Install Parachutes While in Orbit?

[Billbo]

I have a craft that "lost" a couple of parachutes during a sloppy landing on the Mun.  I don't want to lose the crew and tourists, but the 1 remaining chute will not be enough to avoid crashing upon return to Kerbin.  I have rendezvoused with a 2nd craft that is carrying replacement chutes as cargo, but I find that both the main and drogue are too large (volume) to transfer to my engineer during EVA. Is it simply impossible to install any component during flight that is larger than a Kerbal's volumetric carrying capacity?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Bill

[jimmymcgoochie]

Yes it is- go into EVA construction mode and just take the parachutes out of the craft’s inventory and attach them directly, without putting them in the engineer’s own inventory first. The inventory range is very limited so this is best done while the Kerbal holds on to a ladder and the crafts are docked (or grappled with a grabber/Klaw), but it is possible to do it with everything free-floating.

If you pick something up out of a cargo inventory and just put it down, it will adopt the same vector as the Kerbal you’re controlling (both speed and direction), which can be used to cheekily move parts around. Grab the part out of inventory, move in the direction of where you want it to go and just drop it in space, it’ll follow you along and you can repeat this grab-and-drop as many times as you like to herd the part where it needs to go. (This would probably be easier to show with a video but a) I don’t currently have a KSP-capable computer and b) my video editing skills are non-existent.) Just be careful not to go too fast or you could lose some parts, and quicksave VERY FREQUENTLY as EVA construction can occasionally result in vessel-shattering glitches that would make your “lack of parachute” issues seem trivial in comparison.

[Billbo]

Thank you for pointing me to EVA construction mode!  All my Kerbals made it home safe.

Bill