KillSwitchX

Thank you. I have actually submitted a bug fix to the official bug tracking for KSP with my findings and .craft file with the offending parts/behavior. I am hoping that subsequent versions of KSP post 1.11.0 may include a fix for this on these extendable parts by forcing them to load up from a collapsed state and likely no more exploding Kraken behavior at least in these instances on load =).

This is a long standing issue, I've noticed it goes back to at least 2015 and probably well since the inception of the game. Many people have various ideas on how to fix these issues and some appear more successful than others. At the end of the day it appears to be how the game loads things in the persistent state and if a part ends up colliding into something else at the time of loading (likely just some slight movement of a part into something else). The fact that I am noticing this still as of the time of this writing 12/19/2020 in an unmodded version of KSP 1.11.0 is still quite surprising. It has forced me to look at some things and dig to find the issue. As of writing this I am testing on a stock KSP with no mods and the problem still persists. The problem that I have is a drill rig that I have constructed explodes a second or two after loading, after having successfully landed it at Minmus with no issues otherwise. I believe that this is due to some flux on some close parts that when extended collide into each other at the time of loading. What I would recommend is that all extendable parts should load collapsed and then auto-extend after the physics engine has initialized all the parts. I think this will resolve the flux issue creating this problem. If saving a game with any craft with extendible solar panels, radiators, etc (basically anything) what I would recommend is collapsing/storing all parts before saving or switching away from the craft, I believe this will fix these issues for good as the problem doesn't appear to happen when loading with all parts stowed/collapsed.

I note that this reply is significantly later than the original post but I am seeing this now in October of 2020 must be a common/persistent issue...anyways think I have a fix... I just had the same problem and made a fix/"hack" that appears to work, for me at least. Here's what I'm working with and what I did to fix. The latest KSP as of the time I'm writing this is 1.9.1 and using the Breaking Ground version 1.5.1 when I attempted to install I got the same error as above. I noticed even upon uninstalling and reinstalling the game the error persists which was strange. I figured it was some sort of older holdover registry setting or something causing it but looks to be local to the install from what I can tell. What I noticed is that the Launcher was reading an older version at launch (can't remember the number now). I edited the file so inconspicuously named buildID64.txt in the root location where KSP is installed. This file now looks like for me: [config] build id = 02939 2020.02.21 at 06:48:38 PST Branch: master language = en-us distribution name = Store Specifically you should note that build id = 02939 is the build ID that matches what BUILD version shows when loading the launcher (without the leading 0), changing from what it had to what it has now appeared to work for me. I am using a mods with KIS, KAS and the Kerbal Planetary Base Attachment System, so maybe one of those is the culprit... Please let me know if anyone else has success with this fix/"hack".

I'm running into the same problem in 2019! And yup... it's at Minmus... it's so frustrating because I spent a ton of time and completed 3 other contracts after the one that disappeared, I can go back and try to recover my disappeared contract but honestly at this point its not worth redoing all I did at minmus now before returning home and realizing that the contract is just gone...so annoying.

