Tweaking a shipdesign that is in a savegame mission

[Vermil]

Here's my problem, I crashed a rocket on Mun, through a failed landing (even I do them occasionally). The crew of three survived, so instead of pressing F9, I decided to rescue them. Previously I've developed a rocket for this kinds of situations. Previously, this has also been subjected to the most careful testing to make sure it works in every detail. One such detail is the ladders. There is a redundancy of two ladder systems. Both have been meticulously and painstakingly tested, both up and down, leaning both this way and that way. The rocket has also been on several missions, and the ladders have always worked perfectly.

So Jebediah landed the rescue ship less than 20 km from the wreckage. Bill drove the Rover all the way to pick up the stranded crew, and returned with them.

But... The ladders can't be successfully scaled. Something has changed with the Unity 5 upgrade. I would guess it's both the 'physics' of how the Kerbals grip and climb ladders, and the fact that the individual ladder elements seem to have shifted their individual position and attitude slightly.

So now I have 4 Kerbals stranded below my return rocketship, unable to board.

Since I don't regard this as particularly my fault, I'm looking for a way to fix it. Is there any way to modify the rocket in the VAB, and have the saved game load that rocket config instead of the one that stands on the Mun?  (I've already tried using an old v1.0.5 version of the game but the saves are incompatible).

Alternatively, I don't know much about this Hyperedit - but could it be used to edit the astronauts into the cabins?

 

 

P.S. By obstinate tenacity, I finally managed to get my full crews boarded, even though I suck badly at RCS-flying. So this particular instance of a problem is solved. However, I still think the question is interesting in itself, so if anyone knows...?

 

Edited July 24, 2016 by Vermil