When docking to a station, or other ship,is it better to...

[Somtaaw]

When docking to a station, or other ship,is it better to leave SAS enabled, or turned off? I'm trying to get a station, that is fairly static, and my station is pretty hefty, with each modular component weighing in at anywhere from 25-50t each, and I'll have upto 4 docked. This gives each of my space stations anywhere from 100 to 200t in mass, and a tiny little 20t shuttle that misses it's docking approach at 0.1-0.5m/s sends the whole array into a tumble.

I keep the main "hub" of the station with SAS turned on, but so far just prior to docking a new portion, I turn the SAS off for each new piece, so the only SAS being operated is from the station command point. Is this the right thing to do, should I only have SAS turned on for sub pieces, turned off for everything, turned on?

[Claw]

In general, turning off all SAS is usually the forum answer.

Personally, however, I find it depends a lot on the size of the elements being docked and how far off axis you come in. Generally I leave the target's SAS on (usually the station) and turn off the SAS for whatever is docking. I usually turn it off at the last minute though.

If the docking craft is small, I might actually leave it on so the force of the port doesn't send it flinging off.

If it's heavy and I came in off axis, I might turn it back on briefly as the parts align to stop/slow any more rotation or movement. Realize though that this can lead to port misalignment, so use it sparingly.

Anyway, maybe not the answer you're looking for but that is (in general) what I do.

I should also say it depends on the station. Some stations perform poorly when bumped with SAS on. So if you are getting a lot of flex and the torque modules are bouncing around, you may want to turn it off.

[Kasuha]

Keep SAS turned on on both ships until the magnetism starts pulling ports together. Then you may want to turn SAS off so it doesn't battle magnetism trying to align the two ships for docking.

If your ships are aligned perfectly (e.g. using docking alignment mods), there's usually no need to turn anything off.

[Crown]

I have a fairly small station. It used to have a SAS module but with it's the newest modification I replace that with a battery pack. So the only SAS modules are the ones from the Cupola and the docked ships.

When the station wobbles I use time acceleration to cancel it. When I dock ships to the station on the last meters I turn SAS and all thrusters off and let it free drift into the docking port.

[GoSlash27]

I always dock with my SAS on. I've never found a reason not to. Bringing a load in straight really isn't very difficult and I don't use any mods.

^ This is personal preference rather than actual advice and is subject to change upon my first affliction with Kessler syndrome

Best,

-Slashy

[FleetAdmiralJ]

I dock with SAS on until the docking ports start attracting each other. Then I turn it off so SAS doesn't interfere with the ports working with each other. But in the actual process of getting the docking lined up, I always leave it on.

[Red Iron Crown]

SAS on for both docker and dockee for me. The only place it becomes complicated is something assembled in orbit with a lot of reaction wheels, sometimes SAS on can shake it apart. Even then, I find it better to disable reaction wheels until SAS works properly.

[KvickFlygarn87]

I usually leave SAS on for the docking ship until right before docking - as in, disabling it the very instant the magnet kicks in.

[Tortoise]

When I am fully aligned with the docking port and I'm coming straight towards it, I usually diable RCS/SAS as they sometimes conflict with the magnetic mechanism to establish a proper docking.

[cantab]

SAS generally on on the passive ship, if only because I don't want it drifting. On the active ship, SAS off when the magnetism kicks in, but then if I see the active ship starting to overshoot I'll turn it on to help deaden the movement.

[LethalDose]

I will shut off SAS on the docking ship when the magnets kick in if I'm not dead on. I've been using the Chase cam for docking lately and my docking jobs have gotten much cleaner, so I haven't needed to turn SAS off as much.