Practicality of having stations in frequently visited planets/moons

[ErevanGaming]

Hi everybody =)

Just want to ask if it's practical to have space stations orbiting frequently visited planets and moons?

 

Regards and happy KSPing =P

[Wjolcz]

Not much actually. They only consume resoueces if you keep the crew in there and have some sort of LS mod installed.

In real life they would be used for science and as outposts (for some reason). But there's no real and useful microgravity science that can be performed in KSP so once you have a station in orbit and perform the experiments the station becomes useless.

There's the MPL though, but it's more like Unlock Points Generator. If you have it in orbit over the terminator you don't need to worry about electricity during nights, because there are simply no nights. Then you complete the tech tree by just warping and you win the game because why bother exploring since you can grind and consider the game beaten once you get all the nodes.

I really wish there was a stock LS with green houses. Space stations would become great sources of food. You would just cycle between your ground base and the station and take the supplies it generates to feed your crew on the ground.

[katateochi]

It totally depends on your own goals.  One advantage is having stations with extra fuel on board which can be mined from the planet they're in orbit around and then if a mission craft has run low on fuel you have a place to top it up at.  They're also useful as a staging point for reusable landers, so you don't have to transport a lander along with each mission.  They probably have more "purpose" in a more role play based game, as you don't actually need them, but they're fun to build and if you use a life support mod they add another dynamic to the game.

[Nich]

The nice thing about stations in other systems is having a fuel deposit.  On every transfer you are bound to have 200-300 extra dv worth of fuel that can be banked in the station.

For example I normally pack 3600 dv for LKO since it normally only takes 3400 I end up wasting 200 dv every launch but once I get my station up and running I will pack an even 4000 and drop off the remaining fuel to the station.  If the station is getting to full I can launch an interplanetary vehicle only partially fulled to save kredits.  It does require knowing how to time your launches well and efficient rondavouze. otherwise you could end up spending more then you are saving.

[Terwin]

I prefer having an automated refueling base that generally stays landed on a low-gravity body.(Minmus, Ike, Gilly, Pol/Bop)

That way if you have a mission go poorly, you can just divert to any planetary system where you can capture, then wait for the fuel bot to come and give you enough fuel to land and refuel.

Actually saved my 1.1(.3) Jool mission after a flubbed ejection burn from Jool when I realized I would need unreasonable amounts of d-v to capture at Kerbin, just redirected to Duna, used the last of my fuel to capture, and got enough fuel from the fuel bot to land on Ike to refill both fuel and Life Support supplies.

I also use them to refuel my scansats(usually my first ships to a given system, and just about the only interplanetary vessels I launch which do not have ISRU).

[Scotius]

In Career mode i use MPL's as cash cows After i finish Tech Tree, i go to Administration building and set the strategy exchanging 100% (or close to) of incoming Science points to money. It pays for my fleet of massive, overengineered motherships cruising all over the system And since MPL's generate more Science the farther they are from Kerbin - presto, orbital science stations in weird places, like Moho orbit. Each with her own biome-hopping reuseable lander, full crew compartment and assorted bells and whistles. Do i need to set up things like this? Of course not. But i like to role-play my space program Also, if you are using Kerbal Research & Development mod (like i do), parts upgrades can soak a lot of Science points fast.

[ErevanGaming]

Thanks guys for your comments =)

Recently got access to the MPL and placed it in Kerbin orbit only to find out that it uses a-lot of EC along with the USI LS greenhouse module when both are active. =">

Think I may go down the road of role-playing with also the goal of having space stations as fuel depos for emergencies. I would need to successfully set-up some form of ground based resource extraction and conversion then have a reliable tanker to refuel the orbiting station or ship that has ran out of fuel.

