tarspaceheel

Dorsil, are those radial decouplers that you\'re using as lander legs? I never even considered that possibility. How does it compare in terms of weight/stability to using winglets?

Thanks for the replies. The first few will be invaluable when I go back to the drawing board later today, and though the remainder of the conversation is a smidge above my pay grade, I\'m still looking on it with stars in my eyes, wishing I\'d stuck with the sciences rather than running off to hide in law school. Bill, I\'m probably not the one you should be listening to, but at least the way that I used it, Closette\'s lander did return from the Mun using just RCS. I can\'t really tell you whether your procedure for getting back to Kerbin is correct, as I\'ve only ever successfully landed on the Mun once, and am pretty sure that I only got back through sheer luck. What I can suggest is that if you\'re running out of fuel, perhaps your lander is too massive. Try putting a decoupler between the 2nd and 3rd RCS tanks. Shortly after getting off of the Munar surface (and before you start using your 2nd tank), detach the 3rd RCS and the winglets. What you have left will be difficult to control, but should be fuel-efficient enough to set up a transfer into Kerbal (Kerban? Kerbinian?) orbit, and from there, it should just be a matter of finding a good place to land.

Just accomplished my first successful Mun landing (and return) using the OP\'s design. It controls like a dream, and was even stable enough that I was able to park the lander on the Munar surface even after accidentally breaking off one of the four winglets. Thanks! Incidentally, is there any secret to making a stable rocket design? Even with copious use of the symmetry tool, I still seem to wind up with rockets that either push my SAS past its limits, break apart before escaping the atmosphere, or require far too much fuel to establish a stable orbit.