Orbital clutter; what to do with it?

[Spheniscine]

I now have a bunch of satellites and space stations (and even an asteroid that got itself into orbit!) all over the Kerbin system. Problem is they and their orbits get in the way of my orbital maneuvers. Is there a way to hide them?

Edited October 23, 2014 by Spheniscine

[bakanando]

You can disable the view of different craft in the top center menu of map view, just toggle the irrelevant craft types to hide them. It hasn't worked for a while for me, but you can also do it from the tracking station.

[Superfluous J]

You can also go to them in the tracking station and delete them. I do this for anything that will obviously crash eventually or be thrown out of a planet's SOI, or is orbiting the Sun. You'll never encounter them accidentally and they sap up precious clock cycles on your computer.

[Northstar1989]

I now have a bunch of satellites and space stations (and even an asteroid that got itself into orbit!) all over the Kerbin system. Problem is they and their orbits get in the way of my orbital maneuvers. Is there a way to hide them?

The chances of actually encountering a piece of space debris are EXTREMELY low. You can safely have two (or three, or 100) craft in the same or intersecting orbits- as long as they're in slightly different phases. The bigger issue is probably the additional burden they place on your CPU, as mentioned before.

If you want to simply hide view of them, you can do that with the tab on the top of the screen. But if you want to actually DISPOSE of them, you can either "Terminate" them, or send up a small vessel with a "Klaw" to de-orbit the vessels (with particularly large vessels capable of surviving re-entry it may even be *profitable* to bring them back to the ground on Kerbin for recovery...) Having an ISRU system set up (using mods) helps a lot with this last option, since it means the fuel necessary to repeatedly de-orbit debris (and then stabilize the orbit of the vessel with the Klaw after detachment) so is a LOT more affordable... And I suggest deploying the probe with a spaceplane or other 100% re-usable launch system, so as to bring down the cost of getting it to orbit in the first place.

Regards,

Northstar

Edited October 23, 2014 by Northstar1989

[Spheniscine]

I'm not worried about crashing into them. The problem is that they clutter up the map view and get in the way of my maneuvers ("no I don't want to target you, go away"). And I actually want to keep them around... I'm playing the Fine Print mod and want to see the solar system get slowly colonized as I complete satellite and station contracts (not to mention the stations have kerbals in them, so deleting them will kill my reputation)

Bakanando's suggestion about hiding them works somewhat... but there are two problems... one is that they hide by type; if I do want to target a probe but don't want the other probes to get in the way... well... the other problem is that if your own ship is a probe, hiding probes also hide your own ship's icon. >.<

Edited October 23, 2014 by Spheniscine

[Pecan]

...Bakanando's suggestion about hiding them works somewhat... but there are two problems... one is that they hide by type; if I do want to target a probe but don't want the other probes to get in the way... well... the other problem is that if your own ship is a probe, hiding probes also hide your own ship's icon. >.<

In flight mode (looking at a vehicle) you can rename it by right-clicking a command pod or probe core.

In map mode (looking at all those orbits) you can rename the vehicle you're controlling by clicking the 'i'nformation button on the right of the screen, then clicking the vehicle's name.

In either case, while/instead of renaming it you can change the ship-type by clicking one of the buttons beneath the name. I hardly ever have any rovers, for example, so I use that as a 'spare' type for when I want to see just a few specific objects, such as you are trying to do :-) Broadly, I also call all the vehicles that don't need attention 'probes' and all those that do/will 'ships'.

[MarvinKitFox]

... The problem is that they clutter up the map view and get in the way of my maneuvers

You do have persistent debris on, right?

In the tracking view, declare the "unwanted" craft as debris.

They will still work fine.

They will by default be invisible on the map.

They won't disappear until your automated debris-cleaning routine gets bored. Mine is set to 500 debris allowed, and I've never reached that quota via normal play.

Later, when you want your ship back on the map, just enable debris display, select it, and re-label it as ship, probe, station or whatever.

The chances of actually encountering a piece of space debris are EXTREMELY low.

Yep. Mostly.

