Orbitally Constructed Mun Ships: How are they?

[JD_]

I've recently started a new career save and my main Mun program uses a modular architecture built with a main transfer block, a habitation/laboratory block, and a one Kerbal lander for experiment and sample gathering. It's orbitally assembled so that each module can be upgraded as new parts become available, and I was wondering if this is a good idea.

[AlamoVampire]

Depends on the tech level of the parts and stage of your tech tree. At some point it should be a fairly decent outpost for you. But again, its tech level dependent id say. Best of luck!

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[theJesuit]

3 hours ago, JD_ said:

I've recently started a new career save and my main Mun program uses a modular architecture built with a main transfer block, a habitation/laboratory block, and a one Kerbal lander for experiment and sample gathering. It's orbitally assembled so that each module can be upgraded as new parts become available, and I was wondering if this is a good idea.

Yip.  My games I do the same as i also limit my rocket architecture to a size 2 launchpad

[JD_]

I only have the size 2 so far haha. I also like using kebalism which makes kermanned missions (and scientific operations) much more mass intensive so the reusable architecture is nice.

[Vanamonde]

It's a cool idea. Assembling stuff in orbit is fun. 

[Duke MelTdoWn]

Your plan is the way to go and how I play. It saves a lot of money in career if you don't have to do a new launch for every contract because you already have infrastructure in place.

I began building a MunStation fairly early in my current career game. I sent an orbital lab to Mun orbit and left the upper stage attached to serve as fuel depot. Landers operate from there to gather surface samples. Crew/tourists and equipment are sent up from Kerbin with SSTOs. Latter I sent up better solar panels and batteries and did extensive EVA construction work to lower the part count because the lag was getting bad. I also added a lot of additional docking ports. With ISRU unlocked, I added an orbital refinery + ore tanks and a lander with drills to cover the refueling (Reginn + Fafnir). For the landers, you want to swap in better probe cores as they become available so you have biome Kerbnet access.

Be aware that with this playstyle, you will do a lot of rendezvous and docking. And try to keep the part count of your stations down as best as you can, it grows quickly. MunStation I now weighs in at over 1000 parts and is a lagfest. That is after I split off MunStation II.

How it began:

How it is going:

[Manfred_Kerman]

Wow man