Materials Bay too large?

[condraj2]

Maybe it's just me, and maybe I'm just very uncreative in the design of my ships, but I can't shake the feeling that the Materials Bay is just too large for it to fit non-awkwardly in most landers. Recently I've been trying to find space and mass-efficient ways in designing lightweight, but very-science capable landers, for the various planets, but I always struggle with placement of the Materials Bay without having the thing get too tall and/or awkwardly wide.

Does anyone else agree? If so, does anybody know if Squad is taking a look at this issue? If you guys have some ingenious designs for lightweight, compact landers which are capable of returning to orbit around their intended celestial body, post pics!

[Tex_NL]

I'd like to see a radial materials bay. Similar in size and weight to the goo canister but to keep it balanced less efficient than the regular bay.

[Streetwind]

I can't offer you advice to build planetary landers because I keep getting distracted into trying new mods before I get to the interplanetary stage

But let me find you a picture or two of my super-compact full science Mun lander.

[geb]

If you really need to take a material bay reading on a manned trip, and don't want to make an ugly lander by cramming a material bay into it, send it down on a seperate lander and collect the results on EVA.

[macegee]

Materials bay is okay for it's size, but that doesn't mean that there's no need for more science equipment, including probe-sized experiments. There's certainly a lot of room for improvement in this area.

[Streetwind]

Stack of three landers inside the fairing of my Munraker XI rocket.

Right side - thermometer and antenna

Left side - accelerometer and gravioli detector

Front side - life support canister and landing spotlight for nightside adventures

You can also see two batteries, two mini-RTGs, two parachutes, the materials bay and the goo canister. Technically it's minimally unbalanced, as the goo canister and life support are aligned weirdly and not exactly the same weight, but I've tuned it to the point where you can't tell the difference in flight. It weighs 3.2 tons fully fueled.

The mini-RTGs, mini fuel tanks and engines are from the RLA Stockalike mod, but technically nothing keeps you from doing the same thing with stock Oscar tanks, Rockomax 48's and a pair of solar panels. The life support canister is from TAC Life Support, obviously, and completely optional (but handy for counterbalancing the goo). The Munraker XI is built with KW Rocketry parts, but could work with stock parts as well, minus the cool-looking fairing.

If brought into a stable munar orbit at low altitude (I prefer 10 km), this lander can decouple, deorbit itself, perform a powered landing, collect all five science experiments, transmit crew and EVA reports, take off again, escape the Mun, re-enter Kerbin and land safely. And because Minmus takes less dV to land/take off, it can do the same thing there with more ease.

[cantab]

I'm not sure I'd want there to be two different versions of the same experiment, that might make things a bit confusing.

I wonder if the tech tree shouldn't be tweaked a bit though. The materials bay is the heaviest experiment, it's one of the more effective at giving science points - and it's the second one available. Seems a bit against the run of tech trees normally.

[GusTurbo]

I think the Goo Canister is oversized. It's difficult to place well and sticks out like a sore thumb, especially on 1.25m spacecraft.

[sal_vager]

We could do with some remodelling of some of the instruments, any modders up for that? a 1.25m in line goo tank would be nice

[Jouni]

Maybe the materials bay and the goo canister should just be removed and replaced by the laboratory. Carry the lab to strange new places, do some experiments there, and transmit the results.

[Bomoo]

An inline 2.5m combination materials bay/goo canister would be loverly as well. What I do in the present version is simply clip them inside the body of my landers.

[Parkaboy]

You guys maybe want to see this thread:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/64336-0-23-Panda-Jager-Laboratories-Parts-Pack

This mod has a smaller goo cannister and a radial materials bay. Sure, these are unlocked very late on the tech tree, but it comes in handy for the interplanetary exploration, after you get all the science from Kerbin, Mun and Minmus. And the parts look like stock.

[Bomoo]

You guys maybe want to see this thread:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/64336-0-23-Panda-Jager-Laboratories-Parts-Pack

This mod has a smaller goo cannister and a radial materials bay. Sure, these are unlocked very late on the tech tree, but it comes in handy for the interplanetary exploration, after you get all the science from Kerbin, Mun and Minmus. And the parts look like stock.

Oh wow, that's just what I've been looking for. Thanks, dude!

[sal_vager]

Wow nice Parkaboy, thanks for the link

[Parkaboy]

I'm glad to be of service.

