>A last option is a LESS-like lifeboat assembled from lander components. Surface to orbit on a convertible has some appeal. Already considered in Apollo days:

>A last option is a LESS-like lifeboat assembled from lander components. Surface to orbit on a convertible has some appeal. Already considered in Apollo days: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_escape_systems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_escape_systems A very simple "rocket chair" using residual fuel from the LEM. There were also variants for regular use during exploration using only leftover propellant from the descent stage. Flown manually all the way to lunar orbit due to guidance computer being to heavy back then: "Guidance in typical LESS designs was simple: an 'eight-ball' to show spacecraft attitude, a clock to show time since liftoff, and a planned pitch program. The Apollo Guidance Computer used as an autopilot for the CSM and LM had a mass of around a hundred pounds and consumed a significant amount of power, so computer controlled flight was out of the question. This would be one of the few cases where an astronaut flew a rocket manually all the way to orbit, and with far less instrumentation than normal."