Saltpeter

Eight tanks attached! I can now start expanding Triskelion Generation Ship beyond the core! Detail of the dynamic struts that have replaced the lateral ports on the rear tanks. The front tanks will continue to be attached by triple lateral ports.

Dynamic struts are performing flawlessly so far. 7 tanks up, 19 to go! Note the strut storage module.

KAS is working like a charm. One tank left to replace before I can start extending the trefoil design further.

Continuing difficulty resulted in extensive discussion with experts on alternatives to the unreliable docking method. I've employed a new exotic item, dynamic struts. Dynamic struts not shown. The rearmost tank(foreground in picture) is being phased out as a result of the effectiveness of these new struts. It will be released and deorbited once the liquid fuel is emptied. Construction can now continue as planned.

The Triskelion Mk. II Generation Ship under construction in space. The rearmost tank is an old tank model being phased out for tanks with only one side of radial ports, favoring KAS struts instead of dock ports for structural integrity. Since there is still liquid fuel left inside the tank, it is staying until more tanks can be added. The finished construct will have 26 orange tanks, 52 atomic engines, living space for at least ten kerbals, two moon landers, one reusable entry vehicle for planets and atmospheric bodies, all the accoutrements for science, and 5 reusable orbiter probes. Donory Kerman is the captain of the vessel and overseer of the project.

I've tried out KAS, and it seems amazing. It replaces the function of one axis of docking ports. I will report my progress once all of the outer dock tanks have been replaced with KAS strut tanks.

If I do that, it won't match my vision anymore. The shape is more important to me than the tank count. I am specifically trying to avoid a central stack of tanks. I want this ship to be at least as wide as it is long. I didn't have any great trouble getting the tanks at the front of the station to dock up, so I will continue with the trefoil design at the front of the station as planned. If using KAS doesn't pan out, I will try something different. I am not against replacing the radial ports with plain struts, and launching entire segments as one whole part. Worst case, I don't need the second segment of tanks. But the trefoil design is prerequisite for my station. I'm sure docking both seniors and radials will be easier if I don't have to worry about multiple-axis docking.

I launched another tank. I'm having the opposite problem with this one. The senior is working, but I can't get the laterals to work. The tank wobbles like a mofo. If I could just get the senior and one lateral to work, that would be enough. I just want it to not wobble like that. I give up. I'm going to replace the lateral ports with KAS struts now.

In my attempt to debug the issue, I find that it is impossible to connect the seniors, even when I rotate the tank so that the laterals are not facing each other and are not magnetized. How far away do I have to make the seniors before the magnetism comes back? Edit: I pulled the tank an entire tank's length away and the senior still refused to connect. I'm increasingly leaning towards a relaunch of this tank.

I've tried a dozen times just now to just get the senior to click into place, and it refuses to. x___x I've gotten all three laterals to connect three times in a row, but not that blasted senior. I KNOW I can get all four ports to click, I did it on the first try with the last tank I launched up. It just seems to be really hard to do after the first outer tank.

This is killing me. x.x I wish I could get that mod with the magnetism toggle to work, because it just caused this nightmare: Poor alignment of the small ports prevented the senior from docking, but all three small ports are docked. The alignment error was caused by the magnetism. The mod that has the magnetism toggle has two folders, GameData and "Sources", which doesn't seem to have a vanilla analogue. I extracted it to the main KSP folder. The comments for this mod indicate that I'm not the only one unable to install it. I believe getting this mod to work is the key to solving this issue once and for all.

This was my first station, the Triskelion Mk. I. It's not large, it's not flashy, but it does have three tanks each attached by three docking ports, which was tricky as hell to get right. I'm currently working on the successor to this station, the Triskelion Mk. II. The three fuel probes attached to it give it the distinct triskelion shape.

Nothing beats JFK's "go to the moon" speech, but this one is a contender:

I have discovered part of the problem One of the tanks, despite being fully connected, is terribly aligned. Now that I know this is causing the issue with the seniors, I might be able to get this to work without a complete relaunch.

