End-caps/Airlocks

[Daveroski]

I would like to have end-caps for all the sizes of fuel tank. They would not have to match the colour of the tanks.

The end-caps would have an airlock with a top/bottom indicator or perhaps a built in ladder.

These airlocks would not be able to hold a crewman for flight but would facilitate the logistics of the crew.

By right clicking the airlock I could EVA any crew-member in the vessel.

By telling a kerbal to board at the airlock, the available sections for crew would be highlighted and I could select which compartment to board. In much the same manner as transferring a crew member can be done now.

The end-caps would be surface mountable so That I can place a 1.5 end-cap anywhere to use as a regular airlock.

I would like this added to 1.2 so please get cracking at your earliest convenience. ( Too far?)

 

 

[Rocket In My Pocket]

All I can picture is a Kerbal swimming through a fuel tank in his space suit.

Which now that I think about it, would be a pretty darn Kerbal thing to do lol.

[Daveroski]

3 hours ago, Rocket In My Pocket said:

All I can picture is a Kerbal swimming through a fuel tank in his space suit.

Which now that I think about it, would be a pretty darn Kerbal thing to do lol.

When I look at a fuel tank I see a cylinder containing separate tanks, passageways, a room in one half and a cylinder in the other... whatever the design of the craft requires.

I can imagine the passageway behind the airlock and so that makes it real in the design.

[Stargate525]

The Mk3 top and bottom even LOOK like they have a hatch in the center. I'd love a hatch/airlock part.

[Kerbart]

3 hours ago, Rocket In My Pocket said:

All I can picture is a Kerbal swimming through a fuel tank in his space suit.

Which now that I think about it, would be a pretty darn Kerbal thing to do lol.

I'm not sure what would be worse. An oxidizer tank containing liquid oxygen, or nitrogen tetroxide, or one containing nitric acid. 

[Rocket In My Pocket]

1 hour ago, Daveroski said:

When I look at a fuel tank I see a cylinder containing separate tanks, passageways, a room in one half and a cylinder in the other... whatever the design of the craft requires.

I can imagine the passageway behind the airlock and so that makes it real in the design.

I get what you're saying but wouldn't that be a huge waste of space and technically reduce the amount of fuel that the tank was able to hold? All to have an interior passageway when a ladder on the exterior of the craft would suffice?

That said, I'm for your idea from a game play standpoint. Shuffling Kerbals around is tedious and time consuming, more hatches on more parts would only help alleviate the issue.

[Mikki]

Isn`t it common sense in this forum that some Kerbals love to sip hypergolics and hydrazine?

[dr.phees]

Yes, that would be brilliant. I would like to see a few surface mountable, low profile variants as well.

[Temeter]

6 hours ago, Daveroski said:

When I look at a fuel tank I see a cylinder containing separate tanks, passageways, a room in one half and a cylinder in the other... whatever the design of the craft requires.

I can imagine the passageway behind the airlock and so that makes it real in the design.

Not sure what kind of fueltank you're using there... Oo

Spoiler

Aircraft tanks have those airlocks actually working, I think even on tanks, but doesn't make sense on rockets.

[Alshain]

Kerbals have the ability to compress their bodies to fit in very tiny locations... like mice... and they just squish themselves up and go through the hollow struts.  They just can't perform this stunt while people are watching, they are kinda shy about it.

Edited September 9, 2016 by Alshain

[Mr. Scruffy]

Hmmm... How about a checkbox in the tweak-menus of fuel tanks - something like "walkable" and some logic to handle its use. If you check it, some capacity is deduced from the tank, but it makes it traversable for kerbals, which they otherwise would not be.

I like the original idea, too.

Edited September 10, 2016 by Mr. Scruffy

[Wjolcz]

I'd definitely like to have this kind of function for docking ports (except the small one). You would right-click a port and pick the "EVA" option. Once that's done a list of all crew members shows up and you simply pick which one you want to go out with.

I know it's not realistic, but what is in this game? Not much. And there would be no need for a new part.