Is it possible to dock two Clampatron docking clamps at the same time

kerbal-space-program

I'm building a space station, and I've come to a point, where I need to dock two Clampatrons simulatenously.

I'll explain what I mean with a little ASCII picture.

My space station looks like this, currently:

o  o
|  |
|  |
o--o

the o are parts with Clampatrons.

Now I'm trying to dock this part: o--o:

o--o

  |
  V

o  o
|  |
|  |
o--o

the Final result will look like this:

o--o
|  |
|  |
o--o

Is this possible?

I know that while in the VAB and SPH, I cannot attach two attachment points at the same time, which is a problem sometimes.

Best Answer

Yes, it's possible, although getting them all lined up correctly is tricky - if your rotation is off, one of them will dock and the other won't and things will wobble all over the place. I often use triple 1.25m docking ports for ship assembly in orbit.

I note that you can do this in the VAB, sort of; you can construct your ship like this:

|  |
|  |
V--V
X
^--^
|  |
|  |

where the ^ are upward-facing ports, the V are downward-facing ports, and the X is a connection between two of them. Only one set of ports will link up in the VAB, but if you load it onto the launchpad, it'll usually wobble briefly and then automatically dock the other port(s). This is particularly handy if you're designing something that you want to be able to launch in one piece, break apart in orbit, and connect back together later, but also want to use 2-, 3-, or 4-port connections.