Essential components to make a space station?

[SpaceSmith]

So I am in my career mode, and decided I wanted to build a space station in LKO of 200km. I got to building and got to wondering, what components do you consider essential on a Space Station??

Right now I have a centeral hub, a command module, a solar array module, a orbital tug, and that is it.

In what ways do you guys design yours?

[Tortoise]

Docking ports, hitch hikers, science thingy that takes 2 kerbals, fuel tank ( for refueling ), lights.

Whatever u want.

[Moss]

Not essential, but escape pods are rad.

[dryer_lint]

I don't know much about career, but this is what I consider "essential" (or maybe not essential, but just cool to have) on a space station:

- A command module, preferably a Cupola capsule

- Solar array(s)

- Lots of Hitchhiker Modules

- A big fuel tank

- All sizes of docking ports

- Escape module(s) with parachutes and a way to de-orbit

- Communications module with antennas

and finally...

- A MASS RELAY

Maybe I shouldn't have learned everything I know about KSP by watching Danny2462.

[lammatt]

first you want to know why you want a station in the skies,

in the stock game... stations are pretty pointless, (well the game is a sandbox and everything is pointless literally anyways...but who cares... everyone plays his own game)

for me...essential mods to make station meaningful:

interstellar (microwave power? Gundam X?)

remote tech

life support

then we can talk about the parts,

of cos, you need:

- nuclear reactor

- electric generator

- microwave antenna

- signal antenna (1 omni 5Mm + 1 as far as possible), and try seating your station at zenith of KSC at geostationary height. the Omni 5Mm is to connect it with KSC and any Comm. Satellites constellation you put at lower orbit: i always put a constellation of 3 at an 1.5hr orbit (~780km) and the long range dish is targeting active vessel.

- a place for the crew to live in

- life support thingys

this is my remote tech network, zero downtime <60Gm

this is my geostationary station. beaming 735MW

this is my second nuclear power station (designed to beam 4.5GW when completed. in construction, still missing microwave transmitter and extra uranium reserves)

Edited July 9, 2014 by lammatt

[Tortoise]

These are all my stations (From first to last):

You can use those as examples.

Warning, pic heavy.

[HafCoJoe]

Fuel reserves are always useful and extra habitation modules are never bad

[Jouni]

A probe core, some batteries, and a power source to keep the station operational under all circumstances. Solar panels look nice, but RTGs are more practical.

[ArmchairGravy]

Get the Stanford torus and BioDomes mod for a truly epic station.

[PTNLemay]

In what ways do you guys design yours?

Depends on what it's meant to be used for... I like mine to serve as a kind of hub, so I try and put as many docking ports as I can on it, all while keeping it balanced and symetrical (so the RCS burns don't get wonky and flip the whole station out if I have to move the darn thing). Also if you want to throw in a spice of challenge you can slap on a Mobile Processing Lab. I like to pretend they removed all of the science equipment (which I hardly ever use anyway) and turned it into big comfy living quarters.

OH! Also you want lights on it facing the station itself, that way when you approach it while on the night-side it's all aglow from afar... as if welcoming you home.

Not essential, but escape pods are rad.

Indeed. And what's cool is that in most low orbits it's really not difficult to deorbit such a pod. So you can make the escape capsules tiny and adorable. For a 1-man capsule I've found that a couple of sepatrons is often enough.

EDIT:

I've been having trouble re-building it in my current game, but a while ago I built this thing. I consider it my best looking space station. I used triple-docks along the central spine to make sure the alignment was correct.

http://i.imgur.com/THKJ975.png

http://i.imgur.com/aO34POR.png

Edited July 9, 2014 by PTNLemay

[SkyRender]

The only truly "essential" component to a space station is that it remain in a stable orbit. Depending on functionality, any number of features generally taken for granted in stations (habitation, life support, power generation, even docking capacity) could potentially be absent from a station's design. Yes, even docking ports. To wit: a station used to experiment with highly radioactive components you would not want anything living going to, and probably wouldn't want anything that got close enough to dock to it to ever come back.

[PTNLemay]

@ SkyRender

I dunno... if it doesn't have any docking ports I'd say it's just a spacecraft. Then again Skylab was all in one piece and they still counted that as a space station.

I do think that a defining characteristic of a "space station" is that it be able to hold a crew. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_station) So while it might not have to have a docking port, it should still have some sort of hatch to allow astronauts on board.

[SkyRender]

The problem is that "space station" is not easily defined. Would an orbital robotic laboratory with no lifeforms on board at all still count as a station? It would serve many of the same purposes as a more traditional manned space station in terms of mission objectives, and feature almost none of the standard functions of a satellite.

[Kerba Fett]

Get the Stanford torus and BioDomes mod for a truly epic station.