This might be considered a bit late to the party seeing as how most of these comments were made in 2013 and 2014 and I'm posting here in 2019...I have docked successfully before but will add that it can be incredibly frustrating if one step is missed or core concepts are not well understood. Nonetheless, do not lose hope, what you need to be mindful of is that it is an incredibly complex process to match two small ports of spaceships in perfect alignment and get them to meet one another in space, so stay patient. I believe it's good to know that these principles still work years later and many versions of the game since released. I will not explain docking as that is a procedure in itself but my intention is to fully describe how to get a successful rendezvous (ships well within 1 km distance from each other) which will be needed before reaching the docking phase. First off you will need to ensure your pilot is 3-star level (this provides all SAS capabilities including target and anti-target) autopilot features. Without these rendezvous and docking are much harder if not impossible. I think most people seem to have trouble at a few different critical points, one being if your orbits arent close enough to begin with do not attempt to "chase" the other ship to catch it, it will never work...you can't rendezvous if your orbits arent close enough in shape and inclination and even if there's a meeting point, if they begin to deviate significantly thrusting toward the other ship will hardly be successful as the velocities and relative paths of the ships pull them apart. Just look at your orbital map and make sure the ship you want to target is set as target (right click ship and click "set as target"). Focus first on getting Pe of one orbit to close matching Pe altitude of the target orbit, this will put the two ships into some sort of similar orbit, next focus on getting the Ap close to but not too close to your target ship's orbit (potentially about 10k-15k altitude deviation but this can be any number really...play around with this to get desired results; less deviation between altitudes of current and target is "better" but takes longer to achieve phase and close intercept). Next, look at the two orbits to find the points marked AN and DN; Ascending Node and Descending Node, respectively (you can use either one). Place a maneuver node on one of those two nodes and pull either the normal or anti-normal vectors of the maneuver node to change the inclination of AN and DN, you should get these as close to 0 degrees as possible....0.1 or 0.2 degrees of separation I believe should be acceptable as well...the closer to 0 this is the closer the orbital paths will be in direct alignment so it will help SIGNIFICANTLY in putting your ships on the same orbital path. Now once you've done all of the above you can focus on getting an intercept...create a new maneuver node and place it and use the +/- buttons on the main node selection to align orange or purple intercept indicators to preferably within 10km distance. You may have to wait a significant amount of time to get an intercept using this method so it's a good idea to save at this point and to go to the tracking station and time Warp until you get some what close to your intercept (maybe within an hour or so). Assuming you've done everything else correctly and upon getting close to the intercept both ships should be on near identical paths (with a slight 10km or so deviation at the Ap...the further your intercept is from the initial intersection of these two orbits the better, as your ships begin to drift apart at this point). Now the next key pieces are when getting to this (hopefully close to 10km distance or so between ships). MAKE SURE you have the target ship set on your navball to display relative distance and velocity shown between target and current ship, this will help immensely in getting closer to and matching the velocity of your target ship. First kill any remaining velocity differential between target and current ship by doing a small retrograde burn (DO NOT burn anti-target at any point! Only a series of slight target and retrograde burns)...this shouldn't be much more than 100 or so dV, if that. Next, point your ship direct at your target ship and burn slightly, use shift and ctrl at this point for slight throttle adjustments not z and x as these will be way too much thrust for the slight adjustments required. You will want to close the distance between your ships to at least within 1 km (and arguably even much closer but if you can make it within 1 km there is no reason short of running out of fuel that you cant get the ships to rendezvous). You will want at least several retrograde and target burns with very low thrust to bring your relative velocity within 100 m/s and distance of 1 km...by the time you are within 1 km of intercept and rendezvous you will want to bring your relative velocity way down to about no more than 10 or 20 m/s so do this with another retrograde burn....you can do basically as many of these as possible to get the two ships within 100m or closer at which point it's a good idea to kill most of your relative velocity to within 1/ms or even 0.1 to 0.5m/s...repeat until ships are within 20 or 30m, kill all remaining relative velocity and then switch to docking phase.

