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So far all the moons in the Kerbal system orbit the same direction around a planet. We need some variety. I think it would be great if some moons orbited in a different direction than others. That is, some moons orbit retrograde while others orbit prograde. This would work especially well with Jool's moons, since Jool has the most moons of any planet in the Kerbal system and Jool's real-life counter part, Jupiter, has moons that orbit in opposite directions. This might complicate achieving encounters with some moons, but i think we all enjoy a challenging mission. The orbits of Jupiter's satellites (above)
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First I was messing, now I'm mucking. But anyways, back to the Mun we go! Part I- Déjà Vu A week after Jeb, Bob and Val returned from their Mun trip, the next crew's lander lifted off from the Kerbal Space Center. A bit too familiar. The launch went perfectly, and with Scatterer now installed again, it wasn't boring like the last one. The lander pulled into a 150x155 Kilometer Equatorial Orbit, exactly what was needed for this mission. This is Version 8b. Version 8a, we don't talk about it past this. Let's just say that Darmstadtium will never be the same (The element and the town outside the KSC)... Version 8b has two KIS containers capable of carrying cargo along with the lander down to the surface. The difference is it basically sacrifices the "hopping" feature of version 6/7. Back on the ground, a few days later, Val, Bill and Donton stepped into their capsule. Time to go to the Mun! The last version had proved to be, well, Terrible. This new version was better at everything! More efficient, more boosters, more coolness, the list goes on! They pitched over and began speeding up to get to the lander. Once again at the point where it was not needed, the escape tower fired off to meet its doom in Kerbin's atmosphere. You did good, LES. You did good. The capsule ended up with a rendezvous in less than an orbit. The launch was completely successful. A bit of orbital maneuvering later, and the crew were set for a 100 meter intercept. The docking was like any other, except this one didn't take place in the night. Yes! Within minutes, they extended the panels and antenna of the command capsule and shot off towards the Mun. Target: Farside Crater. Donton was a bit upset he was being third wheeled, but hey, at least he gets a nice vie... Eh. Soon, the ejection burn was complete, and the stack was on its way to the Mun, leaving the safety of Kerbin Behind. It only took a few hours, and they were upon the Mun. The insertion burn cost them very little, and soon they put themselves in a 35 by 35 Km orbit. After that, the Farside Crater was coming up, so Val and Bill said their farewells and closed the hatch. Donton had asked for a rock but they ignored him. Poor guy. He sighed and pulled out of the lander's way. The lander began its descent. Would they make it with the added KIS weight? Luckily, still heavily loaded with fuel, the lander had a TWR of over 1, so the crew knew that they (theoretically) could land this thing. They cut relative velocity over the crater, but they were still going far too fast. Donton shut radio contact. He didn't want to hear the static that was too come. 30 m/s. 20 m/s. Val then screamed: "Bill, Jump!" By jump she meant jump out of the capsule, which Bill did. Impact. Nobody knows how it happened. Maybe SQUAD was watching over those two Kerbals descending too the Mun. But even though it impacted past safe speed, the landing legs took the force and the lander just toppled into the Munar soil. Phew! What happens next, only time (and I) will tell...
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I don't understand the difference between prograde/retrograde and radial/anti-radial. I don't know when to use radial and what it does. When and why would I want to burn radial, and why radial not prograde or retrograde?