Are they planning reconnectable ships?

[Arugela]

Are they planning parts that recouple or have the structural strength of prebuilt ship parts after reconnect for the future stock game? Something that lets you fully recouple parts and hold them in a cargo bay(heavy parts) or lets you make a ship break into 2 or more separate controllable pieces and go back together and fly off(One being a large engine body for heavier gravity takeoffs). I have various plans for things like this including rovers I need packed back in the ship for reuse for takeoff on other planets(an exploration design) and the ability to make it two ship to seperate a drone portion that is connectable for heavier gravity bodies but also capable of interplanetary travel and reconnectable incase I need to fly back to get parts for the mission from kerbal or from refueling stations to continue exploring. Or the idea of having a nose cone with science cone break off with an ion engine on the rear and act as a temporary satellite or scout. Or anything else I can make it useful for. I was thinking of a whole plane where the engine parts can break off to perform mission tasks during flight return and help do things. combine that with potential Cargo bay ships that can make an asteroid moving kit while being seperate landers and exploration vehicles for multiple various situations to make a complete exploration mega ship that is also sleek and easy to use.

I'm just asking because I always feel like I'm cheating with mods and prefer doing things with stock first.

Edited January 31, 2015 by Arugela

[Sirrobert]

We have docking ports for that

[Arugela]

Are they strong enough for taking off of kerbin or eve after reconnecting? I thought they just connected with magnetics lightly? I'd be reconnecting very heavy 100t plus parts together that would then be producing 4500+ thrust in uneven ways.

I would have, in one design, a 100t front section with ION and Nuclear and a lot of lift. the back section with 145t would have lots of engines for eve and kerbin, etc. If disconnected, depending on the planet, they(the back section or front depending on planet) can easily take off and refuel or get new parts or kerbals. If connected they are strong enough to reascend and go to a new destination etc. But they need a really strong connection.

the back end would have 1 MK2 crew compartment and a small cargo bay and drone core. the front would have most of the rest besides some electric or other things not as needed when split but the back would have the rest needed when together to compensate for weight differences and burn times.

I haven't tried docking ports enough I guess. I tried the sheilded ones but thought they only partially lightly connected. Not enough for gravity bodies. Are they that strong?

Edited January 31, 2015 by Arugela

[Slam_Jones]

In my experience (I use the Docking Port Sr. almost exclusively), docking ports will not break under ordinary conditions (ascending, descending) as long as you don't throw very sudden, sharp maneuvers in there.

The only time I've had issues, is if I have chutes opening suddenly, causing something docked to it to rip off due to sudden high G's.

If you still have issues, consider using Kerbal Attachment System. It adds a few parts to help strengthen your ships (including connectable pipes and struts that can be placed and moved in-situ).

Edited January 31, 2015 by Slam_Jones

[passinglurker]

Docking ports are not intentionally weak the wobble you experience is just light flat narrow parts sandwiched between tall heavy parts you get the same thing when you stack inline batteries between orange tanks.

[Sirrobert]

Are they strong enough for taking off of kerbin or eve after reconnecting? I thought they just connected with magnetics lightly? I'd be reconnecting very heavy 100t plus parts together that would then be producing 4500+ thrust in uneven ways.

I would have, in one design, a 100t front section with ION and Nuclear and a lot of lift. the back section with 145t would have lots of engines for eve and kerbin, etc. If disconnected, depending on the planet, they(the back section or front depending on planet) can easily take off and refuel or get new parts or kerbals. If connected they are strong enough to reascend and go to a new destination etc. But they need a really strong connection.

the back end would have 1 MK2 crew compartment and a small cargo bay and drone core. the front would have most of the rest besides some electric or other things not as needed when split but the back would have the rest needed when together to compensate for weight differences and burn times.

I haven't tried docking ports enough I guess. I tried the sheilded ones but thought they only partially lightly connected. Not enough for gravity bodies. Are they that strong?

No, they don't hold with weak magnetics. They pull tougether using weak magnetics, after that they are properly secured.

And yes, if you design it properly, they will hold. As with all things.

No, there is no difference between a docking port set fresh out of the VAB, and one 'reconnected'

You tried the shielded docking port, but not the BIG docking port for your gigantic rockets? Sounds like an oversight

[Arugela]

I guess that leads to my next obvious question. When are they going to make an MK2 inline docking port to connect to another MK2 part. As opposed to the current MK2 clampotron that connects to another ship above or below the craft. 8) Or did I miss that also?

maybe I'll try the multi sided docking port thing with 6 sides.. It will look odd though. But might be good for flying large chunks of station up like it were a station. Could add some function to my plane.

Edited January 31, 2015 by Arugela

[KerBlam]

I guess that leads to my next obvious question. When are they going to make an MK2 inline docking port to connect to another MK2 part. As opposed to the current MK2 clampotron that connects to another ship above or below the craft. 8) Or did I miss that also?

maybe I'll try the multi sided docking port thing with 6 sides.. It will look odd though. But might be good for flying large chunks of station up like it were a station. Could add some function to my plane.

I think you could probably just use a normal clampo for docking mk2 parts inline... If you're worried about aesthetics you could probably hide it in a cargo bay. I've never tried, but if I was going to, that's what I'd do.

[kujuman]

I guess that leads to my next obvious question. When are they going to make an MK2 inline docking port to connect to another MK2 part. As opposed to the current MK2 clampotron that connects to another ship above or below the craft. 8) Or did I miss that also?

maybe I'll try the multi sided docking port thing with 6 sides.. It will look odd though. But might be good for flying large chunks of station up like it were a station. Could add some function to my plane.

You mean like this?

Why not just do that?

[Arugela]

I think I had one of that size and it didn't seem to hold. I assumed they couldn't do it after that. i just built one with the large ASAS and SR. docking port. I haven't tested it though. I'll have to test more later to see if it works with it sunken in.