Norcalplanner

I'm going to put in a plug for Kerbal Joint Reinforcement and SpaceY. KJR strengthens all the connections, including docking ports, reducing the need for struts. SpaceY includes 3.75m and 5m docking ports which are much stronger than anything in stock. The largest station I ever built, with room for over a thousand Kerbals, was launched in three big sections, with the only connection between sections being a 5m docking port. P.s. Think really hard about whether you want to do this. A two minute docking maneuver will take 30 minutes or more due to lag.

I have that exact same poster on the wall next to my home computer. Great minds think alike. :-)

Community tech tree gives you a reason to keep earning science, especially if you've added some mods which use the late nodes. Not sure how well it would work to add it to an existing save, though. SETI also makes things interesting with lots of changes to how science is gathered.

Stacking them vertically using docking port jrs. works really well. That way each satellite has a docking port which can redock to a larger craft at a future date, be refueled, etc. I'll launch two to four small sats that way behind a single fairing.

I know that NecroBones now bundles Interstellar Fuel Switch with Fuel Tanks Plus, and I'm enjoying it immensely. He also now has multiple skins for FTP tanks which can be changed via tweakables in the VAB. Clean white 2.5m rocket tanks filled with only LF for use with LV-Ns and the Quadnuke from MRS? Sign me up, please. ;-)

A few observations: 1. MechJeb is awesome, particularly SmartASS. It makes cancelling relative velocity with the target really easy. Don't use the automatic docking or the RCS balancer thing - it will use way too much monoprop. Have each craft target the other craft's docking port, "control from here", and then have each craft point at the other using SmartASS. Use a tiny burst from the main engine (thrust limit the engine before trying this if you need to) to close at 0.3 m/s or so. As long as you have good enough reaction wheels, you can still be a little bit off and dock. Each ship will pirouette around the other, and should still connect. If you're coming straight in, turn SmartASS off on the target craft first at 10m out, then turn it off on the docking craft when it's 2m out and let the docking port magnets take over. If you keep SmartASS active on both craft with a straight in approach (instead of the pirouette) then your docking ports will likely end up doing a dance that can break things. 2. For docking really big craft, each should have its own RCS blocks and monoprop supply. Play with the fuel levels in the tanks in the VAB to approximate how much fuel will be left at the time of docking, then put two rings of 4 RCS blocks near the center of the craft, on either side of the CoM with that fuel load. I've used this setup to dock very large craft together without any problems. Having a tug with off-center RCS thrust is a recipe for a slow-motion nightmare with larger craft or station modules. I'm also not a big fan of the claw - I mainly use docking ports on my tugs, combined with KJR for a strong connection. 3. Space may be hard, but docking does get easier over time. Keep at it and you'll find things start to become second nature.

I will make a very large, very low part count station with precisely ONE tank for holding LF/O.

This may be too late (I was just reviewing the thread after being away for a week) but the ATM was launched on top of the Skylab, then moved to its position on the side once in orbit. I screwed up my "Starlab" and launched it with the ATM already on the side with some counterweights and a horrendously huge fairing. Feel free to learn from my mistake.

Correct - I should have clarified that I was talking about a stackable upper stage where the stock solution is to go radial with the LV-Ns.

If you don't want to use procedural parts, I highly recommend NecroBones' mods, in combination with KJR. Struts almost disappear, and you're able to use fewer, larger parts for big or complicated rockets. The quad nuke from MRS is one of my favorite engines - to get the same thing in stock generally requires 12 parts instead of just one.

I only used it for the first time a little while ago. I used it to put four of the MRS quad nukes on the back of a LF-only SpaceY tank as part of a mothership/station which includes a lot of heavy Station Science parts. Sending cyclotrons and zoology labs to Jool has never been easier. :-)

There's just such an adapter in SpaceY.

Why only 6? ;-)

Vahal, trust me - I know radial staging quite well, and have used it extensively in some very large craft. Having the larger tank mainly helps keep the part count down.

Mining and orbital refueling is something that some people find fun. Others prefer to get their fun from larger rockets or SSTO refueling tankers. The important thing is that we're all having fun playing KSP.

It's an older lightweight life support mod, largely supplanted these days by USI-LS. I would put both of these mods in the same category. - - - Updated - - - TheXRuler, I understand where you're coming from. Just please be careful and watch the part count so you don't end up with a slideshow as your station gets bigger. If you're not using any interstellar parts, then it will still be considered a modded division entry. Man, this challenge is really starting to show its age. I'll need to go through and update some things.

Why so many? Is there any way you can reduce it to a more reasonable number? This stuff is supposed to be fun, not a chore. :-)

Mission control, so you can have more than 2 missions active at the same time. Then launch pad, then astronaut complex.

And then you've got people (like me) who copy all the Steam files somewhere else so we can play the thing a) offline and without a Steam update stomping all over our modded game. According to Steam, I've only played this game for 120 hours, when the real number is probably four figures. I recently pared my installs down from 10 to 8.

Just a quick note to say that I'm really enjoying this mod. The VX-03 2.5m engine in particular is seeing a lot of use for my two-man landers on airless worlds.

Sounds like you need more reaction wheels near the middle of the station so that you can still turn it with reasonable effort while ships are docked. I highly recommend KJR if you don't have it installed, since it also strengthens docking port connections. In terms of design, I've found that as long as I have a 2.5m docking port on the end opposite the engines, I can generally build my way out of any problem.

Did someone ask for a Saturn V/4-260? Because I think I'll need to make one as soon as you release this...

Play now, but keep multiple installs. (I currently have eight different installs, to the detriment of my hard drive.) That way, nothing breaks when there's an update. This is especially important for Steam users, where the game will automatically update if you're not careful.

Awesome! "You must spread rep around before giving it to NecroBones again"... Grrr

I think you're right. Double the current size (3x standard length) would probably be a bit too big. After looking at the current lengths, I think that either a 15m or 18.75m tank would probably be more appropriate. Thanks again for considering this.