How do you use RCS like an EVA jetpack?

[Guest]

Rendezvous is hard... I want to use RCS like an EVA jetpack... What I mean is use RCS to maneuver easily in order to rendezvous. The question is.... How?

[Twinky827]

RCS is usually for when you actually get there, not getting there in the first place.

Just imagine engines as a massive RCS thruster; it isn't much different, is it?

[Citherly]

To just rendezvous you want to use the engine(s).

Once a rendezvous it set up and you are getting near to docking, then use the translation controls with RCS.

Got to http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Key_bindings and scroll down to docking.

[Phoenix84]

I think he wants to use the Kerbal EVA style controls for ship RCS.

In that case, just go into the keybinds and change them. Keep in mind that the shift and ctrl used in EVA is throttle control on a ship.

Other issue is that kerbal EVA use the mouse for aiming, which ships do not. As far as I know, there's no way to change that.

[Supernovy]

Engaging "Docking mode" will change the RCS translation controls to the same as EVA controls - shift, control, WASD.

The button for this is in the bottom left of the flight screen.

[Phoenix84]

Engaging "Docking mode" will change the RCS translation controls to the same as EVA controls - shift, control, WASD.

The button for this is in the bottom left of the flight screen.

I forgot about that mode.

How do you rotate in docking mode?

I tried that mode one time. I panicked because I couldn't figure out rotation, so I abandoned it and never looked back. :-)

[Supernovy]

QE is always roll, if you hit spacebar it will change from translation mode to rotation mode. In rotation mode, WASD will pitch and yaw like normal. Spacebar again will switch back to translation mode.

[Phoenix84]

QE is always roll, if you hit spacebar it will change from translation mode to rotation mode. In rotation mode, WASD will pitch and yaw like normal. Spacebar again will switch back to translation mode.

Ah. Too slow.

I prefer the two-handed approach myself. Thanks for answering that.

[Cerberus738]

Ah. Too slow.

I prefer the two-handed approach myself. Thanks for answering that.

I also prefer the 2 handed approach. i haven't used docking mode since i first started playing.

If you go into settings you can change the key bindings.

i have rotation set on WSADQE and translation set on IKJLHN that way i can rotate and translate at the same time!!! its so amazing. very helpful for catching a craft that is rotating (slowly... ha ha ha)

[capi3101]

Rendezvousing on RCS only, eh? Well, despite what you may hear from others, it IS possible to do. But there are a lot of considerations involved...

To address your specific question - you can switch to docking mode as others have suggested. Personally, I use NavyFish's Docking Alignment Indicator mod, which lets me keep things out in Staging Mode and let's you "two-fist"; WASDQE for rotation, IJKLHN for translation. In Docking Mode, you just have WASDQE, with the spacebar switching between translation and rotation. Pick whichever set of controls you like.

To get it to work properly, you're going to need to design your craft so that the RCS blocks are roughly equidistant from the central axis of longitudinal motion (i.e. the radial center of your craft). If there's any significant difference, you can expect your craft to rotate as you attempt to translate. That's generally very important in the final docking maneuvers, but it can come into play when you're attempting RCS rendezvous. Likewise, for the thrusters intended to control rotation, you want them all roughly the same distance from the center of mass of the craft along that same axis (further from the center of mass produces more torque, making the craft easier to turn).

Now, assuming your target is already in orbit of Kerbin, I find that waiting until it's about 500,000 meters uprange of KSC before you launch your source craft will put you in position for a relatively fast rendezvous. Launch as normal, and try to put your orbit at about the same altitude as the target's periapsis. Cut loose your booster and engage RCS. Target the target vehicle - assuming you're in an eastward-moving "standard" orbit, you'll want to thrust northward at the descending node or southward at the ascending node. You won't be making fast changes on RCS only, so feel free to begin burning slightly ahead of the node if you're much past 1 degree difference; you're wanting to zero that out (0.0 or NaN).

