about to do my first build orbital station around Minmus.

[Beatz0121]

this is the first time I have built an Orbital Station period.

anything I should know before I go? I already tested my Delta and everything. seem to have enough.

I am confused on the instructions. It says orbit minmus, then build a station.

can I not take the whole station with me or do I have to send other pods to dock to it?

also I don't have a check bar for antenna, can generate power, and has docking port. I am using the clampotron. is this correct?

[mabarry3]

As long as you have solar panels, any of the clamp-o-trons, and any antenna, you're fine for that requirement. Building a station just means to launch something there that meets the requirements. You don't need to send it in parts and assemble.

The instructions are just a list of the things you need to accomplish. You need to orbit Minmus, you need to have a "station" with xyz, you need to have a facility supporting x kerbals, etc. It doesn't mean "do them in this order", just "do this"

[cantab]

Double-check the contract terms when it's on the pad. I think they're usually OK with a single-launch station like yours, provided you have anything.

As far as being an operational science station goes, I don't see a lot of solar power. The Science Lab is kind of hungry, I recommend half a dozen 2x3 or 1x6 panels or a Gigantor or two, and a couple of thousand units of Ec. The contract won't care though, it only matters if you actually want to research for extra science points on it.

[Kuansenhama]

Everything looks to be in order from what you have provided. I've launched stations and bases in one piece many times before, so no you don't have to dock any pods or anything to it.

Also, double check that you have an antenna and some kind of power generation equipment, that always gets me. If the check bar isn't filling, go out onto the launchpad but don't launch. Once your vessel is 'in flight', it will tell you if you have everything you need.

So long as you get the final stage of the rocket into any orbit around Minimus and hold for 10 seconds, you should get paid. These aren't like sattelite contracts where you need to go to a specific (often expensive) orbit.

[arise257]

I second the call for moar solar. I recently put myself in a situation where I need to launch a separate "generator" module (basically a fckton of panels on an octocore) to my space station in order for it to run non-stop.

[Beatz0121]

OK I think I am good to go! I have X8 0X-4L 1x6 panels. they are the best I have!

Wish me luck!

guys while i have you here: what do thermal panels actually do? is that for when you get closer to the sun?

Edited October 29, 2015 by Beatz0121

[Dfthu]

what do thermal panels actually do? is that for when you get closer to the sun?

If you have a nuclear engine or mining, your ship can get hot and the radiators take heat the from the ship

[DancesWithSquirrels]

... what do thermal panels actually do? is that for when you get closer to the sun?

The early career thermal panels have low thermal mass, high conductivity and very high emissions - they will share heat with whatever they are mounted upon, and far more efficiently radiate that into the cold abyss of space. Think of them as cooling fins, and keep them out of the sun, reentry heat, and engine exhaust.

The active Thermal Control Systems, on the other hand, will pump heat from _any_ part of your craft, warm up, and fairly efficiently radiate it away. Again, keep them pointed away from the sun.

[ As I recall from another thread, there is currently a bug on the TCS's where they treat sunlight as if they were never rotated from their initial unfolded position - so keep that position perpendicular to the sun. ]

[Alshain]

You can build a space station without ever docking anything to it. (And for realistic parallels, SpaceLab was like that. They only docked to it to deliver personnel)

[Beatz0121]

Cool thanks guys! all makes sense now! i made it safely with 75% fuel left in the tank! contract complete!

The only mistake I think I made was I initially built this to never come back home. but with all that fuel left I should have put a decoupler on the CM. I would have to bring the whole station through the atmos LOL.

[StormKat]

Cool thanks guys! all makes sense now! i made it safely with 75% fuel left in the tank! contract complete!

The only mistake I think I made was I initially built this to never come back home. but with all that fuel left I should have put a decoupler on the CM. I would have to bring the whole station through the atmos LOL.

Send up a transport to dock with your station. You can transfer the old crew back to the transport and bring them home. Just like the ISS.

[Nothalogh]

You can build a space station without ever docking anything to it. (And for realistic parallels, SpaceLab was like that. They only docked to it to deliver personnel)

I think you mean Skylab, Spacelab was a shuttle cargo bay mounted module

[FlyingPete]

Cool thanks guys! all makes sense now! i made it safely with 75% fuel left in the tank! contract complete!

In which case, you've now got the beginnings of an orbital fuel depot! I like to build reusable Mun transports that shuttle between stations in LKO and Munar orbit. The spacecraft that bring crews to and from Kerbin can bring along some extra fuel to keep the station's tank topped up, or you can just use it until it's empty.

[Warzouz]

What is you mission plan ? What do you want your station for ? Remember that stations contracts rarely cover the expenses. So you should use you station for a specific purpose (mostly exploration).

Depending on tech you have access, you station might vary a lot. Usually, you would want to have a lander and a return vehicle too. With higher tech you would have some kind of mining capacity. But stations are very efficient to collect science. With a 2000 m/s lander (even less, I don't recall my early landers), you can strip Minmus for science in 2 or 3 drops. And 4 to 5 for Mun. Your lander might need to be upgraded when you get new science equipment (so you'll need to send anther one). Managing crew rotation is also a good way to level up kerbals.

Also, I would go to smallest number of tanks. As you usually have to transfer fuel, it's easier if tanks are big. Those small RCS tanks could be replaced with on bigger one. Usually, you don't need that much RCS, though.

I would recommend to have an antenna, a probe core and few science light weight equipment (gravity, temp, pressure). theses are cheap and you'd be able to quickly do "get science from space around XXXX" in few seconds even with a uncrewed station.

Don't hesitate to send a big tank of fuel, even if mostly empty. I would also suggest to use a Rockamax tank instead of those large Kerbodyne.

And as other said, use bigger solar panels (even for the look of it...), but keep your docking rings far from those solar panels, you don't want to mess a docking procedure around solar panels...

At low tech, add 2 to 4 small radial engines to be able to change orbit if needed. Favor a large docking ring at the bottom of your station for extensions.

BTW, here my Exploration Space Station design : http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/132464

[FlyingPete]

And as other said, use bigger solar panels (even for the look of it...), but keep your docking rings far from those solar panels, you don't want to mess a docking procedure around solar panels...

If that's not possible for whatever reason (station size, power requirements, drunken design etc) standard practice should be to retract any offending solar arrays before attempting to dock a spacecraft to the station. You can always extend them again once the docking is complete (and if there's room to do so.)

[CrashTestDanny]

If you ever do want to bring it home, you could dock some modules with lots of chutes and airbrakes to it... Could even bring it to Kerbin orbit and then start adding stuff like that through the docking ports. Or you can use unmanned KLAW probes to add stuff to it... possibilities abound!

Danny

[Kerba Fett]

Why would you ever want to bring it home?

Keep it in orbit of Minmus and send a lander to work with it. the lander refuels at the station tanks then goes to the surface, does EVA reports, takes surface samples, runs goo and science jr experiments then heads back to the station.

You then transfer all data to the station, refuel the lander, clean the experiment bays, and do another landing in a different biome and repeat the entire process.

You transmit any data that's worth100% and keep the rest on the station. When there's enough to make it worthwhile, you send a small courier ship to the station and collect the data for return to Kerbin.

The station never leaves orbit till all the science is collected and the lander can be small since it only has to travel between the station and the surface.

Once all science is harvested, you move the entire operation to the Mun and repeat there.

You should rotate your crew back to Kerbin after they each plant a flag on the surface so they can level up, but you can do that one at a time on your data courier.