How hard is docking

[Kertech]

Easy with my less realistic approach, instead of lining up docking ports nicely then slow forward motion, I just set my ships sas to follow target, then plot straight ahead just translating to keep prograde over the target.

Not the best technique, but works. (Yes I can do it properly but takes way longer!!)

Edited October 24, 2016 by Kertech

[eddiew]

Depends on how well you balanced your RCS is on the active vessel... if it's kicking and spinning every time you try to translate, it's pretty hard to dock

@Kertech's solution above is good, but I recommend taking the ships off target-hold when within about 20 metres. There's a risk that they will start overcompensating for tiny movements as you get very close.

[p1t1o]

On a scale of 1-10? I dunno, hard to say. I'd say its about right though, whatever it is. Sometimes hard, sometimes easy, and is consistent with its own logic.

 

I've found that occasionally one gets "into the zone", a trance-like state where you intuitive comprehension of the forces at play seems enhanced and internalised.

If you've ever played Need for Speed for any length of time you may have experienced this phenomenon.

Im not the greatest at docking, but Im competent. But occasionally I have been attempting to dock some monstrosities, huge, heavy, off-centre CoM and non-optimal RCS placement. I will find that my fingers are dancing over the RCS controls (all by eye, no docking instruments) both rotational and translational, as if Im bishop from aliens doing that knife trick. Im hardly thinking about it but my huge behemoth is sliding into position with its off-axis docking port swinging smoothly towards the target.

Then I'll try the exact same thing again later, perhaps during a later leg of the same missions and just careen it through the target like a train wreck through a herd of kittens.

Its a mystery but I think its a common phenomenon in many games, at least in my experience: 

"THE ZONE".

Edited October 24, 2016 by p1t1o
Answering OP

[Scarecrow]

I've always considered docking to be a two part process; the actual docking and the rendezvous that puts you in to a position where you can start the docking process.  For me I've never had too much of a problem with docking, but it took me a while to get my head around what was happening while trying to rendezvous, and to work out what I was doing wrong to cause me to pass my target just a few 10's of metres away but at an insane relative velocity.  Once I'd worked that bit out, it's been plain sailing ever since.

[TheEpicSquared]

3-4 for me.

[ZentroCatson]

1.5 when I'm using Navyfish's docking port alignment indicator. I don't really try to balance my RCS, but I never use more than 10 units of monoprop. It climbs to 6 when I'm without any mod, though it is doable. Tip when you don't want a mod: Use locked camera and position yourself so j makes you go left, l right, k down and i up. Then align yourself vertically and horizontally with your target port. Thrust forward when you're perfectly aligned. Hope that helps 

[Serpens Solidus]

I recently found out that the normal marker in target mode is aligned with the orientation of the target docking port, which makes things much easier. I'm not entirely sure that's true, but I'm to lazy to check it myself. 

[Warzouz]

13 hours ago, The Raging Sandwich said:

It depends on what kind of docking you're doing. It's much easier to dock with the port on the front of my ships than with in-line ports. I'd say for ones on the front its about 5/10 and with in-line ones its about 8/10. 

whatever the docking port is, it changes nothing if you ship is well balanced with RCS thrusters. Just click the "control from here" button on the docking port and command are now tied to the docking port orientation.

Docking is easy when you prepare yourself and your target. Most important is knowing the target, where docking ports are and where fragile parts are.

Tips

- don't hesitate to switch ships and orient your target toward you (so the docking port will auto-correct itself if you slide). that's very useful if your RCS aren't well placed.

- Retract solar panels if they are very near your docking port (bad design). Prefer seting your panels far from the docking ring

- Always orient your target to normal. So you'll always know from where you have to come to your ship and where the docking ports are even if you don't see them.

- Rendez-vous is the real difficulty.

 

[p1t1o]

21 minutes ago, Warzouz said:

whatever the docking port is, it changes nothing if you ship is well balanced with RCS thrusters. Just click the "control from here" button on the docking port and command are now tied to the docking port orientation.

