2 Stage Lander Construction Problems

[Royalkin]

Hello guys,

I've become quite annoyed with trying to build a compact and lightweight 2 stage lander. It seems the way KSP chooses to connect parts doesn't allow tucking the ascent stage engine inside the body of the descent stage (Yes, you can use an interstage, but there your lander is waaaaay taller that is even ridiculously acceptable). But also, you can't place extra fuel pods, electronics, or whatever else inside the inner wall of an interstage. I've posted an image explaining what I'm trying to accompish, and my question is has anyone else been able to produce this? If any of you have, and you've used addons, please list them.

Thanks in Advance.

[Captain Sierra]

Yeah, KSP doesn't really like this. There are ways to get around it, and they usually involve lots of trick techniques and clipping. The best simple thing you can do stock is to build the ascent stage first, and then build the descent stage as four radial boosters attached to the ascent stage (if you use a 2.5m lander can with a 1.25m ascent stage, it looks pretty decent). For a good example, go look at the stock two stage lander. I myself haven't done it but seeing the request, I'll try to build an example. In the meanwhile, I suggest lurking on over to the spacecraft exchange and looking at some of the apollo style replicas there.

[Speeding Mullet]

^^ An example of what Captain Sierra is talking about would be this, which is a very basic Apollo style mission, with radial boosters on a two stage lander, with a little bit of part clipping thrown in as an introduction:

[Captain Sierra]

Actually no, that's not at all what I was talking about. That just uses radial engines to eliminate the need for a tuck space.

[Speeding Mullet]

Actually no, that's not at all what I was talking about.

Whoops, clearly not reading well today apologies. Still it represents a workable solution...

[Royalkin]

Thanks for the input guys. I really love KSP, but sometimes I think the "silliness" of it keeps it from being a better game. I hope that Squad eventually gets around these little annoyances like this.

[Speeding Mullet]

Thanks for the input guys. I really love KSP, but sometimes I think the "silliness" of it keeps it from being a better game. I hope that Squad eventually gets around these little annoyances like this.

No problems. I think the silliness is a big attraction to the game and it really feeds some of the forum life on here which you can see as a theme running through a lot of the mission reports etc.

If you were so inclined you could take your above drawing and use it as the basis for a mod package of parts, or possibly make a thread in the mod section and see if one of the well known modders thinks it's an idea good enough to run with....

[Mystique]

The only similiar part I remember that may help you a bit is procedural fairing mod's custom fairing base, it's kind of bucket-shaped part that can even have smaller stuff attached on inside walls. Maybe there are also modded fuel tanks of similiar shape, but I haven't seen those.

Perhaps it would also be an option to attach descent tanks on radial decouplers? It'll make lander wider, but at least not taller.

P.S. If "lots of science" is mission's goal, I don't think that such design would be workable, because you'll need whole bunch of science stuff that will make total weight quite considerable. And it'll also be a one-time lander, good for short early-game missions or real-life replicas.

[Rhomphaia]

Had to use fuel lines to get the ascent engines to work.

[KerbMav]

Hello guys,

I've become quite annoyed with trying to build a compact and lightweight 2 stage lander. It seems the way KSP chooses to connect parts doesn't allow tucking the ascent stage engine inside the body of the descent stage (Yes, you can use an interstage, but there your lander is waaaaay taller that is even ridiculously acceptable). But also, you can't place extra fuel pods, electronics, or whatever else inside the inner wall of an interstage. I've posted an image explaining what I'm trying to accompish, and my question is has anyone else been able to produce this? If any of you have, and you've used addons, please list them.

Thanks in Advance.

Can you fiddle a small decoupler in the "compartment" and connect the engine to it?

Or a decoupler to the engine and add the lower stage to that - do not know which way you built your lander.

Might require sub-assembly saving - and maybe changing the root part of a sub-assembly to get the right connector node available.

Edited January 29, 2014 by KerbMav

[Alexandicity]

On thing to consider is not shorten your lander - which is difficult - but to fatten it. This has the benefit of being easier to land and looks, for a constant height, less "tall"...

But yeah, funny-looking spacecraft do emerge from KSP. And in real life, in fact; before the Apollo LM was built the popular imagination wouldn't have thought a lander would look all spindly like that Turned out the best engineering solution isn't what we might originally expect...