[SHOWCASE] labs

[Stilgar2300]

So how does everyone deploy their labs? Currently I use them on orbital stations but I'm finding it impractical. I'm currently designing and testing a mobile lab similar to Scot Manley's from eve or bust series. I've also seen them as parts or permanent bases. Show off your labs

[davieholgate]

about that... I was flying to laythe, entered atmosphere at 4x warp and my whole lander disassembled and multiple crafts around my solar system were, for no reason whatsoever lost and the crew returned to KSC... I did take 1 pic of a station I made though, it wasn't intended to be a lab station but I thought it would be a good opportunity for aesthetics: http://steamcommunity.com/id/davieholgate/screenshot/3372369252196137038

[bigdad84]

I mainly have two "Labs". One in LKO and one on the surface of the moon.

"SS007" Station! Which is soon to be de-orbited.

"Precarious" Base! Which does LOTS of science.

[SkyRender]

I never bothered to take a shot of it in orbit, but this is my 0.23 Super Science mission for the Mun or Minmus (your choice):

Basic operations: takes 2 Kerbals up to the moon of choice, puts them in a stable low polar orbit (ideally on the terminator), and the science lander then proceeds to land and return at each and every biome as the moon in question rotates below. When it's time to go home, the tiny 2-Kerbal return capsule is launched back out to Kerbin, where all scientific data gathered on the mission is then recovered.

[thunderstar]

this is a proper space lab

[grawl]

Nice one !

[ArmchairGravy]

I've come to really appreciate the science lab. It's not too heavy, so 4 radials will land it on Kerbin. You can store duplicate experiments aboard it which means you can grab all of the available science in one go. They also just plain look good. Here's an Imgur album of various ways I've used labs.

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[InterCity]

I usually launch them in one piece, like my first career station: Amon. Looks odd enough, works great!

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[Geschosskopf]

The way I use Mobile Labs is part roleplaying, part practical KSP Science!, and part preparation in hopes they get increased functionality in future updates. My "house rules" for using Mobile Labs are as follows:

• Only Mobile Labs can store data from Goo and Material Bays. I know you can put these in capsules, but I figure these experiments need more specialized refrigerators or whatever to keep the stuff fresh once removed from the actual experiment parts.
  
• Capsules and lander cans don't have enough space to store more than a handful of pebbles and some numeric data from instruments. OTOH, the Mobile Lab has lots of storage space.
  
• Because the "perishable" data has to be stored in the Mobile Lab, the whole Mobile Lab has to land and be recovered on Kerbin.
  
• Filling up a Mobile Lab with lots of data makes it impossible to use its other functions. IOW, I pretend I have 2 separate types of Mobile Lab parts. One type is just a climate-controlled storage bin for data, the other does the processing of transmission data and rearming experiments. As a result, I always send 2 Mobile Labs, one for each role.
  
• In hopes that someday having multiple Mobile Labs will give increased Science! somehow, I build the processing/rearming type of lab with lots of docking ports to serve as the core of a major science station, and leave it at the destination while sending the storage lab home.
  

Here's an example. The lab with the solar panels is the "stay behind", rearming and processing one. It has a hitchhiker for longterm occupancy and the 6-way docking port thingy for later expansion. The other lab is the "go home" version with lander legs and parachutes for recovery on Kerbin.

So, what happened here was the lander went down to Duna, ran all its experiments on the surface, can came back up. The data got stored in the go-home lab and the stay-behind lab rearmed the experiments. Then the lander went back down, ran its experiments in the atmosphere while hanging on its chutes, landed, got a 2nd handful of rocks, and returned. Data again in the go-home lab, experiments rearmed by the stay-behind lab. As Duna currently doesn't have biomes, this is all it can do for the moment, but someday hopefully the lander will be able to make many more trips (there's a kethane operation at Ike supplying the fuel). And perhaps I'll have a reason to add more stay-behind labs to the nascent station.

This system worked well enough to deserve repeating at Laythe

Apart from tweaking the arrangement of the lights, the actual lab parts are the same as used at Duna, but seen here in close-up. Just different rockets to get them to Laythe, and a whole major kethane system from Vall to provide the fuel. Also, instead of a lander, the reusable Science!-grabber is an SSTO seaplane. But the whole operation will be run the same way as at Duna, with go-home and a stay-behind labs.

[JayKay]

http://i.imgur.com/4uDrDMY.png

this is a proper space lab

Yeah, except one of the gigantors should be ripped off and an ugly blanket should be slung over one side of the main body...at least that's how NASA did it.

JK

[Tiakatt]

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My nubbish Minmus science base, with lab, habitat, and science rover.

I love BigDad's Precarious base. That's very nice looking!

[SpaceGremlin]

This was my Duna lab from my last campaign. It has a lander for Duna and Ike, spare fuel supplies to support multiple sorties to collect science, the lab itself, and a return capsule for bringing the crew/science back.

[ArmchairGravy]

Yeah, except one of the gigantors should be ripped off and an ugly blanket should be slung over one side of the main body...at least that's how NASA did it.

JK

We need an ugly blanket mod STAT!

[sal_vager]

Movenating to the Spacecraft Exchange as it's a better place for all things crafty

[Kazun]

My general space lab design, with one in orbit around Kerbin, the Mun, and Kerbol: