Checking alignment between SPH and VAB on kerbin, and kethane queries.

[Skorpychan]

My Kethane mining operations has hit a minor snag, in that I don't know whether the kethane miners (assembled as landers in the VAB) and the kethane transfer rovers (SPH rovers; basically a tank on it's side with wheels on) will meet up at the right height. And since the two are from different buildings, I can't just stick one down, then launch another mission to check.

And the launchpad is not flat enough for far enough to check things there.

So, what do I do? Am I reduced to just launching this stuff Munwards and checking on the surface there?

Additionally, I want to send the biggest kethane tank out as a rover. However, I want regular docking ports at each end, and my launchers and transfer stages work on the Sr ports. Should I just send two of the next-biggest out, put Sr ports on one end, and dock them on the surface?

Also additionally, how viable would it be to launch a rover skywards off the Mun to a waiting station?

Or should I simply stick to dedicated landers and launchers?

Kethane itself:

I'm testing my setup on the Mun. However, my lander uses 4x LV-909 engines, to haul the third-largest kethane tank to Munar orbit. And I'm not sure I'm making a profit in the fuel used to get the kethane up there to make fuel.

Any tips for efficient landers/launchers?

Also, where's the best place to get kethane off the ground in the Jool system, assuming a lander designed to do so wherever?

And because it'd be a system for long-term use, it'd have to be an SSTO lander, since I can't manufacture bits for it in-system.

Edited March 22, 2014 by Skorpychan

[Roxette]

You can quickly transfer craft between the VAB and SPH with this mod

[Pecan]

Store one as a sub-assembly and then use it with the other. Sub-assemblies are available in both buildings.

Then remember that unless they're the same mass their suspension will exapand/compress by different amounts under different gravities.

Then remember that unless the ground is (almost) completely smooth they won't be pointing at each other anyway.

Try the KAS mod so you can just get and a put a hose between them.

Edited March 22, 2014 by Pecan

[Nathair]

I sometimes just take a lander, slap some chutes on it and stick it on top of a booster with just enough power to loft it a couple of thousand meters. Launch a bit east or west of vertical, kill and decouple the booster and pop the chutes as soon as you're high enough for the chutes to open. You end up with a lander parked in the grass a few meters from the pad. Then you can just drive your rover over to it and connect things as you like.

Bear in mind though that the suspension on your landing gear/wheels will react differently under different weights (full tanks vs empty, Minmus gravity vs Kerbin) and hence your vehicle heights can vary a little bit. If you're not adverse to mods, KAS pipes work rather well in these situations.

[Temstar]

What I recommend is to have the docking system for the rover to be top down instead of horizontal. Even if you tested it to work on Kerbin by say, placing a rover on the runway, drive it off the runway, place the miner on the runway and then drive the rover back onto the runway to dock with it, even if the test work there's no guarantee that it will work on the Mun as 1/6 gravity will cause the suspension on the rover to be compressed to a different degree.

A vertical docking system (particularly if your docking thing is connected to a base by truss) means that you can build the docking port to be higher than the rover's top docking port on Kerbin. Then on the Mun just drive the rover underneath, retract landing legs and let the docking ports "fall" down on top of the rover:

But still, if you really want a horizontal docking system it will work too using the same method:

Not sure why you would want a rover that's both a rover and a fuel shuttle, I have a difficult time as it is trying to land large rovers horizontal. For moving Kethane offworld I prefer to use a dedicated tanker rocket. However in order to make use of one you need to come up with a system to be able to move landed tanker rockets:

You can read more about the above systems and how to setup matching docking port height for surface docking at:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/50685-Modular-Base-Creation-Kit

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/48876-The-art-of-modular-base-building

For Jool system, I say Bop or Pol. Tylo is out of the question. Laythe has very little land and the atmosphere causes difficulties in pin point landing. Vall's surface gravity is slightly too high to be worth while setting up a large mining operation.

Edited March 22, 2014 by Temstar