How to visit Mun?

[IAmSeamonkey]

i was wandering how to use maveuvers to set a course for the Mun. i have tried setting it as a target but it seems too obvious so i'm wandering if there are any other methods that i am not seeing.

any answer accepted.

 

[Rocket In My Pocket]

Gonna keep this more of a simple outline rather than a comprehensive guide as I don't like to spoil the reward of learning the finer points yourself. Feel free to ask follow up questions though!

Step 1: Be in orbit.

Step 2: Think about where the Mun will be, not where it is. It continues to travel even while you are on the way so you'll need to aim ahead of it. (Roughly 1/5 to 1/4 of it's orbit.)

Step 3: Setup your maneuver node on the opposite side of your orbit from the Mun. Ie. The side furthest from the Mun. This is because burning pro-grade here will cause the other side to grow outwards. (Setting the Mun as your target can help but isn't required. This is more important when inclination comes into play, but the Mun and Kerbin have the same inclination.)

Step 4: Pull the pro-grade handle until your orbit overlaps the Mun's. Now play with the radial or move the actual node itself back and forth a bit until you get a Mun intercept. (You'll see a new purple line and a purple Mun indicator appear.)

Step 5: Wait till your node and execute it. When done, cut engines and drift to the Mun encounter; time warp if desired.

Step 5: Assuming you don't want to just do a fly by; burn retrograde at Mun Pe until your Mun Ap matches and you are circular.

Step 6: Congrats, you're orbiting the Mun!

[wumpus]

Note that while orbiting the Mun is quite easy (see above), expect any Mun landing to be on quite a slope.  Any carelessly designed lander can easily tip over, so expect to put some care into how top-heavy your lander is.

[JoeNapalm]

1 hour ago, wumpus said:

Note that while orbiting the Mun is quite easy (see above), expect any Mun landing to be on quite a slope.  Any carelessly designed lander can easily tip over, so expect to put some care into how top-heavy your lander is.

Good advice.

Also, learning the concept of suicide burns will assist a lot with sticking the landing. Either using KER (my preferred method) or:

On 6/8/2015 at 12:30 PM, Red Iron Crown said:

In stock: Set a maneuver node at the point of impact and drag retrograde until node Ap hits the surface. Start the burn when time to node equals node burn time.

 

Until I learned that concept, the process of landing was a bit hectic. Suicide burns are scary (until you do it a few times) but you can lock your nose pointing "up" and max the throttle -- the only finesse required is starting the burn on time and killing the power at the right time.

 

-Jn-

Edited June 28, 2018 by JoeNapalm

[Vanamonde]

Here's a basic method.

 Also, thread moved to Gameplay Questions.