The ethics of Space

[KasperVld]

If you feel bad about this borderline genocide, you can always send your Kerbal off in a dignified manner using the Eterno-rest-2000 mod - though I think it hasn't been updated for 0.20 yet you can place it in the legacy /Parts/ folder

[Ph34rb0t]

If a Kerbal gets killed during launch, reentry or landing their name will be added to a memorial wall, an investigation will be launched and no expense will be spared to ensure that this will not happen again!

If a Kerbal is stuck in space, he will be rescued, no matter the wait or cost required.

No Kerbal shall accept the futility of its existence when stranded in space, no sir, not on my watch!

And damn well not as long as I am head of the space program!

EVERY! KERBAL! WILL! DIE! AT! HOME!

(The NASA method of playing KSP helps minimizing casualties, by the way.)

(This does not apply to probes.)

[bonyetty]

My next mission is to rescue the previous rescue mission which was a mission to rescue a mission designed to rescue a rescue mission of a failed rescue mission that required a rescue mission to rescue a Kerbal on an unsuccessful rescue mission.

[Wait- Was That Important?]

*snip*

Then of course, there're a multitude of launches that have been less than stellar, however amusing they were to watch.

*snip*

I laughed for far too long at what was probably an unintended pun.

[karolus10]

I mostly use probes for crash testing (smaller pod torque and simpler to test rocket/lander with fuel tanks as payload dummy) different designs. With new tank diameter probes this is much easier .

I don't use custom escape system... in most cases crew fly with tested vehicle and sepatrons towers aren't worth the effort.

I very liked Claira LES tower - decent TWR, right acceleration with capsule and look just gorgeous (but integrated decoupler would made it perfect).

[Fox967]

Im careful never to kill a Kerbal - every command pod has an emergency launch system, and i never put a Kerbal somewhere without being sure i can return them home

I have put probes on every planet/moon, yet the only other planet my Kerbals have walked on is Duna, and that was touch and go at some points. But when i brought them back home, it felt so much better than if i had just clicked 'End Flight'.

Of course, i don't mind how anyone plays the game, but its more enjoyable for me knowing i haven't (purposefully) killed anyone.

[Y-Hat]

I work really, really hard to keep my Kerbals alive. Partly it's sympathy (Gosh Darnit! Jeb does his best for me, so Imma gonna do my best for him!) but part of it is just being a gamer. As hard as it is to get a ship somewhere, it makes it so much more challenging to try to bring the poor guys home again in one piece. I integrate ejection systems into my designs (which actually work quite well under most circumstances) and thus far haven't lost a single Kerbal on mission... even after that unfortunate "the lander just fell over" incident. Fortunately, that mission was to crew my new long-duration Mun lander, so he had somewhere to go. He came home when his relief landed successfully.

The one exception is when my 2.5 year old daughter helps me play. She likes it when things explode. That's usually when I work on my spaceplane program, which is pretty much guaranteed to include fireworks.

[FlamedSteak]

I'm pretty cautious with my Kerbals and do my best to keep them alive.......but high-speed jet pack EVA's across the surface of Minmus are a lot of fun.

[Kerbol Prime]

The only kerbal I would rescue is Jeb...otherwise they can either stay in orbit forever or die alone on a planet or moon. On a side note I sometimes do a new save where I actually use safety precautions.

[firerider521]

Let's be honest: Anything I design that stays on Kerbin is probably a screw-around project, and any screw-around project is going to get multiple Kerbals killed.

[Commander Zoom]

I maintain separate "real" and "test" saves. The latter is my version of a simulator for testing new designs and just messing around without screwing up my past and present missions. Sometimes Kerbals die there, but as Jim Lovell said, "If I had a nickel for every time they killed me in that thing..."

In the "real" save, if something goes badly wrong, I quick-load. Didn't happen.

[FollowingGhosts]

I remember my only Kerbal to die on the Mun, and that was because he soared too high and came down slightly too quickly...

I think I'd rather End Flight than obliterate a Kerbal if it's inevitable. Somehow, I feel slightly better, and so do the cleaners, there's less to mop up...

[Flixxbeatz]

Using probes for mundane missions and tests to prevent personnel deaths in case of a crash, and also trying to keep mortality rate to minimum by testing a spacecraft before launching it into orbit.

For extreme missions, there's still an "End Flight" choice.

[Guest]

My designs include some form of LES, because I enjoy the design challenge it entails, and I would like to think the Kerbals have a fighting chance of not buying the farm. Unfortunately it doesn't always work out that way. I recently launched a Mun mission using the Jool V lifter. A design fault introduced a weak point in the stack, which collapsed because of pogo oscillations. The whole vehicle became a fireball before I could hit the abort button. "End Flight" was out of the question for the same reason. Even with the best intentions and proper safeguards, there will be losses.

