Is this possible?

[Sirine]

Instead of launch a rocket for Stranded Kerbal at Kerbin orbit. You bring that cantract Kerbal back to base via pre-launched orbit lander craft and "launch" a car to pick him up.

Yes. You need extreme atmospheric precision landing skill.

[Varsi]

Definitely. Doesn't need to be a new vessel for the contracts. I've actually had small probes that had klaw and a couple of parachutes saving people from the orbit.

[AaronLS]

You bring that cantract Kerbal back to base via pre-launched orbit lander craft

You lost me here, because if this brings him all the way back to base, what is the "car" doing? I think I know what you were trying to say but maybe try rewording.

[Varsi]

You lost me here, because if this brings him all the way back to base, what is the "car" doing? I think I know what you were trying to say but maybe try rewording.

Have to admit I was betting a lot on guesswork about what he was asking...

[regex]

Do rescue contracts require a new vessel be launched? If not, no need for all those craft, just get them back to Kerbin any way possible.

[Streetwind]

Pre-launched craft are perfectly valid for rescuing - but generally, you don't want to do that.

Reason: it is faster to rendezvous if you can launch directly under the derelict craft, rather than having to adjust orbits with an existing ship and then timewarp potentially for days to catch up if the contract spawned in an unlucky situation.

[Red Iron Crown]

More of a Gameplay Question, moving.

[Sharpy]

Pre-launched craft are perfectly valid for rescuing - but generally, you don't want to do that.

Reason: it is faster to rendezvous if you can launch directly under the derelict craft, rather than having to adjust orbits with an existing ship and then timewarp potentially for days to catch up if the contract spawned in an unlucky situation.

I prefer to launch a bunch - say, 7 rescue vehicles in one launch, and then detach one from the hub in orbit for a rendezvous. Far less hassle than managing many launches.

I keep the hub in an eccentric orbit with apoapsis quite a bit above LKO, that way rendezvous doesn't take excessively long and I can speed up time more for most of the orbit.

You don't need a car or landing precision, just recover the rescue vessel from anywhere on Kerbin - the only reason to aim for KSC is its recovery value.

[Tex_NL]

For me rescues are just side-missions that keep the books balanced. Whenever I launch my shuttle to my science station I keep at least one seat empty and on the way back I pick up any stragglers lost in space. My station orbits high enough to make sure a rendezvous window to any low orbit will open every few hours.

[FancyMouse]

It's becoming a how-do-I-do-rescue thread.

I just shoot a hitchhiker to batch 4 LKO rescues, stay 80*100+ where apoapsis depends on how far behind is target, and each time rendezvous at daylight but do *not* match target orbit, but instead let kerbal EVA to match my orbit. In this way it's a single ship finishing 4 rescues. I cap at 4 beacuse of life support concerns and contract availability.

[CalculusWarrior]

Yep, the contract just requires you get the kerbal to the surface, it doesn't matter how. Heck, you could slap a parachute on the side of the spawned capsule and give it a push!

[Superfluous J]

Yep, the contract just requires you get the kerbal to the surface, it doesn't matter how. Heck, you could slap a parachute on the side of the spawned capsule and give it a push!

That's what I was thinking. Send up a ship with 30 parachutes, a claw, and a grand of dV or so, and just rendezvous, claw, KIS a parachute to the pod, slow down to atmo, disconnect the claw, and get the rescue ship back into orbit. The cost to put this up would not be that much more than the cost to launch once for each rescue, and you'd very quickly just turn the whole thing into a "Kerbals and cash" factory.

Too bad you can't fire Kerbals and get a "refund" of what you would have paid them. Rescue 30 Kerbals, fire the last one, and get a million credits.