On the Ethics of One-Way Landing Missions ...

[Merinsan]

The problem you have is you haven't asked for volunteers! Look at Mars One, plenty of people signing up for that and it's a one way trip! All my Kerbals on Eve signed up for the Eve One program. Once I get the colony assembled, I'll probably post a screenshot somewhere.

[NASAFanboy]

I have several Kerbals (3) in Eve orbit hooked up to a interplanetary tug. They've done lots of work, gathering enough science to get me the NERVA (The tug is conventional powered), and have a nice, large habitat module that spins on the tug to keep them gravited and stable.

I can eject the escape pod and land on eve. It has a transmitter.

But I can't bring myself to do it. I'm finding myself in the same situation as you.

I don't know. Maybe I'll do a four year mission. One year to eve, one year in orbit, one year on surface, and one year back, that is, once I get around to landing my unmanned Eve lander.

I treat my kerbals as employees, as highly skilled employees passionate about their jobs. I can't kill them.

I, too, have morals

[Madrias]

I try not to strand Kerbals, but I have done so. If it's at all possible to bring them back, I do (after all, a spaceplane with a spare cockpit = rescue plane), but there have been some who are still indefinitely awaiting rescue missions, and some who inevitably were "volun-told" to be colonists due to getting tired of wrecking my ships trying to rescue, and instead stranding more.

However, I've been building a new probe-powered rescue lander in order to try minimizing the number of stranded Kerbals on Minmus... Yeah, landed ships on most of the planets, but I keep planting Kerbals on Minmus.

[Surimi]

As others have already mentioned, in real life one-way missions are a very real possibility. Honestly, if you're someone who wants to live a full and long life going outside of Earth's magnetic field for the however many years a manned mission to another planet would take is highly inadvisable anyway. There are almost certainly people who can cope with that. I can't say I'm one of them, but I'm sure they exist.

But yeah.. I refuse to send one-way missions (although accidents happen) and honestly, given the degree to which you have to set your own goals at the moment I'd say this is actually the mark of a good player.

Edited October 26, 2013 by Surimi

[relin]

Haven't officially lost any Kerbals since 0.22 (not counting reverted failures, it's how I test). And ever since seeing this video:

I don't think I'll ever lose one without dying a little inside.

[AmpsterMan]

I try my absolute best not to allow threw Kerbals to die. They are the only things that turn this game into a gamer rather than a sim.

[Superfluous J]

In my mind, Kerbals are uniquely suited for living in space - far more than we are. I believe that they feel the yearning desire to be citizens of the Universe. That's why they don't start with probes. That's why they'll happily ride a one-man capsule to the Mun (But not outside Kerbin's SOI. I'm waiting for 3-man capsules for that).

When I set up a Kethane mining base, it becomes manned by a few Kerbals. They don't come home; they WANT to live there. Same with a space station.

They're not exploring space. They're colonizing it.

However one thing I will not do is strand a Kerbal in a lander on Mun. Or 3 Kerbals in a large lander, even. They need a habitat designed for living on the planet, with plenty of living space and maybe a rover to take for a spin if they get bored. And snacks.

[samstarman5]

Eventually there's going to be penalties for losing your crew, so it's not a good habit to get into.

That will most likely come when budgeting is instituted, and having to pay for new Kerbals to be recruited. You think gathering science points for certain tiers is a challenge? Whew....

[metalmouth7]

I totally hate to waste good Kerbals on other worlds. I much rather send them on more limited missions then risk leaving them stranded. For example, I'm currently building up a Duna colony. Since I currently lack the parts to build a proper vehicle with a return stage, I've opted to send my crew to Duna on a limited 300 day expedition, after which a return vehicle (that was sent separately,) will descend and pick them up, drop off a replacement crew and some provisions, and then bring them home. I don't think I could do it any other way.

[tom1499]

I try to save kerbals the pain of living on the surface of a planet for eternity. I'm the guy who refuses to kill characters in games unless absolutely necessary. I've taken massive extra measures to not kill people before in skyrim. Jeb is still sitting on Minmus though, but it should be easy enough to pick him up. He's got solar panels though, so i don't feel too bad for him. He gets to see home everyday, and also feels like superman, apparently.

[Scotius]

No one gets left behind If i can't provide my kerbals with a safe way home, i'm sending a probe. Every manned mission is backed up by a full tanker waiting on stand-by to provide help if needed. If a crew gets stuck on the groundside, or runs out of fuel in space rescue mission gets highest priority. In a nutshell, i try to play like a real space program manager. Or a benevolent space deity fond of his subiects

[Kialar]

I try to get them all home again. And if it is only for the joy in their faces, when they splash down or land back on Kerbin.

[dragoncannon]

I never leave a Kerbal stranded.... at least intentionally. I treat Jeb and co the same way I used to think of my soldiers back in my army days. I will do everything I can to get them home safely....

[peadar1987]

No Kerbal left behind!

I test new designs by launching them, and if they explode, they explode, and I revert flight. I reckon this is an acceptable break from reality, and is a substitute for unmanned tests, complex maths, and years of design verification. However, after the first "proper launch", there's no reverting, and the Kerbals must rely on the Launch Escape system.

