How many people know how to dock?

[WhiteKnuckle]

Like most people, I struggled at first, thought it was impossible, rage quit, blah blah blah...

But I spent an afternoon practicing, watching tutorials, and practicing some more. Eventually I got it. And now it's so easy I could do it in my sleep. But it's also still one of the most satisfying things to do in KSP.

[LostElement]

dunno why, but I love docking and rendezvousing. One of my more favorite things to do other than everything else in KSP.

[Boris_T_Roach]

no it's not. I understood the basics before I ever started with KSP. A year playing KSP on a near daily basis and I still can't dock.

Lack of fine motor controls, no sophisticated programmable joystick, etc. etc. all make it a lot harder to impossible.

Replies like yours are less than useless, they are intended (or if not come across as such) to make people who don't find it easy feel like we're useless idiots who can't even do the simplest of things.

I fly on a keyboard.... so fine controls are right out....but saying that......

Boris' easy way to learn to dock.

Build a ship that has a docking port on top of the 3 man capsule, launch it into a 150km orbit, then launch another one the same, but wait until the first one is just about to pass over KSC before launching

This will mean you are behind the first ship in their 150km orbits, click on the target then what you do is lower the PE of your second ship, this will mean it will slowly overtake the first, you'll see the orbital markers get closer over the orbits.

Make a note of how much distance is coming off per orbit, then just before you over take the target ship, burn at AP to bring up the PE, you'll see the target markers on the orbit get closer, normally I can get them down to <500m.

Then orbit until your ships get within that 500m, and use the navball in target mode to reduce relative speed to 0m/sec.

Then, using the navball , thrust towards the target using RCS only, be prepared to stop and adjust if needed until you get within 100m and have a 0m/sec relative again, now you can rotate each ship until the docking ports are facing the other ship.

Click on the target ship's docking port and press 'set as target'

Then thrust towards the target using the nav ball, be prepared to use the translate controls (i,j,k,l) to keep the yellow marker on the center of the purple target marker.

When you get within 10m of the target , slow down, its easy to mis-align and you get the ships bounce apart.

If you see the ships move together without you doing anything, dont panic, thats the magnetic locks on the docking ports trying to link up, turn off the SAS and the RCS and wait... the motion will damp out slowly until success.

Your 2 ships are now 1.

Doing the docking will take time to practise it can take upto an hr for the first one, once you get the hang of it and know howto time your launches, you'll be able to dock to your massive space station in under 15 mins

Oh and fit lights to the front of your ships, because docking only ever happens in planetary shadow

Boris

Or use mechjeb

[SkyRender]

I figured out docking pretty fast, all things considered. Though I wouldn't say I really "got" it until almost 0.19's release, when I learned to stop worrying and love the navball.

[FITorion]

My first docking attempt was a 4 hour ordeal with me floundering around all over the place.

Chase camera mode.

Translation controls.

Understanding how using the translation controls moved the indicators around on the navball.

Flying based on the navball more than or instead of looking at the space craft... and now no longer need chase camera.

These are the things which I had to figure out to get good at docking.

The first few times are stressful and frustrating... but eventually it'll just click and it'll be much more easy.

[The Destroyer]

I couldn't dock for hell pre-0.18. When the magical "closest approach" and 'target relative speed" I docked on my very first try

...it isns't hard. Launch at the right time. Know how to burn. Use balenced RCS, and use chase cam! And "set as target"

[blizzy78]

I feel like I should update my in-game docking tutorial to work with 0.23...

[Bobnova]

I finally got it figured out last week. Previous to that it was extremely hit or miss. Now I can do it pretty reliably with just main engines.

[Trann]

I finally got it figured out last week. Previous to that it was extremely hit or miss.

I see what you did there.

[Padishar]

dunno why, but I love docking and rendezvousing. One of my more favorite things to do other than everything else in KSP.

Mine too...

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Each "vertex" and "edge" piece is a separate craft. The tetrahedron has 4 vertices and 6 edges all launched on one rocket. The octahedron is 6 vertices and 12 edges, split into two launches. All the pieces are undocked from the launcher and docked together to form the correct structure. I discovered fairly quickly that I needed to be very accurate with the rotation when docking the second vertex (I use NavyFish's docking port alignment indicator as it displays the port rotation to 0.1 degree) but after that was done, if I do the rest in a sensible order, they go together quite easily...

Oh, each piece has around 30 - 35 parts so the total part counts of the finished craft are 308 and 642. My framerate (on this rather slow laptop) is around 4 or 5 for the octahedron at 180km and even lower for the tetrahedron because it is at 140km (and rendering more planet detail)...

[Nepos]

Mine too...

http://imgur.com/a/LxXzy

Each "vertex" and "edge" piece is a separate craft. The tetrahedron has 4 vertices and 6 edges all launched on one rocket. The octahedron is 6 vertices and 12 edges, split into two launches. All the pieces are undocked from the launcher and docked together to form the correct structure. I discovered fairly quickly that I needed to be very accurate with the rotation when docking the second vertex (I use NavyFish's docking port alignment indicator as it displays the port rotation to 0.1 degree) but after that was done, if I do the rest in a sensible order, they go together quite easily...

