Scarecrow88

Thanks guys. The lander flies well too, with plenty of fuel to spare in the descent stage. Enough that if you fly a standard descent that doesn't waste fuel, you can bring the whole thing back up in to Munar orbit. It was specifically designed to be 2-stage though, and the ascent stage on it's own is perfectly capable of getting back in to orbit, but it isn't very forgiving of pilots who mess about wasting fuel trying to make a rendezvous with the command module. I did consider making the lander available as a sub-assembly, but figured if anyone wants to use it like that, they can download the entire craft and make their own sub-assembly.

I remember that. I think one of the links to it was in a thread asking how low you could set an orbit around Mun.

I've just realised that the lander in the save file differs slightly from the lander in the pictures in that the saved one isn't fitted with the antenna or the science instruments - thermometer, barometer etc.

Apollo style Mun vehicle. Pictures, description and craft file in this thread: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/59090-Eagle-15-%28Apollo-style-Mun-mission%29 Taster picture.

Thank you. I quite like the lander too and will probably use it with other ships.

I know we have had Apollo style vehicles before but this one was designed for a competition on another forum and proved quite popular, so I thought I would share it here. It's also quite easy to fly, with all staging done in sequence without needing to juggle stages around after some of the docking procedures. Typical flight profile should be as follows: Launch to LKO. I start my gravity turn just short of 10km, and aim for LKO around 85km. The launch vehicle doesn't have an over abundance of fuel, so don't waste it. The jumbo tanks will all be jettisoned whilst still sub-orbital Once in LKO, stage again to release the CM & SM so that it can turn around and dock with the LM. When docked, stage again to jettison the last bit of the lifting stage and to lose the shrouds around the lander. A final stage at this point will jettison the shroud around the Munar vehicle engine, making it ready for Munar insertion. You can deploy the solar panels at this point. (Action group key 2) Fly your insertion to the Mun and establish a Munar orbit. I tend to go for around 25km. Transfer your crew over to the lander, undock, and your good for a Mun landing. For returning to orbit and docking with the command and service module, you have two choices. If you haven't wasted lots of fuel landing, the complete lander has enough to return as it is. Just perform a normal take off and rendezvous. However, the lander is a 2-stage vehicle so can be flown as per the Apollo missions if desired. To do this, deactivate the lander engine (action group key 9 is set up to do this), throttle up to about 2/3 and press the staging key. I recommend only 2/3 throttle as the ascent module is quite small and can be quite lively until you get used to it. Once rendezvoused with the command module and docked, the crew can be transferred back, the lunar module ditched, and a course set for home. Hope you enjoy it. Eagle 15 craft file Summary: Launch to LKO Stage to release CM and SM for docking with LM When docked, stage to prepare craft for Munar insertion Deploy solar panels Establish orbit at Mun Transfer crew and undock Land on Mun Launch entire vehicle back to orbit OR deactivate lander engine, throttle up and stage Rendezvous with command module and dock Transfer crew and ditch Munar module Fly back to Kerbin Action group keys: 1 Toggle lander ladders 2 Toggle solar panels 9 Deactivate lander engine

The only time I have had an unresponsive rocket despite full electric charge is when a link somewhere between the control module and the rest of the rocket has broken. Have you tried pulling up the flight log to see if something has broken?

Unless you are in the habit of flying straight at your target body, I actually find that most of my descents work well when started from orbit. In fact it's kind of difficult not to if you were docked to an orbiting station before landing.

Corrected that for you.

You shouldn't have too many problems as the plane isn't required to leave the atmosphere. Maybe in the next challenge I will incorporate a true space plane.

You're right, but my design was done as part of an engineering challenge to come up with an Apollo style rocket that was reasonably straight forward to fly. By doing it the way I did, it meant that all the actions necessary to fly an Apollo style mission could be done with sequential staging rather than issuing instructions about having to manually decouple seperators, especially as the separator needing to be manually decoupled would be tucked away behind the sheeting protecting the lander on the completed rocket, making it virtually impossible to click on.

