Breaking Grounds - Ship Parts in Another Ship Part's Inventory.

[Galactus]

Hello,

Is it possible to add say an antenna to a ship part's inventory, then install that part on the ship while in orbit?

Tried using a Kerbal EVAing to do this, but couldn't really see how: I couldn't add the part to the Kerbal's inventory as the volume exceeded the limit (1000.0L was way over), and didn't notice any other buttons or overlays that would let me do this (like the little arrow/circle thing that appears for surface deployed parts).

If this isn't possible... what are the use-cases for placing such an item in an inventory?

 

Thank you!

 

[18Watt]

I was able to make that work, here’s how I did it.

• Ship contains a large part in a storage container.
• Kerbal goes on EVA, has a jet pack but the other inventory slot is open.
• Position Kerbal near the container with the part.
• Grab the part.  You won’t be able to add the part to your inventory because it’s too big.
• But you can add the part to your ship.
• If you need to place the part a long distance away from the container it was in, you might need to remove and re-place the part, possibly several times, as the Kerbal makes their way to the desired location.

I’m not sure if you even need an open inventory slot on the Kerbal to do this, probably not.

There may be other ways to make this work as well, that’s just how I did it.  In my case I was working with the inflatable airlock, and had the same problem, too big to fit in the Kerbal’s pockets.

[Galactus]

Going to add to your answer (which was amazing and got me on the right track!):

You need to have the construction overlay activated (from the side bar, a little crane hook looking icon).

 

Thanks a million @18Watt!

[18Watt]

This was a great question, I’m sure a lot of players are running into this.  

My solution actually ended up being a little awkward to use, because I needed to place the part (inflatable airlock) a long distance from the container it was in.   This may be due to my keyboard setup, but I was unable to use the jet pack controls while I had the construction window open.   My workaround to that problem was to weld the part, close the construction window, move the Kerbal, open construction window, repeat until I was close to the location.

I suspect there may be a way to move and use the jet pack with the construction window open, but I haven’t figured that out yet.

[HvP]

Another option would be to put a suitably sized parts container on the end of a robotic arm with a ladder attached.

Use the robotic arm to maneuver the parts container to the location you need. Have your Kerbal engineer hang on to the ladder when entering construction mode, and you have easy access to the parts right in front of you.

Edited April 19, 2021 by HvP