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How do you dock?


juvilado

How do you dock?   

186 members have voted

  1. 1. How do you dock?

    • I use RCS thrusters
    • RCS Thrusters? Real Kerbal don't need it!
    • Depends of situation
    • Sorry, docking is just too difficult for me at this time


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I always use RCS because relying on infinite engine ignitions, overly deep throttling, hilariously silly magnetic attraction, and grossly overpowered reaction wheels to get the job done is easy mode.

Edited by regex
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Personally, I don't bother with RCS for docking unless the vehicle is particularly heavy, but the midrange ones have a flexible docking collar made of batteries to loosen the tolerances.

 

The first time I tried to rendezvous and EVA Jeb across to the other vehicle, he got clobbered in the back of the head by his original vehicle.  That pretty much set the scene for docking the rest of my years.

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I usually put RCS on vehicles I plan to dock regularly, for the simple reason that it makes things easier. 

For craft that I do not plan to dock regularly, or which need to be absolutely as light as possible (eg grand tour ships), I'll leave RCS out. I can and have docked numerous times without it.

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7 hours ago, 5thHorseman said:

Ahem...

 

You don't have to use full throttle. If necessary, you can even cap the max throttle in the engine's right click menu in flight. But really, just tapping shift and ctrl works fine. I personally like the tactic of holding down ctrl and tapping shift, to give yourself a tiny bit of thrust in a short time.

To quote the Matrix: When you're good enough, you won't have to.

Not A Secret: I've been usng Asparagus staging since Alpha. I still refuse to bring junk into orbit that I don't need.

Then you realize that using a rocket engine to make precision maneuvers is stupid.

 

Also what's wrong with bringing junk into orbit? You can terminate it from the tracking station, or if you want to be technical, bring up a craft and blow up all your debris with sepratron missiles

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Hey ya know...  props to people with the patience to try to dock without RCS...

I've never tried it...  I have no interest in it.

I dock a LOT, it's kinda pivotal to my gameplay style... I like to operate from orbital hubs, so it's my thing. 

LOL...I would not even attempt docking with what must be a very aggravating barrage of keystrokes required for uni-directional thrusters.  In fact, if you try to convince me otherwise, I am now covering my ears and yelling "LA LA LA LA LA" as loud as I can, cuz I don't even want to hear it.

 

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28 minutes ago, NSEP said:

I once tried to dock using no-RCS, it was very painfull. How in the world can people dock without?

The first time I tried it took like a half hour and who knows how many reloads.

But then again, so did docking WITH RCS. And landing on Mun. And reaching orbit. And pretty much everything else in the game. The only difference is, if you bring RCS you never have to learn to dock without it. Unless you run out of course :D

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8 minutes ago, 5thHorseman said:

The first time I tried it took like a half hour and who knows how many reloads.

But then again, so did docking WITH RCS. And landing on Mun. And reaching orbit. And pretty much everything else in the game. The only difference is, if you bring RCS you never have to learn to dock without it. Unless you run out of course :D

Thats kind of true. But then, there is a reason RCS exists. I do not really prefer using the overpowerd reaction wheels alot.

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Pretty sure I can dock faster with my RCS than you can without it...  nuff said.  ...putting fingers back in my ears and continuing "LA LA LA LA" now so I don't have to listen to silly arguments to the contrary.

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1 hour ago, XLjedi said:

Pretty sure I can dock faster with my RCS than you can without it...  nuff said.  ...putting fingers back in my ears and continuing "LA LA LA LA" now so I don't have to listen to silly arguments to the contrary.

Faced with such solid argument I can only recognize that you can dock faster with RCS than I can without it....

...which don't matter because based solely in my opinion (that is always correct*) docking without RCS is better.

*...putting fingers back in my ears and continuing "LA LA LA LA" now so I don't have to listen to silly arguments to the contrary.

Edited by Spricigo
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19 minutes ago, Spricigo said:

Faced with such solid argument I can only recognize that you can dock faster with RCS than I can without it....

...which don't matter because based solely in my opinion (that is always correct*) docking without RCS is better.

*...putting fingers back in my ears and continuing "LA LA LA LA" now so I don't have to listen to silly arguments to the contrary.

I am known for my gifted debate tactics...  and speedy docking ability.  ...and apparent ability to hear things even beyond my "LA LA LA"  

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I just want to point out that all you people who aren't playing exactly like I do are playing wrong.

You might think you're having fun, but you're really not. 

 

(You're also wrong about your favorite color.  In fact, you're probably all ignorant heathens who don't even know the right toppings for pizza!)

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6 hours ago, regex said:

I always use RCS because relying on infinite engine ignitions, overly deep throttling, hilariously silly magnetic attraction, and grossly overpowered reaction wheels to get the job done is easy mode.

Somehow, I just don't think anybody expected anything else of you.

Though, that does raise the point that even with RCS, infinite ignitions, absurdly deep throttling, hilariously silly magnetic attraction, and grossly overpowered reaction wheels, docking is still one of the hardest tricks for new players to master.

4 hours ago, Jouni said:

I use RCS, because docking is much more fun that way. Instead of just ramming the target ship, you maneuver the ship precisely into position, and then approach at ~5 cm/s.

I once tried doing the final approach at real-world (< 10 cm/sec) velocities. Even for me, that was painful. I thoroughly respect your patience.

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29 minutes ago, Starman4308 said:

Somehow, I just don't think anybody expected anything else of you.

I thought this was a bragging and making fun of how other people play thread, did I misread?

29 minutes ago, Starman4308 said:

Though, that does raise the point that even with RCS, infinite ignitions, absurdly deep throttling, hilariously silly magnetic attraction, and grossly overpowered reaction wheels, docking is still one of the hardest tricks for new players to master.

Yep. And then they find out they don't need it because the impact tolerances are stupidly high in the game and they can smash multi-hundred ton craft together at 5m/s and not worry about wrecking the locking mechanism on the port.

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3 minutes ago, regex said:

Yep. And then they find out they don't need it because the impact tolerances are stupidly high in the game and they can smash multi-hundred ton craft together at 5m/s and not worry about wrecking the locking mechanism on the port.

Wait, did you mean to say the Space Shuttle didn't make a Hohmann transfer followed by 150 m/sec velocity-matching burn 5 meters from clipping the solar panels, followed by just jamming into the nearest docking port any which way?

The real world is truly strange.

They still have claws in case you forgot the right-sized docking port, right?

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2 hours ago, eloquentJane said:

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm in the habit of docking with docking ports.

I wonder if you said that because a lot of people don't dock with docking ports. 

KAS pipes is a popular alternative too. 

2 hours ago, regex said:

I thought this was a bragging and making fun of how other people play thread, did I misread?

Maybe not intended,  but exactly what it is.  

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In some challenges where mass or cost was a factor, I've left RCS off of my vehicle, and that vehicle has been small (say a 1 man capsule, small fuel tank and engine).

Except for that I'd always use RCS... I mean why not.

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It's incredibly rare for me to build a spacecraft with no RCS ports. I even use RCS for assisting with maneuvering because it's not like there's any other need for more than about 30 units of monopropellant on an average-sized spacecraft if you're good enough at docking.

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