How to stick a functional docking port onto a space station already in orbit?

[jpinard]

Yea I screwed up big time and installed a docking port backwards into my space station.  In the stock game is there any way I can somehow attach a new docking port to the space station to fix that?

[Empiro]

With careful configuration editing, it may be possible to flip the docking port in your save game. Make a backup first.

Otherwise, you can try to grab the craft with a gabber arm. I often encounter bugs with the arm though.

[Superfluous J]

You have 3 options I can think of:

1. Drop the "stock only" option and install KIS.
2. Rebuild your station without the launcher but with the docking port, put it on the launch pad (use clamps to keep it rigid) and alt-f12 cheat it into orbit, rendezvoused with the bad station. Then transfer any crew to the new station and delete the old one from the tracking station. Consider the cost of the new station your punishment for cheating
3. Actually launch the correct station.

 

[bewing]

To fix craft in space in the stock game there is one tool you need for everything. It's the Klaw.

Send up a craft to dock with your existing craft. Have a Klaw at the tip of an arm. Have a cleverly arranged docking port or two on the arm. Dock with the Klaw. Decouple the arm. Now your craft has a docking port on it.

[ClamBoy]

19 hours ago, 5thHorseman said:

You have 3 options I can think of:

1. Drop the "stock only" option and install KIS.
2. Rebuild your station without the launcher but with the docking port, put it on the launch pad (use clamps to keep it rigid) and alt-f12 cheat it into orbit, rendezvoused with the bad station. Then transfer any crew to the new station and delete the old one from the tracking station. Consider the cost of the new station your punishment for cheating
3. Actually launch the correct station.

 

 

I have two stations (kerbin and mun) with the flipped docking port. It was either live with what I got or go with #3. I decided to role play it, sending up a new station, crew transfer and rendezvous and docking with other craft in flight. It also gave the opportunity for some design tweaks for the replacement station.

 

Edited July 19, 2019 by ClamBoy
formatting

[AHHans]

I agree with @bewing suggestion. This calls for for the Kerbal Universal Docking Adaptor, aka Advanced Grabbing Unit, aka The Klaw! In my previous career save I had the similar problem: I had several crafts (tugs) with a docking port but wanted to dock them to crafts without a docking port. So I sent up a small probe with several combinations of docking port and Klaw (you really only need these two parts (but make sure that the port faces the right way)), and then in turn grabbed my main space station with one of the Klaws and decoupled the docking port. And - voila - my space station had a couple more docking ports.

(I then used those to dock my crafts to these docking ports, and disconnect the Klaw. Thus changing my tugs from only being able to propel crafts with docking ports to all crafts.)

[BigFatStupidHead]

If you feel like editing your quicksave file,  this is what you can do.

1. Rebuild the station properly, exactly as it should be in orbit. Give it a unique name.

2. At the original station, evacuate any personnel you want to stay at the station and undock anything that you want to keep in orbit.

3. Launch the replacement station from the VAB. (Or the hangar. I don't mean launch it into orbit.)

4. Make sure you don''t have any stowaways and quicksave.

5. In your ksp directory, go into saves/[whateveryoursaveisnamed]/ and open quicksave.sfs with your texteditor of choice.

5.5. Backup your persistant file. 

6. Search for the name of your station. You're looking for it after 'name ='

7. Two lines down, there should be a line reading 'sit = ORBITING' . Copy everything from there down to the } just before a line reading 'PART'. I also like to replace this entire section with an xxx for easy finding later.

8. Repeat 6 for your replacement station, and paste everything copied in 7 right before 'sit = PRELAUNCH' . Cut all the new stations location data ('sit = PRELAUNCH to that } before PART) and go back to the original station. (I search for that xxx I put there earlier. Makes it very easy to find.)

9. Paste over that stuff you keep copying and save. (In my case, paste over xxx)

10. Reload your quicksave, profit.