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[TheBronzePickle]

I get the feeling that any missions I do are going to involve a probe delivering the lab itself and then visits by much smaller, lighter craft carrying only the kerbonauts to and from the site.

[Krevsin]

I get the feeling that any missions I do are going to involve a probe delivering the lab itself and then visits by much smaller, lighter craft carrying only the kerbonauts to and from the site.

That sounds ridiculously familliar...

[TheBronzePickle]

Great SCIENCE thinks alike.

[sluissa]

Just a call for suggestions/ideas here.

My prior attempt at building a modular spacecraft in orbit has met with some obvious problems.

My idea was to send up at least two, possibly more RCS Probe "Tugs" to maneuver pieces around in order to assemble them. Even with two of them attached to opposite ends of my spacecraft pieces, and the pieces being relatively small and easy to deal with (single fuel tanks), I'm having trouble maneuvering them as a single craft. RCS doesn't seem to want to play well with this setup and while I can eventually get the pieces docked, I run into another problem. Nothing wants to dock in the right orientation. I'm aware that this is a common problem with single docking port connections, but I'm curious if anyone has a reliable and easy to use method to fix docking orientation or if I should just change my design around so that that sort of problem wouldn't matter anymore. (I have a few ideas.)

I'm aware of the old "2-3 docking adapter" setup, but I'd never had luck with that when I tried it, only one of the group wanted to actually connect at a time when I tried it.

[alway]

The KAS mod may help, what with its winch systems and such. You could effectively dock your craft like you would a ship in a harbor, using mooring lines of winches and similar systems. Further helping set up its final state with the deployable piping and struts.

[BigD145]

I completely forgot about something for large rovers. Landing gear. A cluster of wheels on one strut. You could avoid the largest wheels entirely. You could make super ugly rocket drag racers with airplane wheels. I have no clue how turning would work, but drag racers only go straight sooooo WHATEVER.

The KAS mod may help, what with its winch systems and such. You could effectively dock your craft like you would a ship in a harbor, using mooring lines of winches and similar systems.

Quantum struts can do this but won't help with alignment.

[Karkov]

Quantum struts?  When you look at them their state changes?  That... That sounds horrific.

Apparently I need to progress a lot more, horrifying physics awaits, or something.

[10ebbor10]

Quantum struts are mod of some kind.

[BFEL]

Quantum struts are mod of some kind.

I'm pretty sure they are basically "reusable struts" though I haven't actually found/downloaded it so I'm just guessing from Scott Manley's vids.
Also if you REALLY want to dock things, Mechjeb is the simplest way by far. It also has Smart A.S.S. if you don't want to go full autopilot, which keeps you oriented right and such.

[Girlinhat]

Quantum Struts are effectively strut bases with modular metal.  Any two QStrut bases can connect to each other and produce a regular strut, including struts linking docked ships together.  So you can send up multiple ships to dock together, put QStruts on each of them, and in orbit connect them together.

[alway]

The KAS mod may help, what with its winch systems and such. You could effectively dock your craft like you would a ship in a harbor, using mooring lines of winches and similar systems.

Quantum struts can do this but won't help with alignment.

Struts are for post-docking. I mean using winches and such to constrain motion and rotation, allowing for more precise docking.

[MagmaMcFry]

So I did my first rendezvous today, it was far easier than I thought it was going to be. I made a three-piece satellite (crew module, science module, and fuel station), but I have no idea what else I could put on there.

[Putnam]

Quantum struts?  When you look at them their state changes?  That... That sounds horrific.

Apparently I need to progress a lot more, horrifying physics awaits, or something.

That's not what observation in quantum mechanics means.

[Descan]

Does anyone have a KAS tech-tree config file I could have? And a kethane tech-tree config file? I stuck Quantum Struts under "meta materials" (will probably lower it down, that is rather far in the tree.) but those guys are like... huuuuge. So many parts to file into a config file, it'd just be better if someone's already done it.

I mean if you have them spread out into the actual parts files, that works too, but I'd prefer a seperate config file. @PART[yayboi] and adding in the tech costs and all that.

[BigD145]

I completely forgot about something for large rovers. Landing gear.

I only use landing gear as a SRIMECH on rovers.

Then again, I never use large rovers, so...

Right now landing gear is it for anti-popping. Nothing else can take 100m/s +.