How to recover lost ships

[Rob N]

I've just started playing KSP and after just three flights have run out of pilots.  Problem appears to be that I can't recover ships, and crew, that land remote from the  space station.  What am I missing?  How do I rescue my pilots wha are bobbing along  far out to sea??

[James Kerman]

Welcome to the forum @Rob N!

There are a few ways, if you are currently in command of a vessel that is landed or splashed down on kerbin you can move your cursor above the altitude indicator and you get the recovery option:

Or if you click on the tracking station you should be able to see a list of your vessels on the left. Select one and click the recovery button:

[Rob N]

Excellent.  Worked a treat.

Thanks

[darthgently]

Keep playing.  You will have plenty of pilots, engineers, and scientists.  Especially if you take every rescue contract you can.  And of course recover your krew and vessels as described above

[Maria Sirona]

Hello there @Rob N, and welcome to the forums! Also, it is Space Center and not space station. Space stations are crewable things that stay in orbit like the ISS

[KccSpaceCmd]

what does one do when said option is greyed out? does this mean they are good as dead or do i just lack the tech to recover them ?

[Singhnaut]

2 hours ago, KccSpaceCmd said:

what does one do when said option is greyed out? does this mean they are good as dead or do i just lack the tech to recover them ?

hmm. I haven't encountered that yet. Can you send a screenshot and also say whether or not it says the crew are still alive?

[Bej Kerman]

3 hours ago, KccSpaceCmd said:

what does one do when said option is greyed out? does this mean they are good as dead or do i just lack the tech to recover them ?

It must be on a different planet. You might have to mount a rescue mission.