Reasons for Deep Space Stations?

[Wcmille]

Is anyone using space stations that orbit in the Sun's SOI?

i can think of two reasons:

1. A refueling station in low orbit around the sun, to allow Kerbs to "visit" that location.

2. A cycler.

Are there others?

[Starhawk]

Well, the new comms system is coming so I'll say Commsats.

Or to fulfill a contract.  I have a thing in my main career game from a fairly early contract.  It's called Solar Ghost Orbiter because it has space for thirteen kerbals or something but has never been crewed.

Places to station infrastructure for future contracts (such as small ships for rescue missions).

Happy landings!

[Armisael]

A refueling station doesn't make any sense at all - the middle of nowhere isn't a destination, and you barely shave any dv cost off any trip anywhere. You'd be much better off putting your station in orbit around a planet (and even that's questionable unless you're going to the body in question).

That said, you could make a decent argument for an Icarus Station role-played as a research station.

Edited September 9, 2016 by Armisael

[Majorjim!]

7 hours ago, Wcmille said:

Are there others?

3. They are cu.

[NSEP]

4. A solar enegry plant.

5. A spaceport where kerbals can go other planets.

6. A new ''planet'' where kerbals can live their lives on.

[Kertech]

Retiring a station for whatever reason sucks, my laptop can't handle the frame rate for reentry so I don't even get the fireworks. So where possible I kick them out into a solar orbit to gather dust but still be visited ("discovered") by future explorers! 

[stenole]

The only purpose I can think of for a Sun space station is to get the science lab bonus from solar orbit in career mode. It may work as a refueling station if it is capable to mining nearby asteroids which are in similar orbits, but if it can move around to mine asteroids it's not really a station anymore.

[Curveball Anders]

For me the main reason to have a deep space station is to have a deep space station that I've designed, launched and made to work in it's intended to location

[pandaman]

That pretty much sums up my thoughts too...

For fun - because I can, or because I want to find out if I can.

If it has a real 'purpose' it's usually as an extension of the above, not because it's genuinely 'needed'.

31 minutes ago, Curveball Anders said:

For me the main reason to have a deep space station is to have a deep space station that I've designed, launched and made to work in it's intended to location

 

Edit...  quote got put below rather than above my text.

[Scotius]

I had a science station in low Moho orbit - does it count? It was a real bother to assemble and maintain - but at least science bonus was good. In solar orbit? I doubt it would be worth it. Putting decently sized station that low in gravity orbit costs a lot of dV. Purpose-built probes are cheaper, simpler and easy to maintain - even when science return isn't so great. Pf course nothing stops you from building a ISS expy for challenge and satisfaction

[nascarlaser1]

The reason I have a station in the sun's orbit? Simple. I missed the Mun by 1k. Sent my Mun orbiter into  the sun's orbit, ran out of fuel, and decided to leave it there. (this was sandbox so I didn't lose any funds )

[KerikBalm]

aside from a mobile lab turning out science, or contracts... nope

Less arbitrary is the IR telescope from the asteroid day mod... you need to be in a solar orbit to use it... but a probe is fine, I don't know why you'd make a whole station out of it.

A cycler could be good if we cared about life support in KSP, but we don't, and those are a pain to set up, I'd rather just capture (with gravity assists when possible) into highly eliptical orbits with the main ship section containing stuff for the crew.

A refueling station doesn't make much sense...

But if we count distant celestial bodies as "deep space"... like a station around Eeloo, then we start seeing some usefulness, particularly with ISRU

[Mastikator]

Orbiting the sun is a bad place to be, it's a boring place and it's difficult to get there or get away from there.

[Corona688]

Solar orbit isn't a good place to keep things and a horrible stopping point.  Whatever you toss out there could be lost for centuries, you could expend as much time and fuel reaching it as you would have just going to your destination direct.  I like minmus better.  Low grav, easy to get to, easy to leave, made of fuel.

If you get a contract paying you for solar orbit, no reason you have to *keep* it in solar orbit.  Move it a nudge out of kerbal SOI, then straight back in.

