Docking question

[Akopyl]

I want to rescue a kerbonaut sitting on the orbit of Laythe and for that I need to dock with him. His ship is capable of escaping Laythe and going to the Jool orbit. Should I do that or it will be more efficient to bring my rescue ship to Laythe?

Edited July 30, 2014 by Akopyl

[95tiger59]

it would be better to do it in Laythe orbit. The smaller the orbital path the easier the rendezvous is. Which is why rendezvousing in solar orbit, is hard to get very close with it

[SGCam]

It would be easier to dock in Laythe orbit, however leaving Laythe's SOI and entering an elliptical Jool orbit will substantially reduce the total (perfect rendezvous) dV requirements of the rescue craft

[Blind Dead McJones]

It's also better to stay in Laythe orbit so you can potentially use that extra dv to control it during rendezvous. Additionally, depending on your new orbit it's very likely you'll get captured again, and in a really unlucky situation possibly collide into Jool or one of the moons, or get put on an escape trajectory. Leave your first craft in its Laythe orbit to reduce the chance of those problems

[Geschosskopf]

I want to rescue a kerbonaut sitting on the orbit of Laythe and for that I need to dock with him. His ship is capable of escaping Laythe and going to the Jool orbit. Should I do that or it will be more efficient to bring my rescue ship to Laythe?

Or you could just rename his ship as Laythe Station and go on with life.

[Kosmo-not]

Why dock when you can EVA?

[-ELF-]

I suppose it does not matter in this case, docking and EVA transfer are just of the same difficulty, the most difficult part is getting a rendezvouz, and once in a 1 km separation I see no difference between docking two ships together and EVA flying from one to another.

P.S. I am speaking of ships which are actually made to dock to each other, not a 100-ton monstrosities without RCS aid and with SAS from command pod, which will not rotate the vesel at all, or keep it any stable.

[RexKramer]

The reason arranging a rendezvous in Jool orbit would be more efficient: We're assuming the vessel currently on Laythe is lighter than the vessel you are sending to pick up the Kerbal. We're assuming the rescue vessel has enough fuel to return to Kerbin, while the vessel on Laythe does not. So you will use less fuel by bringing the lighter ship to the heavier one, if possible.

However, getting the ships together would be easier in Laythe orbit. Plus, it is possible that with poorly planned burns, you could end up wasting more fuel by trying to meet up in Jool orbit. Or worse, even risk running your Laythe lander out of fuel.

Not knowing your exact situation, I'd suggest doing the rendezvous in Laythe orbit.

[Akopyl]

Thanks everyone, Kirrim is on his way back home!