Cattywampus Orbit Strands Space Tourists!!!

[Sgt Charlie]

I sent an astronaut into orbit with two tourists and the orbit got all cattywampus and now they're outta fuel and can't get back.  Can anyone help me?  The Low orbit altitude is approx 86K and the High 500+miles....

Thanks,

Charlie

[batman78781]

This might not be the best place to post this.... 

Try the gameplay questions and tutorials subforum. But, welcome to the forums!

Edited January 23, 2016 by batman78781

[Mighty1]

the easiest thing to do is to use that proven technique called "get out and push" just remember to do it at your ap and not pa. if you can not go on EVA then you have to do a rescue mission.

Edited January 23, 2016 by Mighty1

[Tex_NL]

3 options:

1. As Mighty1 suggested, get out and push. At ap go EVA and physically push your craft retrograde. It can be tricky and you do need to keep an eye on your EVA propellant. If you run out you've made a bad problem worse.
2. Rescue. Rendezvous with an empty pod and EVA the crew over. Just keep in mind tourists can not EVA. If you are fortunate enough the stranded ship has a docking port you can use that of course.
3. Refuel. Rendezvous, dock and start the pumps. With a docking port this would be straightforward but if you don´t have one installed use 'the claw'.

Edited January 23, 2016 by Tex_NL

[Scotius]

If you can't dock, and don't have access to the Klaw you can built a 'space tug' of sorts. Just place three or four structural girders on the nose of the rescue craft in a sort of V-shaped cage. Aim stranded craft prograde, rescue craft retrograde, wedge bows of both crafts (gently!) and burn until trajectory of combined crafts enter atmosphere. Then separate, re-enter and...profit Rescue craft doesn't even have to be recoverable if you have probe core as control unit.

[Sgt Charlie]

Yeah, I was afraid that those would be y'alls answers. 

1. I got the hand yesterday, so my tech level is below the 90 Science points on the tree.

2. I sent up a probe so at least the pilot could EVA to it, but ran outta go juice before I could figure out the "catch up to it" game. 

3. I haven't been able to rendezvous with anything yet. I've got two missions to rescue other Kerbalians, and can figure those out either. Guess I'll watch some more YouTube and do the tutorials again. 

Thanks again for all your responses, I'll actually try the "Get out and push" method. The closest point to the planet is actually less than 100K, do i should/might be able to actually do it. 

Thanks again,

SGT Charlie

USAG Humphreys, South Korea

 

[Red Iron Crown]

Moved this gameplay question over to the best forum for it.

[benzman]

If your orbit is not degrading go for a rescue mission.  Rendezvous and docking takes a bit of practice but is vital for your development of the joy of the game.  And for me personally, a successful rescue mission that gets everyone home safe gives the greatest satisfaction that the game has to offer.

 

[Rocket In My Pocket]

32 minutes ago, Sgt Charlie said:

3. I haven't been able to rendezvous with anything yet. I've got two missions to rescue other Kerbalians, and can figure those out either. Guess I'll watch some more YouTube and do the tutorials again. 

This how I learned, just keep it open and alt-tab out of the game after each step to check it. You'll be a pro in no time!

Spoiler

As always, all credit goes to the original creator of the illustrated guide, I wish I knew who he/she was!

Edited January 23, 2016 by Rocket In My Pocket

[Snark]

If you do follow the "get out and push" strategy:  as Tex says, make sure your kerbal doesn't run out of EVA propellant while outside.  It's worth noting, however, that your EVA kerbals get a free propellant refill whenever they go back inside a command pod.  So if you're pushing, and it's not quite to where you need it, and you're almost out of propellant, you can just hop back inside momentarily and come back out with a full tank again.  Repeat as needed.

[numerobis]

I've done the push technique with success to get tourists back from a botched lunar fly-by. It was quite a few shoves to get the Pe down from about 300km to 65km, and then many orbits before the final re-entry, but it definitely worked!

Point normal or anti-normal (the magenta icons on the nav ball) to slow down the most during the zip through the upper atmosphere.

[Sgt Charlie]

Everyone has been so helpful. I'm going to try for the rendezvous and I'll let ya'll know when/if it works.  Thanks again.  And great illustration!

SGT Charlie

[Sgt Charlie]

OMG! I'm Soooooo impressed with myself! 

Not only did I rescue "myself" from my botched Lunar landing using the GOAP method; I also just sent up a probe ship and rescued a Kerbalite pilot stranded in orbit! (And what a perfect orbit it was.)

With the GOAP, I took it to 56K, did one flyby and landed on the next orbit.

 

Anyway, I absolutely cannot thank you all enough! The graphic was the clincher because I'm a visual learner. 

Remember, I did all this with nothing above the 90 Science level and only Sputnik prope head (so no SAS)!

Anyways, I've got a pick on my computer I'll put up here later. Thanks again for everyone's help!

SGT Charlie

Edited January 25, 2016 by Sgt Charlie
Misspelled words and added thoughts.