Edited September 10, 2016 by Corona688

[Diche Bach]

First step to a [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW55cViXu6s]Dyson Sphere[/url]

. . . erm, I mean _SWARM_

Edited September 10, 2016 by Diche Bach

[Wcmille]

19 hours ago, Armisael said:

10 hours ago, Majorjim! said:

3. They are cu.

A refueling station doesn't make any sense at all - the middle of nowhere isn't a destination, and you barely shave any dv cost off any trip anywhere. You'd be much better off putting your station in orbit around a planet (and even that's questionable unless you're going to the body in question).

That said, you could make a decent argument for an Icarus Station role-played as a research station.

I don't understand. Can you say more about what you mean by cu?

[Aragosnat]

Outside of doing it for fun. Not much reason to do so for the inner planets. Outter ones maybe. Beyond Eeloo might be intresting for sending things out beyond Kerbol/Sun SOI..

[GoSlash27]

in 1.2, it'll be worth having 2 relays to avoid occlusion.

Best,
-Slashy

[Alshain]

10 minutes ago, GoSlash27 said:

in 1.2, it'll be worth having 2 relays to avoid occlusion.

Best,
-Slashy

Will it?  It's not really worth it in remote tech.  You can certainly do it, but Sun occlusion happens so rarely, it's especially unlikely when you need communications the most (insertion burn).  Other maneuvers can simply wait till it comes back, that is the only critical one, and in most cases the position of the planet at the time of arrival will not be occluded by the sun, at least not on typical encounter trajectories. 

Furthermore I've found it incredibly difficult to get satellites to stay in the same orbital period as an on-rails object for some reason.  Even when it seems perfect, it isn't.  I once tried to put a satellite before and after the Mun, and no matter how close I got it's orbital period, the Mun would overtake it rather quickly.

Edited September 10, 2016 by Alshain

[Wjolcz]

None. Unless we get actually useful crew members (engineers with KIS/KAS abilities) and/or life support.

I can easily imagine a situation where I have my Laythe surface base with a station in orbit. The base has two scientists and a pilot (to gather and process the results of experiments) and an engineer up there growing food for them. Whenever something breaks they call him and order some more food from the station.

Just a fun idea. Probably unecessary complexity, but I'd enjoy doing that.

[Draconiator]

hmmm, I never thought of that before...may be useful to have one of those in an orbit between Eve and Moho to refuel for a visit to that world.

[GoSlash27]

8 hours ago, Alshain said:

Will it?  It's not really worth it in remote tech.  You can certainly do it, but Sun occlusion happens so rarely, it's especially unlikely when you need communications the most (insertion burn).  Other maneuvers can simply wait till it comes back, that is the only critical one, and in most cases the position of the planet at the time of arrival will not be occluded by the sun, at least not on typical encounter trajectories. 

Furthermore I've found it incredibly difficult to get satellites to stay in the same orbital period as an on-rails object for some reason.  Even when it seems perfect, it isn't.  I once tried to put a satellite before and after the Mun, and no matter how close I got it's orbital period, the Mun would overtake it rather quickly.

 I dunno. I was watching a Twitch stream earlier where they had a 2 orbit rendezvous get screwed by a solar occlusion. I always do simple Hohmann transfers, so that sort of thing should never be a problem for me... but I've never played with comm networks before.
 Guaranteed, tho'... if you do Hohmann transfers both ways, you will experience a solar occlusion in the middle of your stay at the destination planet. There's probably nothing important going on when it hits, but it will happen.

Best,
-Slashy

Edited September 11, 2016 by GoSlash27

[samstarman5]

It would be handy as a communications node once you hit the point of interplanetary travel. If you don't prepare for it, then the odds go up of you rendezvousing with your destination with the sun between you and Kerbin.  If you want something more than that, then setting up on one of the poles of Dres might be ideal.

[Talos]

I was thinking of placing a few relays in a solar SOI once 1.2 drops. Apart from that, I don't see the practicality of putting a research station or refuelling station in Kerbol SOI. For the most part, planets would be a far better choice for those kinds of missions since having a crew available in those areas can serve a better purpose.

[Green Baron]

19 hours ago, Alshain said:

*snip*

  Even when it seems perfect, it isn't.  I once tried to put a satellite before and after the Mun, and no matter how close I got it's orbital period, the Mun would overtake it rather quickly.

 

That would mean that the orbital heights of moons and their soi will be taboo for comm's satellites. Or the comm's / relay satellites best be set in high polar orbits around the moons. For the least shadow lobe by the moon and the planet ...

?