Best way to get out of orbit and back to Kerbin

[JackBush]

I have poor old Bob Kerman orbiting and can't get him back safely. (It's mostly the valuable science points he's collected that I want.) Every time we come down, we do so over land which kills him and the ship. How do I "point" the ship to end up in the ocean (which presumably will be safe)?

(For those following my tribulations on another thread, I'm getting pretty good at the orbiting business. Somewhere along the line, however, I discovered that Jebediah had been KIA, which I take to mean "killed in action". If it doesn't, I have no idea where he is!)

Edited October 7, 2015 by JackBush

[Mastikator]

The ocean will not be safe. The ocean is worse than land.

What you need is to send a rocket with parachutes to rendezvous with Bill.

[pandaman]

The ocean will not be safe. The ocean is worse than land.

What you need is to send a rocket with parachutes to rendezvous with Bill.

What he said ^^^

[Gaarst]

What's your problem exactly ?

A capsule with a parachute should have no problem landing either on land or water. Do you have one at all or does it burn up during reentry ?

[JackBush]

What's your problem exactly ?

A capsule with a parachute should have no problem landing either on land or water. Do you have one at all or does it burn up during reentry ?

Yes, I have a parachute on the capsule. No, it doesn't burn up during re-entry. But I'm trying to wait until the capsule gets below the 5000 level to deploy the chute safely. But I have no idea how high the ground level is. I was simply too late the last time and it crashed at about 1200. In previous attempts, the chute has been burned up by the "aero speed" (Is that right? I'm trying to remember the message I get.) while still in flight.

[moogoob]

Yes, I have a parachute on the capsule. No, it doesn't burn up during re-entry. But I'm trying to wait until the capsule gets below the 5000 level to deploy the chute safely. But I have no idea how high the ground level is. I was simply too late the last time and it crashed at about 1200. In previous attempts, the chute has been burned up by the "aero speed" (Is that right? I'm trying to remember the message I get.) while still in flight.

What I do is fire retrograde until my periapsis is inside the amosphere, but still above the ground. About 10-20km up should do it. That way you have lots of time to bleed off speed and should easily be able to open your chutes by 5km. Remember, altitude matters when deploying chutes, but speed matters more. You want to deploy your chutes as soon as you slow down under 250m/s, the chutes should handle the rest no matter where you're landing- once partially open they always compensate for true altitude and by default always start to fully open at 1000m above land, not sea level.

[mattssheep4]

What I do is fire retrograde until my periapsis is inside the amosphere, but still above the ground. About 10-20km up should do it. That way you have lots of time to bleed off speed and should easily be able to open your chutes by 5km. Remember, altitude matters when deploying chutes, but speed matters more. You want to deploy your chutes as soon as you slow down under 250m/s, the chutes should handle the rest no matter where you're landing- once partially open they always compensate for true altitude and by default always start to fully open at 1000m above land, not sea level.

Depending on the size of the craft, around 30 km might be better. Bigger craft = higher periapsis needed if you don't want to burn up.

[insert_name]

i usually set my perapsis at 25km, by right clicking on the chute it will tell you if its safe

[moogoob]

Depending on the size of the craft, around 30 km might be better. Bigger craft = higher periapsis needed if you don't want to burn up.

True- I was assuming he was using the 1-kerbal pod and returning from LKO. I've done a lot of that in career mode recently and 10-20km has been more than adequate for that.