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Why Truss or Keel for spacestation?


Jestersage

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4 minutes ago, Jestersage said:

One thing I notice in Mir 2 and Freedom is the usage of truss/keel structure. Clearly there are some physics that is IRL but not in KSP. May I ask why do they decide to go with a usage of truss/keel? And why are the newer designs forgoing such concept?

What "newer designs"?

Anyway, trusses are very strong, stiff, and light, which is why they are the structure of choice for many applications.

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14 minutes ago, Jestersage said:

Those holes are caused by RCS thrusters?!

No. That would be a series of two collisions with Mir caused by an attempt to use remote-controlled unmanned docking of Progress ships to save money.

2 hours ago, Jestersage said:

OPSEK (Russia)

Radiator and solar panel clearance. The truss is also gone from the later iterations of NEM:

scale_1200

2 hours ago, Jestersage said:

China Large Module Space Station (china)

Last I checked they are using a Mir 1 architecture with a Lyappa pivot on the core module, and no trusses at all.
original.jpg

1280px-RP1357_p165_Repositioning_Kvant_m

3 hours ago, Jestersage said:

Mir 2

Spacing for solar panels, solar-thermal turbogenerators, possibly even a nuclear reactor, experiment packages, and attitude thrusters (see the small trusses on Mir 1).

Edited by DDE
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Pretty sure its to keep solar arrays and radiators away from activity like docking and spacewalks.  
It also let you orient solar panels and radiators for maximum effect / minimum drag pretty easy. 

The Chinese station can not utilize their solar panels as well. 
 

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These "more recent" designs you mention are clearly less sophisticated and permanent than something like the ISS.

The simplest stations were the original ones that were launched in one piece. Then came the stations where different modules were attached to a central hub. The ISS is the most sophisticated station people have built so far.

It's obvious that if you don't have the capability to assemble/transport a large structure like the truss backbone of a major space station, then you do what you can by just adding bite-sized bits one by one. Much of the living/working space of the ISS was actually built by this latter method, but it all attaches to the main station infrastructure that is built around the central truss structure.

Edited by mikegarrison
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They use because they can.

KSP can't because Unity doesn't allow loops without voodoo.

If Unity did, KSP stations would also use parallel truss structures to enforce the construction.

Edited by kerbiloid
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