Shielded Parts or Having Parts Look Like They Form Part Of A Service Module

[SebLavK]

A couple of days ago I posted this in another thread, but because it wasn't much in the line of what was suggested, I decided to make a new thread.

I guess one of the future updates will include a major overhaul of parts, mainly aerodynamic, even if it is purely aesthetic, so I would like to suggest this before it's too late.

Many people complain of having "christmas tree" styled rockets, with lots of parts sticking out. This is fine by me with crafts launched in a fairing, but not the moment I have, say, a light sticking out, messing with the "airflow" around my rocket or spaceplane.

What I suggest are parts that, in their undeployed state, are inside the rocket (i.e. the fuel tank they're attached to), to give it a sleeker view. We already have examples of this in the deployable ladders and the new 88-88 dish.

This would not necessarily add new parts. It's very simple, really. The shielded solar panels, some lights, some landing legs or the linear RCS ports could stick to have more of them on the inside.

[Murph]

Isn't this something which is better, and more realistically, solved with fairings?

[SebLavK]

Isn't this something which is better, and more realistically, solved with fairings?

It is solved with fairings, in some cases. However, in an Apollo style rocket, for example, where you have the command pod at the top, and the service module right underneath, there's no need/way to put a fairing, and you need to add panels to it.

Maybe I didn't express myself in a clear way. Think of how the ladders are fitted inside the vessel before they deploy, making just a little bulge on the outside.