Rescue mission - stranded on the Mun

[quex]

An accident during a routine landing left Bill Jeb and Bob stranded on the Mun.

They lost both propulsion and parachute.

Your task is clear - bring them and their saviors back to Kerbin alive.

You may use any parts you want, excepting cheat parts, try respecting laws of physics. Rolling of the command module is allowed.

The task may be accomplished in stages: e.g. Mun to Kerbin orbit using one craft, de-orbiting and return by another one. Or everything in one run.

I encourage saving the game regularly in order to protect your sanity.

Just be creative and consider that Kerbal language doesn\'t have a word for impossible. Nor any other words as far as I know...

Post screens and a description.

This challenge is very similar to the one proposed by trbinsc some time ago.

Unfortunately it has not attracted much attention.

My solution is in the spoiler.

I designed a light HTVL rescue vehicle using stock parts and the cart plugin by Tosh.

the trick is in placement of landing struts/legs.

The mission ready for liftoff.

Uneventful liftoff, Kerbin orbit injection, trans Munar injection in progress.

The survivors are in a crater on the near (0.14.0) or far (0.14.1) side of the Mun.

Deploy the landing saving struts.

Get as low as possible on the 3rd stage, get rid of it and the counter-weight decoupler close to the surface.

Save as much fuel as you can for the return trip.

On the surface. The cart with the radial decoupler is facing down.

Drive to the crash site.

Position the rover.

Close the landing struts while pushing the nose of the rover down.

This needs to be done carefully and particularly accurately.

Inaccuracy results in the struts breaking off.

Gotcha!

Roll the craft using RCS to get the captured command module up.

The command module should be as close as possible to the longitudinal axis of the rover.

This reduces the tendency of the craft to rotate because of moment of force while applying thrust. (I like the way this is simulated)

Decouple the now-on-top cart and find a ramp to take off.

There is a convenient mountain range north east from the crash site.

Go easy on the thrust.

When you reach a stable trajectory it\'s probably the last chance to save the game.

1) Loading of saves made later in the flight always resulted in an incorrect relative position of the rover and the retrieved command module.

They often collided and sometimes exploded.

2) Sometimes the status of one or both of the crafts does not update after take-off in close contact. They stay 'landed'.

Opening the landing struts and increasing the distance between the rover and command module helped to solve this.

Say good bye to the Mun and prepare for a long trip.

It is not possible to accelerate the time more than 2x.

If you do, you\'ll loose the contact between the rover and the CM.

When you get to Kerbin SOI, adjust your periapsis to ~30km.

Aerobrake over Kerbin.

Keep the craft retrograde when the chute deploys, otherwise it rips the rover apart.

If you have some fuel left, use it to slow the descent down.

If not, ...don\'t ask.

If everything went well, both crews will have survived.

Looking forward to other solutions.

[togfox]

Wow - and ingenious. That design never occured to me.

[deadshot462]

Now THAT\'s Kerbal.

[Alehkhs]

Very nice! After SpaceJanitor One and Tether One I thought about trying to do this. I don\'t use mods though, and designing and testing a similar mission with all-stock parts was a nightmare. I might pick the project back up this weekend though, we\'ll see.

Nice job!

[HoneyFox]

That is a brilliant design!

and i am curious: how to set up those claws so that they can hold things firmly. i frequently find that the item just slips out of the claws and my only solution is: keep accelerating so that the item will not leave.

[Jarnis]

I am rarely impressed by challenges these days, but this one... brilliant.

Can\'t wait for actual proper docking function that will allow all kinds of epic things. I mean, think of this with proper ability to (re)dock objects and with a manipulator arm or something. I mean sure, it would be less Kerbal than this, but it would also not require a return trip at 2x max etc.

[Ydoow]

The part where you used a ramp to launch off the Mun made me laugh my balls off.

E.T. GO HOME!

lololololololol

Super ingenious design

[MedwedianPresident]

How about big Mun Landers who not only the Rocket has 2m or 3m Parts? An 2m Descent Tank or something? We can tell an Mod Maker to let him make it for us.

[Awaras]

My solution is in the spoiler.

I designed a light HTVL rescue vehicle using stock parts and the cart plugin by Tosh.

the trick is in placement of landing struts/legs.

The mission ready for liftoff.

Uneventful liftoff, Kerbin orbit injection, trans Munar injection in progress.

The survivors are in a crater on the near (0.14.0) or far (0.14.1) side of the Mun.

Deploy the landing saving struts.

Get as low as possible on the 3rd stage, get rid of it and the counter-weight decoupler close to the surface.

Save as much fuel as you can for the return trip.

On the surface. The cart with the radial decoupler is facing down.

Drive to the crash site.

Position the rover.

Close the landing struts while pushing the nose of the rover down.

This needs to be done carefully and particularly accurately.

Inaccuracy results in the struts breaking off.

Gotcha!

Roll the craft using RCS to get the captured command module up.

The command module should be as close as possible to the longitudinal axis of the rover.

This reduces the tendency of the craft to rotate because of moment of force while applying thrust. (I like the way this is simulated)

Decouple the now-on-top cart and find a ramp to take off.

There is a convenient mountain range north east from the crash site.

Go easy on the thrust.

When you reach a stable trajectory it\'s probably the last chance to save the game.

1) Loading of saves made later in the flight always resulted in an incorrect relative position of the rover and the retrieved command module.

They often collided and sometimes exploded.

2) Sometimes the status of one or both of the crafts does not update after take-off in close contact. They stay 'landed'.

Opening the landing struts and increasing the distance between the rover and command module helped to solve this.

Say good bye to the Mun and prepare for a long trip.

It is not possible to accelerate the time more than 2x.

If you do, you\'ll loose the contact between the rover and the CM.

When you get to Kerbin SOI, adjust your periapsis to ~30km.

Aerobrake over Kerbin.

Keep the craft retrograde when the chute deploys, otherwise it rips the rover apart.

If you have some fuel left, use it to slow the descent down.

If not, ...don\'t ask.

If everything went well, both crews will have survived.

Looking forward to other solutions.

Wow, I hope you realize that you have discovered a way to build very different kinds of rockets/landers?

[Apotheosist]

What?! ??? How do you connect parts on sideways?

[Awaras]

Same as the OP - you put a cart on vertically, and you can place any part sideways, put decouplers, landing legs or whatever else on it and then move it to another place...

[quex]

Hi Awaras, the lander looks great.

Wow, I hope you realize that you have discovered a way to build very different kinds of rockets/landers?

Yes I do. You can create all kinds of possible designs this way. And also impossible ones (using symmetry) where some the attached parts are not actually in physical contact with the rest of the craft.

It would be helpful if we could influence thrust of motors using pitch and yaw commands.

(At the cost of possible imbalance caused by unequal consumption of fuel in symmetrical tanks.)

[jinxville]

that rescue was amazing, i love the way things can seem impossible in this game, but then get solved so inventively.

[RedDwarfIV]

I wonder...

VA\'s Ibis. Could it be modified as a Munar rescue vessel? I\'ll see if I can find out.

[spike8760]

I just rescued my rover from an munar orbit after it ran out of fuel. Easy to capture, but being limited to 2x makes these rescues take wayyyyy to long. Maybe with docking, it\'ll make it more bearable. On a sidenote, these rookies pilot have no backbone. 8)

[DrBurst]

Someone needs to make a real new paper article about this rescue and have it printed. This is amazing.