Do you play with debris or not?

[cicatrix]

They're not debris - they're orbital refuelling stations I don't put sepratrons on them, I put radial docking ports. Why burn fuel to deorbit and waste something while I can use those floating fuel tanks later? Actually there were several cases when I used a third stage from an earlier mission as a tug on my side trip to Mun.

[turkwinif]

Leave the debris! Let it rain! One day I'll view my debris from the Tracking Station from the countless missions I've sent up and see all of the glorious debris! Debrisdebrisdebrisdebris!!1 Muhahahaha!

[RainDreamer]

I sometimes have things that would classify as a debris orbiting around (station hub core piece with just docking ports, for example), so yeah, I do enable debris. I usually try to not leave debris if possible though, since I have way too many things in orbit and I don't want to crash from just loading tracking stations.

[Lhathron the Elf]

I usually don't let debris even get stuck in orbit, so I don't have to worry about deorbiting it later or during the mission. For example, simply decoupling stages while having my periapsis below 20km and then circularizing my orbit with the next stage. It's simpler and pretty cool that way, especially when I switch to the debris and watch it fly back to Kerbin after putting my payload in orbit.

I don't care about the trash I leave, I just make sure it's not on an critical orbit(like the orbit of my possible space station), otherwise it stay where it is.

If I used the rocket to put a probe in orbit, I use the engine of the last stage(the one that that finalized the orbit) to change it's orbit a little, just to be sure(but the stage doesn't fall back to kerbin).

I do this as well.

Edited February 13, 2015 by Lhathron the Elf

[Bill Phil]

I minimize debris as mush as possible, although I generally don't use sepratrons. I just plan on leaving it in a low-periapse orbit. If it is there, it is either in solar orbit or a pretty high Kerbin orbit. I think I have around 30 active flights right now and 6-9 things marked "debris", some of which are on various celestial body surfaces. It really surprises me that space programs are still adding to the problem in real life when we know how big of a problem it could become, and have for some time.

Fun fact! The greater number of dots at the top of this image, compared to the bottom, result from Russia's Kolniya orbits.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Debris-GEO1280.jpg/750px-Debris-GEO1280.jpg

It's not a HUGE problem. Space is big, there's a lot of it. It may be densely populated, but each of those dots are kilometers on this scale.

Edited February 13, 2015 by Bill Phil
Soace does not equal space

[TimePeriod]

All the probes and space stations in carrier mode I turn into debris. Then I don't have to watch the clutter.

[Snarfster]

I try to keep my parking orbits clear of debris but above and below that, there's bound to be "stuff".

Additionally, completed station, base and satellite contracts get turned into debris as well. Interesting when you first start up a minmus base and suddenly realize there's 4 more around the area.

Set to infinity because, to me, that feels like realistic. (Make a mess, deal with the consequences).

[Taki117]

I try to keep my debris count low, but I don't design self guiding upper stages. If I circularize with my second OE third stage (depending on the rocket) it stays in orbjt until I decide to send up a cleaning crew.

That being said, if a piece of debris is in an unstable orbit I will just terminate it rather than watch it fall.

Edited February 13, 2015 by Taki117

[xXIndestructibleEVAXx]

Meh. If it's there, it's there.

[Barefoot Friar]

I keep it turned down for performance reasons, and I'll terminate debris that's landed near bases for gameplay reasons. But otherwise I generally ignore it.

[EdFred]

I have debris set to zero.

[Aragosnat]

I try to make sure to have it de-orbit on its own (if it is supposed to de-orbit on its own around Kerbin or any with an atmosphere and I don't feel like watching it due to needing to watch other craft then it gets terminated). Unless a kraken attack happens and whips it out. Had one that too out ships as well as debrise that where not making an SOI change.

Edit: Also have it set to a lowish number. Just to make sure the kraken sleeps. As I noticed more things up there more likely it happens to me...

[Beowolf]

In sandbox, I try to be really careful to keep space uncluttered. I design stages to run out of fuel in appropriate places, and usually slap a MechJeb and a disabled battery on upper stages to deorbit them.

