What does this mean?

[jilkka]

[LOG 11:38:03.370] [FLIGHT GLOBALS]: Switching To Vessel North Pole Science! Debris ---------------------- 
[LOG 11:38:03.372] stage manager resuming...
[LOG 11:38:13.064] North Pole Science! Unloaded
[LOG 11:38:13.066] Packing North Pole Science! for orbit
[LOG 11:38:13.095] [U][B]Vessel North Pole Science! was on-rails at 0.9 atm pressure and was destroyed.[/B][/U]
[LOG 11:38:35.017] [PlanetariumCamera]: Focus: North Pole Science! Debris
[LOG 11:38:35.024] Maneuver Mode enabled
[LOG 11:38:39.954] Camera Mode: AUTO
[LOG 11:38:41.537] [PlanetariumCamera]: Focus: North Pole Science! Debris
[LOG 11:38:41.543] Maneuver Mode enabled
[LOG 11:38:44.263] dT is NaN! tA: 3.44429171085358, E: 0, M: 0, T: NaN
[LOG 11:38:44.264] dT is NaN! tA: 6.19893765449524, E: 0, M: 0, T: NaN
[LOG 11:38:44.264] dT is NaN! tA: 4.11503928899765, E: 0, M: 0, T: NaN
[LOG 11:38:49.472] Camera Mode: AUTO
[LOG 11:38:52.146] Game Paused!
[LOG 11:38:52.147] Active Vessel is in atmosphere. Cannot save.

I switched to the debris I had just ejected as it was doing something funny (the debris was not acting like it should have and was just floating away at around 42m/s instead of falling with increasing velocity) and then the craft dissappeared.

Thanks!

[TechnicalK3rbal]

That means the vehicle was debris, so It got destroyed because it was in the atmosphere when it left 2.4 km.

I think.

[Markus Reese]

The On Rails means that it is just following it's orbit path without processing physics. There is coding for these on rail vessels to be removed from game when they would be at certain conditions. That is why when something gets low enough in orbit, it disappears. The on rail also is why a piece of debris beyond the physics calculation range can dip to say 30 km without it's orbit changing and why vessel orbits don't change when you transfer orbital bodies if you are controlling a different vessel.

[DeMatt]

Your craft "North Pole Science!" got further than 2.5 km from the active object ("North Pole Science! Debris"), was then "packed" up to be put on rails, and then the game engine realized that it was low in the atmosphere and thus crashed it.

While there are a few mods that will extend that 2.5 km distance, in general it's easier to not switch away from your ships unless they are actually in orbit, or solidly landed.

[jilkka]

Your craft "North Pole Science!" got further than 2.5 km from the active object ("North Pole Science! Debris"), was then "packed" up to be put on rails, and then the game engine realized that it was low in the atmosphere and thus crashed it.

While there are a few mods that will extend that 2.5 km distance, in general it's easier to not switch away from your ships unless they are actually in orbit, or solidly landed.

That answers it!

It's kind of lame though, as it was on a fully deployed chute descent when I switched vessels. But makes sense to reduce the engine's resource usage and keep the game running smoothly.

[Sirrobert]

That means the vehicle was debris, so It got destroyed because it was in the atmosphere when it left 2.4 km.

I think.

Debris or not makes no difference for that