In all of my time playing, I've only have two accidental collisions with debris.

Both while crossing the very heavily populated 100km circular equatorial orbit.

But in a mature game, I get an encounter with debris every second day or so. (say maybe one encounter per 5 launches)

In this context, an "encounter" is when the game freezes for a second as the object enters the 2.4km bubble of reality around my ship. Gives me a heartattack each time!

Edited October 23, 2014 by MarvinKitFox

[Spheniscine]

In flight mode (looking at a vehicle) you can rename it by right-clicking a command pod or probe core.

In map mode (looking at all those orbits) you can rename the vehicle you're controlling by clicking the 'i'nformation button on the right of the screen, then clicking the vehicle's name.

In either case, while/instead of renaming it you can change the ship-type by clicking one of the buttons beneath the name. I hardly ever have any rovers, for example, so I use that as a 'spare' type for when I want to see just a few specific objects, such as you are trying to do :-) Broadly, I also call all the vehicles that don't need attention 'probes' and all those that do/will 'ships'.

Thank you; I guess that's as good a workaround as any. Setting to answered.

[Brainlord Mesomorph]

I had a very scary near miss with some orbit debris the other day.

I'm docking two ships and one of those little grey crosshairs out in the distance is getting closer, and closer, and closer ... within a kilometer... It was stage separator ring. It came so close it stopped giving me distance and actually cast a shadow across the other ships as it passed. had to be within 10 or 20 meters.

Scared the hell out me. (one of the things I love about this game.)

Edited October 23, 2014 by Brainlord Mesomorph

[Spheniscine]

I had a very scary near miss with some orbit debris the other day.

I'm docking two ships and one of those little grey crosshairs out in the distance is getting closer, and closer, and closer ... within a kilometer... It was stage separator ring. It came so close it stopped giving me distance and actually cast a shadow across the other ships as it passed. had to be within 10 or 20 meters.

Scared the hell out me. (one of the things I love about this game.)

lol Is it cheating then that I actually delete debris manually...

[LethalDose]

IME, the best solution to dealing with orbital debris is no not generate it in the first place.

I try to stage vessels so that the spent stages will either re-enter an atmosphere or impact on the surface of an airless body, but that's not always possible. In cases where it's not, I try to use sepratrons to knock the spent stage into an appropriate orbit for disposal.

If none of that works, though, I remember what this quote:

"There are very few personal problems that cannot be solved through a suitable application of high explosives." -Scott Adams

And I use this little guy to, uh... "passivate" spent upper stages. The KSP version of the

.

[astropapi1]

The chances of actually encountering a piece of space debris are EXTREMELY low. You can safely have two (or three, or 100) craft in the same or intersecting orbits- as long as they're in slightly different phases....

Oh yeah? Tell that to these poor guys.

Just take a look at the target speed.

[Northstar1989]

Oh yeah? Tell that to these poor guys.

http://i.imgur.com/n1XRZZa.png

Just take a look at the target speed.

That's not encountering it- at least not in the sense I meant- namely, smashing into it.

But yes, if you're worried, try not to generate debris in the first place, or de-orbit/self-destruct it (although the self-destruct is a LOT less realistic- as that would actually just generate a bunch of tiny pieces of debris in real life...) Or play with one of the many versions of Real Solar System- with a REALISTIC sized Kerbin (or even the 6.4x scale one), the chances of actually even coming into loading range with debris are a LOT smaller.

Regards,

Northstar

[Kryxal]

True, running into even a small chunk of debris at significant velocity will spoil your day, and that's what self-destruct should give you ... I like to de-orbit things myself.

[astropapi1]

That's not encountering it- at least not in the sense I meant- namely, smashing into it.

That picture has a funny story behind it.

The other ship you're seeing, "Apollo 2 Lander Rover" is actually the descent stage of the Apollo 2 mission. First one went without a hitch, so I tried expanding the program to have surface experiments and a rover (Apollo 15-17 basically). Transfered the crew to the MEM, got away from the CSM, turned on the engine and... crap, there's no fuel flow. I had to stage and get back to the CSM for a premature return to Kerbin.