So far, I've only lost one Kerbal. Jebediah burned up on reentry from a Munar flyby when his capsule ran out of charge, and wasn't able to orient the heatshield on reentry. The capsule survived, just, but the parachutes were burned to a crisp. He smiled all the way down, and I died a little inside!

[Luckless]

I try to get all of mine back as well. If I have a craft failure and someone is stuck on a planet, then I see it as a goal to recover them and bring them back.

I'm even tempted to 'accidentally' fling someone onto a solar escape with a gravity assist in the Jool system, and then try to find a way to recover them anyway.

[psyper]

I've been doing it all wrong!!! I invest in the lives of my kerbals and I look after their wellbeing but I have never returned a single Kerbal back to Kerbins surface! I'm still using the non-career version of the game at the moment and I have several Kerbals in a space station in LKO, two on minmus working the Kethane mining system (one in a one-manned capsule lander and another in a fuel tanker buggy), 2 crew on their way to minmus, and I have 3 in a interplanetary transfer craft which is set to go to Jool once the transfer comes up in 22 days. Once they arrive the craft will be a spacestation there (it has two hitchikers and two solar arrays).

Can I bring these guys back right now? nope I don't have a single craft in space at the moment that is able to land safely back to Kerbin. But are they stranded? If I'm able to build several such crafts, dock them with the space-station I'll be able to bring every single Kerbal back home.

The two crew I'm sending to Minmus are travelling in a craft which consists of two hitch-hiker capsules and will become a permanent base on Minmus for the new crew and the two that are already there - space for 8 people for a 4 manned crew - should be ample for them to live for the foreseeable future. As Kerbals don't need food, water or air then I can't see this as them being stranded - they are still alive and doing what they signed up for - I always believe that we ask them - do you want to live on minmus with no scheduled homeward journey - or LKO - or Jool? And they sign on the dotted line. I'm sure if there is a family emergency or they change their mind my space programme control is more than willing to send out a ship to bring them back home - but so far none have wanted to.

If I had the mods that require air, food and water I would make sure I set up hydroponics or a supply chain to keep them alive - even if I do a one-way mission to eve I would make sure they receive care packages form home and they'll have to sign up for a one-way mission only.

[Rowsdower]

I love how committed all of you are in your viewpoints here, particularly on the cause of keeping your Kerbonauts alive at all costs. For me, I prefer to keep them alive. It's not about honor, it's about guilt. I feel terrible having to see the looks of confusion or despair in their faces when something's going wrong. If I experience a crash, as fun as they can be, watching them react to plummeting is a very bitter pill.

[jwenting]

it's FOR THE ENVIRONMENT.

One way missions use less fuel, which saves small furry animals from Kerbal Warming!

And they also help against the Population Explosion!

[panzerknoef]

I'm personally not against it, i do it all the time. But when i do, i mostly figure out a way to get them back or to make their stay more comfortable. My only exception so far is my mission to Eve, but since they landed at +\- 60m high, near the ocean i'm not planning to bring them back. Hitchhiker storage container ships and improved rovers are already in development though. (Link to my one-way eve mission post: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/59381-A-one-way-mission) But whilemean they have there rover to keep them entertained! There do seems to be some kind of bug surrounding kerbal respawn, i lost one of my three kerbals on the surface of minimus, but when the 2 remaining ones returned home, the lost one was not in the lost kerbals department in the kerbonaut facility, he was in the hired department!? But anyway, you know my opinion!

Edited November 25, 2013 by panzerknoef

[John Nowak]

I like the challenge of return missions -- it gives insight to history.

There was the time that I launched a ship under remote control, and Jeb snuck aboard at the last minute. Since the ship had no parachutes, this prompted a THRILLING SPACE RESCUE with Adam kerman as David Jansen in Marooned!

[Aragosnat]

I don't see anything wrong with avoiding one way missions for Kerbals. I do enjoy the challanges of making sure they have a way home. But, I also don't mind leaving them there as I go by they are my construction crew looking for a suitable building site before the construction equipment arrives with extra crew suppot. From which they will build a base that constructs rockets as well as everything else that goes into supporting such an endevor.

[Smidge204]

Recruit only the bravest Kerbal volunteers. They understand the risks and are prepared to make that sacrifice for the good of all Kerbalkind!

Send periodic resupply missions and either plan for an eventual return attempt or establishment of a permanent base. As a bonus, you'll be practice targeting your landings to land multiple craft in the same general area!

=Smidge=

[Demon_82]

In my recently deleted sandbox game, I could be called a genocide and a sadistic manager, due to the high number of stranded and killed kerbals that I had. But in my new career game I've only had 4 casualties, due to life support misscalculations on interplanetary travel, and no one has been stranded. My only long standing kerbals out of Kerbin are periodically replaced and resupplied in Kerbin Space Station and on Mun Base. I think they hate me less in this new game

[Javster]

I am not fully against one-way missions as long as the Kerbals have sufficient space to live. A single capsule is not enough, and I'll send a rescue mission ASAP if I can.

[9911MU51C]

I used to do one-way landings and orbits all the time, but now that's pointless since they can't bring the science back