Surface ops with kerbal are surprisingly clumsy, though... are kerbals worse on low gravities since 1.0, or is it just me?

[Paranoid Shark]

So, I have all the cradles on minmus, but I'm really struggling to get the modules out of them. The utility modules seem to always get stuck on the rcs engine at the bottom and won't wiggle out when I try to take the cradle off by pressing "I". Whatever I do always results in the modules being flung over the surface and breaking something or landing upside down. Do you have any hints... I'm getting a bit frustrated!

Kit

[Rune]

So, I have all the cradles on minmus, but I'm really struggling to get the modules out of them. The utility modules seem to always get stuck on the rcs engine at the bottom and won't wiggle out when I try to take the cradle off by pressing "I". Whatever I do always results in the modules being flung over the surface and breaking something or landing upside down. Do you have any hints... I'm getting a bit frustrated!

Kit

Yup, that is something that will be fixed. The easiest way is to move the spacer between the modules up to that docking port in the VAB, so you clear that vernor with the actual modules (I know exactly what you mean). However, in Minmus and with its pathetic gravity, you can also roll the Cradle out of the way with the RCS activated, no need for the separatron's extra kick to make the CRADLE do flips in the air, just rolling a bit worked for me. Disconnecting all modules from each other before trying would help, or dropping one first and then the other after moving the CRADLE a bit. And it being Minmus, if one module ends up upside down, right it up with reaction wheel power.

The issue however, would be more important on a high-gravity planet, but as I also said, you only need to put the spacer on that end of the bay so the modules clear that Vernor.

Rune. I have to finish up with vX.1 testing, it's a big improvement. Some pics of the new modules already on the album!

Edited August 7, 2015 by Rune

[Paranoid Shark]

Ok, i'll try that, however I don't think there is reaction wheels in the utility modules. Havn't even tried it with the separatrons, i'm having enough trouble just with RCS.

Is there somewhere else you could mount the Vernor?

The version that I have has the spacer at the other end, next to the descent engines and only one drill. Is that still the current version?

Edited August 7, 2015 by Paranoid Shark
Added extra content

[Rune]

Ok, i'll try that, however I don't think there is reaction wheels in the utility modules. Havn't even tried it with the separatrons, i'm having enough trouble just with RCS.

Is there somewhere else you could mount the Vernor?

The version that I have has the spacer at the other end, next to the descent engines and only one drill. Is that still the current version?

Actually, I will take that into into consideration and try and do something about it. Maybe I'll make the spacer an integral part of the CRADLE or move the vernors to the sides. And no, I haven't yet made v2, no new modules yet in the DLs. But soon! I just want to test that I can get them places still, and that the new corridor/rover bundle works as advertised (so far so good, it doesn't seem to summon the kraken). That will be the nicest touch, it allows me to put the rover back into the basic pack-in-a-shroud, keeping the three corridors, and just have an optional fuel dump in the rocketcrane, not a crucial part of the kit like the rover. Also, the rocketcrane with am ISRU module would make a decent emergency miner to fuel the further deployment of modules... if it had a command seat for an engineer to multiply yield. So I might do something about that. Eagle Mk VII, here we go!

Oh and thanks, it's this kind of comments bringing out the bugs that help me polish these things before archiving in R-SUV.

Rune. I am going through an ore usage paradigm change.

[Paranoid Shark]

Hey,

I have all the modules unpacked, the right way up and within a few meters of each other. However the problem i'm having now is that the corridors to join everything together are around 1000m away. It seems like you forgot to put docking ports on the bottom of them!

I have tried putting a module on top of the rover and the docking with a corridor, and then driving it back to the other modules but that moves the COM and then makes the rover nearly impossible to handle!

How did you get your minmus base together?

Kit

[Rune]

Hey,

I have all the modules unpacked, the right way up and within a few meters of each other. However the problem i'm having now is that the corridors to join everything together are around 1000m away. It seems like you forgot to put docking ports on the bottom of them!

I have tried putting a module on top of the rover and the docking with a corridor, and then driving it back to the other modules but that moves the COM and then makes the rover nearly impossible to handle!

How did you get your minmus base together?

Kit

Yup, the corridors indeed don't have docking ports on them, in order to save on part count. Same reason they ditch their legs after assembly (though now that I think about it, I could have put a temporary docking port). Point is, it's not necessary, and in fact the next version will have a corridor without legs entirely because it can be picked from the floor by the others. How to pick and move them, then? Well, you guessed the right way for high-gravity planets, you pick them with other modules and drive them around. The Node module is ideal, since they will probably end up with one end on it. Note that the extra torque actually helps if you know how to handle rovers: Map the rover wheels controls to, say, IJKL, and you can drive with your right hand while you control orientation with your left one. That trick is priceless! Especially in low gravity. Short of like docking, takes a bit of getting used to, but after a few hours doing it you will map it in your brain and it'll become automatic.

