Hard rescue just got harder

[Waxing_Kibbous]

I had a rescue contract that initially started in an eccentric, pretty big orbit around Kerbin- fast foward about a month and I think ol' Clautine got a gravity assist into interplanetary orbit:

It's seems as though it's going to take way more dV than I can muster to catch her, also I haven't done much interplanetary flying at all so I'm at a bit of a tough spot here, any tips would be appreciated.

 

[MircoMars]

lol this is so kerbal...

i think you'd spend way more on a sole rescue mission than you would gain. if you can't turn back time (load old quicksave), she could be rescued wit a later mission, which travels in the general direction and can pick her up on route to duna or so. perhaps she'll enter kerbins soi in a few years, then rescue her on her flyby...

 

[Geschosskopf]

4 hours ago, Waxing_Kibbous said:

I had a rescue contract that initially started in an eccentric, pretty big orbit around Kerbin- fast foward about a month and I think ol' Clautine got a gravity assist into interplanetary orbit:

The moral to the story is, NEVER accept a rescue in Kerbin orbit that has more than 1 star.  They're all crossing Mun's orbit so the stranded Kerbal always gets ejected into solar orbit before you can get there.  Then you're stuck with a contract you probably can't complete, at least without way more cost than its worth.

[Waxing_Kibbous]

Wow really, this is a common thing? If I recall in the tracking station you can see potential contract satellite orbits and location markers, but not kerbal orbits (I've had some outside the moon but they were not crossing paths). I will have to either not accept them or accept them then do them right away from now on... (it's actually odd that something like this would happen within a year of a 5 year contract, could this qualify as a bug?).

[ForScience6686]

Considering it's a rescue I tend to try and get them as soon as possible.  Especially since it's in Kerbin soi, it shouldn't take you too long.  Why wait so long to rescue the poor guy?  I over build my rescue to craft to make rescues quicker as if they are in dire need for help, not waiting on a taxi.

[Geschosskopf]

13 hours ago, Waxing_Kibbous said:

Wow really, this is a common thing? If I recall in the tracking station you can see potential contract satellite orbits and location markers, but not kerbal orbits (I've had some outside the moon but they were not crossing paths). I will have to either not accept them or accept them then do them right away from now on... (it's actually odd that something like this would happen within a year of a 5 year contract, could this qualify as a bug?).

Yup, it's pretty common.  There was a whole string of posts about this a week or 2 ago.  It could all be fixed if the contract system added sufficient inclination to the eccentric orbits to keep them from ever meeting Mun, but it doesn't..  So, 1-star Kerbin rescues are in LKO.  2-star are about to be ejected by Mun.  Rescues from Munar orbit or surface are safe.  Pick your poison, but I'd avoid 2-star Kerbin rescues.

54 minutes ago, ForScience6686 said:

Considering it's a rescue I tend to try and get them as soon as possible.  Especially since it's in Kerbin soi, it shouldn't take you too long.  Why wait so long to rescue the poor guy?  I over build my rescue to craft to make rescues quicker as if they are in dire need for help, not waiting on a taxi.

Well, I look at it like this.......  It's not my problem, it's the Kerbal's problem :).

The problem with Mun-crossing rescues is that they don't seem to spawn randomly, but concentrate around the time that they'll get ejected.  This might be due to the timer that create new contracts being coincidentally in synch with Mun's orbital period, plus a lack of much randomization in the victim's AoP and LAN.  Also, as mentioned, you can't see the victim's orbit in the tracking center prior to accepting the contract, which makes it a real gamble.

The underlying time problem for such rescues is due to synching with an eccentric, mun-crossing orbit.  You basically have 2 options.  You can leave immediately or any arbitrary time after taking the contract, or you can wait to leave until the victim is near Pe.  If you do the former, then you'll have to get into a similar but different orbit and wait however many times around before you get in position to transfer to the victim.  Each of these orbits will take several days due to their distance, during which time Mun will likely interfere with either the victim or your ship.  The other option allows launching direct to rendezvous but requires careful timing and lots of dV and TWR to catch the victim prior to Ap, match speeds enough for an EVA transfer, and then avoid problems with Mun which are almost certainly looming dead ahead, before then returning to Kerbin.  It's also dependent on where the Kerbal is when he spawns.  If he's coming in towards his Pe, and you already have a ship ready, you might be OK.  If he's already on his way out to Ap, it's probably too late.