I've learned a lot since I wrote this original post in 2016 so I've made the appropriate edits and reposted. What follows should be a successful docking tutorial from start to finish (minus pictures). I will say this, it is of utmost importance to do the following things if you want to successfully rendezvous and dock ships: Get orbits of the ships you want to dock into close relative orbits (have an Apoapsis and/or Periapsis that is close to that of the other, this allows at least one point where the orbits can have a close intersection to allow the crafts to get close to each other (I suggest within a few Km, the closer the better and the more aligned overal the orbits the better chance for a closer intersect without much work and deltaV cost) Note that difference between the orbits is good as well, getting the orbits too aligned or having too much deviation can actually make getting an intersect to take more time, the idea is to have a bit of deviation in the orbit this will take some practice at first possibly. (Optional) Circularize both orbits before attempting other maneuvers, ie: Close Apoapsis and Periapsis for both orbits (this will make sure ships don't have tendency to drift apart on their orbits). Make sure you select the ship you want to target for docking (right click and select "Set as Target"): The target orbit will show as yellow. Create a maneuver node and check the orange and purple indicators for closest intersects, *KEY* the +/- on the maneuver node will assist with setting the node time which adjusts the orange and purple intersect points, get either one as close as you can to the matching one for that pair (orange to orange and purple to purple, both don't have to match...just pick one and get it close to the other one of the same color (preferably no father than 50km apart though farther can work as well...the main things to watch are the distance apart and the relative velocity a higher difference in relative velocity and distance will require more delta V (fuel) to narrow the difference between each). Use the tracking station to cover large time gaps as you can watch your ships and see the maneuver node time in the status on the left (as MNV -X:XX) and warp may allow higher settings, be careful not to overshoot your maneuver node or you need to start over. When you get to the proper intersect after the maneuver node has been reached for the time selected you should be relatively close to the other ship and velocity as noted by the intersect indicators, it is now time to zero out your relative velocity with respect to the other ship. Make sure you have TARGET selected on the NAVBALL (as opposed to a setting of Orbit or Surface which will give you incorrect readings for what you're attempting to do), this will ensure you get the target velocity and vectors needed to get close to your target). With Target selected on the navball orient your ship towards the retrograde vector and burn to get the relative velocity as close as possible to 0 (doesn't have to be exact, just try to get it within a few or say up to 10 m/s). Now point towards the target vector and burn as much as you want to give yourself a nice shot at your target (faster isn't necessarily better as you will tend to waste more delta V with excessive burns), try to keep it say under 50 m/s with respect to the target, as you will need to do a series of burns to correct for movement of the target around its orbit against your current movement. Watch as you speed towards the target making sure you are closing the distance and not going farther away from the target. Once your relative velocity and distance to the target starts to slow it's time to again zero out your relative velocity with respect to your target (this is why you don't want to make your initial speed towards the target too high, you will end up wasting delta-V on corrective and slowing maneuvers). Point back to retrograde vector again and burn off as much relative velocity to get back to zero (or close). Again, point towards the target and burn again as much as you feel comfortable with (each time should require less delta v, say a third or half less than the prior step). Continue this process until you are within a comfortable range of 1km or so from your target and again zero out your respective velocity to the target with a retrograde burn. You can keep doing the steps above to get ever closer to the target but take care not to overshoot or risk slamming into your target (that's bad mmmkay?) At about 100 meters is a good place to switch to RCS thrusters (turn RCS on [r key] ensuring your ship has RCS tanks and thrusters (you included those right? When you get within about 100 meters or so to the target again zero velocity with respect to the target and ensure you are moving no more than several m/s with respect to the target at all times, this should make rotational and translational movements easier *KEY* It is FAR easier to dock if both vessels have RCS, power, etc...you can position and orient each with respect to the other on the fly by using the [ and ] keys which will cycle between close ships and allow you to position each so that they're oriented and facing direct towards the targeted docking port of the other. When close (Under 1Km) use RCS thrust ONLY in Chase cam mode Switch out of map mode and find the target ship in your normal ship view. Set the target to the individual docking port you want to use when close enough to see it with your normal view. Once you're within about 100 meters or so now is a good time to set an individual target piece of the ship you want to dock with (usually a docking port, duh) so select the part you want to dock with (usually the most accessible part directly facing you)...right click and click "Set as Target", if you can't select this you may need to get closer first. Now is the time to set the piece you want to control from, this is an important step and done on the ship you are guiding towards the other (keep the other relatively still to make the process a little easier, but can adjust as needed). This will orient the navball so that the vectors are aligned with respect to the port you select on your ship and you will be able to orient with respect to the ship you are targeting, you can spin the ship so that the navball is over the target vector. Switch to the other ship (using [ or ]) and do the same from there setting the same port on your ship as the target and aligning the ports, hopefully the prograde vector should be over or close to the target indicator, if it is not, you need to get it there, the first step is aligning your target with the center of your navball and then watching your relative velocity, if it is 0 or close there sometimes won't be any prograde or retrograde markers so using your RCS thrusters (with Docking mode on) apply a bit of forward thrust (Shift key) until the Target velocity reading is 0.1-0.5 m/s - this can be anything but again faster doesn't equate to better necessarily - Especially when docking. Of enormous help to me was someone who mentioned keeping the Prograde vector over top the Target vector. The more aligned you keep the two ships with respect to each other the better, I like to make sure both ships are oriented exactly as close as can be to each other and if you do it right they should "fall together" moving within fractions of 1 m/s. Repeat this technique until success!