An amazing moment

[nohelmet]

This was so cool, I must share.

"Lander Jr", with its crew of three, was coming back to "Duna Orbital Science" from Ike with a rich bounty after an extended mission. All supplies were low - in fact my previous attempt had ran out of fuel on Duna orbit.

So I use everything I know for a nice, slow, economical approach and rendezvous. I make it near the station, pick a docking port, come in... I'm low on monoprop so I'm using this trick where I turn RCS off when I need to turn, and back on when I need to move.

My goal is right in front of me, visible in my lights as I make final adjustments, careful not to clip any of the station's solar panels. When suddenly the craft refuses to rotate and my lights dim, brown out! I was out of power!

I don't know whether that was planned by Squad or just the result of the simulation, but it was perfect! This gave me goosebumps. It was the perfect reminder of how even at the last minute things may still go wrong. I was still able to bring those Kerbals home - with some extra stories to share!

Thank you Squad.

[maceemiller]

Awesome stuff! I totally understand how that feels for me its all about docking......every time I do it my heart pumps stronger and my nerves are on adrenaline......

Not many games I have played seem to bring out these emotions.....

Roll on your next goosebump session!

[DocMoriarty]

Yes such situations happen where things go wrong in the last second. What happened to you is the reason why I'm always putting at least one or two of the small solar panels on a vessel, just for safety.

Yesterday i had Bob do some EVA scouting for a place to do science on Minmus slopes that was flat enough to land. He was running out of fuel though and so i had to walk back like 3km. Needless to say it took a while ...

[nohelmet]

Yes, docking and percussion landing can be intense!

Oh and I had a couple of the small solar panels. Perhaps they were occluded, because they weren't producing enough for the floodlights!

[Scarecrow88]

Yes, docking and percussion landing can be intense!

I find percussion landings to be pretty explosive. Precision landing on the other hand tends to concentrate the mind.

[nohelmet]

LOL! That's what I get for posting from my phone!