Nostalgia, hovering, and tethers

[JMBuilder]

1. Nostalgia

I had an idea a while back to make KSC-2 a "nostalgia zone." The buildings would look a bit like the old ones, and by landing there you could gain access to parts that resemble the original parts that could be used as cheaper, lighter, less efficient alternatives to the heavier parts. The same could go for the island airstrip. By landing there, you could get airship and seaplane parts.

2. Geostationary Hovering System (GHS)

The GHS module would be activated to keep a craft in one spot and at a constant altitude inside of a planet's atmosphere using precise throttle and torque adjustments. Of course, the craft must be able to hover in order for this to work. This would be useful on Laythe where landing on the jagged islands is difficult. You could set the craft in a hovering position and, provided you have enough fuel for the task, deploy a vehicle or some Kerbonauts with my next idea.

3. Tether systems

These things speak for themselves. Lowering a rover or some other vehicle onto a planet's surface would be extremely useful, and seeing Kerbals rappel off of a hovering platform would be just plain fun.

[Stargate525]

I like the idea of number 1. Perhaps as an easter-egg in the final version?

Number 2 is basically an SAS for throttle, which I would like. A lot of the time on my landers I don't have fine enough control with the default throttle to dial in a slow descent, mainly because I'm losing weight with the fuel. That said, Mechjeb does have a mode which does this, so...

And number three is basically the Kerbal Attachment System. Given how often Squad have co-opted mods into the main game, I can see it happening.

[Algiark]

Someone already did that.

[JMBuilder]

The main thing about the hovering system I had in mind was that it would hover in one spot above the surface while matching the planet or moon's rotation, so that the ground itself doesn't seem to move away from the craft.

[thereaverofdarkness]

Maybe the advanced SAS could be brought back as a non-standard SAS with increased capability. It would basically be a computer more advanced than those in the regular SAS and command modules, with some of the basic MechJeb functions like ability to hover or control an ascent/descent. It would be reasonable if it was expensive, high in the research tree, and cost a bit of space and weight. It coould have torque also to make up for the mounting space it takes up.

[Luis]

I can't believe many landers have enough spare fuel that they can hover just above the surface for long enough that planetary rotation matters. Also, abseiling down the side of a rocket with the engines still running sounds highly dangerous. Although it might be fun, in a novelty, "very kerbal" sort of way, in practice how often would anyone actually use this method? If the terrain didn't allow landing for some reason, wouldn't it be better to bail the kerbal out with a disposable parachute or jump seat lander of some kind?

[JMBuilder]

I was thinking you could use jets on Laythe to hover with plenty of fuel to spare, but yeah, you could also use drop pods, but that would leave the pods everywhere.

Another thing I had in mind with the GHS was hovering aircraft carriers or landing pads. Airship parts would also help with this.

[peadar1987]

I've already suggested alternative launch sites elsewhere, it's an idea I love, hopefully it's just a case of the Devs throwing down a few pre-made buildings and a wee snippet of code, and we can add even more variety to Kerbin