Forgotten parachute pls help

[ItsNotSuppisedDoThat]

So I'm returning a probe from the orbit of the mun and I noticed I had forgotten a parachute. The probe has not got enough fuel to land, no docking ports and I haven't unlocked the claw. Is it possible for me to put it in the cargo bay of another space craft (with parachutes) and reenter that way?

[Cunjo Carl]

@ItsNotSuppisedDoThat

Generally, yes! It can be very hard to fit probes into cargobays though, even with small ones, so unless it's outside your playstyle I'd recommend 'running simulations' by cheating your rescue craft into rendezvous using alt+F12 and doublechecking it fits first- then revert back to the space center to run the mission for real. It's smart to make an alt+F5 named save before doing this sort of thing so you can always revert even if your game quits. Since your payload won't be balanced, bring a bit more maneuverability than you would normally think to, and besides that there's nothing too unexpected about the process so long as there's no loose kerbals in the bay. Best of luck! Please let me know if you'd like more specifics as well.

Good thinking by the way, it took me a long time to come to this solution for the inevitable (almost iconic) missing parachute

Edited October 1, 2017 by Cunjo Carl

[Geonovast]

If you want to use KIS/KAS, you could also fly up a rescue craft, EVA out, bolt a parachute or two on, then de-orbit the probe as you'd originally planned.  I've had to do that before.

[AeroGav]

If you manage to maneuver the probe into a cargo bay and close the door, you need to remember that the two parts are not actually docked together and are still being treated as two separate vessels by the physics engine.    Every time the probe bumps into the walls of the cargo bay, the forces generated push it back inside. So long as you don't use time acceleration,   things will be fine.    However, if you go into time warp while in orbit, the physics engine is suspended and the collision detection stops, the two craft go "on rails" according to their momentum  and  the probe will be free to pass through the walls of your cargo bay and escape !

If you use x4 acceleration with the physics engine running (ie within the atmosphere),  remember the cargo bay will be subject to drag and will be decelerating, while the probe is not.  The more you accelerate time, the further each vessel can move relative to each other between each tick of the physics engine, and at some point there is a risk the game no longer decides the two parts have gently bumped against one another, but are in fact occupying the same space and have collided, and destroys both in a beautiful Kraken explosion.   

[Spricigo]

 

If it is returning with important science from somewhere yuo may instead send a astronaut in EVA to collect the science.

 

 

 

[Foxster]

1 hour ago, Spricigo said:

If it is returning with important science from somewhere yuo may instead send a astronaut in EVA to collect the science.

Yup. I'd rescue the crew and the science then scuttle or abandon the ship. 

[ItsNotSuppisedDoThat]

4 hours ago, Foxster said:

Yup. I'd rescue the crew and the science then scuttle or abandon the ship. 

I'm trying to complete a "return spacecraft from orbit" contract so I want the ship in one piece. However I will take the science out as a precaution