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Any tips for building large interplanetary crafts


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I'm still new to KSP (~50 hours) and I am planning a large mission to Duna with an orbitally assembled (through docking) spacecraft that has everything I need for a tour of all Duna SOI. However, I am having trouble designing a stable craft. When I tried to assemble it the components were too unstable to dock and after further testing via the cheat menu, when the entire craft was docked and in orbit, it still had stability issues. I most recently tried to add Vernier thrusters to it, but it mostly has the same issues. Any tips?

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  • 3 weeks later...

My tips for large ships:

  • As few parts as possible
  • Pull with the thrust rather than push
  • Large docking ports only for thrust-bearing couplings
  • Reaction wheels active only on main body
  • Disable RCS  on parts docked to main body
  • Low thrust
  • Struts to stabilize main body

Getting the main body correct is the key to larger ships. Your vessel should not need RCS to turn when assembled. It will be way more delicate due to the couplers, so slowly ramp up the thrust. I initially turn my thrust limiters down so I don't put too much strain on the couplers. Then I save and experiment to find out how hard I can push it. Finally, assembled craft are more stable if they're pulling rather than pushing. Put the drive engines at the top and have them pull the rest of the craft along.

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