Settle down children, and let me tell you a tale of a heroic Kerbal rescue...
MunRescue Part 2: Blimey, it worked!So I had two kerbals left on the Munar surface, and three in orbit with little to no fuel. Something had to be done. I had a working rocket and lander in Mun 5, but needed to add some more pods to bring everyone back home safely in one go if possible. Cue the music-
After a bit of tinkering, here's what I ended up with:
As I lacked docking ports or similar (because I haven't worked up the science to research those yet) my essential idea was thus:
1. Launch with three kerbals in the main capsule atop the lander
2. Once my orbit over Kerbin was established, EVA two Kerbals so there was one in Sidepods1 and 2.
3. Rendezvous with the stranded lander once I got to the orbit of the Mun
4. EVA Transfer two of the three Kerbals aboard said lander into Sidepod 1 (which would then be full), and the last into Sidepod 2 (which would have one space left).
5. Return Sidepod 1 to Kerbin.
6. Land the S+R lander on the Mun, pick up the two stranded Kerbals, and then return to orbit.
7. Send the S+R lander back to Kerbin, hopefully with enough fuel to make the journey.
8. Send the Sidepod back to Kerbin, rendezvousing with the S+R lander along the way if necessary to try and get it into Kerbin orbit/rescue a Kerbal.
All went to plan, minus a very nervy EVA between two ships 500m apart because trying to rendezvous whilst keeping in the same plane and orbit is still difficult)
I burned my tanks dry with the S+R lander to get into an orbit where aerobraking would slow me down, and managed to (just!) get below 70,000ft. Terrifyingly, on my last (landing) orbit, I overshot Kerbal Space Center by only a matter of miles!
Well chuffed with all the science I'd collected, and the fact all my Kerbals were now back at home, safe and sound, I have decided that the Mun is dead to me and it's time to start thinking bigger.
Those planets look awfully close...
