What's a satellite or probe for?

[InF3RNo]

Hello, I've been playing this game almost a week and I'm wondering, what's a satellite or probe for? I mean, I loaded a satellite that was from the game and I put some rockets to deattach it when I'm in Kerbin's Orbit, and ok, it orbits Kerbin but what's it for?

Regards,

InF3RNo.

[Panichio]

Well, you can use the four different sensors available to collect real information. Some smart people can use this information to calculate all sorts of things. Sometimes, as a light payload, it makes a first mission to a planet or moon a little easier.

Also, they look nice.

[Kimberly]

At the moment, nothing. You have to use your imagination to give the satellites value. The real fun is when you launch a probe into orbit around a new planet, or even better, you land on the planet with kerbals. Then you can explore.

There are several methods that give satellites function, such as a mod that adds GPS satellites (Figaro), a mod that allows satellites to make altitude maps of the planets they orbit (IAS Mapsat), and a mod that requires communication satellites in orbit before you are allowed to control unmanned vehicles (RemoteTech).

[FITorion]

have something in orbit so you can see things close up. It's light and easy to get it way out to all the planets and moons.

Before they added the information about the planets in game those science parts were the only way to find out such information.

There are mods that all you to map the planets. Eventually the game will have resources and your satellites will be able to scan the planets to find where resources are most concentrated. Both of those require that parts with those functionality be added to them.

So for right now... they serve the same purpose as everything else in the game... the "why not?" purpose.

[softweir]

If you install the ISA MapSAt mod then you can use probes and satellites to map planets and asteroids: they can produce elevation maps PLUS approximate locations of several Easter Eggs put in by Squad.

[Supernovy]

For fun of course!

If you hadn't noticed, I just really like making satellite networks.

[Pontiac]

Inferno, you're going to run into an issue where there is absolutely no objective to this game built in other than whatever goals you set for yourself. This game is still in its infancy, still being built, and still has a lot of features planned with some in the works, and some still on the drawing board, and some still on the paper napkin.

For me, I've already got myself into orbit a few times, I've successfully landed small craft on Mun, got to Moho but kept running out of gas once I got into orbit. Now I'm playing with Kethane and designing rigs and ships that are so big, they're breaking some of the "should have" and "must have" tools. I've successfully landed a 107 tonne Kethane rig on the Mun, have had it traverse a few KM to get where I needed it, so on and so on. Did I mention that with the designing, and the testing on Kerbin alone has taken me three weeks of game time? I'm not talking 21 days, I'm talking 500+ HOURS of game time spent just on this one damned rig. Several revisions, and several new toys added to the package that warranted a redo, but the purpose, for me, was to get a rig on the Mun. The landing on the Mun alone was three solid DAYS to get working properly. Now I'm building, from scratch, a mobile gas tank. Already about 30 hours into that design.

No other game has earned my attention as much as KSP in the few months I've had it.

[espm400]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned sparing the lives of your precious Kerbals. Seeing as I downloaded RemoteTech and FAR a while ago, and yesterday I got Deadly Re-entry, I've been using probes/satellites a lot more. I've got six coms satellites in KSO, two in matching orbits on either side of the Mun, and three around Minmus. I've also been using them to figure out proper re-entry profiles with DR and not end up with a bunch of Krispy Kerbals...

[Festivefire]

probes are good because:

1.) testing, you don't want to kill your kerbals, especially not your orange-suited trio.

2.) Weight. probes are light as bugs compared to command modules. want to explore planets? save some weight, make it easy!

3.) scouting. hate it when a landing sight looks good from orbit, but is **** when you get down to the ground? send a probe in first!

[Kabloosh]

I use them for rescue craft, cluttering the orbit around Kerbin, and exploring where I don't want to send Kerbals yet.

[tek_604]

Or, "collecting and analysing samples" (note still a work in progress, but good for roleplaying).

[Skorpychan]

I use them to save weight. Kerbal-carrying craft are heavy.

So, if I want to send up, say, a big fuel tank? Probe body. Try and orbit the mun? Probe. Test my new heavy lift rocker? PROBE.

[Flixxbeatz]

They're used in making satellites and probes, obviously.

And also, unmanned missions.

[Ralathon]

I try not to strand kerbals on other planets with no way of getting back. No such moral problems with probes though. So they save me the effort of building a return vehicle. Also, since I play with both Ioncross crew support and Remotetech, it's a trade off between oxygen tanks and communication dishes. And the dishes win mass wise.

[Tw1]

Practise it the main practical purpose. Flying a probe to a place gets you familiar with the delta V required to do certain manoeuvres.

Probe design can be challenging in itself, if you make them complex enough, or use ion engines.

[Kimberly]

I've got six coms satellites in KSO.

Don't you only need three satellites to cover Kerbin and its vicinity completely? Maybe four to give you a margin of error. What are the six for?

[Markotiks]

Probe design can be challenging in itself, if you make them complex enough, or use ion engines.

I agree. I like the challenge of building probes and satellites as small and compact as possible while still maintaining all the functions I want it to. I do use RemoteTech so comm sats are a must. Also, I plan on sending probes to Duna and Eve before I send any manned expeditions there just to check them out first. But as with everything thing else about this wonderful sandbox game, it just brings out my lost inner child where I spent hours upon hours building stuff with Legos, Capsela (dating myself here), and Erector sets. Just for the fun of it, and because I can!

[Ralathon]

Don't you only need three satellites to cover Kerbin and its vicinity completely? Maybe four to give you a margin of error. What are the six for?

3 or 4 is enough for perfect coverage of the equator yes. But reception at the poles will be crap.

If I want perfect coverage I always put 6 sats in 2 orbits. Both at a 45 degree inclination with the equator and a 90 degree inclination with each other. That way they back up each other and provide polar coverage. I presume espm400 does the same.

[Graknils]

Here's where I'm stuck! Now that I have the Z-MAP Satellite in a stable 15deg polar orbit, and the 4 Communotron 16's, and one Communotron 88-88 have all been deployed.....

- How do I "enable" it to start mapping?

- Does the Communotron 88-88 need to be orientated toward the planet (seems like it should) or will the satellite map in any orientation? (that'd be weird)

- How do the Kerbal's (or I, for that matter) gather, read and use the data the satellite is gathering? (and I assume is transmitting to KSP?)

[Mach56]

1. You need the ISA mapsat dish and plugin.

2. Nope:D

3. Do you have the the science instruments on board? If you do active them and it will show the readouts. If you don't, no data.

[zxczxczbfg]

I personally make unmanned autonomous landers for planets too dangerous for a manned landing (Minmus and those @#$% hills tipping my landers!). However, to truly demonstrate how awesome probes are, I recommend two mods: the aforementioned ISA MapSat, and RemoteTech, which requires all unmanned craft to have a communications dish capable of forming a continuous connection (whether directly or through a relay) with the KSC. Without unmanned communications satellites, your missions will be effectively dead in space.

[MUSTANG]

I like probes for Kethane scanning satellites, and I often use them as secondary control systems for ships, which allows me to use all of my Kerbals to go do EVAs.

[Dictatorshipper]

I land probes on things and pretend they're doing science.

[Graknils]

1. You need the ISA mapsat dish and plugin.

2. Nope:D

3. Do you have the the science instruments on board? If you do active them and it will show the readouts. If you don't, no data.

Thank you!