Tracking Station

The new tracking station since 0.21

The tracking station GUI in 0.20

The tracking station is a round building and three rotating parabolic antennae, located at the Kerbal Space Center on Kerbin. Its purpose is to allow access, observation and cancellation of all missions currently active, including splashed-down or landed ships. Note that this does not include crashed or otherwise ended missions. Prior to the update in 0.21 the antenna was located on top of the tracking station. With 0.21 it is a dedicated building with the antennae around the building.

The collision model for the rotating antenna is a sphere.

Usage

The tracking station's main display is similar to the map view, with the main addition being a list on the left of the screen displaying every mission (craft, kerbonaut on EVA or flag) in the game. At the top of the screen are a set of buttons which can be used to filter out different types of mission; by default, everything except for debris is shown. A single type can be selected using the left mouse button, and other types can be added or removed from the selection using the right mouse buton. Information and physical statistics about the currently selected object are available through the buttons on the right; craft have a crew manifest (if crewed), while bodies have a short description. This is also the only way to determine the mass and part count of a craft after launch in the base game.

Once a mission is selected, several actions are available to the player.

Fly will switch the view to the selected mission. If it is either a kerbonaut on EVA or a craft with a working command module, it is also possible to control the craft. However, even if it cannot be controlled, it can still be switched to, so it is possible to view the surroundings. This works even with flags.
Terminate will destroy the vehicle. If the vehicle had a crew, they will be killed and listed as "lost" in the Astronaut Complex. This option is disabled if recovery is possible.
Recover will gracefully remove the vehicle from the world and keep the crew on the duty roster, returning them to "Available" status. This action can only be performed if the mission is located anywhere on Kerbin and has come to a halt, including splashdown in the ocean. In future versions of the game, recovering a mission may credit the player with resources based on the value and contents of the parts recovered.

Gallery

Old tracking station interface without the possibility to filter ships
The tracking station until 0.21, next to the launch pad, before that was redesigned in 0.19