Probe "Stacking"

[Starchaser]

So, I have a mission that popped up to plant a flag on the Mun. I also have a need for a telescope in Kerbin orbit and an orbital scanner on a polar Mun orbit. I'd like to deliver all 3 on one rocket. So I built a tiny probe for the orbital scanner and I can't figure a way to mount the telescope on top of it. I guess I could build some kind of a jury-rigged platform for it out of girders. Is that the best way or is there something I'm overlooking.

Reaction wheel. I need a reaction wheel on the probe....almost forgot that.

 

[Harry Rhodan]

If you use advanced tweakables you can activate the interstage node option on the fairings which will give you a nice looking truss structure:

 

[Geonovast]

1 minute ago, Harry Rhodan said:

If you use advanced tweakables you can activate the interstage node option on the fairings which will give you a nice looking truss structure:

 

So THAT'S what that does!  I've always wondered.  I don't use advanced tweakables, yet the UI was always there and seemed to do nothing.  Every time I saw the truss I just figured it was a mod.

[bewing]

2 hours ago, Starchaser said:

Is that the best way or is there something I'm overlooking.

For advanced players (and that's where you just ended up, by asking this question), there is a very important concept called an interstage fairing. Or, more specifically: activating the interstage nodes of a fairing. If you haven't already, you need to turn on "advanced tweakables", I think.

So, you do that, then you attach an appropriate-sized fairing to the top of your ship. Then you open the context menu for the fairing, and click the button for "Interstage Nodes". Now the fairing has multiple attachment nodes in it, instead of just one. There's also one at the very top where you can attach anything of unlimited size. You have to be a little more careful building the fairing itself. And the point is that each subassembly that you attach to the fairing nodes doesn't need to be attached to anything else.

You need to use decouplers to allow each piece to be decoupled individually from your booster, if you want that -- to put the pieces in separate orbits. It's best if you can work from the top of the rocket down, when you are detaching things. The fairing will automatically shorten itself after the current "top" piece is completely decoupled.

edit: Heh, got ninja'd.

 

Edited October 29, 2017 by bewing

[Starchaser]

That's certainly more elegant than the ad-hoc staging I made, that worked for crap!

I'll just load in my last savegame and redo that.

Thanks guys!

I hope the modules fit. I was surprised at how big the scanner and telescope is.

Edited October 29, 2017 by Starchaser

[Cpt Kerbalkrunch]

1 hour ago, Geonovast said:

So THAT'S what that does!  I've always wondered.  I don't use advanced tweakables, yet the UI was always there and seemed to do nothing.  Every time I saw the truss I just figured it was a mod.

By your posts and screenshots, I can tell you're far along into the game. You really would be grateful for some of the things Advanced Tweakables does for you. Disabling the staging on decouplers you don't intend to stage, activating staging on docking ports when you intend to split a ship into separate modules, not to mention fuel flow options, and a bunch of other things I can't really think of right now. I've had them enabled for so long, I'd probably only realize all the things it does if I shut 'em off. I highly recommend it.

[Geonovast]

5 minutes ago, Cpt Kerbalkrunch said:

By your posts and screenshots, I can tell you're far along into the game. You really would be grateful for some of the things Advanced Tweakables does for you. Disabling the staging on decouplers you don't intend to stage, activating staging on docking ports when you intend to split a ship into separate modules, not to mention fuel flow options, and a bunch of other things I can't really think of right now. I've had them enabled for so long, I'd probably only realize all the things it does if I shut 'em off. I highly recommend it.

You know, I probably should... I turned them on once, and for some reason I remember autostruts (which I have zero desire to use) being on automatically, so I turned them off and didn't look back.

However I just switched AT on for a test and they're all disabled.  Hm.  Must be gettin' old.

[Cpt Kerbalkrunch]

Just now, Geonovast said:

You know, I probably should... I turned them on once, and for some reason I remember autostruts (which I have zero desire to use) being on automatically, so I turned them off and didn't look back.

However I just switched AT on for a test and they're all disabled.  Hm.  Must be gettin' old.

Ha. They default to "disabled", thank God. Autostrut is the spawn of the devil, and to be shunned.

Get thee behind me, Autostrut!

[Starchaser]

3 hours ago, bewing said:

For advanced players (and that's where you just ended up, by asking this question),

Well, through much finagaling, and a bit of video watching so I understood what I was doing, this is my final result

https://imgur.com/a/kEVRD

Looks nice, right?

It got into orbit easily enough, once I convinced it not to control from the upside down module.

But as far as advanced player goes......I realized in orbit that I never put antenna on that middle probe.

[Spricigo]

3 hours ago, Geonovast said:

You know, I probably should... I turned them on once, and for some reason I remember autostruts (which I have zero desire to use) being on automatically, so I turned them off and didn't look back.

However I just switched AT on for a test and they're all disabled.  Hm.  Must be gettin' old.

Allowing AdvancedTweakables give you the option to change the options, without AdvT you go with whatever the default option is. If you turned AdvT because you didn't like the default option you stuck with those since then. (And IIRC defaults can be changed with simple MM patches.)

Autostruts default to none, except landing gears/legs that are always AS:heaviest. It's annoying because most AS issues are caused by AS:heaviest, some by AS:Root and almost none by AS:Grandparent. But word from devs is that wheel are broken by Unity and AS:H is the possible workaround.

[Magzimum]

16 hours ago, Starchaser said:

But as far as advanced player goes......I realized in orbit that I never put antenna on that middle probe.

You can be as advanced as you like, but if you don't have a little checklist that you use before launching, then something WILL go wrong.

My checklist includes: solar/batteries, RCS/rings, docking ports, parachutes, crew, ladders, hatches free, landing legs/wheels, science, staging, enough dV.

I have forgotten all of these things at least once, which is why they made it onto my checklist!

 

Regarding the original question, I believe it has been answered professionally, so no need to add to that.

[FancyMouse]

Interstage fairing never satisfies me in terms of the room inside, so I usually end up with just surface attaching cubic struts and start building from there. It usually ends up something looking peculiar and draggy, but at least it gets the job done.

Edited October 31, 2017 by FancyMouse

[themonk]

I am so glad someone has explained how to do the Interstage Fairing...    I have been doing it So Wrong...   But then, maybe thats the Kerbal way!

 

Thumbs Up space cadets!

themonk