My New Project: Living Space in Space!

[Tapejara]

First of all, I'm new to the forum so hello everyone

Just returned to playing KSP recently, inspired in no small part by TheWinterOwl's recent videos, and so I have decided to embark on a space station project using TAC Life Support and a veritable gamut of mod parts and plugins. The link below contains images from the first mission in the program:

https://imgur.com/a/Qjw1u

I'm sort of role-playing it in sandbox mode by starting small, then building up larger and larger LKO stations before possibly setting my sights on orbital colonies elsewhere. Any and all feedback is appreciated!

[15nelsoc]

I love doing realistic looking missions myself and find it funny that my main crew transfer vehicle is nearly identical to yours. A couple questions: where is that hexagonal part from in the first picture, and where is that CO2 scrubber from? I look forward to seeing more!

[Tapejara]

Cool, they do say that great minds think alike!

I think the hexagonal part is from a set of low-profile structural hubs, I'll put the link to it and to the CO2 scrubber here:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/73005-0-23-5-Kip-Engineering-NEW!-Adaptive-Docking-Node-by-Toadicus-Fix-%2829th-Apr-2014%29

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/61898-Life-Support-Converter

[Hattivat]

If you want to make it harder/more realistic, try achieving an ISS-like amount of pressurized space (160 cubic meters per astronaut, so about 80 cubic meters per kerbonaut). I'm currently trying to launch a mothership that does that for a crew of five, and so far haven't succeeded in launching it in one piece with FAR enabled, but I shall persevere.

[Tapejara]

I like that idea. My first station is more Tiangong-1 than ISS so it's pretty cramped, but I'm going to progressively scale things up Bigelow-style with inflatable modules and perhaps some Fustek parts as well.

How do you estimate the internal volume of your space station? Do you just eyeball it in the VAB or from IVA?

[Hattivat]

How do you estimate the internal volume of your space station? Do you just eyeball it in the VAB or from IVA?

Mostly I just measure them with my fingers close to the screen, based on the dimensions I do know (e.g. orange fuel tank has a diameter of 2.5 m, so if something is twice as wide, then it has a diameter of 5 meters). Then it's mostly a matter of https://www.google.com/search?q=cylinder+volume&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb , subtracting some of the result to account for the thickness of the walls. It's obviously just an approximation of what the actual number would be, but I find it sufficient to satisfy my urges for increased realism. After all, even if I overestimate, and my kerbals get 70 m3 per person instead of 80, I think that's no biggie, given that kerbals in most other people's space programs are forced to sit in cramped cockpits for years, without space to even stretch their legs.

[Tapejara]

Well my next station is up and running. The Kerbals now have more elbow room but unless my calculations are off I'm going to have to scale things up to get the sort of habitable volume NASA would be satisfied with. Assuming a perfect cylinder (which it isn't) and accounting for the rigid spine I reckon that inflatable module has an internal volume of 55-60 cubic metres. That makes it cramped even for one Kerbal, let alone the three aboard currently or the maximum of six it can hold.

http://imgur.com/a/gr4V2

My third station is going to have to be massive!