That would be a pretty cool mod if it was maybe 1/10 the size. 1.25km accross just seems like overkill.

[razark]

I dunno... if it doesn't have any docking ports I'd say it's just a spacecraft. Then again Skylab was all in one piece and they still counted that as a space station.

Skylab did have two docking ports.

[Kerba Fett]

As for stations in general, the only real purpose for one in LKO is refueling. A lab module looks cool, but how often do you want to reset experiments in LKO.

Still, it's fun to have a place to visit in orbit. If you're ok with mods have a look at these:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/35043-0-23-5-FusTek-Station-Parts-%28X0-04-4-DEV-BUILD-5-June-2014%29

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/64442-0-23-5-Habitat-Pack-v0-4?highlight=porkjet

The cool thing about porkjets pack is the rotating centrifuge. The kerbals seem to like having gravity to play in.

[SpaceSmith]

Well I mean "components" loosely. As in, right now on mine, I have a huge fuel tank/module, a command module, a crew module (the hitchiker) a solar array module and a tug, working on getting a communications module. I was just wondering if I missed any.

I am not using life support, remote tech, scan sat, or kethane mods.

[lammatt]

As for stations in general, the only real purpose for one in LKO is refueling. A lab module looks cool, but how often do you want to reset experiments in LKO.

Still, it's fun to have a place to visit in orbit. If you're ok with mods have a look at these:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/35043-0-23-5-FusTek-Station-Parts-%28X0-04-4-DEV-BUILD-5-June-2014%29

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/64442-0-23-5-Habitat-Pack-v0-4?highlight=porkjet

The cool thing about porkjets pack is the rotating centrifuge. The kerbals seem to like having gravity to play in.

if you play with Remote Tech and Interstellar

a station at the geostationary height is very useful.

power supply and communication.

[cantab]

Like Skyrender says, nothing's truly essential. But the obvious things are fuel, crew space, docking ports for expansion or visiting ships, and big solar panels for looks. Less obvious but well worth having is lighting.

[Caelib]

I always building my station in a modular fashion so that each piece is autonomous -- every "module" has a probe core, mono-propellant, RCS, batteries and solar panels. This allows a complete re-arrangement if necessary.

[Sky_walker]

@ SkyRender

I dunno... if it doesn't have any docking ports I'd say it's just a spacecraft. Then again Skylab was all in one piece and they still counted that as a space station.

Skylab did have a docking port.

As for stations in general, the only real purpose for one in LKO is refueling.

No, it's not.

There's an orbital construction capacity. Even if all you can do right now is using station to "hold" all of the components in place while you add them up in multiple launches and resupply it with fuel.

Edited July 9, 2014 by Sky_walker

[Pecan]

Chapters 7 (stations, tug, crew & fuel transport) and 8 (landers, interplanetary tug) of the tutorial in my signature.

The 'point' of stations in my games is to operate as refuelling and crew-transfer points. Accommodation is therefore a must, along with docking-ports for fuel modules and visiting ships. Beyond that I go a bit mad making them look a bit less dull ^^.

[LethalDose]

The part I would consider "essential" is a docking port, because without it, you can't really replenish it's resources. (Yes, you can get the claw to replenish it now instead, but it's really intended for moving asteroids)

Beyond that, as others have stated above, the only things that are essential wholly depend on the stations purpose.

I use stations as fuel/resource depots, transit stations, science labs and (in RT2 Games) comm relays. IMO, stations are crazy useful, even in stock, and large docking ports are one of the first techs I bee-line for.

[PTNLemay]

The problem is that "space station" is not easily defined. Would an orbital robotic laboratory with no lifeforms on board at all still count as a station? It would serve many of the same purposes as a more traditional manned space station in terms of mission objectives, and feature almost none of the standard functions of a satellite.

I remember reading a sci-fi story where they protagonists are in orbit around a world with massive automated space stations. The dialog went something like this.

Flo: "Our next job will involve reaction mass refills on existing satellites."

Sam: "That sounds really... boring. Though we could "accidentally" get one of them stuck in our cargo hold."

Flo: "They're orbital manufacturing satellites, they're bigger than our ship."

The way I see it if the structure is large and complex enough it will have to have some crew accommodations, even if they are only rarely used. Then it can be called a space station. If it is truly unmanned though... I personally would still call it a satellite. It's more of a robot than a space station, albeit a very large robot. But I'll admit it becomes a grey area that is definitely open to interpretation.

[MalfunctionM1Ke]

You are all wrong. The only essential part for a spacestation is a docking Port, a Solarpanel pointed to Kerbol and a Probecore.

Feel free to add to it whatever you want...

A Locomotive, Lady-Liberty's Head or a giant Tea-pot...

This is KERBAL Space Program, not Reasonable Space Program