I've been unable to get the mod that can turn off the magnets to work, but with MechJeb I don't think it'll be that effective. The dock autopilot offsets the magnetic force well enough. Smart A.S.S. is definitely helping with the alignment, but I still can't get more than two seniors to dock at once. I am tempted to redesign the entire station with the Core unit being the same length from senior to senior as the Outer units. Even if I can't get every small port to dock, the seniors MUST all dock up. I will also take the opportunity to use KAS to strengthen the station in orbit.

That is what I do, but I separate the entire rear section first to prevent interference from the Senior ports. For some reason, on that last tank, only one of the small ports exhibits any magnetism no matter how far away I pull it before redocking. I'm going to replace that tank. If I can't get the next tank to work, I will give the KAS mod a trial run.

One of the tanks appears to be faulty. Only one of the docking ports ever seems to succeed to connect. A relaunch may be necessary.

The process of attaching the rear tanks has been exceptionally difficult. I had to consult with local aerospace experts for a solution to the problem. I have employed some exotic tools called MechJeb and Docking Alignment Indicator to facilitate these delicate maneuvers. I am very slowly making progress assembling the greater Triskelion Station. The tanks are not yet properly docked up. Note the ruggedized MechJeb module. Donory Kerman is happy to have the assistance after struggling for weeks.

So I launched a 4th tank. Of course this one manages to get all three small ports docked on the first try. But the Senior didn't connect. I am hoping that that'll remedy itself once I finally get that last blasted tank connected up. I think I can take it from here. Thanks for all the help!

Two tanks will tear each other apart if only one of the three ports are connected. I'll be satisfied as long as every large port is docked properly. I've been unable to get all three large ports to dock so far, but that appears to be mostly due to the small ports not completely lining up. Here is the present situation. As you can see, with 1/3 small ports, there is too much error to get the large ports lined up. I will continue to try and get at least two small ports of that last tank lined up. I PREDICT that if I can get two of the three small ones (preferably the top and bottom ones), I'll be able to dock all three large ports. Alternately, I can take a up a 4th tank, might make rotating the entire construct easier. I actually had to do a refueling run because of all the monoprop I've been using getting these tanks together.

I may give up on this two-tank-long venture after all. I suppose 13 tanks will be enough for my project. At the very least, I can get the front tanks lined up entirely first. The structure will be strong enough if the rear tanks don't have the radial ports, right?

Alright, MechJeb is awesome. Hohmann transfers are great and all, but I no longer have anything to prove with them, so automating rendezvouses is nice. The docking AP isn't quite working. I've gotten two, but not all three of the ports to connect. There is apparently a mod that allows you to turn off the dock magnets, but I can't get it to work. I think that would help the situation.

What I mean is that they're not connected at all. When I right click on them, the option to undock is not there, on either side of the connection. I haven't had trouble with multidocking until this part. All of the ports on the front end of the station are completely connected. I already know that what I am trying to do is possible, I'm just looking for ways to make it easier. I tried the Docking Port Indicator. It helps big time with the small ports. I haven't tried MechJeb yet, since I'll need to launch one up there. I like to use Lazor Docking Cam, but I can't seem to get it to work. Will report when I launch a MechJeb.

I've never tried MechJeb because all the stuff that comes with it is intimidating, but I'll try the tool you suggested. Will report here with results.

(I'm new to the forum, but I did enough reading to realize that there are many many threads here about docking. I hope it's apparent by this thread and the picture that this isn't just an inquiry into basic docking. All the tutorials I've found only go into the basics.) So I am assembling a space station comprised of 26 large orange tanks arranged in a hexagonal trefoil. Each tank has a large port on each end and nine small ports in sets of three on the sides. I am having difficulty getting them all to connect properly. Here is an illustration of the situation: I am not sure how to approach this problem. I'm trying to resolve it by detaching the bottom half and then trying to get all the small ports resolved before reattaching the entire thing to the top half, and this is the closest I've gotten. If this is the best way to do it, then by the time the station is done, the final docking maneuver will involve matching up 13 pairs of large ports, and that sounds dreadful. Is there a better way? Alternately, I am willing to install mods that facilitate docking so that maneuvers like this aren't as finicky. I'd rather not have to, but if you know of one that would make this project easier, I'm open to trying it.