Ship Just Disappeared

[LordFerret]

Greetings, new to the game. Playing career mode. I've a 'space station' built with crew and lab modules, and with cross segments holding RCS and fuel storage tanks. I built a 'tug' and brought it up to the station, the idea was to use it to move parts around during the construction process. It worked quite well, and I left it docked overnight. Today, I resumed my construction project. The tug holds a lot of RCS, and figuring it didn't need fuel, I offloaded what was left to the station holding tanks. I decoupled the tug and waited for it to drift clear for a moment, then switched to Tracking to go pick up the tug and fly it. It was gone. It just disappeared... and with it, the pilot onboard, who is now listed as "Lost".

Any idea why?

Edited July 9, 2014 by LordFerret
Could not duplicate circumstance.

[Kryxal]

I don't know why, but I do know you could just switch vessels from the map screen or (in such close proximity) by pressing [ or ].

[Blind Dead McJones]

It's possible that it reentered atmosphere accidentally. If a ship enters atmosphere when it isn't the craft in control, the game deletes it on the assumption that it's going to deorbit and crash eventually. I did this once while trying to recreate the Gemini missions.

[-ELF-]

How far was your tug from the space station when you left to Tracking?

When you have checked back the space station, the tug is not attached back to the same port where it has been?

Do you have any saves prior to this state?

What was the contains of tug? Are you sure that it has a kerbal onboard?

Please check the Debris page, probably it is listed as debris, and thus is not shown as a normal ship?

Can you share a save file, along with names of your space station, probaly-lost kerbal and a list of parts from which tug is built?

Probably, We can look through this file to find any traces of lost ship?

[LordFerret]

When I decoupled the Tug, I tried to click on the capsule and see if I could 'control from here', but it wouldn't let me.

When I went to the map, it did not show the Tug ... yet returning from the map the Tug was floating there next to the Station.

Yes, I had a pilot in the Tug. The only thing missing from the Tug was fuel - it was loaded with RCS mono-propellant, but no fuel (Liquid & Oxi).

When I went to Tracking, the tug was all of 10m or so from the station, just floating. When I got to Tracking, all that showed was the Station, no Tug. When I returned from Tracking (back to the Station), the Tug was gone.

The debris page showed nothing (I keep a clean spaceport and orbital environment... everything comes back down and gets recovered).

Being new to the game, I'm not sure where to look for the save file. I just now went to the pilot selection screen to check for the lost pilot's name - and he's gone lol ... now it shows no lost pilot. Very strange. The Station's name is simply "ISS". I know, not very original. The Tug's name is "RCS-Tug n", where 'n' is the Tug number... for when I have more than one aloft at a time. At the moment, I have one Tug (another, launched last night) at the Station.

I have no mods installed. I'm looking at the docking alignment and camera tools though... maybe... tempted... I like playing a vanilla game.

I'm going to try to duplicate the circumstance. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for the replies.

Ferret

[Superfluous J]

When I decoupled the Tug, I tried to click on the capsule and see if I could 'control from here', but it wouldn't let me.

There are 2 possibilities for this:

1) You were controlling the station, not the tug. You can't "control from here" on a vessel you're not in control of.

2) There was nobody in the tug and it didn't have a probe core. You can't "control from here" on an uncontrollable ship.

When I went to the map, it did not show the Tug ... yet returning from the map the Tug was floating there next to the Station.

This really sounds like the tug is debris. If you put your cursor (in map mode) on the middle of the top of the screen, a drop down will appear and debris is unselected. Click and right click stuff to get it to appear and disappear in map mode.

Yes, I had a pilot in the Tug. The only thing missing from the Tug was fuel - it was loaded with RCS mono-propellant, but no fuel (Liquid & Oxi).

When I went to Tracking, the tug was all of 10m or so from the station, just floating. When I got to Tracking, all that showed was the Station, no Tug. When I returned from Tracking (back to the Station), the Tug was gone.

Do you have persistent debris (in the settings you get to off of the first screen) set to 0? Sounds like it was deleted. I don't see how it could happen with a person in it but it has all the signs.

Just to make sure: You went to the space center and went to the tracking station? Not map mode?

The debris page showed nothing (I keep a clean spaceport and orbital environment... everything comes back down and gets recovered).

This would also be consistent with persistent debris set to 0.

This sounds like either you really didn't have the pilot in the ship, or somehow the game decided it was debris even with the pilot in it, and with persistent debris set to 0 it was deleted as soon as you left the immediate area (by going back to the space center to load the tracking station).

[LordFerret]

Horseman,

I'm going to have to check on the persistent debris thing. I didn't know about that. Is 0 the default setting for career mode?

I was originally at (controlling) the station, decoupling the tug... pilot was aboard, had been docked overnight. I tried map first, then went space center and then tracking station - as you correctly point out. In map mode, there was/is no debris ... the only debris, other than stages in reentry, would be a few radial decouplers used to temp-anchor support struts during launch.

I just got back home, so I'll try to duplicate it tonight ... like now.

[LordFerret]

Ok, well it must have been some weird gremlin attack or something... it didn't do it this time. Handin Kerman is alive and well, and piloting my still existing tug. But I just realized the tug still has fuel, so now I'll re-dock and dump the fuel and try it again. Stand by..........

[Superfluous J]

Don't forget to check that persistent debris setting. I don't know the default but I'm pretty sure it's not 0.

[LordFerret]

Worked again. Could not duplicate the problem. I'm just going to mark this as solved and pretend it never happened. Sorry, noob here.

Thanks all.

[AlamoVampire]

Don't forget to check that persistent debris setting. I don't know the default but I'm pretty sure it's not 0.

i think default persistent debris is like 250 <i think>

[LordFerret]

My 'max persistent debris' is 250.

[Superfluous J]

Huh. Then the only thing I can think is the Kraken ate it. Sadly, it happens. I quicksave before and after every major maneuver, and if anything unfair happens I reload.