But, that is the "official", safe, boring version of the user manual. How to move them the kerbal way? Well, reaction wheel power FTW! They have a 1.25m wheel and 1000 units of electric charge for a reason, after all. You can master the "Minmus-step", rolling sideways in shorts burts with the legs extended for surprisingly controllable sideways jumps, or just roll on the ground (even on kerbin gravity, but it becomes tedious) with them folded. You can get them close this way very easily, and it you are good with weird controls, I usually just dock them this way. If you let them run out of electric charge (say, you timewarped to mine fuel for the rocketcrane, it has happened to me), just connect them temporarily with a power-generating module to recharge them. And try to remember to forbid batteries the next time! I can't say I'm too successful at that myself, but hey, maybe you have a more organized mind.

In other news, the munar base to test the new modifications is happily chugging along, built the old fashioned "one module at a time" way. Turns out now I have enough drills to fill the ore tanks while refueling another ship. Also, the fact that the rocket crane can land-dock under low gravities is cool, in Duna and such places I will have to drive the old-fashioned LFO fuel dump to it to refuel.

Just a tiny clearance issue on the Mining Modules radiators, which turned out to be unnecessary... and broke on landing for some reason. Also I had to drop them upside down, and they can't right themselves, so I I had to fly the rover upside-down to dock inverted, then use its RCS systems to roll it the right way up. Fun times with the engineering prototypes! At least you won't get this this particular issue.

Note I happily use KIS+KAS as if they were stock, to get the engineer bonus to extraction and go all fuel-cell powered during construction. The manned skycrane Eagle Mk VII I'm working on will address that issue for 100% stock players, and make a nice independent miner with a ISRU module to boot:

Rune. Not long now, promise!

Edited August 15, 2015 by Rune

[Rune]

Update! All files have been changed, basically. The fuel dump has been complemented by a new mining module holding lots of ore for off-focus mining, the CRADLEs have been redesigned for even greater ease of use (and more modules carried more compactly, still only three for the whole thing only now it carries the extra mining module), I got the whole pack with the rover (but without the fuel dump, it's not necessary now) to fit inside the fairing of the Base-In-A-Faring option... and still I think I have a related release to work on this weekend. How would you guys feel about the new incarnation of the "Eagle idea" being an atmospheric SSTO instead of what I showed on the last post? Because I think this one looks great! I'm calling it Trident, and tests could not be going better. I'm so confident that it'll make the cut, that I am ready to show it off...

But for now, suffice to say all the modules currently shown at the end album in the OP are actually in the pack, and it works better than ever.

Rune. Enjoy!

Edited August 20, 2015 by Rune

[Leveller]

Nice som fan ! Keep up the good work. DL:ed it now and will give it a swing.

What are that hydroponics mod? Im using Tac Lifesupport. Will they play together to make oxy/water/food etc?

[Rune]

Nice som fan ! Keep up the good work. DL:ed it now and will give it a swing.

What are that hydroponics mod? Im using Tac Lifesupport. Will they play together to make oxy/water/food etc?

Not included, actually. I keep my DLs stock so everybody can use it. But I built a module pretty much like the fuel dump, but with a KIS container on it instead of the fuel tank (the big one). Then I chucked a few USI life support and KAS parts to build that cozy little farm on-site. I guess you could grab them from that pack and mod them to fit with TAC. If you really want the module, I could give it to you, but the only trick it uses is that it is the same form factor as the others, which takes some fiddling with batteries and the translation gizmo to match length, and you can probably do it yourself in five minutes. And while I am at it, a postcard from the Arch research station, where you can see said module at the opposite end of the (docked) skycrane. Not much more to finish it now!

Rune. Hope you enjoy!

Edited August 20, 2015 by Rune

[SpaceXray]

Awesome pack! Going to try it today.

[DMSP]

I really need to use this...

[Rune]

Awesome pack! Going to try it today.

Tell me how it goes! Not that many people ever get to do such a complicated thing, to my knowledge...

I really need to use this...

Well who is stopping you? The version with the CRADLES is (almost) easy to deploy!

BTW, I posted these elsewhere, but they apply here too...

Rune. Said the guy that took three weeks to build his last one. ^^'

[Majorjim!]

Ok, It's time I finally tried one of your craft Rune. Well, second actually. I had a peek at your old drop-ship with the rear stock ramp a while ago. Remember that?

Anywhoo, once I release the thing I'm working on I will give the base-in-a-box a go.

[GMM_113]

How do you keep the Trident from burning up on reentry?

[selfish_meme]

A very high angle of attack and shallow reentry angle, you can bring almost anything back that way.