[Motokid600]

Now I gotta ask... All this is just role playing right? A Kerbal stranded can't actually die...yet...right? Lol because I've stranded a lot of kerbals on the mun. Well not stranded exactly. Basically what I do to leave my mark on a planet is land a habitat on the surface. 3 kerbals go then debending on how generous I am one Kerbal returns home or docks with my station for crew swap. I leave the other kerbals stay in the hitchhiker to man the fort and live on an alien world. They stay until I visit again and swap the crew. Now... I just noticed this. Did u guys see in the map view that your kerbals have stats? Lol so far ive seen a courage bar and a stupidity bar I lol'ed. I wonder if they eventually add in hunger, thirst.. life support.

[Nikolai]

I wonder if they eventually add in hunger, thirst.. life support.

I hope not, honestly. I feel really good if I can pull off a rescue mission, especially if the stranded Kerbal is remote. Adding too much complexity to keep him alive even though he's just sitting there would make me care less about rescuing Kerbals, I think, not more.

[Fox967]

Now I gotta ask... All this is just role playing right? A Kerbal stranded can't actually die...yet...right? Lol because I've stranded a lot of kerbals on the mun. Well not stranded exactly. Basically what I do to leave my mark on a planet is land a habitat on the surface. 3 kerbals go then debending on how generous I am one Kerbal returns home or docks with my station for crew swap. I leave the other kerbals stay in the hitchhiker to man the fort and live on an alien world. They stay until I visit again and swap the crew. Now... I just noticed this. Did u guys see in the map view that your kerbals have stats? Lol so far ive seen a courage bar and a stupidity bar I lol'ed. I wonder if they eventually add in hunger, thirst.. life support.

I seem to remember Harvester saying they don't want to implement food and stuff like that because it will turn the game into a micromanagement sim etc. Making sure all your Kerbals have enough food / water for the 2 year voyage to another planet would be... 'fun', hehe.

I think its much more likely to be that, later down the line, you will hire a Kerbal, pay for his training, and THAT is what will stop you wanting to leave Kerbals everywhere - you COULD pay $1000's training Jeb up, but its a waste of money just to leave him on Eve, right? Unless he is working on a mining rig or something.

Maybe they will incorporate a boredom aspect or something - maybe a Kerbal that spends years & years away from home wont work as efficiently?

I dunno, we shall have to wait and see. Im sure Squad has a few ideas

[admiralducksauce]

I run a "Fly or Die" rocketry program.

Now, if they get stranded somewhere, that can be fun playing out a rescue. But I don't bother with ejection seats or safety parachutes anymore. The little guys' names will cycle back around before too long.

[karolus10]

Food and other crew consumables should be maintenance free, so they will survive in they own if you pack enough water and food... kerbals probably had lesser nutrition needs than humans, because of their small size, so they can be full after eating stuff you will consider as only a small snack .

Also they would can survive without eating for few weeks (they can lost strengths and become grumpy) ,so they wouldn't die when food run out and not eat at all in short missions (you don't need to rob grocery store if you want to go for few day mission to mun).

[The Jedi Master]

I try not to kill them, but stranded? They are going to wait a while for their rescue...

This does not apply to my "mess around" save. I swear, it's like a meatgrinder for Kerbals.

[Scrogdog]

Heh, I do that too. I have The Test Universe, and The Reality Universe.

Anything goes in test. In reality, whatever happens, happens. No going back.

[xandski]

No Kerbal left behind. Some of the most fun missions I've ever flown have been to rescue Kerbals stranded in interplanetary orbits or after landing accidents. If a Kerbal is killed then I try to put a flag up at the co-ordinates where he sacrificed himself for the glory of Kerbal endeavour.

I do also have an "Anything Goes" save for when I want to take things a little less seriously or introduce someone new to the game.

[Dunbaratu]

For the idea of an "anything goes" test save, does the game have an in-game way to migrate ship designs from one campaign to another? I think the only way to do it at the moment is to manipulate the filesystem outside of the game, copying files between folders.

It would be nice if you could import ship designs between saves, and then have a save game that you think of as your simulator.

[Scrogdog]

Take a look at the mod called Sub-Assembly Loader. That's what I use. It's useful as a time saver even when not switching universes.

You can save lifting packages and then just build the payload you want and pull the save.

[Tollazor]

Subassembly loader really needs to be implemented into the base game. It is just too darn useful to go without.

I'm pretty sure the WH&S standards of Kerbal are pretty much zip. As such if my Kerbals get .... hurt during my missions well, they will be treated as the forgotten heroes they are.