Do you use a hitchhiker storage container on long missions?

[Superfluous J]

I'm inconsistent. Sometimes I'll send room for 8 and stock it with 2, sometimes I'll send one guy in a lander can to Eeloo.

I think when I restart for 0.24 I'll come up with something a bit more reasonable. I like the "2 guys per 4 seats" rule.

[X-SR71]

I bet they wouldn't mind being cramped if we could send a couple of Kerbalinas among them..

[Redshift OTF]

I like to think my Kerbals are in suspended animation when I time warp so they don't need such comforts.

[oggylt]

Yup, I also roleplay, and give them living room during the long missions

[austin4050]

I never use a hitchhiker only when building space station, other than that i find them almost pointless, why lug more kerbals around that you will just have to save later on?

[Jouni]

I used to build big interplanetary ships with a lot of living space. Now that I'm mostly doing single-launch missions, my standard is a three-kerbal crew with a big command pod, a hitchhiker, and a two-kerbal lander can.

Edited April 16, 2014 by Jouni

[TerLoki]

I tend to use it as a node for space stations and multipart ships, since I've got the KSO and inflatable parts for habitat space. But yeah, I do like to have extra capacity for long term missions, increasing with the duration of the trip. For example a ship bound for Duna might have 30 capacity and crew of 6, while a survey of Minmus that spends a week in orbit would have a capacity of 4 and a crew of 2.

[TheSaint]

For short-duration missions (in Kerbin-system, up to two weeks or so), just a capsule is fine. For medium-duration missions (most Eve and Duna missions, anything less than a year) I use one Hitchhiker for every three Kerbals (it aligns nicely with a single Mk 1-2). For long-duration missions (Jool, Eeloo, >1 year) I try to supply one Hitchhiker per Kerbal, although I may fudge that a bit. My favorite long-distance ship has a Mk1-2, a science lab, and four Hitchhikers for a five-Kerbal crew.

[Pecan]

Aren't we nice :-) There is no 'point' to accommodation but so many of us are making the extra (rocket) effort to roleplay to care.

Phttt! I just wrote a load of stuff about the physical and mental conditions and conditioning for people like submariners. Deleted it all because it comes down to "we don't know what conditions are most conducive to Kerbals' mental health".

[TechnicalK3rbal]

That's my rule, too. For long missions, anyway.

I found your post somewhere on this "rule", and copied it myself.

[Moar Boosters]

I like building big rockets, so any excuse to send extra payload into orbit is a good one for me.

I like to include both the hitch-hiker container and the science lab in my payloads, mostly because it gives me the excuse to add moar boosters.

[TheD007]

I seem to be the opposite. the shorter the mission, the less training and screening would be applied. therefor the Kerbals assigned to mun and minimmus missions have better accomodations than jool/eve-lander missions. just because if a space program is going to put Kerbals on a mission that long someone will teach them to like cramped spaces while for shorter missions it would be less effort to just carry extra space.

[Collin Dow]

Way I see it, Kerbals don't eat, or drink, or excrete. So why should they care if they're a little cramped for years on end? Hell, with how good I am at interplanetary work, they're like as not going to end up drifting in IP space for all of eternity regardless.

That or they'll crash into Duna, because, someday, I will land something will only parachutes!

[razark]

The longest Apollo mission was 12 days.

The 12 day Apollo missions are pretty long, but the two 12+ day missions had the LM, which gives a bit of extra space. Apollo 7 was three guys in the CM only for almost 11 days.

Of course, Gemini 7 was two guys for 13.75 days. I hat to think what that thing smelled like at the end.

[AmpsterMan]

The 12 day Apollo missions are pretty long, but the two 12+ day missions had the LM, which gives a bit of extra space. Apollo 7 was three guys in the CM only for almost 11 days.

Of course, Gemini 7 was two guys for 13.75 days. I hat to think what that thing smelled like at the end.

hehe, yes from what I recall they hated it because there was very little room. Basically could hardly move, pee, poo, etc. I like to pretend my kerbals have the same basic needs we humans do; therefore I cater to them.

[samstarman5]

In my first trip to Jool, I made this craft:

with the thought that the adapter module would hold some legroom space for my kerbal. This was before the hitchhiker module or even docking was implemented.

[Stephanie the Viking]

[NecroPosting]

I was searching the web whilst drinking my morning coffee to find if and for what people used the hitch-hiker container. As far as I can tell, there is nothing that two or three kerbals can do that cannot be accomplished simply by one (science lab notwithstanding, simply because you can put two of the kerbals in the lab at takeoff, thereby once again eliminating the need for the container.

Imposing rules on oneself is certainly not a bad thing in a sandbox (science and funds notwithstanding), but it would be good if the game gave the player no choice in the matter (a kerbal trait alongside 'stupidity' called 'sanity' for example, which deteriorates if certain conditions (akin to your self-imposed rules) are not met). Aside from that, a hitch-hiker container is a luxury item and therefore meaningless in its present form. Shame I couldn't find any reason beyond what I already understood for the existence of the container. One kerbal is still able to do practically anything without company, which by extension makes any pod that houses > 1 kerbal a meaningless item as well.

[Frozen_Heart]

Its one of my few self imposed rules. for missions out of Kerbin's SOI kerbals require access to a hitch-hiker container.

[magnemoe]

Its one of my few self imposed rules. for missions out of Kerbin's SOI kerbals require access to a hitch-hiker container.

Same here, either a hitchhiker or other living quarters from mods. Same goes for long term bases and stations.

[Hannu]

Imposing rules on oneself is certainly not a bad thing in a sandbox (science and funds notwithstanding), but it would be good if the game gave the player no choice in the matter (a kerbal trait alongside 'stupidity' called 'sanity' for example, which deteriorates if certain conditions (akin to your self-imposed rules) are not met). Aside from that, a hitch-hiker container is a luxury item and therefore meaningless in its present form. Shame I couldn't find any reason beyond what I already understood for the existence of the container. One kerbal is still able to do practically anything without company, which by extension makes any pod that houses > 1 kerbal a meaningless item as well.

Technically you are right. But this kind of the game have problem, because what is very difficult to some beginner without technical education is very boring to someone with long experience in game and understanding of rocket physics and celestial mechanics. I feel that it is very good idea to give some roleplaying stuff for advanced players but keep the game simple enough for less scientifically oriented beginners.

I use one hitchiker for 3 kerbals for short period trips (20-500 days) and two if time is longer (like trips to and from Jool system (where I have a large station)). I use also TAC life support to add needed resources.

[Mister Kerman]

I had a hitchhiker container question: Can you switch to a passenger's IVA view inside a container?

I'm at work so I can't check myself right now... There's a juicy +1 in it for anyone who can enlighten me on this matter.

[r4pt0r]

I had a hitchhiker container question: Can you switch to a passenger's IVA view inside a container?

I'm at work so I can't check myself right now... There's a juicy +1 in it for anyone who can enlighten me on this matter.

yes you can.

[Mister Kerman]

Super cool. That would have drove me nuts.

I have a lot of ass-time doing what I do. Too much time to think is unhealthy!

[munseeker]

Here's my Kerbal Astronaut Union rules:

For missions of 2-3 weeks, have 2x living space per Kerbal. Above 4 weeks, 4x living space.

And yes, hitchhiker modules are the main living space, plus the space in the command pods and science labs. I use the Connected Living Space mod to keep track of the amount of space and to make sure it's actually all nicely connected for a contiguous living area.

[SorryDave]

I design hitchhiker modules into most of my long duration craft for kerbal comfort.

On the other hand I have left them standing outside staring at a flag while I time warp a year for a return trip.