NonWonderDog

Wait, you mean transfer from a polar Kerbin orbit to a polar Munar orbit? ??? ??? I\'d like to see that, but I think any successes would be pretty much blind luck without better instrumentation. The Mun moves so fast that you would have to get the trans-munar injection burn AND the launch time perfect. You\'d have to be awfully consistent in your launch profile, too. I\'m pretty sure I couldn\'t do it without planning it in STK first. (Oh wow, there\'s a free version of satellite tool kit -- I\'ve never tried to set up a custom solar system before, I wonder if that\'s possible?)

Some tips from Jeb: [li]Struts are almost as good as more boosters, since they allow you to mount more boosters.[/li] [li]If you have so many boosters that the rocket collapses on the pad, use struts to reinforce the joints in the main stack. You should be able to stabilize it enough to add more boosters.[/li] [li]If you drag your rocket sideways off of the circle in the VAB, you can start with your rocket suspended in the air next to the pad. If you can start the engines before the rocket hits the ground, you can launch with MANY more boosters than would otherwise fit. You can even get some 800 ton Munar landing practice this way: [/li] [li]Orbital transfer maneuvers are at theoretical maximum efficiency when done at periapsis or apoapsis with infinite thrust. The more boosters you have, the closer you are to infinite thrust. At some point, it\'s more efficient to carry more boosters and pay the weight penalty at launch than it is to perform your orbital transfer maneuvers with a small engine: (You could always raise your orbit a little at a time, thrusting only at periapsis over several orbits. But who has time for that?) [/li] [li]When traveling to the Mun, get into Kerbin orbit and fire your boosters at it as soon as you see the Mun poke over the Kerbin horizon. Aim for a elliptical orbit with an apoapsis just further than Mun\'s orbital radius. If done right, you will insert directly and efficiently into a low Munar orbit. The more efficient your insertion into Munar orbit, the more boosters you can use to land on the Mun. [/li]

That\'s easy. ;D I even managed a PERFECT trans-munar injection, with initial perimune at 7.5km. The trouble is landing. I think I actually set it down, but I didn\'t turn the engines off fast enough and bounced onto two legs. I can land it on Kerbin with no problems, but the engines are overpowered for the Mun. Unless I edit the engines, though, those are the only ones with enough gimbal range to control this monster. If I can find a way to pack enough fuel into six engines, I should have it. In other news, those ascent boosters from the KW LEM pack are VERY handy.

I know, with 3m engines and fuel tanks this didn\'t even need any crazy engineering. It was still a bear to fly the thing into orbit, but with 3 Gs of acceleration at the pad I didn\'t have to fly it in atmosphere for very long. Once it was in orbit, landing it on the moon was the easy part. It took me a dozen attempts to get it into orbit with a transfer stage attached, but I landed it on the Mun the second time I did. (The first time I accidentally jettisoned the transfer stage instead of lighting it :\'() ...... But shall we leave it here? Shall we be content with the glow of past accomplishments, when glory is still to be had? I say NO! We have achieved orbit, ladies and gentlemen, and Kerbin-side landing simulations have gone well. IT\'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME:

8) Using K&W and Down Under parts (plus a few extraneous bits and pieces). A slight miscalculation resulted in the boys landing in a mountain range instead of the sea back on Kerbin, but I\'d say it was a successful mission nonetheless.