Docking!

[Prat4545]

I'm new at kerbal space program and i really like the game! I

made a space station (on one go) and i'm now trying to dock on it. I use RCS but i go always the wrong way. I mis it always at around 50 m

Can u guys send me some tips?

this is the tutorial i use :

 

Sincerly Prat,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             (sorry for my bad english)

[Streetwind]

Remember that docking is as much of a building exercise than it is a flying one. Your ship needs to be stable when performing translation maneuvers. And in order for that to happen, your RCS ports must thrust through the center of mass of the craft. Otherwise, they induce a rotation component, meaning that you will end up spinning when all you wanted was slide sideways. This makes docking extremely difficult and frustrating.

In order to build your craft properly, separate all the parts in the editor that would not be in orbit when you dock (i.e. the entire launcher section, fairings, and such). Then, make an educated guess about how much dV you might have left when you arrive at your station with the craft. Remove liquid fuel and oxidizer in equal amounts, equally from all tanks, until you get roughly that dV number. Now, click the button that lets the editor show you the center of mass of your craft. With this visual aid, you can place your RCS ports. The easiest variant is using one ring of four ports directly lined up with the center of mass. But you can also use multiple rings, as long as they are equally distant from the CoM.

You will probably never be 100% exact with this, but you will be close enough that the reaction wheels in your craft should be able to dampen out any residual rotation your thrusters might still induce.

Apart from that, it's all practice, practice, practice - getting used to the translation keys, how they move your craft, and so on. One thing the video doesn't mention is that you can press 'v' to change your camera mode. I personally like the 'locked' camera mode when docking, as that makes the camera stay fixed to the heading of my craft.

 

[AHHans]

I recommend to have a look at @Snark's Illustrated guide to docking, IMHO it is the best guide to docking around.

One important thing is to learn how to read the navball!

2 hours ago, Streetwind said:

Your ship needs to be stable when performing translation maneuvers.

As someone recently commented: when you activate fine control (<Caps Lock> by default) then the game will adjust the RCS thruster strength to not induce rotation when translating (if possible). So that isn't a big issue. What I do on my craft is to deactivate the rotation controls on the RCS thrusters so that rotation is only done with the reaction wheels and I don't have RCS rotations throw off my translation during approach.

Other than that: as @Streetwind wrote: practice, practice, practice.

[Streetwind]

6 hours ago, AHHans said:

deactivate the rotation controls on the RCS thrusters

Ah yes, big recommendation on that!

Although - I'm not sure if I remember correctly, but you might need to have Advanced Tweakables activated in the main menu settings to see this toggle in the part action window for the RCS thrusters.

[Prat4545]

hm i think i have that! I'm pretty far in the tech tree on my career mode.

Thx for the fast response i'm now trying to dock!

[Spricigo]

The tuturial you are using is fine but i rather preffer this one:

 

It just a matter of practice. At some point you have that "click" and it become one of those things you do without even thinking about. Until then try to do it slowly, so you can see how the ship is behaving and not go too far away if you overshot.

Keep your eyes in the navball,  reduce the relative speed as you approach and try to maintain the  and  near each other (Ideally you can keep your ship oriented in a given way and use just the translation controls to adjust your direction, If )   As a rule of thumbs keep your relative speed in m/s at 1/10 of your separation in m. If you feel confident and want to make things happens faster, use time warp, not throttle.