Bluejayek

I only have two stable planes. One is dead simple, the other is for piggy backing an orbital launch off of. Rocket stage on the first is capable of landing kerbals safely on the Mun, but no hope in hell of a return, at least the way I flew it. Granted I had about 6 tanks of fuel left when I released the orbiter, so I can probably do better.

This is my first successful spaceplane launched creation. Thanks to the people in general forum who sorted out my issues with why it was flipping at the start of flight. You can see it just after impact on the mun where, thanks to some funny physics, the capsule survived a 70m/s impact and bounced to a safe touchdown at 7m/s.

Thanks. Working now, even if I have no idea why that makes a difference. The aerodynamic way seems to me the pointy side forward...

Lies. This guy is so epic that he flew to the mun, picked up a munolith, flew back to kerbin, and deposited it near the KSC.

How specifically. I tried just extending the plane forward with more fuel tanks, and it didnt make a difference.

I am trying to make a plane to piggy back a small orbital rocket on. However, whatever I seem to do the plane just does backflips after takeoff and crashes. Can anybody give tips?

Reading this I realize that I can make my mission plan a lot less fuel intensive. Currently I do: 1) 90 degree 70-100km orbit 2) burn to tilt orbit to minimus incination 3) burn to bring apoapsis out to minimus at correct point to intersect with minimus 4) land 5) return Probably less intensive to scratch the orbit tilt maneurver.

Post a screenshot of your rocket. Somebody kindly commented in one of my posts that the weight of your rocket is a very large factor in these sorts of things (Specifically mine was with engines breaking off at a 0.4m/s landing on the mun without landing gear). If you have a very large rocket, even 7m/s is a huge amount of momentum for your legs to absorb, and they will break. I almost always go for a landing under 1m/s wherever possible. Then again, lately, the rockets I have been landing on the mun are for attempted double munar return missions and so are rather large.

Don\'t use mods and you\'ll be fine! The stock lander engine is OP anyways.

Since the ground quickly rises by almost 1000 meters after the arch, your orbit has to be reasonably eliptical to pull this off. I tried this, got into an orbit close to the arch, and then gave up and landed. Then my landing legs sank into the sand and exploded.

Yes, this sounds epic. Youd need a grappling arm to grab the rover, lift it off, send it to minimus... Powered land it without destroying it...

For a 'moon' to be big enough to have an atmosphere, it would be so big that Kerbin would be a binary planet, not a planet with a moon. Tidal forces would probably also increase volcanic activity on both planets, making them unlivable. Far better to just add in other planets, and keep the system mostyl realistic

No way lava would solidify quickly enough for that... I tried landing near it, but I came down to quickly and my rocket fell over. Heres a picture of my rocket sled going under the arch

Update: This is going to be very difficult. The ground raises by 400m just past there on teh orbit you need to achieve... Will have to be an eliptical orbit, not circular.

part of your issue may be the 'Fast' part. If you want efficient, it wont be fast. When I went minimus to mun I put myself in a circular orbit just below the mun and waited days for the orbit to catch up, to save fuel.

Challenge accepted.

Both of those two above methods seem like they would take a long time. Think of your kerbals oxygen supply! I did however use a similar method when I went from minimus to the mun. Dropped into a circular orbit just below the mun and waited a couple orbits to catch up.

If its just one part thatts hitting the launch tower you can drag your ship to the edge of the VAB and it will appear on the corresponding edge of the launch pad

I was wondering what methods all of you guys use to do an efficient Munar injection burn, what sorts of rules of thumb you use to make sure you don\'t miss. Personally, I set myself up in a circularish orbit between 70 and 150km, and then start my injection burn when the Mun is 1/8th of an orbit behind where my apoapsis would be after the burn.

I always liked the rocks... They gave me half a chance of being able to tell how close the ground was when I tried to land on the dark side.

This challenge is to see who can complete the most munar round trips with a single spacecraft. Controlled landings are prefered, but post your crash landings anyways This is the best I have done so far. http://imgur.com/a/ojaAq/embed kerbin - Mun - Kerbin - Crashland on Mun

My brave kerbins families would like an honorable mention for their sacrifice. Kerbin to Mun to Kerbin to Mun crashlanding http://imgur.com/a/ojaAq/embed

Why do these exist? I understand that we have to limit it to 2x in atmosphere/while accelerating to stay off rails, but why are there limits for 100km, 300km, etc? I find these very annoying, specifically when I am in a low kerbal orbit and want to wait for a specific part of the orbit to begin a transfer maneurver.

I\'m currently taking a masters in physics, and the first place I stop to learn anything is still wikipedia... When there is no wikipedia page on a topic I feel lost. Also, I don\'t really do any math for orbits either. I just sort of guesstimate.

Can I do it the other way around? Kerbin to Minimus to Mun to Kerbin?