Land my stock lander on the Mun and return.

[VincentMcConnell]

Be the first person to land my UNTESTED Lunar Module 'Spider' on the surface of the Mun and return! I haven\'t even done it yet. The first person to land it and safely return gets their name posted on here.

Here\'s the .craft.

Goodluck.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/76061308/Spider%20Lander.zip

Congratulations to FIFFLETHECAT for not only being the first to land the Spider Lunar Module, but on his first Mun landing and return!

[VincentMcConnell]

You\'ll have to add more stages. You can modify the staging, but the LM is already pretty much staged fine.

The launch vehicle is your choice.

[Fifflethecat]

Just to let you know, this is the first time I have successfully landed on the Mun and returned to kerbin without breaking any parts on my ship.

http://imgur.com/a/kt8Jg#1

[Ted]

Landed it, about to attempt a return to Kerbin. Images and details to follow..

Edit: There was a staging mishap and I was not able to get back to Kerbin, second attempt time..

Second Attempt: I managed to get to the Mun without a fuss. It took me quite a while to manage to successfully leave the Mun\'s SOI (this has been my first return to Kerbin from Mun).

I experienced a very odd skip through Kerbin\'s atmosphere from ~60,000m to 10,000m when decoupling the final stage, which probably explains the 34G\'s that my Kerbalnauts suffered.

Gallery of the journey: http://imgur.com/a/HOsVS#0

'Second comes right after first!' - Buzz Aldrin

[Bluejayek]

I never have liked the decoupler right before the command pod, and landing with parachute only. I find its better to take out the decoupler (saving significant weight), and landing on your last stage using parachute and the last wisps of fuel. To each his own though. Nice lander.

[pushingrobot]

Actually, now that we\'ve got the capsules from the C7 pack and radially mounted chutes, you don\'t need to do that anymore. Your entire lander might not survive, but the pod can at least handle a lot more abuse.

And even in 0.14 I\'d started building large landers with 'escape vehicles' consisting of a booster, two RCS tanks and a few thrusters, a command pod, and a chute. The booster could get you into Munar orbit, the RCS could get you home, and (once the booster was empty) the whole thing was light enough to land safely. They were a great backup on the rare chance something happened (or was about to happen) to the lander.

[SunJumper]

Actually, when you\'re coming in at high speeds, you\'re best off with just the pod and chute. Those two bits can survive at least 23km/s re-entry.

[Fifflethecat]

My name is up!

I\'ve got to say that this is the only lander design I use now because it is really reliable.

[VincentMcConnell]

I\'ve got to say that this is the only lander design I use now because it is really reliable.

Thanks. I\'m glad it works for you! I thought the legs might be a little rickety, but if it\'s working, that\'s good news.

Stock crafts are fortunately very basic.

[HOC]

Okay, there we are, challenge completed!

I used my Shoot For The Moon launch and orbit stages to get your lander to the Mun...

Lost a leg! They really are rickety aren\'t they?

The lander works, and it works well enough, but I think most people will agree that it\'s too... over-built. You\'ve got four landing engines, where you\'ll only need 3 at the max; a Mun \'ascent\' stage and a Kerbin return stage where you only really need the return stage.

My usual lander design uses one orbiter engine, one fuel tank and 6 landing legs (I hate those legs so much that the only way to justify using them is to smack on far too many 8) )

So yeah, a little constructive criticism there- hopefully.