In career, I just delete the debris occasionally. Along with old contract satellites and such.

[Bigbootie]

I leave the debris. I actually hope one of my missions get struck by something I left up there. Unexpectedly smashing into something on the way to orbit might be cool too.

[keeper]

I try to get everything back on the ground safe, it bothers me to keep seeing it there knowing its worth credits. Eventually if they dont land themselves i'll remove them. i have 30 flights in progress, probably about 60 or more launches have only 6 things of debris, i've removed about 20 or so things probably :s

[Wallygator]

I try playing with the early space program attitude. Space is big. It's going to take while to fill it up. I look forward to the day when the debris forces a play style change to to game performance or an incident. Till then, I build and deploy as needed with debris set to 250.

[SorryDave]

I minimize debris, but I rarely use probe cores to do it. My interplanetary and moon transfers always starts as a collision course for spent stages.

It doesn't always work, sometimes even the slightest push from a decoupler can push debris into a flyby orbit when I am far from the destination. Then I just leave it.

I also leave a lot of parts on planet surfaces; pilotless rovers, landing gear stages, skycranes, etc.

[Random Tank]

I'd like to play with debris, but I have a bug with my main save that deletes all debris as soon as it leaves render range, even though I have persistent debris turned up to 250... Dunno what does it, though I have a lot of mods, so I bet one of those is the cause!

If I could have debris, I'd get rid of most of it, but leave the occasional piece, just for immersion and a sort of throw-back to older missions; a little challenge to try and think "what mission was that from?"

[Wallygator]

I'd like to play with debris, but I have a bug with my main save that deletes all debris as soon as it leaves render range, even though I have persistent debris turned up to 250... Dunno what does it, though I have a lot of mods, so I bet one of those is the cause!

If I could have debris, I'd get rid of most of it, but leave the occasional piece, just for immersion and a sort of throw-back to older missions; a little challenge to try and think "what mission was that from?"

Good one. I think the same, except I need to start naming my spacecraft something other than 'Untitled Space Craft"

[keeper]

There have been times I have removed my SHIPS accidentally leaving the debris, the most expensive annoyance ever.

[SpaceHips]

Kessler Syndrome: The Game is always fun.

in the middle of docking from IVA when you see some debris pop up on radar, not knowing what or even how big it is as it flies within a couple hundred meters of you at 4km/s?

It's almost enough to get my palms sweaty, when it occurs.

[RSwordsman]

I leave debris enabled and make at least half an attempt to reduce or eliminate it from missions. However, occasionally I'll make use of half-spent fuel tanks and such if the debris is at a base rather than in orbit, so I like it.

[Brainlord Mesomorph]

I prefer the realism of debris, even had a VERRY scary near miss with some in LKO , .

But I had to turn it down (remove some) it was choking the game.

Now the stuff I build doesn't leave anything in LKO. But there are drop tanks and spent stages elsewhere.

[Superfluous J]

None of the above.

I plan my missions to not leave debris in stable orbits. All debris that is not in a stable orbit (Intersects atmosphere or the planet it's orbiting, will eventually change SOIs, or is landed somewhere) is free to delete. Everything else is a mistake I made and I deal with it in-game by sending out a tug to put it into some such orbit that will cause it to be deletable. Granted, I'll leave stuff up for years before dealing with it but I will *not* delete it.

But I almost never use sepratrons, and would never turn the debris slider down.

[Cirocco]

I try to avoid putting debris in orbit around celestial bodies, with the exception of the sun. Ships/rockets are usually designed to stage in such a fasion that the expended stage is left to either crash/burn up on a celestial body, or left in a graveyard orbit around the sun, since the odds of debris in such an orbit hitting anything are astronomically low.

I don't really de-orbit debris actively, too much of a hassle. Debris that does happen to achieve a stable orbit due to unforeseen circumstances or simple design decision is left up there. I'll do cleanup when things start whizzing past my ships/stations at insane speeds and too-close-for-comfort distances.