EVA Re-Entry

[Fireheart318]

Here's a great tip for career mode players: It is possible to go EVA in low LKO ~70km - ~90km and use your EVA pack to de-orbit and land. Leave about half a unit for landing and try to land straight down at around 40m/s or lower

[DD_bwest]

ya ive done this a few times and laughed pretty hard the first time i survived it lol

someone needs to make a MOOSE mod, if their isnt one already lol

[Foxster]

I just did this in Eve. Craft exploded, Kerbin was thrown clear of his command set and with a little EVA pack burst near the surface he made it down in one piece. 

[tseitsei89]

How do you survive reentry heat? Doesnt your kerbal just overheat very quickly and explode while entering atmosphere at +2km/s velocities

[Wjolcz]

1 hour ago, tseitsei89 said:

How do you survive reentry heat? Doesnt your kerbal just overheat very quickly and explode while entering atmosphere at +2km/s velocities

I think it's doable as long as you don't dip right into it. I may be mistaken, but if you lower your Apo and Peri to about 70km it's totally doable.

[Snark]

I did it quite easily pre-1.0.5, but my impression was that 1.0.5 cranked up the heating enough that it became unworkable.  (Before 1.0.5, it was no problem at all, even arriving from Minmus at nearly 3 km/s.)

However, I haven't tried it post-1.1, nor did I devote much effort to experimenting with various orbital parameters in 1.0.5 to try to find a sweet spot.  Might be worth another look.

[The_Rocketeer]

4 minutes ago, Snark said:

I did it quite easily pre-1.0.5, but my impression was that 1.0.5 cranked up the heating enough that it became unworkable.  (Before 1.0.5, it was no problem at all, even arriving from Minmus at nearly 3 km/s.)

However, I haven't tried it post-1.1, nor did I devote much effort to experimenting with various orbital parameters in 1.0.5 to try to find a sweet spot.  Might be worth another look.

Ditto ^^. But then since Kerbals are basically immortal, I don't believe I've been in a stable orbit scenario where EVA re-entry was the best remaining option.

[mrclucks]

Pre 1.0.5 I had a kerbal with an AP of 100km and PE roughly 30 km who I thought was gonna die for sure.  Tried desperately to keep him in orbit but lacked the required thrust so after I entered the atmosphere I figured what the heck and watched him survive re-entry(still amazed that 6 minutes of being on fire didn't kill him) and was sure he would explode when hit the surface .  Instead he bounced a couple meters and promptly stood up.  

After that I promoted him so much that he doesn't have to go to space at all or do anything risky

[samstarman5]

How well you do in re-entry always depends on how steep you go in.

Look at it this way.  An approach to atmosphere is like jumping into water from a diving board.   The lower the board approximates a shallow entry into atmosphere.  The higher the board, a steeper descent as water becomes more resistant to your kinetic approach.  Hitting atmo anywhere about 3km/s is pretty much the same as jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge into the bay.  That water is going to be like hitting solid rock from there. Unless you are merely aerobraking and not just going straight down, something is going to go boom.

If you want to successfully survive re-entry via EVA, you will want to go in as shallow as possible while making sure you don't just skip back out.  Lithobraking, as in landing with a kerbal that just has an EVA pack, is a completely different story.  You could always take Bill's approach as far as that...as seen here:

 

[AbacusWizard]

On 6/5/2016 at 0:05 PM, DD_bwest said:

ya ive done this a few times and laughed pretty hard the first time i survived it lol

someone needs to make a MOOSE mod, if their isnt one already lol

 

@RoverDude's "USI Survivability Pack" includes the D.E.R.P., a one-seat evacuation pod capable of re-entry. Challenging to use effectively but fun to play with.

[evileye.x]

I play with 120% reentry heat (to make reentry at least somewhat deadly), so...  No chance. 

[How to: KSP]

I think it's just impossible. The heating will make the kerbal fried chicken before he reaches 40 kms in altitude

[Megadeath]

9 hours ago, samstarman5 said:

How well you do in re-entry always depends on how steep you go in.

 -Snipped for length-

 

You're totally right about angle being crucial, but the rest of your analysis is off. Sometimes a steeper dive to where atmosphere can slow you more is exactly what's needed.

Sure, you'll end up with higher skin temp. but there's scenarios where the lower core heating is necessary/advisable.

Can't speak to how this applies to EVA reentry, never tried it. Does that work more because of the ridiculous survivability of their suits, the OP nature of their thrusters, or about equal measures of both? Would love to try it if it's still viable.

[samstarman5]

So many kerbals have suddenly found themselves re-entering Kerbin's atmosphere sans even just a cockpit this day. I am damn sure of that.

I should iterate my thoughts on the matter are in the context of the game alone. In no way do I base this on thoughts of actual human re-entry in just a spacesuit, nor do I encourage anyone to try it. Unless you are Adam Savage and still have access to Buster and a good spacesuit.  SpaceX and/or the Russian Space Agency should be willing to give you a lift...

[Fearless Son]

Maybe we need to start equipping our Kerbals with these:

Edited June 8, 2016 by Fearless Son

[AeroGav]

I did it a few times in 1.05.

The trick, was to come in with a high periapsis, then wait till things started getting hot for your Kerbal.

At the right moment, burn Up and Retrograde simultaneously till the fuel was gone.  You'd then survive re-entry, but the landing was another matter..

[Kertech]

I feel like this should go here for the landing: sm chute by @SpannerMonkey(smce). Just give your kerbal it before you shove them out the door and they might not have to bang their head on the ground to survive!

[Fireheart318]

On June 5, 2016 at 4:43 PM, tseitsei89 said:

How do you survive reentry heat? Doesnt your kerbal just overheat very quickly and explode while entering atmosphere at +2km/s velocities

I know the entire video was EXTREMELY HORRIBLE (I'm gonna re-make it some day) but watch this: 

 

[The Optimist]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOOSE

 

Time to make one!

Edited June 9, 2016 by The Optimist

[RW-1]

On 6/8/2016 at 4:51 AM, How to: KSP said:

I think it's just impossible. The heating will make the kerbal fried chicken before he reaches 40 kms in altitude

Ummmmmm, fried kerbal ........ the take-out choice of Kracken's everywhere!  

[How to: KSP]

2 hours ago, RW-1 said:

Ummmmmm, fried kerbal ........ the take-out choice of Kracken's everywhere!  

XD Lol

[JoeNapalm]

 

I've done it twice, by accident, but not post 1.1.

Both survived, but it was...exciting.

 

-Jn-

[electricpants]

On 6/8/2016 at 3:51 AM, How to: KSP said:

kerbal fried chicken

YES!!! You just gave me the best idea ever!

KFC now stands for "Kerbal Fried Chicken".

[JoeNapalm]

1 hour ago, electricpants said:

YES!!! You just gave me the best idea ever!

KFC now stands for "Kerbal Fried Chicken".

They fitted a Mainsail with a grille.

 

-Jn-

[Hans Dorn]

This goes here I guess.

 

Bonus point if you know the movie, it's pretty kerbal IMO.