I had a few problems with the Kraken attacking the tower in that spot following the .22 update. Try having another go, and if you have the same problem let me know and I will move him slightly in an attempt to prevent it happening for you.

In which case I would have replied that I have never used the stock craft, or any stock craft for that matter, as I think they can all be improved to actually make them useable and easier to fly.

It was to do with keeping debris out of the way. With just one decoupler or a seperator, the shroud around the CM engine detached when decoupling the CM from the orbit insertion stage and was then in the way between the CM and the LM when trying to re-dock. By using two decouplers, fired in separate stages, I was able to keep the shroud attached to the CM until after I re-docked with the LM, which is the situation shown in the last picture I posted above. At this point another press of the stage key will detach the shroud making the Lunar insertion engine available for use.

I found it a fairly straightforward matter of just building the rocket around the lander. I added some screening to make the whole thing look a little more rocket like. If you use the procedural fairings mod, I am sure it would have done a prettier job. Once in orbit it's a simple matter of detaching the CM and SM to turn around and attach to the LM. Once safely attached it's time to jettison the shroud and orbital insertion stage. Which leaves us with a complete LEM ready for departure to the Mun.

For ease of viewing, you should embed your images in your post. With so many to look at, I can't be bothered to follow all the links, and I daresay there are a few like me that won't follow them either. If you embed the images, everyone gets to see them.

It just so happens that there is a challenge currently in progress to design an improved and noob friendly Kerbal X. http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/58037-BSC-Kerbal-X-Start-building!

Glad you enjoyed it. Time added to Leaderboard.

It seems to me that things are less stable in this latest patch. Rockets that used to launch without problem are now suffering joint breaks that separates the command unit from other parts of the rocket, which usually means that you can no longer control the engines, or part of your staging no longer responds. Very frustrating.

Every station I have built has incorporated escape pods to allow the Kerbals on board to either de-orbit and land on the body below, or has the ability to remain in orbit until a rescue shuttle can rendezvous with them.

This thread has grown since I first replied, and I see you have already made changes to your initial design, so my observations may be a little redundant or have already been made by others. Your lander is way too tall to be stable and would struggle to stay upright on all but the flattest of landing sites. As you have no docking ports on the vehicle, I assume you don't intend to use this craft to rendezvous with others, which makes the RCS an unnecessary addition. There are no ladders on your lander. This isn't too much of a problem on Mun or Minmus, where the gravity is low enough for any Kerbals on EVA to use their jetpacks to get back in the capsule, but it could be a problem on some other bodies. The chute you have attached is a drogue chute, designed for atmospheric braking. I've never used one to land a returning capsule back on Kerbin, so am not sure if it has enough drag to do so successfully. Having removed both the RCS and the larger fuel tank from your lander, it is capable of landing on the Mun but not with enough fuel to get back to Kerbin. This is principally because I had to use the lander to circularise the orbit at Kerbin and fly the Munar injection phase. If you can incorporate a more fuel efficient middle stage to perform these tasks, I am sure your lander will have more than enough fuel to perform a Mun landing and return to Kerbin. Hope that helps.

Sounds like you are making a reasonable attempt at the landing, aside from running out of fuel and falling over. I usually start my descents from a much lower orbit, 30 - 40k but only because it makes it easier for my returning craft to rendezvous and dock with the bit that stays in orbit. Do you have a screenshot of your lander, as it sounds like there might be a design flaw if you are landing with negligible vertical or horizontal velocity and it is still falling over. May also help to see what your fuel issues are as well. Alternatively, if you can host a link to your craft file somewhere, I'd be happy to download it and fly it to see if I can identify any problems with the design.

If it's considered cheating to use clipping to produce something like this, then I'm all for it.

Rolling backwards at the end isn't a problem, as long as you are stationary when you take your screenshot. What isn't acceptable is to roll backwards back on to the runway if you overshoot the end. Leaderboard has been updated. Makes my effort look rather puny. Well done guys.

Guys I have no idea how you keep your machines straight on the runway at those speeds. I am at work tonight so will update the leaderboard tomorrow. p.s. All wheels on the runway at the end is what is required, position of nose is not important.