Docking is easy when you prepare yourself and your target. Most important is knowing the target, where docking ports are and where fragile parts are.

Tips

- don't hesitate to switch ships and orient your target toward you (so the docking port will auto-correct itself if you slide). that's very useful if your RCS aren't well placed.

- Retract solar panels if they are very near your docking port (bad design). Prefer seting your panels far from the docking ring

- Always orient your target to normal. So you'll always know from where you have to come to your ship and where the docking ports are even if you don't see them.

- Rendez-vous is the real difficulty.

 

Yes, with the target vessel - controlled from the target docking port is set to "align to target" (with the target being the incoming craft's docking port) - and then piloting the incoming vessel, having auto-align set to the targets port, (so both vessels auto-correct to point the docking ports at each other) you can pull of some ca-ray-zee dockings!

Edited October 24, 2016 by p1t1o

[The Raging Sandwich]

1 hour ago, Warzouz said:

whatever the docking port is, it changes nothing if you ship is well balanced with RCS thrusters. Just click the "control from here" button on the docking port and command are now tied to the docking port orientation.

 

11 hours ago, The Raging Sandwich said:

I did! 

 

[Columbia]

12 hours ago, radonek said:

You are doing it wrong then. Five minutes, tops. Much less with a small and sufficiently agile craft.

(ed: I am experienced player. Rendezvous and docking is definitely one of most difficult maneuvers, my first attempt at docking took about two hours.)

 

Doing it wrong..? Maybe he doesn't have much experience.. have you thought about that?

I'd say its an 8. My first docking was monumentally more difficult than any of my other missions.

[Muskrat]

Considering I was docking two ship's in orbit with no RCS this weekend, I'm going to say 3/10

[bewing]

The difficulty level is controlled by your initial distance when you finish the "rendezvous" part of the maneuver. When you get good at rendezvous, you will find that you come to a dead stop relative to your target at about a 30m separation. From that distance, docking is easy -- even with no RCS. You just thrust gently straight toward your target, and then rotate your docking port into position. The only difficulty comes if your docking port is way out on some arm, and your CoM is in some crazy place because you have multiple ships docked already.

[Just Jim]

I would say the first few times would be an 8 or 9, but once you get the hang of it that number will drop considerably.

I love docking, and for me it just depends on the ship. I have a couple really well balanced ships that are only maybe 2/10. But something big and awkward, like a space station part, can still be a 5/10 or higher, depending on what I'm trying to dock.

Edited October 24, 2016 by Just Jim

[Leafbaron]

Docking really isn't that difficult. As many have said before me, it takes practice and patience. One trick I do a lot for simple craft (not huge beasts) is have both ships target each others docking ports so they both point at each other. Another nice trick is to get the camera to align with your translation inputs then locking the camera. This is a huge one. once that has been done you can practically fly it like a real plane in space using RCS and the direction in which you need to move because much more intuitive. 

[Muskrat]

1 hour ago, bewing said:

The only difficulty comes if your docking port is way out on some arm, and your CoM is in some crazy place because you have multiple ships docked already.

This is easily remedied by targeting the docking port, instead of the ship itself. Right click when your close enough to see it, and select "set target"

[Starhawk]

15 hours ago, katateochi said:

it's very hard first time, but gets easier with practice.... it's all about the nav-ball.

    ^this                                                                               ^and this.

13 hours ago, StrandedonEarth said:

It also helps to rotate the target so the docking port is facing the approaching craft

    ^definitely this

12 hours ago, Alshain said:

It's simply easier to dock when it isn't dark

    ^this, too

10 hours ago, something said:

totally depends on the way you placed your RCS thrusters

    ^this for sure

5 hours ago, Scarecrow said:

I've always considered docking to be a two part process; the actual docking and the rendezvous

    ^absolutely this

Happy dockings!

[septemberWaves]

The first time? Well, I had a couple of hundred hours in-game and had just about perfected precision landing (on non-atmospheric bodies) before I first managed to rendezvous and dock. Now I can dock relatively accurately without even needing the instrumentation or target highlighting. It's all a matter of perspective.

