Help!! I've killed Jebediah Kerman!!

[Thrillhouse]

So, I either deployed my parachute too high....didn't deploy enough of them....or came down too hard from orbit (Are you supposed to let your orbit deteriorate in order to get your Kerbals back safely? Because I've just been setting courses that lead straight into the ground), but this first test flight just happened to be my first encounter with the legendary Jebediah Kerman....and I killed him!!

Two questions: First, what are some tips on how to ensure the rest of my Kerbals get around the galaxy and back in one piece?

Second, is there any way for me to get dear Jebediah back? He had a smile on his face the entire time and didn't even panic on impact!! ...such a trooper

[Moe]

My Jebediah is a Chicken ♥♥♥♥... always scared lolllll.

[Ragequit Inc.]

You killed Jebediah? You bastard! :D

[bpivk]

Originally posted by Loafcake:

So, I either deployed my parachute too high....didn't deploy enough of them....or came down too hard from orbit

Or maybe you used time accelerate? If so then there's your problem. Physic acceleration when the parachutes deploy tends to tear them off so disable it next time when you're close. If your craft has a lot of weight then use more parachutes if you're using just a capsule then it should be enough.

Originally posted by Loafcake:

Are you supposed to let your orbit deteriorate in order to get your Kerbals back safely? Because I've just been setting courses that lead straight into the ground.

It doesn't matter how you plan your course for now. Later they'll add reentry heat and it will matter.

Originally posted by Loafcake:

Two questions: First, what are some tips on how to ensure the rest of my Kerbals get around the galaxy and back in one piece?

Accidents happen especially when Kerbals are involved. Either live with the losses (you monster) or use unmanned probes for testing and learning purposes and switch to Kerbals later. Also if you end flight really quickly they'll reset and won't be killed.

Originally posted by Loafcake:

Second, is there any way for me to get dear Jebediah back? He had a smile on his face the entire time and didn't even panic on impact!! ...such a trooper

The game eventually runs out of Kerbals and starts cloning them so he'll be back eventually. I'm on Jeb MK3 now. :)

You could also start a new game and he'll be back or edit the persistence.sfs (txt file) and edit the TOD variable (time to next respawn). Although I don't know to what value you'd set it.

[Thrillhouse]

Thanks GXS; you've been super helpful so far. I looked it up and apparently there are ideal altitudes for parachutes to deploy at....looks like I deployed mine 300 feet too high. Lessoned learned for the next Jebediah!

[Jargle]

You can edit "presistent.sfs" and set Jeb's "status" = 0. 1 is dead, 2 might be in flight, I forget.

[eepyrom]

The best thing about how the game reuses kerbals is that you can end up with two Jebediahs in space at the same time. On the same ship, even, if you manage it.

[Winterflux]

get the add on crew manifest you can respawn him there

[Sinner_D]

first off... LMFAO.

usually my re-entries into kerbin atmo are done by putting either my AP, or PE side of orbit back below 60km...not by much just enough to begin re-entry. usually any kerbin orbit doesnt have the speed to require anything more then just a slight below 60km to capture.

however i have yet to master targeted landings, dont do much of those yet as most my stuff is either one way(out) or flight ended in some random location on kerbin surface...lol

my poor jeb has been stranded about 40km west of Space Center for ages now when his experimental space plane malfunctioned, luckily he was able to salvage the main cockpit and therefore are in constant communications with KASA specialists. most of his conversations entail "Im Bored!!!" or "when are you gonna re-DL mods n come rescue me?" but its better then not knowing...lol

btw, i have seen reincarnations of others, perhaps poor old jeb of yours lives somewhere else, out of your reach, and therefore happy...lmao ;)

[Keyes]

That the angle of your descend doesn't matter yet is not true technically. Although there is no heat development, the angle still determines the time spent in atmosphere. A steep angle shortens that time and a shallow angle prolongs it. The more time you spent flying through atmosphere the more the drag can slow you down.

[Nats]

If you get the Crew Manifest mod you can pick and choose your Kerbal pilots and reinstate Jebediah if you want to, also you can swpa crew between spaceship parts even when in flight, and between different ships when docked - its a great mod. Although I think the next patch is going to make that mod obsolete.

[TKO]

I usually come back by setting a shallow orbit (somewhere below the 60,000k mark around where the atmosphere starts.) ..When I'm above one of the larger bodies of water I start killing hozontal speed so I land in water. Landing on land is much less predictable, especially if there are hills or mountains. (Your parachutes might not fully-deploy in time for a landing on those.)

I tend to use larger capsules, so I'll put a drogue-parachute on top, deploy that first, and once I've lost a bit of speed I deploy the main chutes. (I usually have three of those .. just in case I manage to lose one.) :)

If I have any fuel left I like to jettison the last stage with the engines still running a little. If I've had a good mission, I tend to do something stupid like separating, waiting a bit, deploying the chute, then the last stage catches up and collides with me like a bullet. If I jettison it with engines running I get to see them spiral safely off into the distance. Much more fun and safer. :)

But yeah, go for the ocean. It's pretty hard to land badly in the ocean.

[Leovuo]

Yep, landing on water is usually the best bet for a successful landing. (Provided that you have a parachute).

[Sinner_D]

those who suggest an ocean landing, im curious as to your rescue proceedures after landing in said oceans? if there is no way of retrieving them back to base, then whats the point of even successful landing, just endflight and pretend you did the rest ;)

if i give it enough thought and planning, and a bit of luck i can usually come within 5km of base, however theres still nothing ive found thats even remotely reliable for a rescue/recovery once safely back on land.

@TKO: bit of advice, if you simply reconfigure your staging just prior to chute deploy, being putting chutes as next activation, they will open just fine, right your ship, and happens to me everytime, due to the sudden jerk, it rips everything below the part where chutes are attached off, so if you placed chutes on com pod, you wouldnt have to worry about colliding with jettisoned engines(running or not). however i agree, watching wild engines sail away is quite fun :D

[Proteus]

Originally posted by OIF.Burke:

Jebediah is like... no... flat out is a superhero. He may die in one volume but he'll be back.

He is like a Terminator-Arnold in these regards ...
He´ll be back

:D

[Zombo]

You wont burn up, as of yet.. But allowing your orbit to deteriorate will slow you down. And coming in straight down, you may not slow down enough before impacting the ground. It will increase the need for more parachutes at a minimum. Or it could tear off pieces of ship, because the atmospheres drag does effect stuff.