[Sgt Charlie]

On 1/23/2016 at 4:57 PM, Tex_NL said:

3 options:

1. As Mighty1 suggested, get out and push. At ap go EVA and physically push your craft retrograde. It can be tricky and you do need to keep an eye on your EVA propellant. If you run out you've made a bad problem worse.
2. Rescue. Rendezvous with an empty pod and EVA the crew over. Just keep in mind tourists can not EVA. If you are fortunate enough the stranded ship has a docking port you can use that of course.
3. Refuel. Rendezvous, dock and start the pumps. With a docking port this would be straightforward but if you don´t have one installed use 'the claw'.

I got really good at hitting my COG so as not to make my craft go into a wide spin. Like he said in the movie Contact, "Small moves, Ellie; small moves."

[Sgt Charlie]

On 1/23/2016 at 5:06 AM, Snark said:

If you do follow the "get out and push" strategy:  as Tex says, make sure your kerbal doesn't run out of EVA propellant while outside.  It's worth noting, however, that your EVA kerbals get a free propellant refill whenever they go back inside a command pod.  So if you're pushing, and it's not quite to where you need it, and you're almost out of propellant, you can just hop back inside momentarily and come back out with a full tank again.  Repeat as needed.

OMG no kidding! I got super comfortable with the EVA, states not paying attention and remembered the pod with 0.01 fuel! LOL

[Wemb]

Congratulations! Now you know all about orbital rendezvous! Next step - docking!

 

Wemb

[Sgt Charlie]

On 1/23/2016 at 4:57 PM, Tex_NL said:

3 options:

1. As Mighty1 suggested, get out and push. At ap go EVA and physically push your craft retrograde. It can be tricky and you do need to keep an eye on your EVA propellant. If you run out you've made a bad problem worse.
2. Rescue. Rendezvous with an empty pod and EVA the crew over. Just keep in mind tourists can not EVA. If you are fortunate enough the stranded ship has a docking port you can use that of course.
3. Refuel. Rendezvous, dock and start the pumps. With a docking port this would be straightforward but if you don´t have one installed use 'the claw'.

I got really good at hitting my COG so as not to make my craft go into a wide spin. Like he said in the movie Contact, "Small moves, Ellie; small moves."

[Sgt Charlie]

3 hours ago, Wemb said:

Congratulations! Now you know all about orbital rendezvous! Next step - docking!

 

Wemb

Yes and that's going to be fun.  I think I'll try it in the vanilla game and then download the mod for it.  I closed the distance on this craft to within 150 meters before I took over her craft and EVA'd her into mine.  It wasn't really all that hard, but I understand what the person who did the rendezvous graphic meant by "annoying yaw and pitch motion".  I'll most likely install the RCS Build Aid mod as well as the Docking Port Alignment Indicator mod after I try to doc with the vanilla settings.

Thanks for the encouragement!

Sgt Charlie

Edited January 25, 2016 by Sgt Charlie
Tried to insert a screenshot, but got shot down!

[Wemb]

2 hours ago, Sgt Charlie said:

Yes and that's going to be fun.  I think I'll try it in the vanilla game and then download the mod for it.  I closed the distance on this craft to within 150 meters before I took over her craft and EVA'd her into mine.  It wasn't really all that hard, but I understand what the person who did the rendezvous graphic meant by "annoying yaw and pitch motion".  I'll most likely install the RCS Build Aid mod as well as the Docking Port Alignment Indicator mod after I try to doc with the vanilla settings.

 

Good luck - personally, I wouldn't try it without some sort of alternate navball or docking indicator, but my eyes are rubbish and the Navball is too small for me to comfortably rely on.

RCS thruster placement shouldn't be too hard on a small vessel.  You won't really need it for rotation as your reaction wheel will probably be able to handle it - so just slap four on exactly around the ships CoM (or CoM that the ship will have when you've gotten it wherever you need it to be, e..g with a half-empty fuel tanks at one end, etc.). Nothing worse than trying to use RCS on an unbalanced ship. You should be able to simulate your ship at this stage in the VAB and use the CoM button to determine where to put them.  

But, hey, if you can do confidently do intercepts to within 500m of a target, you'll have no problems docking, I bet.

Wemb

[Snark]

On 1/25/2016 at 4:40 AM, Sgt Charlie said:

Yes and that's going to be fun.  I think I'll try it in the vanilla game and then download the mod for it.  I closed the distance on this craft to within 150 meters before I took over her craft and EVA'd her into mine.  It wasn't really all that hard, but I understand what the person who did the rendezvous graphic meant by "annoying yaw and pitch motion".  I'll most likely install the RCS Build Aid mod as well as the Docking Port Alignment Indicator mod after I try to doc with the vanilla settings.

The simple easy answer to the "annoying yaw and pitch motion" is to turn on fine-control mode while docking.  It makes the RCS thrusters magically smarter and is one of the (unfortunately) best-kept secrets of KSP.

Here's an illustrated docking guide I put together which you may find helpful, once you've set up an orbital rendezvous within a couple of kilometers.

My personal favorite docking-alignment mod is Navball Docking Alignment Indicator, not the other one.  Nicely minimalist UI, doesn't take up any screen real estate, is automatically there when you need it and gone when you don't, really intuitive to use.