Oh, each piece has around 30 - 35 parts so the total part counts of the finished craft are 308 and 642. My framerate (on this rather slow laptop) is around 4 or 5 for the octahedron at 180km and even lower for the tetrahedron because it is at 140km (and rendering more planet detail)...

You are insane ..... keep up the good work!

[Deathsoul097]

For me? Easier than Pie. (I can't make Pie. ) I can dock reasonably well/efficiently.

[Jank]

Remember, when your navball is in "target" mode, it shows your prograde, retrograde, and velocity relative to the target. So you can shepherd your prograde marker toward the pink marker indicating direction-to-target. This is basically key to everything.

First, in orbit, use maneuver nodes to get an encounter <1km distant. When you get close, burn yellow-retrograde (in target mode) until relative velocity is zero or close to it. Then turn to the pink prograde marker and make a small burn toward it.

When you get close, you change your target from the other vehicle to the other vehicle's docking port, and you right-click your docking port and select "control from here" to allow your navball to show you each docking port's velocity and direction relative to one another.

Then you just shepherd them together with RCS and rotation.

Don't know why you would turn off SAS, I leave it on to keep me from rotating all crazy.

[Padishar]

You are insane ..... keep up the good work!

Hehe, thanks. As soon as I manage to create the vertices with the correct edge angles (and get a faster machine ) I'll try putting the rest together. The cube will only be 700+ parts but the others get silly, the icosahedron will be around 1500 and the dodecahedron will be around 1800...

[ArmchairGravy]

A good rendezvous is essential. You should be able to come to a dead(ish) stop relative to your target at 50m away. Point the port you want to dock with south so it won't rotate out of alignment. Point the docking port on your docking craft north. Square off so your front is facing the port. Then

Practice, practice, practice. Build probes or capsules with docking ports on their noses and RCS thrusters and tanks. Take them up into orbit and just try, try, try. After 5-10 tries you'll begin to get what it takes to dock successfully and how to build a dockable craft.

Make sure you have your translate keys mapped (check Settings). I don't bother with docking mode, I just use the translation keys. Tap the keys, don't mash them! Work one axis at a time. Head toward the port, adjust height, then left/right. Be Patient!

The first successful dock will probably leave you a spent mess. But you will always feel a rush of satisfaction from docking, even on the hundredth one!

[m4rt14n]

IMHO joystick makes docking worse. You're better off just using wasd and ihjkl also hn buttons. Docking is like learning to ride a bicycle, takes a while but you'll get to enjoy it after.

[Jart]

A good rendezvous is essential. You should be able to come to a dead(ish) stop relative to your target at 50m away. Point the port you want to dock with south so it won't rotate out of alignment. Point the docking port on your docking craft north. Square off so your front is facing the port. Then

Make sure you have your translate keys mapped (check Settings). I don't bother with docking mode, I just use the translation keys. Tap the keys, don't mash them! Work one axis at a time. Head toward the port, adjust height, then left/right. Be Patient!

The first successful dock will probably leave you a spent mess. But you will always feel a rush of satisfaction from docking, even on the hundredth one!

Just want to re-emphasize a very important part of your excellent primer. Work one axis at a time.. So important for beginners.

CSB: I targeted the docking as an early as I could in the tech tree. I docked stuff for a week of my play time. Afterwards achieving any goal in the game is possible.

[Pecan]

Ummm ... you know sometimes you fail? ... especially when you don't pay attention ...

I clicked 'Yes, sure' then went off and read some other stuff, had dinner, did some things, then thought "You know, I haven't docked much and hardly at all recently - I usually let MechJeb do it."

So - to the VAB - build drone, launch drone 1A, launch drone 1B

Fail 1: This drone design didn't have an RCS tank (doh!)

Deorbit drone 1B, leave 1A there as a target, back to the VAB - build new drone, launch drone 2A

Fail 2: This drone design doesn't have the same docking port as the first one (facepalm!)

Right! Let's do this seriously. Spurn distractions, pay attention. Deorbit drone 1A, launch drone 2B

Good. No more fail. Do I know how to dock? Yes, sure - but it's tedious and I usually let MechJeb do it.

Mind you, it's more interesting if your teenage daughter is playing

loudly and jumping around trying to make sure you do.

[Wooks]

Once you are parked near your target at 0 m/s the hardest part is over. All the advice up to this point is sound.

You can cover your screen and only have a little hole to see the navball and dock sucessfully. Use the navball Luke!

[wrexecute]

For me, rendezvous was the trickiest part. Your orbits are different and you're travelling at breakneck relative speeds, very likely to over or undershoot without experience. Once you get down to the 5km or less range and get that relative speed down, following MiniMatt's instructions step-by-step, you will find that the actual docking difficulty is much less severe than a rendezvous. Slowly drifting near your target, you will have all the time in the world to maneuver and eyeball things to your heart's content. If you don't mind addons Navyfish Docking HUD greatly outperforms the navball, no parts and no autopilot. Just a UI that only pops up when targeting a dock port.

