Detachable landing craft, vessle always destroyed, why?

[RkeyQQ]

Hi all,

I'm just testing and cannot understand why this is not working.  Am I doing something wrong?

Rocket + cargo bay

Rocket without cargo bay, might be too high but it never falls down anyway

Plane + tail cargo bay

 

"lack of stellar exposure"...

 

Thanks

Edited March 4, 2023 by RkeyQQ

[Streetwind]

"Lack of stellar exporsure" means a solar panel that doesn't receive sunlight. That's definitely not what's killing your vessel - or rather, it shouldn't be.

[schlosrat]

@RkeyQQ I think you're using the engine mount wrong. Try it like I've got it here in my small rover deploying landing craft.

• Engine mount oriented normally (interstage node below it), and above the deployable rover - not under it. The way you've got it in the first shot I think you flipped it over to put the interstage node above it?
• XS Decoupler goes where the engine would normally go on the engine mount.
• Attach your rover to the XS decoupler on the engine mount
• Landing legs are needed on whatever structure the engine mount is attached to (looks like a tank?).  This keeps the descent/landing stage from crushing it - but you'll need side mounted engines like the Thud, or side mounted tanks and engines... If you're just playing around with the decoupling process then use launch clamps to suspend the upper part instead of landing legs, but you'll need to test with landing legs eventually.

To continue your LV below this there would be another decoupler attached to the interstage node from the engine mount.

[RkeyQQ]

On 3/4/2023 at 9:32 PM, schlosrat said:

• XS Decoupler

Thanks for the answer. The idea was to use docking (Clamp-O-Tron) to be able to to return the rover back to orbit or deliver on another side of a planet and similar. OriginallyI wanted to use a "ramp" and do not put on a rover any kind of jet engines. WIth the decoupler it would work I guess without any issues. I'll folow you guide later this week.

Thanks 

[schlosrat]

If you’d like to pick the rover back up the you should be able to use a pair of Clamp-o-tron jrs where I’ve used a single decoupler. You’ll end with one facing down still attached to the engine mount and one on the rover facing up. The trick will be to dock them back together…

If you manage to get the rover back under the lander and lined up adequately well then you could either use small landing legs on the rover to pick it up and push it onto to clamp above, or you could skip that and just retract the landers legs so that it squats down on the rover. If all goes well (it may not!) then you can extend the lander legs and it will lift the rover back up with it!

id practice this on the launch pad just to make sure picking it back up works. 
 

Out of curiosity why do you want to pick up the rover? Why not leave it behind? If that’s what you want to do I expect you’ll find a way, but it seems like dead weight lifting it off the surface.

Edited March 7, 2023 by schlosrat

[RkeyQQ]

1 hour ago, schlosrat said:

Out of curiosity why do you want to pick up the rover? Why not leave it behind? If that’s what you want to do I expect you’ll find a way, but it seems like dead weight lifting it off the surface.

The answer is "I don't know".  No real use case, just played with parts and though why not? 

[schlosrat]

On 3/6/2023 at 6:23 PM, RkeyQQ said:

The answer is "I don't know".  No real use case, just played with parts and though why not? 

That is very possibly one of the most Kerbal answers to a “why” question there is!

Edited March 10, 2023 by schlosrat

[RkeyQQ]

From the noobish user point of view I'd like to have "notification in advance" for such cases or at least more detailed errors instead of "vessel destroyed"

It would be also great to have complete documentation in game to avoid alt-tab`ing to wiki and goolging and ofc some campaign which would force to learn the stuff. 
 

[schlosrat]

Some of what you’re seeing is likely bugs that will be fixed in due time. In general, detaching one thing from another should at worst case leave you with a smaller vessel and some “debris”, where debris is basically anything that lacks a command pod or drone core. Spent lower stages are just debris, but a deployed comm sat or rover isn’t.

For the in-game documentation part that’s a good idea, but I think they’re more focused on having tutorials for that sort of thing.

Edited March 10, 2023 by schlosrat

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

FWIW - the magnetic power of docking ports right now is insane.  I put a docking port low on a rover to line up the COM for a vertical take off, which meant that the center-mounted docking port on an XL fuel tank kept my rover fairly elevated.  Undock, it drops - and often as not, bounces right back up to be snatched into docked again!

When I do get it free and drive it around - backing up looks like it should not work... but then the ship snatches that whole rover off the ground and back into docked again.

[schlosrat]

LOL! Well the magnetic lift aspect does sound handy if you want your rover to be recoverable...

All the same, you might want to play around with reducing the strength for a more reliable detach.