Is it possible to build it That big?...

[GarrisonChisholm]

Could you build a Station orbiting Mun that was so big that standing outside the VAB you could see it?

My first thought was if it was possible to build a station so big in Kerbal orbit that you could see it from the ground, but that sounded extremely plausible. I have no idea how many launches would be required to build something that big around the Mun; do we have any idle experts interested in the abstract speculation to consider the conundrum?

[JeeF]

I believe anything is possible using this (in terms of part limit, not visual rendering distance)

Without it, nope.

Edited June 26, 2015 by JeeF

[smjjames]

First though, lets define 'visible' here, do you mean a bright point of light orbiting the Mun or visible as in actually seeing the thing visually and not as a point in the sky?

In order to actually be visible and not a point in the sky, you'd have to extend KSPs physics loading (which is also the point where it renders the craft) distance out past the Mun.

For seeing it as a bright point in the sky, I know theres a mod that does that kind of thing, forget the name though.

[RW-1]

How about in Kerbin Orbit instead, much closer to begin with ...

Shades of Elysium or the Tet ... [h=1][/h]

[soulsource]

For seeing it as a bright point in the sky, I know theres a mod that does that kind of thing, forget the name though.

Distant Object Enhancement. The old thread has more screenshots.

[Yemo]

Use the B9 light arrays, they were brighter than the sun...

[stratvox]

Distant Object would need revision; currently the maximum distance for displaying ships is far too small to make things in orbit visible on the ground. I do think it could be a good idea to do this though... it'd be nice to be able to see some stations transiting over the space centre.

[JeeF]

If you could increase render distance pass the moon, by the time you had 10 satellites the game would be running at 1 fps.

[GarrisonChisholm]

Ah, I didn't realize the render horizon had such a curtain. What I was thinking about though was just to see a point of light orbiting, not to discern any detail. - & Jeef has a good point methinks!

[NeMeSiS]

If you could increase render distance pass the moon, by the time you had 10 satellites the game would be running at 1 fps.

Depends, rendering them isn't that expensive, if you don't simulate their physics you could easily do it on higher end GPU's.

[Idrryl]

Distant Object is the mod you're looking for. I know I was able to see my satellites in Kerbin orbit from the KSC just fine, at night of course.

[BDelacroix]

Pre 0.9 I had a large station in orbit in the Joolian system. You could see it as a bright star from my laythe base.