What should I do with all my tugs?

[Wallace]

So, after constructing 2 mun bases and delivering all the rovers and other gadgets I need, I've accumulated quite a few surplus tugs in orbit, they are fairly well fuelled and have some monoprop left, but some are outdated designs, I've put them all into one handy stack, now, any suggestions what should I do with them all?

I made a poll but if anyone has any better ideas pls post them.

Edited September 12, 2013 by Wallace

[Matt56]

Looks like you have the interplanetary stages for a whole fleet of spacecraft there. Why not send a colonization mission to Jool?

[Holo]

That looks like a decent space station, just leave them there and inhabit it with some space kolonists.

[Meltro]

This is my standard tug. I used to have 12, and I deorbited all but 2

I regret that very much

As you can see, this one is around Jool. They make ideal intermediate stages from interplanetary craft from high to low orbit without burning a ton of fuel. Plus, there's always assembly to be done. I can't count how many times in the last few days I thought to myself "Alright, I'll just use a tug to....45#@^"

Edited September 12, 2013 by Meltro

[Kerbal01]

That ain't around Jool, that's kerbin.

[Holo]

That ain't around Jool, that's kerbin.

See that large, green orb in the top picture? The glorious Jool.

[Felsmak]

Add more! Tugs have intrinsic value.

[Scotius]

Keep them all. Functional spaceship with fuel onboard is nothing to sneeze at. Better have and not need, than need and don't have.

[Richy teh space man]

Put them into a graveyard orbit between the Mun and Minmus and leave them there in case you decide to use them in the future.

[Skorpychan]

Park them in the outer system somewhere?

[Galacticruler]

Re-purpose them into a refueling station or a single huge tug.

[grawl]

You can still use them to make great fireworks for kerman's president birthday party

[Boris_T_Roach]

I'd save them

Leave some at the mun, move some back to Kerbin, and maybe 1 out to minimus

Always handy to have a re-usuable craft floating about, heck even if you dont use them as tugs, you can still use them to help fuel up any ships you're building in orbit

[Galacticruler]

Possibility: Use them as a lithobraking module for heavy craft you forgot needed legs.

[Kerbal01]

You'd put the caption under the second photo that's what got me confused.

[Guest]

Deorbit into the Mun. Or, if you want a challenge, deorbit into Kerbol.

[HeadHunter67]

I had a robotic tug that I used to build my newest space station. When it was completed, I transferred what fuel I could to the station, and with the remaining fuel, I paid a visit to my other remaining station at a higher altitude. With no monopropellant remaining, I couldn't dock, but I did fly by close enough for the crew to wave farewell to Tugger before he was decommissioned by being deorbited.

I kind of felt the same way I did when I deorbited my first station - a little sad, because it had done its duty and served well. But to me, that's the proper end to a spacecraft's noble service.

[SofusRud]

reclassify it as debris and leave it as an easter egg for the future you that will have forgotten all about it. Its what i do with my old ships and other debris, then i can go on debris archaeology trips to see how far i've come or debris farming trips to the pieces that still have fuel in them.

[jaredkzr]

That is actually a really interesting idea. These orbiting 'relics' would be very cool to stumble across!

[Brotoro]

Return them to Kerbin for recycling into newer-model tugs?

Crash them into the Mün to make artificial munquakes to be detected by the seismometers in your science module? (There WILL be seismometers in the new science module, right?)

Vampire all the fuel out of them into a big tank on a tug, then keep it in orbit for emergency rescues?

Sell them to some third-world country interested in fissile material in some region of Kerbin you want to destabilize?

Send them into orbits around Kerbol that intersect with Kerbin's orbit as a surprise present to future generations of kerbals?

[Gargamel]

That is actually a really interesting idea. These orbiting 'relics' would be very cool to stumble across!

Especially at High relative velocities while attempting an interplanetary burn.

[Wallace]

I kind of felt the same way I did when I deorbited my first station - a little sad, because it had done its duty and served well. But to me, that's the proper end to a spacecraft's noble service.

One thing I feel sad about and regret is I had this little ship I made with the one man lander can to test docking, the other capsule returned to Kerbin, but the lil test ship stayed up there, when I put up my first station, I realised the orbit was close enough for the docking ship to make it over to it, and it sat docked at the station for a while, I thought it might be useful if any kerbals wanted to go on a little 1 man trip somewhere... However, I later sent up a load of gear to build a refuelling set up on the station, but then it got laggy and I decided I needed to make a separate station for refuelling and so all the extra parts needed to be deorbited and I decided to use the docking ship to do it. But now I regret killing poor lil Docky, I wish I'd deorbited the stuff with a different ship and kept my cute lil Docky for his historical value as the first ever ship I docked with.. :'(

[DisarmingBaton5]

Put them all in low Kerbolar orbit. (and I mean LOW, maybe 150km if it has no atmo)

EDIT: I know very little about Kerbol, if the surface or atmo exists above 150km, do not spam please.

[Tokay Gris]

Since most of my lifting stages are overpowered, I end up in orbit with fuel left...

So the tugs act as refuellers by collecting that otherwise useless but in orbit fuel....

[zxczxczbfg]

Either keep them around for future use, as NASA does it, or build something quasi-useful out of them, like a refueling station or the transfer stage of a rocket.