[condraj2]

You guys maybe want to see this thread:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/64336-0-23-Panda-Jager-Laboratories-Parts-Pack

This mod has a smaller goo cannister and a radial materials bay. Sure, these are unlocked very late on the tech tree, but it comes in handy for the interplanetary exploration, after you get all the science from Kerbin, Mun and Minmus. And the parts look like stock.

I think I love you.

These should be stock KSP parts!

[spaceBrezel]

yep they are pretty big, like most ksp parts...

my latest kethane lander does have 6 material bays on top.

there is also a small drone with 4 more material bays docked on top of it.

let me show you:

Javascript is disabled. View full album

i have placed the "aerodynamic nose cone" on top of the material bay to get a round effect.

bet you could arrange them sideways and between tanks...

[johnnyhandsome]

If you guys have some ingenious designs for lightweight, compact landers which are capable of returning to orbit around their intended celestial body, post pics!

It all depends on what celestial body you're talking about. But here's a 14 ton Mono lander I use a lot:

<iframe class="imgur-album" width="100%" height="550" frameborder="0" src="http://imgur.com/a/QtfuI/embed">Mono Lander</iframe>

It's 100% stock, but works well with MechJeb too. Craft file here for examination and learning!

Hitting 3 toggles the solar panels, while 5 does all the science experiments EXCEPT Goo and Materials Bay. Note that the placement of all the science experiments allows for easy collection. Plus the craft has docking adapter.

[condraj2]

It all depends on what celestial body you're talking about. But here's a 14 ton Mono lander I use a lot:

<iframe class="imgur-album" width="100%" height="550" frameborder="0" src="http://imgur.com/a/QtfuI/embed">Mono Lander</iframe>

It's 100% stock, but works well with MechJeb too. Craft file here for examination and learning!

Hitting 3 toggles the solar panels, while 5 does all the science experiments EXCEPT Goo and Materials Bay. Note that the placement of all the science experiments allows for easy collection. Plus the craft has docking adapter.

This looks pretty great. Do you use deadly re-entry? I don't see a heatshield, so if you do, how do you deorbit with your science back to Kerbin?

[Levelord]

I'm in favor for a flatter version of the materials bay, because the current one appears to be too tall and is asthetically unappealing in most designs because of it. Of course, keep the weight values and all for balance sake, but I would prefer a change in it's geometry so that I can incorporate it better into my lander and ship designs.

[johnnyhandsome]

"Do you use deadly re-entry? I don't see a heatshield, so if you do, how do you deorbit with your science back to Kerbin?"

No, I don't use Deadly Re-Entry. Haven't worked up to that yet!

[condraj2]

I'm in favor for a flatter version of the materials bay, because the current one appears to be too tall and is asthetically unappealing in most designs because of it. Of course, keep the weight values and all for balance sake, but I would prefer a change in it's geometry so that I can incorporate it better into my lander and ship designs.

This is basically what I'd like to see.

[vger]

If you really need to take a material bay reading on a manned trip, and don't want to make an ugly lander by cramming a material bay into it, send it down on a seperate lander and collect the results on EVA.

Yep, that's what I do with it. More or less, it's the centerpiece of outposts to me. I send them ahead of manned missions. Though I've successfully put one on a jump-rover, which I sent unmanned. A manned landing later claimed it and used it to comb the biomes. The thing ran pretty well, all things considered.

Edited March 14, 2014 by vger

[Liowen]

While my Mun Science Lander MKII, basically a slight redesign of the one I used on Minmus, might not be pretty it does do the job well enough. It will drop the two outside mat bays during lift off, and the third one will be dropped once the ship has started reentry. I could have ditched the third goo can on the back of the capsule, but I left it on just in case I try to hit two biomes on Mun since this is my second trip there. Basically I just collect the science out of the bays so I do not mind dropping them off, and letting them smash into the ground is always nice to see. I also have been trying to see if I could use this lander with my solar probe lifter stage and secondary to get it out to Gilly or Ike to get science from those moons, but I think I am going to put docking ports on it and try it again at a later date. Here is a picture I just grabbed as it is orbiting Mun right now, I may try to land it sometime tomorrow or Saturday (college stuff getting in the way of KSP LOL).

And one from Eve from one of my tests I was doing to try and get on Gilly with part of the secondary engine setup, though this picture is not too great... And no I did not land on Gilly that day

[AmpsterMan]

I share the same sentiments a the OP. I would have like the materials bay to be smaller and easier to work with too. I have a special "SciPak" I drop on the planets as science scoopers. I load them on my plane to drop them but it is a bit akward (will link image when not on phone)