This'll teach him a lesson to never get stranded in space again

[I_Killed_Jeb]

Surprisingly, Dunmer Kerman never lost his cool during this unexpectedly toasty rescue mission.

Pro-tip: if you recover your Kerbal in a command seat you don't complete the contract and don't get to use him in future missions!

[95tiger59]

1. nice bug find

2. I thought everyone's re-entry went like this?

[magnemoe]

Wonder if you can save him if you eva him out and into another pod you then recover.

Don't think the game cares about he reenter in a pod as long as he is inside one at recover?

Tips two, if you use the rescued kerbal before returning him you don't get more rescue contracts until you return him.

[MalfunctionM1Ke]

BUG: This also happens when you recover them with a claw

[Dizzle]

Only this community would find these bugs. Never change.

[StuntMax]

Pro-tip: if you recover your Kerbal in a command seat you don't complete the contract and don't get to use him in future missions!

Good to know, but i'd say it's not a bug: the contract clearly states that the stranded kerbal must be boarded on a command pod, not merely towed on the ground.

Well, probably it may be enough to let the chum in the pod (Yay, boarded! Good work!), then kick him out and push him into the atmosphere, ready to be recovered after hard head lithobraking (Yay, recovered! Excellent work!), while the so-called "rescue" ship goes on with its REAL mission....

[Lohan2008]

Only this community would find these bugs. Never change.

Plus, screen shot was not posted by Scot Manley !!!

[Kerbart]

BUG: This also happens when you recover them with a claw

I like the way you think.

[Felsmak]

I never thought about that. Nice!

[Grover]

To complete the contract, cant you just 'launch' a vessel consisting of just a mk1 pod with the 'stranded' kerbal aboard, make him get out and back in again (to activate the task of him/her boarding a command pod) then recover the vessel?

Never tried it myself, and i cant test it right now, i usually just stacked two mk1 pods together like a wierd tandem ice cream cone, it was the only way to convince any kerbals to get inside

[StuntMax]

To complete the contract, cant you just 'launch' a vessel consisting of just a mk1 pod with the 'stranded' kerbal aboard,

Pardon me, but how do you plan to "launch" a vessel with a stranded kerbal aboard?

He's orbiting somewhere around Kerbin, not around the astronaut complex cafeteria....

[Jean Deaux]

Conditions for the mission are to load into a command "module" and return to Kerbal safely. So yah, any other method of retrieval is a fail.

Edited July 23, 2014 by Jean Deaux

[Kerbart]

Pardon me, but how do you plan to "launch" a vessel with a stranded kerbal aboard?

He's orbiting somewhere around Kerbin, not around the astronaut complex cafeteria....

No no, in the contest of having him grounded through non-conventional means (command seat, claw, harpoon, etc). You'll land him safely but that doesn't count as a "save" in the contract. At that point you'll launch him in a mk 1, have it fly for a few hundred meters, and land it. NOW you have "landed" your saved Kerbal in a command pod.

[Kerbart]

Never tried it myself, and i cant test it right now, i usually just stacked two mk1 pods together like a wierd tandem ice cream cone, it was the only way to convince any kerbals to get inside

I read the suggestion somewhere to just abandon the Kerbal who went up in the Mk I in orbit to make place for the one to be saved (obviously a red-shirt wearing Kerbal)

[StuntMax]

No no, in the contest of having him grounded through non-conventional means (command seat, claw, harpoon, etc). You'll land him safely but that doesn't count as a "save" in the contract. At that point you'll launch him in a mk 1, have it fly for a few hundred meters, and land it. NOW you have "landed" your saved Kerbal in a command pod.

Oh yes, now I see.

Will try a few "rescue procedures" this evening (for some reason, my boss doesn't want me to play KSP while at work, can't figure why).

I also have a bright, kerbal idea for a "rescue ship" design....

[cpast]

What about putting the rescue pilot in the claw/command seat, and the rescuee in the pod? Does that work?

[NFUN]

What about putting the rescue pilot in the claw/command seat, and the rescuee in the pod? Does that work?

Yes. So long as the Kerbal who must be rescued goes into a pod at some point prior to his rescue the mission will be successful. I'm relatively certain that he can go into a vessel on the ground and still count, giving you the contract when he is recovered.

[Kerbart]

What about putting the rescue pilot in the claw/command seat, and the rescuee in the pod? Does that work?

I would think so. Or just let him burn up in the atmosphere. The contract doesn't mention anything about him.

[blu3wolf]

To complete the contract, cant you just 'launch' a vessel consisting of just a mk1 pod with the 'stranded' kerbal aboard, make him get out and back in again (to activate the task of him/her boarding a command pod) then recover the vessel?

