How to secure Kerbals on EVA with mods like Kerbal Attachment System

[OpenWorldAddict]

I am afraid to take my kerbals out on EVA, because every damn time one goes on EVA, they get seperated from the capsule and once that happens it is almost impossible to get them back to the ship. The reason why is that I am absolutely terrible when it comes to controlling RCS thrusters. I can never get RCS thruster movements right, and all my efforts usually just make the situation worse. That is why i use mods like Mechjeb to do my docking maneuvers for me, because otherwise i would never be able to dock things.

However being able EVA in space is very important, not to just get EVA reports for science, but also to fix problems with the spaceships; and they are the only way that space stations and very large ships can be built.

In the real world astronauts have some kind of rope or something that are attached to the ship or station and also attached to their suits, and this prevents them from floating away.

I was looking for something like that in a mod for Kerbal Space Program. I heard that Kerbal Attachment System has something that I could use, but I have no idea of how to go about using it. I would really appreciate is someone uploaded a video or a series of photos showing how the things in that mod could be use to secure kerbals during EVA.

[Taki117]

If using Kerbal Attachment system, while you are hanging on the side of the capsule grab the end of the KAS Winch (Any of them will work)

Now then, what I suggest you do to correct your docking issues is practice. when you hit R to turn on the RCS pack the kerbal will orient itself to galactic up, and if you get turned around point the camera at where you want to face and hit "space" now then, short taps are key. If you think you're moving you are, if you know you're moving you are going too fast. the WASD keys correspond to the appropriate cardinal directions. W = forward, A = left, S = backwards, D = right. Shift and ctrl move up and down, they work the same as the throttle (Shift for up and CTRL for down)

Now, for ships there's another set of controls IJKLHN These work a little different. J/L are the same, but I/K are up and down respectively, and H/N are forward and back respectively. The key to aything is short taps.

[OpenWorldAddict]

The problem I have with RCS is that you have to be very light on the keys to control it exactly, but that is very hard for me, especially when using a keyboard. If I was using a joystick, that would be another matter, maybe over time with practice of tiny movements I may be able to use it better, but tiny movements with the keyboard is impossible for me. Many times when I have a deficiency that inhibits my enjoyment of the game, I turn to mods to help me out. I do have disabilities caused by stroke when I was an infant, and that means that my hand-eye co-ordination is not perfect, and that effects thing like this.

Using RCS thrusters is a kin to anything that requires fine-hand movements (or the ability to move your hand in tiny controlled increments), which for me to try is a constant battle. It is this reason why I found 3d graphic design in college so frustrating. One slip of my hand would ruin the whole thing I was trying to do, and that kind of thing happened often.

This is not something that I can just improve over time with practice. It is some thing that I have to accommodate for. Yes, it is true that with the right tools (like controlling RCS with a joystick) I might be able to figure out how to compensate for the problem, but that doesn't make the problem go away.

Edited March 16, 2015 by OpenWorldAddict

[micr0wave]

there's Active Struts, can maybe even do some bungee jumping with the rubberband ones

[Taki117]

Ah, ok. I apologize for my ignorance. In that case KAS is probably your best bet. To use it the way you want simply right click the winch, grab the connector, release, and float away. I would keep a probe core on your ship to do this as I don't believe you can reel your kerbal back in while on EVA.

[Sacs]

For controlling RCS you could try hitting <Caps Lock> to toggle precision. This makes the RCS controls a have a lot less effect and could make it easier for you.

To stop Kerbals from being launched from the capsule at a bazillion m/s, you could also try the Stock Bug Fixes mod.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/97285-KSP-v0-90-Stock-Bug-Fix-Modules-%28Release-v0-1-7d-28-Feb-15%29-Misc-Utilities-%2818-Jan-15%29

Unzip that and drop the EVAEjectionFix.dll into your GameDate folder. Since using this I've never had a Kerbal let go. :-)

[jaddbo]

i would suggest that you stop using mechjeb for everything and learn you skills. i do not mean to be harsh, but they do need to be developed, and i was SO bad at eva when i started it was not even funny.

to practice docking, use the sr. docking ports, they are the easiest.

