Orion Station

[Scarecrow71]

I'll start by stating that I really want to play KSP2.  The patches that have come out have done wonders for the game, and it is finally getting to a point where I can safely say I'm ready to play again.  So with the upcoming For Science! release, I want to get my feet wet here and get back into designing and flying and such.  I created a new save for the Las Kerbas Space Agency to re-learn how to do some stuff.  Orbital rendezvous, docking, orbital construction...you know, all the fun stuff.  With that, I have started work on my first space station in the game:  Orion Station.

It's no secret that I suck at craft design.  Terribly.  However, if I have a design I can follow, I can try to get as close as possible to replicating that.  And I found one that I am going to try replicating the best I can in KSP2.  It's going to be a massive undertaking, and I'm sure I'll be working on this long after the science update drops.  But for posterity, here is the design I found:

Sci-Fi Space Station - Download Free 3D model by Helindu (@Helindu) [f6b9106] (sketchfab.com)

That thing is monstrous.  And will take multiple launches and docking maneuvers to get this thing fully constructed.  But you don't care about that; you care about where I'm at with it, right?  Right!  So let's get to it!

First, I had to put the core/hub of the station into LKO.  It's actually the small probe core, doctored up to look far larger than it is.  It's got a makeshift docking cube that it sits "on top of", with a few antennae and some simple solar panels so it doesn't run out of juice sitting in orbit.  There are 4 unoccupied medium docking ports on the cube itself, a 5th one that has (for the moment) a fuel tank/engine, and a 6th port on top of the probe core/antennae arrangement.  A couple shots!

I really wanted this in LKO, but when I went to circularize at 250km I accidentally went full thrust instead of cutting the engine.  So it sits in HKO at an Ap of ~400 km.  Not too bad.

The next step is to get a pair of fuel modules up to the station.  They are essentially long noodles with a bunch of monopropellant at one end and a bunch of methalox at the other, with a medium probe core for control.  Much like the hub above, there is a makeshift docking cube with 4 unoccupied medium docking ports in the center, with a 5th one at the far end where the engine used to be.  Yes, I jettisoned the engine after attaching it; the station won't be making any trips outside of HKO...at least not yet.  Always time to change my mind, though!  There will (eventually) be two of them connected to this thing, which will (until we get more pieces and parts attached) make this look like one giant shower curtain in space.  More photos!

I had some serious problems docking here.  I'm not used to doing this manually, having become far too reliant upon MJ to do the rendezvous, distance correction, and lining up the craft.  So I overspent the amount of fuel I needed lining up the fuel module with the hub, and I had to course correct multiple times before I finally got them where they needed to be.  But aha!  Docked!

You will notice that I jettisoned the fuel tank/engine from the hub itself; it is no longer needed after transferring fuel from it to the fuel module.  And, as I mentioned above, I jettisoned the engine from the fuel module once it was docked.  Once I dock the other inline fuel module, I'll try to remember to take a shot of it with the cargo bay open so you can see the monopropellant tanks inside of it.

All told, not a bad day.  Not the easiest task I've undertaken, but not the hardest either.

[Scarecrow71]

Today I sent up the second fuel module, and I spent far less fuel and monopropellant getting this thing docked than I did with the first one.  I got a shot with the cargo bay doors open so you can see the monopropellant tanks...and the colors on the thing really don't show them all that well.  That's on me, and I gotta make sure that the next time I create a space station - or, heck, even the next rocket - I throw out the agency colors and just color it in a way that highlights all the different pieces.  Anyhow, heres what it looks like with both fuel modules attached:

Yep, that is one long, purple-and-yellow noodle in space.  But it has some fuel, some monopropellant, several antennae, and it can generate power.  Not too shabby for a start.

The second thing I did was to send up a crew habitat module.  Empty, of course.  While Kerbals have been known to survive the rigors of deep space for decades without so much as recycled air or water, I don't want to strand anyone just yet.  I'm using a pair of 8-seat Wanderers, which should give the crew - once we get this thing done and crew up in space - a place to hang out, play cards, take long naps, and read good books when they aren't on duty.

Night-time launch to send up the crew habitat, and I was able to transfer some fuel and monopropellant to the station once docked.  The far end of the habitat has a large docking port on it, primarily because I have a whole lof of stuff to place on this end of things at some point.  If you checked out the link I gave in the first post, you'll see what has to go on this thing after the crew habitat.  Eep!  Anyhow, a couple of shots!

Now, instead of a long noodle in space, it's a...well, it's not a full T, although it is T-shaped.  More like a wrench or T-handle.  But it's got fuel, can generate power, and has space (currently) for 16 Kerbals.  Not a bad day, if I say so myself.  Large project, coming together, slowly but surely!

[Jackofthenight15]

That color scheme... is beautiful!