How do I rescue a pilot trapped in orbit?

[Flexico]

I forgot to set up the decoupling order correctly, and now I have a pilot trapped in orbit in just a re-entry capsule and no engines. Is there any way to get them back to the surface?

[Signo]

Get out and push, is the easier way. It is not a joke, simply go on EVA and use your jetpack to lower your Pe.

If you are playing a career in the early stages and you can not go EVA you need to send a rescue craft.

[Reactordrone]

Unless you have unlocked the advanced grabbing unit you'll need the ability to EVA, either to get into a rescue ship or to get out and push. If your ship doesn't have a probe core to maintain stabilisation it can be hard to lower your periapsis using the jetpack since you're likely to induce craft rotation due to off centre thrust but it's usually worth a shot.

Edited September 13, 2016 by Reactordrone
spelling

[Loren Pechtel]

If you can do the get-out-and-push approach you can also simply leave him there for now.  Next time you're going to send a rocket close enough leave an empty seat, fly him over to it--the same thing you do on the Kerbal rescue missions except that since you already have control of the craft there's no requirement that you get within the 2.5km activation range.

Since you're asking the question you're obviously not too familiar with EVA operations--make sure to save before you do it!  Not only is it a bit on the tricky side (the controls do *not* work properly when you're movement is too close to vertical) but once in a while the kracken glues you into the hatch (this can force you to Alt-F4 the game) or blows your craft to bits.  Absolutely do not switch to your craft and promptly EVA, that raises the probability of getting stuck into the double digits.

1 hour ago, Reactordrone said:

Unless you have unlocked the advanced grabbing unit you'll need the ability to EVA, either to get into a rescue ship or to get out and push. If your ship doesn't have a probe core to maintain stabilisation it can be hard to lower your periapsis using the jetpack since you're likely to induce craft rotation due to off centre thrust but it's usually worth a shot.

He said it's just a capsule--he doesn't have power to run a core even if he had one.

[Rodhern]

2 hours ago, Reactordrone said:

... you'll need the ability to EVA, either to get into a rescue ship or to get out and push.

Can't the rescue ship do the pushing?

[Reactordrone]

2 hours ago, Rodhern said:

Can't the rescue ship do the pushing?

Good point. That's another option for the OP to consider.

[Magzimum]

7 hours ago, Rodhern said:

Can't the rescue ship do the pushing?

 

4 hours ago, Reactordrone said:

Good point. That's another option for the OP to consider.

This is so Kerbal that it makes me giggle and want to try it myself.

[Diche Bach]

Personally, I'd just send up a ship with an extra seat (or a 1 seater assuming you can control it by remote). Orbital rendezvous are challenging, but far less challenging I'd guess than trying to use your jetpack to do a burn to put your spaceship into reentry.

There are lots of good tutorials on how to do an orbital rendezvous. Not aware of any that cover "pushing your ship" while on EVA

Pushing in EVA sounds destined to not work. In my experience, if you so much as bump into something at faster than 0.5m/s the result will be both the Kerbal and the object careening off into the cosmos, entering an orbit around Sagitarrius A . . .

ADDIT: I found this particular thread (and the links in it) to be quite helpful in getting me proficient with docking . . . although in your case, you don't need to dock, you just need to rendezvous, i.e., get the two ships close and nullify relative motion so the tranded Kerbal can EVA from one ship to the other.

 

Edited September 14, 2016 by Diche Bach
aDDIT

[Plusck]

7 hours ago, Diche Bach said:

Pushing in EVA sounds destined to not work. In my experience, if you so much as bump into something at faster than 0.5m/s the result will be both the Kerbal and the object careening off into the cosmos, entering an orbit around Sagitarrius A . . .
 

No, no, GOAP is a tried and tested method of getting home. Particularly useful if you only just have enough fuel to escape from Minmus and can't lower Pe far enough.

It's slow and painful, and it helps if the ship has power for SAS so that it doesn't spin around too much, but it's pushing, not ramming, so all you risk is frustration in getting the thrust vector right.

[Diche Bach]

1 minute ago, Plusck said:

No, no, GOAP is a tried and tested method of getting home. Particularly useful if you only just have enough fuel to escape from Minmus and can't lower Pe far enough.

It's slow and painful, and it helps if the ship has power for SAS so that it doesn't spin around too much, but it's pushing, not ramming, so all you risk is frustration in getting the thrust vector right.

No foolin' . . . well I might have to try that. Any recollection of a thread describing the technique or what I might search "Get Out and Push" maybe? My EVA skills are only "nominal" so this might be a chance to bump them up to "skillful."

[Plusck]

1 minute ago, Diche Bach said:

No foolin' . . . well I might have to try that. Any recollection of a thread describing the technique or what I might search "Get Out and Push" maybe? My EVA skills are only "nominal" so this might be a chance to bump them up to "skillful."

Seaching "GOAP" should work.

But the principle is quite simple. Aim your ship retrograde (or whichever way you want to push), turn on SAS (AFAIK, only stability-assist SAS works in any sense if you aren't commanding the craft), go EVA and push your Kerbal against the engines. Or vice-versa, aim the opposite way and go push on the nose (maybe more accurate, now I think about it). Deactivating the "kerbals auto-rotate to camera" option in settings might cut down on the amount of fuel the jetpack wastes while you're doing this - I honestly can't remember whether I did that the last time I had to use the technique, it was so long ago.

[Mahnarch]

2 hours ago, Diche Bach said:

No foolin' . . . well I might have to try that. Any recollection of a thread describing the technique or what I might search "Get Out and Push" maybe? My EVA skills are only "nominal" so this might be a chance to bump them up to "skillful."

 

Oh, yeah. I used to suck at EVA, but after getting stuck in a high elliptical orbit coming back from Minimus once I became a pro!

 

I took quite a bit of time (and time warping around to Ap a few times, but it works.

 

Be sure to F5 before going EVA every time, though. Just in case.

[Chiron0224]

If you can EVA and you have a probe core you could send up a vessel that has a capsule with no-one in it and use the probe core get it to your pilot.  Then have the pilot EVA from the stranded vessel to the rescue craft.

[DD_bwest]

while getting out and pushing is a tried and true simple method,  rendezvous will have the benefit of giving you practice of something vitally mportant in more advanced missions 

[KingDominoIII]

Attach a Stayputnik to the top of an MK1. Put a cargo bay under them, fill it with batteries. No science stuff. have 1000 dV for orbit and deorbit. Launch with some SRBs and get to orbit with a liquid. Jettison the Stayputnik when the kerbonaut is in the MK1. 

Try to get down to 10mps for an easy maneuver.