That being said, I usually use MechJeb to dock now, because I like to get screenshots, and also because sometimes I require extreme precision beyond what I can achieve with manual docking.

[adsii1970]

I enjoy docking and feel a great bit of excitement as I watch the two vessels come together. I've gotten pretty good at RCS adjustments and alignment. In space, I'd give myself a 4.5 out of 10.

On Kerbin, using the docking port jr. as a load stabilizer, I've gotten so-so at reloading cargo using them. I'd have to give myself a 7.5 out of 10.

Docking on the surface of Minimus, well, I have a tendency to flip vehicles over! So, I'm going to go with 50/10.

(the lower the number the more efficient I am...or the level of difficulty I've assigned the task...whichever works for you...)

Edited October 24, 2016 by adsii1970

[Clipperride]

Like everyone else, I found it really tricky to start with, but routine now.  However, the sense of satisfaction when you first dock is well worth the effort and each docking is a little easier than the last.  I now really enjoy docking as it offers one of the most cinematic views in the game (IMO!) 

Balanced RCS thrusters and learning to use the NAV ball to the fullest are important steps in easy docking.

If you can move your ship around using the I/K, J/L and H/N keys without it twisting or turning, the final approach and docking is much, much easier.  For me, docking has gone from about a 9/10 difficulty to less than 1/10. 

Edited October 24, 2016 by Clipperride

[Chabadarl]

Considering what it took to the NASA for mastering this art, I said nobody should be ashamed to think the first attempt is a 9. After a dozens, some good reflexes simplifies it by a lot. And there is that time when you imagine that septraton is the way to go to accelerate the manouver. 

[Tyko]

Docking was the hardest thing I've had to learn so far in KSP (gravity turns are the second). Both of these are tough because there's a ship design component and a piloting component. If your ships aren't balanced properly they end up "fighting" your control inputs.

As others have referenced, getting your RCS thrusters balanced around your CoM is the first step.

[eddiew]

3 hours ago, eloquentJane said:

That being said, I usually use MechJeb to dock now, because I like to get screenshots, and also because sometimes I require extreme precision beyond what I can achieve with manual docking.

If you're talking rotational symmetry, you can use MJ's Smart ASS to force a roll angle, while doing the translation yourself. Useful to preserve alignment while conserving monoprop   There's also a handy modlet to snap to 45 degree angles:

...of course, if we're talking two docking ports at the same time, yes I'd be inclined to let MJ do it, so's to guarantee a perpendicular approach vector and get them both to connect at the same time.

[Peder]

20 hours ago, Maxmaster084 said:

On a scale from one to ten, how  hard is docking is Kerbal Space Program

Well The docking it self is not that difficult. What most people have the most touble with is actual to send up two different ships and then rendevou in space, that is the hardest part.

Regarding docking then if people fly in the same height, and have the same speed as the target then all you havet do is right click on the docking port you want to dock with and look at your navball. Now use your RCS to move the ship up down and you see a icon moving.. try to get this icon in the center of the view and now add a little power and you should start flying towards your target.
It require some practice, and i recommend watching some video tutorials and trying the scenario mission where you can undock two ships from each other and then dock again and again...   note.: you need to fly a little distance away beforey ou can dock again, and remember to target the docking port with a right click.

On a scale from 1-10 how difficult is it to dock... hmmm
Well, rendevous in space I will call difficulty of 10
The docking I will say is 7.

Personaly both things for me is rather easy, i would say im an expert in docking and goes rather fast. What take the longest time for me is to rendevous, not the docking.

be adviced that to make it more easy to dock, then think about where you place your RCS trusters since a big unbalance will not make your ship fly streight.

[septemberWaves]

56 minutes ago, tjt said:

If your ships aren't balanced properly they end up "fighting" your control inputs.

As others have referenced, getting your RCS thrusters balanced around your CoM is the first step.

Turn on caps lock. It enables fine control, which slows down your RCS thrusters but has the benefit of automatically balancing them if you have SAS turned on. Docking has been significantly easier since I learned that trick.