Do you guys use any mod that generates EC like the salt reactor of LLL or B9? I am using it a lot but somehow having the feeling that it's kinda... cheaty ="> and saw another part (I forgot what mod it came from) that generates LFO and MP from EC. One reason also I opted to use them over reactors that require radiators is that when I send them off to the Mun or Minmus, the ship/station disappears and I get spammed with rotation view errors. =(

[EpicSpaceTroll139]

Yep, I definitely find space stations useful. I use them as fuel depots for reusable landers, temporary crew drop-offs, and for labs, on the occasions that I use them. Which I usually don't do (at least inside the Kerbin system), because by the time a lab has processed what I put in it, that Duna/Eve/whatever launch window I wanted the newly researchable parts for has passed. Meanwhile I could have gotten it back much quicker by sending a science container back home. Of course I'll probably use it when I go to other planets this time around.

Edited November 4, 2016 by EpicSpaceTroll139

[TwoThe]

It really depends on what you have and what you want to do.
I for example wanted to grab all science you can get from Minmus, so I had the option to build a gigantic science lander that hops over Minmus without really having the required tech for such a huge ship and I would have to do a blind guess on how much dV might be needed. And that thing needs a lot of dV just to transport the dV it needs on top of all the science equipment and landing stuff.

In the end I made three ships:

1. The science ship itself, which had the basic equipment necessary to do all science and about 2k dV in the tank.
2. A refuel ship that was in low orbit around Minmus which had about 6k dV to spend.
3. A minimalistic probe to return the science back to Kerbin.

The science ship would then hop from place to place to gather the science, refuel 2 times on the refuel ship, and finally loaded it all up into the probe and sent it back home. Benefits were: if I had miscalculated the dV, I would have just to send the refuel ship back for more dV. Also I could send both ships to the mun afterwards and still have the science back home on Kerbin to use it. Only downside were several docking maneuvers.

Edited November 3, 2016 by TwoThe

[LordKael]

Just to add a voice in favor of building stations:

I have used a variety of LS Mods for which stations were invaluable for setting up a ground base on a planet, as well as good homes for MPLs and landers

[Curveball Anders]

I always put 'Science Station' around Kerbin, Mun and Minmus, to get all the science I need,

I then go on and put them around every other body I can reach, just because I can, and the RL space organisations haven't >:)

 

[ErevanGaming]

Thanks again guys for your comments =)

Although am having problems with my space stations orbiting Mun and Minmus. With a relay networking orbiting them respectively and constant connection to Kerbin, I get problems controlling them with attached probes saying they don't have power even though a reactor is running (with tons-o-radiators). Another problem is when I go to my Minmus station, after it focuses, I get an almost black view of my station; going back and forth from map view does nothing and it crashes KSP. =( On a good note, I managed to rescue Jeb's command team along with the 3 scientists =D Half of them are now safe on Kerbin. =)

[samstarman5]

14 hours ago, Curveball Anders said:

I always put 'Science Station' around Kerbin, Mun and Minmus, to get all the science I need,

I then go on and put them around every other body I can reach, just because I can, and the RL space organisations haven't >:)

 

That you know of.

[Geschosskopf]

On 11/2/2016 at 8:13 AM, ErevanGaming said:

Just want to ask if it's practical to have space stations orbiting frequently visited planets and moons?

Leaving aside purely scientific reasons (orbital labs), yes, in many cases, stations are a useful aid in high-traffic areas.

In general (again, ignoring labs), stations serve 2 main purposes.  They are transshipment points where you can move Kerbals and resources from one ship to another, and they're warehouses where you can store Kerbals and resources.  That's about all they really do.  But by having such a station, you can optimize your ships for specific roles.

So, if you're into using SSTOs as lifters, but the SSTOs can't do more than get to LKO.  So you have a station at Kerbin to which the SSTOs deliver stuff, which then moves to other ships going to other planets and moons.  At other planets, if there's a small moon handy that's a good source of fuel, then it's quite useful to have a station where you can stash fuel from that moon to refuel space-fairing ships and landers for the main planet.

[Sharpy]

Personally - a station, with some kind of very lightweight craft that takes little fuel, handles well and has decent dV, then contracts "Rescue Kerbal". Fly to the kerbal, pick them up, bring to the station. Whenever a craft returns to Kerbing, it's picking the stragglers.

