The Kerbal Disasters

[Stargate525]

(Not sure if this is the exact right place, but eh. I was told to share this, as it made my friend literally fall off his chair laughing)

I had played around with the free version and, after deciding to buy, went for a proper Mun landing. You know, since I had all the parts. It took me two tries to get into orbit, but my third try yielded a success. Munar III had a perfect de-orbit and Munar landing. It was then that my Kerbal decided he needed to take a spacewalk to the edge of the crater we'd landed in, see why it was so dark. He runs out of fuel, 6km away from the command pod. Radios the others to come get him. They try it, but... And the end of the debacle, the command pod is rolling across the munscape in a cloud of debris. Three kerbals, stranded on the Mun, and the first ones to land there, no less.

A program was immediately launched to get them back. Named the Dove I, the mission used a slightly modified version of the Munar III, with rungs outside for the extra kerbal to hang on for dear life. The plan was to get into Kerbal orbit, then use a suborbital spaceplane to bring the extra kerbal down before deorbiting Dove I's capsule.

Dove I failed to make the Munar orbital burn, and returned to Kerbin.

Dove II, carrying additional fuel, failed to make orbit.

Dove III made the Mun. Jebediah, being... Jebediah, landed, did a flip above the Munar surface, and landed the capsule on its side on the moon. In an attempt to right it, he exploded and died less than 500m from the stranded Kerbals.

Dove IV impacted the Mun at ~500 m/s.

Dove V suffered staging issues and detonated on the launchpad, killing the pilot instantly.

Dove VI impacted the Mun too hard during landing, destroying the lander but leaving the capsule (and another Kerbal) stranded on the Mun.

At what point should I stop launching rescue missions and start launching supplies for them to build a colony?

[Kiershar]

I suspect fowl play. Maybe you should think it out before dove-ing in again. At least you're spreading a lot of peace's around.

Edited October 2, 2012 by Kiershar

[henryrasia]

Try not hurrying so much to send the Doves, it's a rescue mission, no errors allowed whatsoever (unless you like them)

[draeath]

FYI. This mod might fit the bill

[-Gamah]

At what point should I stop launching rescue missions and start launching supplies for them to build a colony?

About 7 flights ago

[Vanamonde]

At what point should I stop launching rescue missions

Remember (my) KSP motto: never leave a man behind, unless it would be a really big pain to get him back.

[Darston]

It does not matter how many Kerbals die to achieve something, even a rescue mission. It's all about the mission of exploration.

[doggie015]

FYI. This mod might fit the bill

Does it work in 0.17?

[Czman007]

Does it work in 0.17?

Yes, it works in 0.17

[draeath]

Most mods work in .17 that worked in .16, from what I've seen.

[TheDarkStar]

When you launch a lander, EVA all but one of them and leave them on Kerbin. Land near the stranded Kerbals and get them in, then fly back.

[MaverickSawyer]

Nah. Not a Mun colony, but a Mun bace. And it's time to rename your rockets. Try... Jayhawk. Named for the USCG rescue helicopter design.

[kamilDrakari]

I recommend what DarkStar said, rather than using rungs on the outside get one of the mods that allows you to have extra internal space on your rocket (crew tank is fine, or there's also one that just lets you add empty versions of the command modules) or launch a 3-man capsule but remove two of the pilots before launch. Kerbals can't hold onto ladders very well during acceleration and you won't be able to time warp any of the journey back to Kerbin even if they stay on.

Personally I would leave them there unless one is Jeb. Try a new rescue plan later when you have more experience and can do so more reliably rather than just getting more and more Kerbals stuck and/or dead.

If Jeb is on the Mun, get him back immediately at any cost. You can't do crazy awesome missions without him.

[samstarman5]

You might want to try reverse psychology and try naming your missions with more aggressive nom de guerres. Such as Warhawk, Battlefalcon....Tweety Bird. Then when the Kraken isn't looking, you can swoop in, save the stranded survivors, and bask in the celebrations from the primitive kerbals on the little island you splash-land by on the opposite side of Kerbin from KSP.