How do I make a fuel efficient rocket? (Semi-Early Career)

[Fearlessjames118]

Hello! I'm in Career 1.0,and I have a few of the early bits of the Tech tree unlocked,and I am able to get to (and land!) on the Mun,I just can't get back to Kerbin! The reason for this you ask? Low fuel! No matter what I do,I always run out of fuel by the time I land on the Mun! So all I ask for are some tips on making a semi-early fuel efficient rocket,capable of going to the Mun and Back

(Also,I lost Jeb today in the ocean )

[lance0625]

more boosters!

[cybersol]

Two words: Asparagus Staging

[Fearlessjames118]

To the moar boosters,I lost Jeb,I can't make boosters without him!

To the asparagus staging,I'm not sure what the really is,but I'll look into it! Thankyou for the suggestions!

[adsii1970]

more boosters!

What I have done for my game is to launch an orbital gas can first. I usually park it at an orbit of 500k, complete with docking ring. I dock with it long enough to transfer fuel to the Munar/Minimus lander, then on the way in, I transfer excess fuel and RCS back to it.

You can also do what NASA did - save weight on your craft by only building stages strong enough to accomplish certain goals. 1st stage has just enough fuel to make it to 80K for orbital insertion; stage 2 had enough fuel for orbital escape and to create enough velocity to achieve insertion into the lunar gravity well (extremely weak, but there). The third stage, the command module, had enough fuel for lunar orbital insertion and lunar orbital escape, AND had enough fuel to achieve insertion into Earth's gravity well, which extends further out than the lunar gravity well (remember that there is no atmospheric resistance in space and burn times are just to achieve certain speeds rather than a continual burn). Once Earth orbit was achieved, all remaining fuel was used to slow the craft and position for reentry before jettisoning.

Hope that description helps...

[Wjolcz]

Kerbal Engineer Redux. Download that and give some rep to it's dev.

Also search for the delta-v map on the forums. The numbers for non-atmospheric bodies should stay the same as they were before 1.0. l'd give you a link but I'm on a mobile and it's a nightmare to do anything.

[Fearlessjames118]

Okay,I read up on asparagus staging,and apparently i've been using it all this time! However,it's only four tanks on the outside,after that the main engine is left,then the mid stage engine,then the lander engine. I'd show a picture of my rocket,but I'm not sure how to add images here