Never tried it myself, and i cant test it right now, i usually just stacked two mk1 pods together like a wierd tandem ice cream cone, it was the only way to convince any kerbals to get inside

I just completed my first rescue mission, and have just launched my second one to orbit. Im a bit stumped as to how you intend to launch a vessel with the stranded kerbal aboard without first retrieving him.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/87757-BlueWolf-Aerospace-Mission-Reports

Made a thread for it, because I guess Ill post more pics later and I decided that it was too many pics to chuck into this thead : )

[samstarman5]

Pardon me, but how do you plan to "launch" a vessel with a stranded kerbal aboard?

He's orbiting somewhere around Kerbin, not around the astronaut complex cafeteria....

I see plenty of kerbals stranded around the cafeteria after it has closed. Though the cafeteria may not be 24/7, the kerbal appetite sure as heck is.

I would think so. Or just let him burn up in the atmosphere. The contract doesn't mention anything about him.

Well, besides the ding to your reputation from losing a kerbal. Might not get that contract to go to McKerbal's for a milkshake!

[PixelClef]

Mmm. Milkshake.

[Grover]

Pardon me, but how do you plan to "launch" a vessel with a stranded kerbal aboard?

He's orbiting somewhere around Kerbin, not around the astronaut complex cafeteria....

I meant as a fix for having the 'stranded' kerbal in your astronaut complex and the contract not bring completed

[StuntMax]

Well, probably it may be enough to let the chum in the pod (Yay, boarded! Good work!), then kick him out and push him into the atmosphere, ready to be recovered after hard head lithobraking (Yay, recovered! Excellent work!), while the so-called "rescue" ship goes on with its REAL mission....

....AAaaand YES, I can officially confirm that the "In&Out&Down" mission profile perfectly complies with the "Kerbal rescue" contract requirements.

Right now I had this unfortunate guy, Merbal Kerman, looking at Kerbin from far above the clouds.

Jeb passed by with his brand new "Derpy Eagle" convertible spacecraft and stopped to take a selfie or two for his friend Billy, who says that all that kerbals-in-space stuff is a huge hoax and all the mission photos were staged and fake.

As Jeb was taking his 13th photo, Merbal managed to sneak into the capsule and refill his EVA fuel tanks; he was promptly caught by Jeb (who dumped him back in space and headed away, clarifying his point of view about Merbal's mom supposed profession), but with his now refueled EVA thrusters, Merbal successfully unorbited himself and - after a brief freefall and a hard lithobrake - he could be recovered, and the contract has been paid in full!

Just be sure to land on solid ground, 'cause hydrobraking techniques are still under heavy development and are NOT reccomended.

Long story short: the stranded kerbonaut has to be admitted on a spacecraft, and then you are free to land him with your favorite protocol.

No kerbals were harmed while testing this mission profile. Or, if they were, they did not complain about it.

[DasValdez]

I'd classify this as a bug... ran into it with my Cheapskate Rescue System (A command seat on a stayputnik with a chute and 48-7S, strapped to the top of a heavy booster... $4783 and you recover almost half of that).

The drone flies into orbit and rendezvous with the stranded Kerbal. He boards the seat and you deorbit... landing on the runway @ KSC. You do "Recover Vessel" with the Kerbal Attached, easy peasy no?

WRONG

The game adds the Kerbal to your roster when you board a command pod (with an interior), NOT when you recover them at KSC. Apparently, climbing out of a command seat and waltzing into Mission Control proper isn't enough to convince anyone that he's been rescued.

You can avoid the bug by having the rescue-ee board a pod in space (which completes the first objective), return to the command chair, deorbit, and recover.

Alternatively, you can land him @ KSC, have him leave the chair, and walk to a pod that's sitting on the launch pad.

If you simply recover the command chair with the Kerbal attached, you lose him forever... he returns home to his family but is not added to your roster, so you can't launch a new pod and have him exit/enter it on the launch pad to complete the first objective. Apparently, boarding a KSC pod is a clickwrap contract that presses the poor Kerbal into service with the space program. If he's able to hitch a ride home without boarding a pod, he can escape into the wild and live out the remainder of life free from the worry of unplanned disassembly.

Either recovering him from the surface should add him to your roster, or recovering him should complete the entire contract. As it stands, I think I'm going to have to abort the contract... I'm stuck even though I rescued the poor guy.

[DasValdez]

I'd classify this as a bug...

Aaaaaand fixed in 0.24.1:

Contracts:
* Fixed a bug in Rescue Kerbal contracts, where rescue by means of external seats or claws wouldn't complete the contract.

Thanks Squad!