[WuphonsReach]

For docking, it is fine use MJ as training wheels because you have to do (3) steps to even get close enough to manually dock. And #2 is a PITA without knowing a good bit of math. At least #1 can be eyeballed and #3 uses in-game information right on the navball.

- Match planes with target

- Rendevous to target (Hohmann xfer)

- Match velocities (at closest approach)

DPAI is also a required mod for manual docking, the in-game docking UI doesn't do enough. (Once I've docked enough times, however, I'm quite content to just let MJ do it for the Nth time.)

For EVA, make sure you have the Stock Bug Fixes mod installed with the EVA fix so your kerbal doesn't fly off into the void as soon as they EVA. You're mostly going to use the I/J/K/L keys and not the WASD keys to control your Kerbal and little taps are plenty. Patience is required when doing EVA because you cannot brute-force a solution for getting from A to B.

That and practice... lots and lots of practice using the IJKL keys.

[MaverickSawyer]

I use Tweakable Everything and throttle back the EVA thrusters to below 50% thrust. Combined with the short key taps mentioned before, and you've got it made.

[MircoMars]

for me the trick with docking and 0g-eva navigation is to be patient. short burst are enough if you take your time and let the movement happen. other games teach you to hold the button to keep moving in the direction, but in ksp you just keep moving and only press the keys if you want to change how you move. for docking it's pretty easy to approach from the right side, have the ports +/- normal or align them in flight and get closer at a snails pace. but eva is a whole other story.

first, there's a patch for the "go eva and fly off"-bug! this bugfix is very essential for me, else I would ragequit all the time.

but sometimes you need to be eva and free flying and if you start flying off spinning wildly... yeah I guess we all know the panic.

I can always recommend practice in situational awareness and flying skills. do some test flights (F5 and F9 are your friends) in which you only EVA and try to keep your input as minimal as possible. getting off the key is more important than getting on it. building bigger is also a workaround, as the time slows down with high part counts. and there was a slowmo mod once that could just give you more time to think and act. regarding more time, I learned to first press F3 and take a breath if anything wierd happens.

I'm almost sure I don't understand your limitations in using a keyboard correctly, but are there any tools you could use? like pressing the buttons with a pen or so? or using a specially big keyboard, dunno bout the gaming capabilities of these but it could be worth a try.

the tethered by KAS idea is a very good one and I'm curious about the solutions you'll come up with, please share!

edit: ah and there are mods that add rails etc., so you can build eva routes more easily than with ladders alone. just google for them

Edited March 17, 2015 by MircoMars

[codefox]

For controlling RCS you could try hitting <Caps Lock> to toggle precision. This makes the RCS controls a have a lot less effect and could make it easier for you.

TIL.. even tho I'm not the thread starter, thanks! I've always been missing this..

[eddiew]

It's well worth practising this and becoming confident with basic EVA, rather than looking to mods to solve it for you. The problem isn't really that bad, it just needs a little thought and practise and patience Consider some training on Minmus; try to land your kerbal on top of the spacecraft that put them there. If you miss, the ground will catch you for another try.

In general, most problems with EVA relate to heavy fingers... It's not a car; it doesn't need a constant foot on the gas or hand on the wheel to keep an EVAing kerbal moving.

Tap, tap, tap those keys and remember that once you're moving you will not slow down or stop. A couple of light bursts is enough to get you moving in any direction, after that, just coast and adjust. If any single EVA manoeuvre is costing more than 0.05 of your monoprop reserve, you're being excessively aggressive and need to back off.

[Van Disaster]

I use smartASS to keep docking ports aligned even after a couple of years of practice docking things ( and I *like* rendesvous & docking, I don't think I've ever AP'd either ) - it's just less hassle & easier on the fingers, important when your hands are a mess

The KAS winch is a good idea, I've used it to recover adrift kerbals who've run out of propellant in the past ( and promptly gone atmosphere surfing with them ) but you're a bit limited length-wise unless you construct some sort of extending EVA cable/block system. EVA does need some work, the camera can be hellish if whatever you're trying to get back into is pointing in an awkward direction and there's no good reason for it. I'm going to agree that the only solution is to practice it until you're ok at it - for *that* attaching to a winch cable is a good idea.