[ErevanGaming]

Thanks for your comments @Geschosskopf @Sharpy =)

[Tyko]

After testing a number of space stations around Mun and Minmus, I realized that I really don't have a need for most of them after I've completed their exploration mission. Using a refueling depot is highly dependent on the positions of different planets and since I use USI-LS, I can't just keep orbiting Kerbol until I get an encounter.

So now, I build large-ish research ships that are designed to enter orbit and stay there for the duration of the exploration mission and then move on. To save weight on the ship, I send the lander, lander fuel and any other mission-specific material as a separate launch to arrive ahead of the exploration ship.

here's the whole sequence on several transfer windows:

• 1st window - send a probe to enter polar orbit and map the planet (ScanSAT). This probe stays in polar orbit and acts as a radio relay for future missions.
• 2nd window - 3 comms satellites set in a 3-sided equatorial orbit and a robotic lander to measure ground conditions.
• 3rd window - 2 ships sent:
  • Lander/Lander Fuel/mission material
  • Exploration ship
• Return Window half a year or more later - Exploration ship returns to Kerbin for resupply and crew R&R.

Once I start sending crewed missions to planets with multiple moons I'll preposition lander fuel at each moon and carry the lander from place to place.

Edited January 5, 2017 by Tyko

[Whisky Tango Foxtrot]

They're definitely useful in stock. It's much easier to dock with a station than it is to land at a particular location and take off again, even on a relatively low-gravity body like Minmus. Stations are a convenient place to put your science and fuel and for your Kerbals to hang out while they're waiting for a ship to their next destination.

[TopHeavy11]

Fuel depots and rest-stops. That's about it. Oh, and for fun. Can't forget that.

[Der Anfang]

I find stations extremely useful around moons and planets outside of Kerbin. For one, if I have any automated mining operations, it could help me for interplanetary missions to further planets. I like Dres especially because of the dresteroids, which is perfect for an asteroid mining station. Once you drain that asteroid, just move the station to a new one, preferably look for E class ones. Eve is an interested planet to have a station around. It's also pretty convenient, since you want to mine Gilly as well. The best reason for that is to save fuel for future landings on Eve, just deploy a dry mass Eve lander and dock it in Eve/Gilly orbit to refuel.

As for Jool, although I haven't sent any manned craft yet (and I only sent a probe to one of the moons thus far), I would definitely want a mining operation there, since there are a lot of moons to visit. Tylo is a tricky one to visit constantly for science, so you probably want a very specially designed SSTO lander for that which can mine and process fuel on it's surface. Otherwise, just use the other moons for stationing.

[suicidejunkie]

 

On 1/8/2017 at 0:27 AM, Der Anfang said:

Tylo is a tricky one to visit constantly for science, so you probably want a very specially designed SSTO lander for that which can mine and process fuel on it's surface.

For Jool, there is no need to locally source supplies for each station.  A Tylo SSTO already has near zero margin for an up and down cycle when there's just a Kerbal for payload.  You'd fly way too many trips just to fill a small tank in orbit.

Just ship all your supplies in to your orbital bases from a single surface base since moon to moon transfers are fast, cheap and frequent.

The rocket equation becomes far less oppressive if you can refuel on the surface AND refuel at the orbital station.

[Der Anfang]

20 minutes ago, suicidejunkie said:

 

For Jool, there is no need to locally source supplies for each station.  A Tylo SSTO already has near zero margin for an up and down cycle when there's just a Kerbal for payload.  You'd fly way too many trips just to fill a small tank in orbit.

Just ship all your supplies in to your orbital bases from a single surface base since moon to moon transfers are fast, cheap and frequent.

The rocket equation becomes far less oppressive if you can refuel on the surface AND refuel at the orbital station.

Ah yes. That's exactly what I meant. The effort of actually shipping ore FROM the surface would be virtually pointless. I have designed an SSTO for Tylo which is meant only to mine and refuel on the surface, rather than taking anything back up.

[hugix]

I like having a base with science lab around Minmus, since it's prety doable to land a Kerbal on EVA on Minmus and get back up to the station. Can get you quite a lot of science very fast.