Once you're zeroed out, do a forward thrust burn at your periapsis and watch what it does to the distance indicated by the little rendezvous chevrons. If the distance decreases, great; get it down as far as you can. If the distance increases, stop and do an aft thrust burn instead (watching your periapsis as you do so; if it gets below 70,000, there's a bit of a problem). Once it's down as far as you can, do the same thing again at the apoapsis. Repeat this process until you can't make any more progress (which should happen within an orbit or two). Once that happens, you'll need to try the same thing somewhere between the -apses. If you can get that distance chevron to within 2.5 kilometers, you're headed to rendezvous.

I'll recommend the Gemini 6A and 7 tutorial as a way of teaching RCS rendezvous and docking. My main beef RCS rendezvous it is that they are very time consuming; you can conduct a rendezvous much faster on biprop engines. RCS is still highly recommended for the close-in maneuvers for final docking (by which I mean within 100 meters to the target).

[Claw]

Rendezvous is hard... I want to use RCS like an EVA jetpack... What I mean is use RCS to maneuver easily in order to rendezvous. The question is.... How?

Usually when I see this question, it turns out that people are asking one of two things:

The first question, You want to RCS have keys mapped like EVA keys. If that's the case, you can do that as others have suggested by editing your settings on the main menu.

The second question I see is that you really want to fly a ship like a kerbal flies: always oriented to the camera so that pressing "up" is always "up", pressing "left" is always "left" and so on. Unfortunately it doesn't work like that. Your ship won't "autorotate" to the camera orientation like a kerbal can. So you'll either have to manually reorient your camera constantly or reorient your ship so it matches your camera.

The other thing you can do (and more painful initially) is change your kerbal EVA settings in the main menu so that they don't automatically rotate to match the camera. That way you get used to flying an EVA and docking in the same way, orienting your mind to the part instead of orienting the part to the screen. Like I said, it's a painful learning curve to start off with.

Anyway, probably isn't the answer you were hoping for. Good luck!

Edited March 27, 2014 by Claw

[ScottyDoesKnow]

The second question I see is that you really want to fly a ship like a kerbal flies: always oriented to the camera so that pressing "up" is always "up", pressing "left" is always "left" and so on. Unfortunately it doesn't work like that. Your ship won't "autorotate" to the camera orientation like a kerbal can. So you'll either have to manually reorient your camera constantly or reorient your ship so it matches your camera.

You can always hit V a few times to switch to chase cam, very useful for docking.

[Specialist290]

The second question I see is that you really want to fly a ship like a kerbal flies: always oriented to the camera so that pressing "up" is always "up", pressing "left" is always "left" and so on. Unfortunately it doesn't work like that. Your ship won't "autorotate" to the camera orientation like a kerbal can. So you'll either have to manually reorient your camera constantly or reorient your ship so it matches your camera.

There is a Chase camera mode, where the camera will stay fixed relative to the craft. You can toggle between camera modes using the "V" key. If you set it right behind your craft, it's almost the same as flying in third-person camera in a flight simulator. Claw's right in that there's nothing like the EVA Spacebar command that will automatically reorient the craft to face the same direction as the camera otherwise, though.

EDIT: I am eternally doomed to be forever ninja'd by other posters. Woe is me!

Edited March 27, 2014 by Specialist290

[The Silent Majority]

The second question I see is that you really want to fly a ship like a kerbal flies: always oriented to the camera so that pressing "up" is always "up", pressing "left" is always "left" and so on. Unfortunately it doesn't work like that. Your ship won't "autorotate" to the camera orientation like a kerbal can. So you'll either have to manually reorient your camera constantly or reorient your ship so it matches your camera.

You can always use chase view though.

It reorients the camera to the reference frame of your ship (that is, if you press up, you will go up, down, down etc etc)

To get that press V i(I think, doing it automatically now so am not certain) until it says "chase" under the altimeter.

EDIT. Ninja'd