Ship Design- MIRV type probes

[xcorps]

Inspired by a couple of mentions of a multiple proble launch vehicle, I decided to begin construction of one.

I'm thinking of building 8 probes on a main body launcher, then sending that launcher to kerbal escape and dep32loying the probes. I think I've got the bare bones framed up, with probes having about 3200dV and all the instrumentation for a good scan, with parachutes for reentry to Kerbal.

Pretty sure I can get it away, but my problem is with staging.

I'm using the Launchpad in gravity hack to test the probes. When I decouple a probe, I set the staging on the probe to fire the engines in stage 1 and deploy the chute in stage 2.

When I hit the spacebar, the engines don't fire, but the chute deploys. Hit the space bar again, and the engines fire but cannot be throttled down.

Any help on this?

EDIT: Ah, the staging trapped all the rockets on the original ship as well. This has to be set up in the VAB without symmetry I'm assuming?

Edited April 10, 2014 by xcorps

[FREEFALL1984]

Don't forget at any time during flight you can restage items in the staging bar, and/or activate components. It's how I created a perfect geosync satellite system.

[xcorps]

I was thinking of launching 8 probes on one liftoff/transport rocket. It looks like I shouldn't use staging at all after launch, but instead set the rockets and chutes to action groups.

Does the staging link break after a certain distance or something? (IE probe one moves into Duna orbit, but all the rest of the probes are en route to other planets, will the staging persist throughout the probes?) This might not be worth the effort.

[Red Iron Crown]

Ah, the staging trapped all the rockets on the original ship as well. This has to be set up in the VAB without symmetry I'm assuming?

Something made using symmetry will be grouped together by default in the staging list, but you can break up that grouping. Click once to expand the group, then you can click individual items to move them around the staging list separately.

[Zourin]

I'm assuming you have AI cores on the probes themselves. Staging gets funny when dealing with breakaway probes. You should manually disconnect and control one probe at a time (there is no 'shotgun' solution worth its salt) and land it before taking control of the next.

Cluster probes are useful for getting a number of light satellites or even landers along interplanetary trips, rather than sending out multiple missions for each moon/planet/etc. The purpose is sound, but for KSP, simultaneous deployment is messy and inadvisable.

You may even need to manually activate the engine and chute if necessary. As mentioned, you *should* always have control to organize the staging of your current vessel. If there's a problem with it being weird about being undocked, your best solution for a simple probe is manual control.

[capi3101]

I would set the probe chutes to one action group and the probe engines to another. Decouple them from your mothership manually; once the probe is independent of the mothership, the action group will control that single probe and leave the rest of them be.

Might consider putting all the solar panels on the probes in the same action group as well; that way when you get it into Kerbin orbit, you can open up all the panels at once. Good way to not run out of juice. Of course, if you're using RTGs, that's fine too. Setting the panels up on an action group lets you close them quickly right when you hit atmo; again, the action group will only affect the single probe at a time once it's cut loose.

[godefroi]

I put 6 probes around a big orange tank (using symmetry) and sent them all to Jool, one for each moon and one for Jool itself. Each probe had a fairing around it, and my main tank had solar panels that were insufficient by the time I got to Jool.

I popped the fairings off one probe and extended panels to get power so I could maneuver, and when I popped the fairings on the next one (in order to depart it), I busted off one of the panels on the first probe. I was more careful after that

[Anton P. Nym]

oops duplicate

Edited April 9, 2014 by Anton P. Nym

[Anton P. Nym]

I made an 8-probe array myself and found just right-clicking on the separator for the probe I want to launch was the simplest solution that didn't lead to disaster. Staging each one got weird if I docked a pair of arrays to a craft, as did action groups, even if I didn't use symmetry in the VAB. Too much of a pain.

-- Steve

[SRV Ron]

Regardless of how you set up separating probes from the mother ship, action groups, staging command, manually staging by right clicking on the decoupler, You will have to switch control to the probe before you can control it. Either the bracket keys when close by, or map mode select, will do the job.

Ion probe launch and controlled. Mother ship with seven other probes in the background. Bracket keys will toggle control between the two.

Conventional powered probe under control. Mothership is the red data display. The ion probe is in white. Map Mode is needed to transfer control back to the mothership or ion probe.

[problemecium]

My advice is don't stage the probes. Just slap a glob of probes at the top and whenever you want to detach one, right-click the decoupler / docking port and manually decouple it. You can even use Alt+L to lock the staging if you don't trust yourself.

...so basically exactly what half the people here already said. I second it, I guess. That's what I do anyway.

[xcorps]

Ok, that sounds like a plan, I'll give that a whirl after this Duna probe gets back.

I'll leave it unanswered in case anyone has else has some input, thanks for the replies.