Apollo 3, on the other hand, was actually tested before going to the Mun (). I got into the Mun orbit (a retrograde one, I blame Mechjeb) and while transfering the crew to the MEM, I accidentally pressed the spacebar and screwed up the entire mission by decoupling the service module (they came back though). As I was laughing my butt off, I saw a grey marker whizz past me at ludicrous speeeeeeds!

Checked the map view, and there it was. Turns out we were both on the same orbit, but going on opposite directions. This screenshot was taken at the next encounter.

[Korbit]

In flight mode (looking at a vehicle) you can rename it by right-clicking a command pod or probe core.

In map mode (looking at all those orbits) you can rename the vehicle you're controlling by clicking the 'i'nformation button on the right of the screen, then clicking the vehicle's name.

In either case, while/instead of renaming it you can change the ship-type by clicking one of the buttons beneath the name. I hardly ever have any rovers, for example, so I use that as a 'spare' type for when I want to see just a few specific objects, such as you are trying to do :-) Broadly, I also call all the vehicles that don't need attention 'probes' and all those that do/will 'ships'.

Pecan, I love this idea for removing orbital debris from the "active" map. However when I attempted to follow your instructions I couldn't get the options you described. I've just started playing and am using v1.04. To acquire practice doing EVA's and to get free astronauts I have rescued eight of them. Yeah I probably went overboard! Now their derelict ships are cluttering the equatorial orbit, and getting in the way when I need to set a maneuver mode.

Do you have any advice or detailed instructions that could help me out?

Thanks!

[JetJaguar]

That's because once you've rescued them, IIRC you can no longer take control of the ship to rename them. You can fix them if you edit your save game, though. Open your persistent.sfs file (though I prefer to save the game and edit a copy of that, in case I mess something up) in a text editor and search for the name of the derelict ships. Underneath there will be a line where the type is defined, just change that to type=debris to make it appear as debris.

In the future, remember to rename the vessel and change the type before the stranded Kerbal exits it.

[mrclucks]

You can klaw them and deorbit if they could be profitable or, as I like to do, you can just delete them in the tracking station since they're usually just a cheap part

[Korbit]

That's because once you've rescued them, IIRC you can no longer take control of the ship to rename them. You can fix them if you edit your save game, though. Open your persistent.sfs file (though I prefer to save the game and edit a copy of that, in case I mess something up) in a text editor and search for the name of the derelict ships. Underneath there will be a line where the type is defined, just change that to type=debris to make it appear as debris.

In the future, remember to rename the vessel and change the type before the stranded Kerbal exits it.

Great Tip!! Also the explanation of why I couldn't follow Pecan's instructions was spot on.

After editing my persistent.sfs file my equatorial orbit space is clean once more!

[micha]

...

And I use this little guy to, uh... "passivate" spent upper stages.

...

That's a great little mod; thanks! I shall have to incorporate that into some of my more complex designs with interstage fairings holding landing craft.

I try to deorbit everything (either destructively or ala SpaceX), but with interstages I end up with either a small adapter or a separator (depending on whether I'm using stock fairings or Procedural Fairings), and I have no (easy) way to deorbit that.

[Sharpy]

Heh... I have at least 3 crafts parked in retrograde LKO. Sometimes as I prepare decoupling/deorbiting the launch stage, or assemble something in orbit, or maneuver for a rescue, I see one whizz past. It's scary how fast they move.

By the way, I just "terminate" the debris from the tracking station. AFAIK that removes them from the game. Someone may consider it cheating. I consider it unloading the CPU.

Edited July 28, 2015 by Sharpy

[micha]

Great Tip!! Also the explanation of why I couldn't follow Pecan's instructions was spot on.

After editing my persistent.sfs file my equatorial orbit space is clean once more!

Actually, just found this out through the Squad bugtracker, you -can- rename vessels which you don't have control over. Go to the Tracking Station, select the vessel, then open the Info Panel. You can click on the top-orange bar and rename the vessel. This -only- works in the tracking station.