ksp mun mission save a kerbal and a ship landed.

[bjerrang]

So im struggling big-time.

I cant get a grip on the shuttle cockpit.

Ive tried 100 times now , even stopped the engines just before contact

Ideas ?

 

Dont comment on the ship , its fantastic :-)

[Adenosine Triphospate]

Intuitively, I would just say design a bigger ship, one with a greater TWR. Consider ones with large gimbal to compensate for the hefty payload.

What you could also try is a wider craft.  If the engines are mounted further away from the COM (i.e. radially on girder segments) it means you will have greater overall control of the vessel, as it will be more balanced. 

Avoid making the craft too tall, as this will just make matters worse (because of a higher COM). Think about it this way: a skyscraper is a lot more unstable and more likely to fall over than an arena will.

I think the small size of the lifter is ultimately what might make the craft unstable with the payload

 

P.S. just out of curiosity, what was the contract to begin with? I've never come across a contract that requires the whole cockpit to be recovered

 

[4x4cheesecake]

1 hour ago, bjerrang said:

Ideas ?

Try to approach the cockpit surface as vertical as possible, sometimes a little bit more speed helps as well.

1 hour ago, bjerrang said:

Dont comment on the ship , its fantastic :-)

A little hint anyway
If you can manage to grab the cockpit, you'll probably run into the next problem: The cockpit is pretty big and your ship pretty small. The cockpit may occlude at least one of your engines, so the engine will no longer produce any thrust. Try to grab it close to the edge to keep the space behind your engines free.

[bjerrang]

Yeah , i kind of see the issues. Engines must be lifted abit and further out.  I will try a few more rounds before i revert back to an old save.

Mission criterias : Rescue Mae Kerman , who is stranded on the surface of the mun with valuable data . Return her and whats left of her vessel to kerbin. Mass 3.5 ton

 

[bewing]

Your klaw is not armed? You need to arm it before you can grab anything.

But as said above, your klaw needs to be close to perpendicular to the surface it's trying to grab.

 

[Foxster]

You are trying to grab the cockpit by dropping onto it using engine braking?

If so, then that is going to be hard. Much better to straddle it with a craft with very tall landing parts and lower it by retracting some landing struts. 

Edited May 6, 2019 by Foxster

[Kryxal]

Also, those widely-spaced engines mean you can trim your craft by adjusting the individual engine outputs.

[Zosma Procyon]

I've used a rocket similar to yours successfully once on Mun, but had to cheat on Moho. Gravity is a pain in the hindquarters and maneuvering over the shipwreck is a royal pain too. If I ever accept another surface salvage mission I won't do it that way. I think the best course of action is to mount the Klaw on the side of your rocket and land on a set of powered wheels, and just drive up to the shipwreck to grab it. Then lift off and ditch the drive wheel, using reaction wheels and RCS jets to compensate for the rocket now being a bit out of balance.

[bjerrang]

6 hours ago, Foxster said:

You are trying to grab the cockpit by dropping onto it using engine braking?

If so, then that is going to be hard. Much better to straddle it with a craft with very tall landing parts and lower it by retracting some landing struts. 

yes , if it aint hard its no joy :-) 

I can trim the ship vertically then adjust it sideways using rcs and manually throttle it.

Where is your engines ?

[Foxster]

49 minutes ago, bjerrang said:

Where is your engines ?

Err, on the end of the girders. 

[bjerrang]

1 hour ago, Foxster said:

Err, on the end of the girders. 

What is their name , have not seen those.

Btw grabbed it.

But getting to orbit was a pain , used 1200dV on reaching orbit. Have a fuel ship inbound to the rescue mission ;-)

[Foxster]

15 minutes ago, bjerrang said:

What is their name , have not seen those.

Just good old Terriers. 

[Adenosine Triphospate]

28 minutes ago, Foxster said:

Just good old Terriers. 

They are actually the same engines you were using in your original post, its just they have had a reskin since newer versions (1.6 I think).