Electric light
A light is a part that uses electricity or electric charge to shine a light. They can be used to provide visibility while landing at night or in a shaded area, and also to illuminate the craft itself. Electric lights are also useful for illuminating a rendez-vous target, such as a space station, if the vehicle is expecting to mate with a docking port that is in shade. For tidally locked moons like Mun, Vall or Ike, overnight landing missions are recommended to have any lights accompanied by large battery banks, or an RTG, as one night can be very long.
There are two major light sources. The first is dedicated lamps, such as the Illuminator Mk1 or the Domelight Mk1. These parts are dedicated lights and serve no other purpose. By default, they are controlled with the "Lights" action group (default key L); it is also possible to toggle individual lights by right-clicking on them. It is possible to change the color of these lights in the VAB and SPH using tweakables. It is possible to change all three RGB color channels independently to produce nearly any color of light.
The second major light source is landing gear (like the LY-10 Small Landing Gear); all four landing gear parts include a forward-facing light. These lights are also controlled with the Lights action group; however, if the gear is stowed, the lights will not activate with the action group (although they can still be manually activated via right-click). In addition, the color of these lights cannot be changed.
Some other light sources exist. The Kelus-LV Bay Mobility Enhancer has a small electric light, which activates whenever the ladder is extended. Many parts with crew capacity also have windows which light up. However, these consume no electric charge, and cannot light up terrain. Some jet engines (like the J-404 "Panther" Afterburning Turbofan in afterburner mode) with plume effects can light up the area around them, but they are not electric.
Available lights
| Image | Part | Radial size | Cost (  ) |
Mass (t) |
Max. Temp. (K) |
Tolerance (m/s) |
Tolerance (g) |
Electricity (⚡/s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Illuminator Mk1 | Radial mounted | 100 | 0.015 | 2 000 | 8 | 50 | 0.04 (2.4 ⚡/min) |
|
Domelight Mk1 | Radial mounted | 50 | 0.002 | 2 000 | 8 | 50 | 0.01 (0.3 ⚡/min) |
|
Navigation Light Mk1 | Radial mounted | 40 | 0.001 | 2 000 | 8 | 50 | 0.01 (0.6 ⚡/min) |
|
Spotlight Mk1 | Radial mounted | 75 | 0.005 | 2 000 | 8 | 50 | 0.02 (1.2 ⚡/min) |
|
Lightstrip Mk1 | Radial mounted | 40 | 0.001 | 2 000 | 8 | 50 | 0.01 (0.3 ⚡/min) |
|
Illuminator Mk2 | Radial mounted | 100 | 0.015 | 2 000 | 8 | 50 | 0.02 (1.2 ⚡/min) |