Edit: this seems to be around the max range, which actually isn't that far:

Edited March 17, 2015 by Van Disaster

[OpenWorldAddict]

So yesterday I created a new game in Sandbox mode to test out the solutions to this EVA problem that i am having. I had KAS installed and built a orbit achievable rocket with a radial winch attached to the side and a ladder extending down from the cockpit hatch to ensure that my kerbal stays attached to the ship before he grabs the connector.

The plan was to do to EVA tests, one with just grabbing the winch and seeing what happens and if I could get the Kerbal back on board. The second test was to use the RCS jetpack while attached to the winch to see what happens and if I could get the Kerbal back safely on board. The ship also had a probe command unit.

Once I got the ship into a stable orbit, I executed my first EVA test, hitting the EVA button and then moving the Kerbal down on the ladder to where the winch was. Then I had him grab the connector and let go of the vessel. After floating around for a few minutes I found that I did not float too far. I could not get the ship to reel the Kerbal back in even with its probe command part, however it was to much of a struggle to get the kerbal back to the ladder to grab on and get on board. I do have to say the success of this first test does make doing eva to get eva reports for science gameplay mode possible, but I will have to do further tests in that mode to determine how early I could get the winch out as well as testing working with those science reports while on EVA.

After the moderate success of the first test I was feeling good and so decided to go ahead with test #2, and that's when things went awry. As soon as a hit the EVA button, the kerbal was sent flying away from the ship. I didn't even have time to grab the connector (which by the way was still out.) and before I knew it the ship disappeared from site.

So I scrapped that mission and launch the same rocket again for the second test, and initiated it once in orbit again. This time it began as normal. My kerbal came out at the hatch, I moved him down the ladder and grabbed the winch connector. Once attached to the winch I allow him to let go and float away, then I activated his RCS jetpack; and that's when things went all wrong.

Even with the smallest of movements with the jetpack, he was moving all over the place, even though he stayed connected to the winch. I had trouble determine which direction he was moving and how fast he was going; as well as I wasn't sure about his orientation to the vessel, so trying to move torward the vessel was very hard. Eventually I made contact but he came in so fast that he bounced off and started head out in the other direction. Eventually after many attempts to bring him back and many bounce passes, his jetpack ran out of fuel and he was stuck. Not being able to reel him in using the winch, I forced to end the mission.

So those were my attempts yesterday. One success and two failures. I noticed the posts on this thread yesterday evening after conducting those tests, and have downloaded the bug fix mod mentioned. I will be installing it today and then going back in game for another EVA test using the caps lock method for more RCS precision.

I will report later on to let you know how that worked.

Edit: So, I already installed the bug fixes mod and went into game to redo test #2. Again, once I started up the RCS jetpack things got out of control as happened before, but I was able to reel him back in using the ijkl keys mentioned above. (the caps lock thing didn't work). It took alot of tries to align him up with the ladder, but eventually I was able to get him to grab a hold of the ladder, let go of the winch connector and climb back on board. Before the launch I also added the winch retract to an action key which i used after the test to bring the winch connector back in, something which i could not do before.

Overall, it was a moderately successful test (RCS jetpack part still failed but winch worked like a wonder). I may need some more time with the RCS jetpack, but knowing that I can always use the winch to help me get the Kerbal back on board will make me more comfortable with doing more EVA missions.

EVA is most important when building space stations and interplanetary spaceships. So my next test which I will do this evening (maybe earlier if I get the chance) will be to launch a space station and then launch another rocket to connect to the station and see if I can use EVA after docking to help secure the connection with struts and fuel lines and whatever else needs to be done while building a station. I will let you know how that goes.

I do still have a few questions:

1. How early in the tech tree do you get KAS parts like the winch.

2. Let's say I have a winch on the space station and a winch on the rocket. If I can the kerbal get to the other winch, can I switch which winch that my kerbal is connected to?

Edited March 17, 2015 by OpenWorldAddict

[MaverickSawyer]

short burst are enough if you take your time and let the movement happen. other games teach you to hold the button to keep moving in the direction, but in ksp you just keep moving and only press the keys if you want to change how you move.

This is critical to understand. Newtonian physics is a lot of fun when you understand how to use them to your advantage.

edit: ah and there are mods that add rails etc., so you can build eva routes more easily than with ladders alone. just google for them

Are they KAS-mountable? (AKA can you add them while on EVA?)