Another thing: Unless your craft is exceptionally heavy, you will have too much translational power to dock effectively. CapsLock by default toggles all directional and translational movements to precision mode, and you will know this when you see the Pitch/Yaw/Roll arrows on the bottom left screen turn blue.

[Liowen]

Once you are parked near your target at 0 m/s the hardest part is over. All the advice up to this point is sound.

You can cover your screen and only have a little hole to see the navball and dock sucessfully. Use the navball Luke!

I have been having an issue with a fuel cell I want to attach to my station, the moment I start using the navball it is like my controls are versed. I got it with 20m of the target, after draining nearly all the transport crafts fuel, and finally ran out of monopropellent. I am still a bit lost as to the HNJIKL what control who, it just feels unnatural to me for some reason. The second fuel cell craft tips nose down when at rest, yet it should in theory be heavier than the rear of the craft. Maybe I am not meant to dock large crafts together, I can do smaller ones ok but I think that is more to do with less mass to translate around. But I am stubborn so I will keep trying LOL

[AlexinTokyo]

Second (or third, or fourth) all the great advice in this thread.

Most important thing: Practice. I taught myself to dock after watching a bunch of videos (especially Scott Manley), but I still needed to practise (a lot) to do it.

I recommend practicing something like this:

1. Launch target
   
2. Put target in 150 km circular, equatorial orbit (eccentricity and inclination as close to 0 as possible)
   
3. Ensure target is pointing north, SAS on
   
4. Launch docker
   
5. Put into 80~100 km circular, equatorial orbit
   
6. Set target as target
   
7. Quicksave
   
8. Rendezvous - use manoeuvre node to burn up to target's altitude slightly ahead of target, use navball and main engine to equalise velocity.
   
9. Quickload either when successful (separation < 50 m, relative velocity < 0.3 m/s) or unrecoverable (de-orbiting, escape velocity exceeded, crashed into target, out of fuel, etc.)
   
10. Repeat until you get 3~5 (up to you, really) successful rendezvous in a row
    
11. Put docker into 200~250 km circular, equatorial orbit
    
12. Quicksave
    
13. Rendezvous - use manoeuvre node to burn down to target's altitude slightly behind target, use navball and main engine to equalise velocity.
    
14. Quickload either when successful (separation < 50 m, relative velocity < 0.3 m/s) or unrecoverable (de-orbiting, escape velocity exceeded, crashed into target, out of fuel, etc.)
    
15. Repeat until you get 3~5 (up to you, really) successful rendezvous in a row
    
16. Now you can rendezvous, you can start practising to dock!
    

1. Start from a good rendezvous (separation < 50 m, relative velocity < 0.3 m/s [preferably 0])
   
2. Set the target's docking port as target
   
3. Orient docker to point south, SAS on
   
4. Deactivate main engine
   
5. Quicksave
   
6. Activate RCS and use translation (IK JL HN or docking mode) to manoeuvre until you're directly in front of the target - precision control (Caps-Lock) helps
   
7. SAS off, thrust forward slowly to dock
   
8. Quickload either when successful (docked) or unrecoverable (probably either crashed or nudged target off alignment badly)
   
9. Repeat until you get 3~5 (up to you, really) successful docks in a row
   

I prefer to use quicksave/quickload to repeat, but you can just jet off into another orbit if you like.

Some things I find it helpful to bear in mind:

• If you start in a lower orbit than the target, you're going faster (catching up) but will be travelling slower when you burn up to the higher orbit (you'll be at apoapsis) - you want to intercept just in front of the target and let it catch up.
  
• If you start in a higher orbit than the target, you're going slower (falling behind) but will be travelling faster when you burn down to the lower orbit (you'll be at periapsis) - you want to intercept just behind the target and catch up to it.
  (These are both massively counter-intuitive, because (in example one) you're going faster and speed up (burn prograde) but end up going slower than the target.)
  
• When using RCS translation to dock, there's no slowing force - if you keep thrusting until you're in line you will overshoot - a couple of short thrusts to move in the right direction and a couple of counter-thrusts to stop when you arrive.
  
• If you're using the shielded docking port, remember to open the shield
  

My pet hate with docking - trying to dock with an unpowered, unmanned or otherwise uncontrollable target where you can't ensure it's pointing in a favourable direction.

[Kruleworld]

I CAN dock, but i swear it's the hardest aspect of KSP. i still struggle with it.

[bobcook]

dunno why, but I love docking and rendezvousing. One of my more favorite things to do other than everything else in KSP.

I used to be this way too. Around Kerbin or the Mun? No problems. But its just tedious trying to rendezvous in orbit around Jool. Seems like it takes forever to get things lined up.

[Anton P. Nym]

I CAN dock, but i swear it's the hardest aspect of KSP. i still struggle with it.

Docking is the hardest aspect of KSP, so don't feel too bad for struggling with it.

That said, once you figure out the techniques that work for you and PRACTICE TONS it can become easy. (Even without fine controls or sophisticated joysticks; that just means you have to take things more slowly and deliberately. The last few meters I usually end up with relative speeds that barely generate a "prograde" bug on the navball.)

-- Steve