[Taki117]

1. How early in the tech tree do you get KAS parts like the winch.

2. Let's say I have a winch on the space station and a winch on the rocket. If I can the kerbal get to the other winch, can I switch which winch that my kerbal is connected to?

1. I'm not sure, but you can always take a look at the config. The line "TechRequired = " is what tells you what node it's unlocked. I think you get your first winch in advanced construction. It's one of the stack mounted ones.

2. If you can get close enough I don't see why not. It's as easy as switching connectors.

NOTE: The maximum length of a KAS cable without actively reeling it in or out is 20m. Grab the connector, hit Relese, and it will go to the full 20m.

[WuphonsReach]

Are they KAS-mountable? (AKA can you add them while on EVA?)

The pegasus ladders are definitely KAS-mountable as are the larger ladders in the stock game.

Not sure about some of the additions like the handrails mod.

[Randazzo]

There's nothing wrong with using Mechjeb to learn how to do something, but at some point you'll have to learn to do it or forever be frustrated.

A few things that might help:

• ALWAYS right click on the port and "Control from here" and set your destination port as your target.
  
• Unless you're attempting to dock with something that cannot be controlled, you don't have to try and align the docking ports by RCS. Once close enough to switch vessels, you can control them both and align docking ports by pitch/rotation.
  
• If you're controlling from a docking port with another port targeted, switch your navball to "target" mode (click on the top where it probably says "Orbit"), and you will have a target icon on the navball. You can use this to align, or if your pilot is high enough, he can hold the alignment for you.
  
• Remember that docking mode (or your translation keys) will always have the same effect on your NAVBALL heading, regardless of ship orientation. W and S are always ahead and away, A will always move your progade vector to the left, D will always move it to the right, shift will move it up and control will move it down.
  

[Vanamonde]

This affair about add-ons has been moved to Add-on Affairs.

[MircoMars]

I do still have a few questions:

1. How early in the tech tree do you get KAS parts like the winch.

2. Let's say I have a winch on the space station and a winch on the rocket. If I can the kerbal get to the other winch, can I switch which winch that my kerbal is connected to?

1. you can always check the part.cfg (gamedata/KAS/parts/winch1/winch1.cfg). there you'll find that winch1 is in "advConstruction". just change the TechRequired to whatever suits you.

2. AFAIK you can't have two part at the same time, so you have to let go of 1 cable to grab the other. but you should be able to grab a ladder before you disconnect the first cable, so your kerbal can't float away.

important notice, a cable connection between two vessels makes them join into one (as long as the cable is connected) be careful with crazy cross connections.

[OpenWorldAddict]

Thanks everyone for providing me with solutions to most likely the biggest annoyance I have with Kerbal Space Program. I can now feel confident about taking kerbals out on EVA without worrying about losing them to the void of space.

I did one final test today. i launched a mock-up space station that had a stock space station core, a science module (even though I was in sandbox mode0, and a mechjeb probe pod to ensure I could launch it without a kerbal on board. I also added one winch to it, near the hatch to the hitch-hiker pod. Once that was in space, I launch a three man vessel with a shielded docking port on top. After having mechjeb do the rendevous and docking (but at first it couldn't dock because I forgot to open up the docking port shielding). Once docked then i took one kerbal from the rocket down some stairs that I placed on it to where the winch was. I had the kerbal grab it, let go of the rocket, and using a combination of rcs jetpack as well as the winch controls, I maneuvered the kerbal over to where the other winch was near the hatch to the station. Once the kerbal got close enough, I had him switch connectors and then i used the winch control to bring him in close enough so that he could board the station.

With that a success, I tried the process again in the opposite direction after retracting both winches. This time it was quite a bit harder, but I managed to do it and soon the kerbal was safetly aboard the rocket. With that i detached the rocket from the space station, used the rcs on the rocket to get some distance from the station, and then made the re-entry burn to send the rocket to back home. Once the rocket had safetly returned to Kerbin, I went back a de-orbited the station. I even had mechjeb plot of re-entry course that would plop the station down in the ocean of the coast of the KSC as one final showoff because this EVA testing in now finally over for me. Wish me good luck in my future endeavors, with hope of never losing another kerbal in orbit again.