DavidF Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Does anyone know how close I can get to the Mun without worry of getting pulled into the surface? I\'m looking on the Wiki but none of this information helps me with it.. can anyone tell me which number I should be looking at and how I can translate it?http://kspwiki.nexisonline.net/wiki/MunThanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple100 Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 3 or 4 kilometers is sufficient to avoid hitting any mountains, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
togfox Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 The KGSS has this info in the fan fiction section but it is buried somewhere in a very long thread. I\'ll probably put this infor in the OP for easy finding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UmbralRaptor Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 I think ~4.5 km for a polar orbit, though as high as 5 km might be necessary. Less for an equatorial one, but I would still stay above 3 km. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidF Posted July 12, 2012 Author Share Posted July 12, 2012 I went around at 4-5k for a full turn or two before working no a re-entry. It was safe but I didn\'t want to risk any more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentMcConnell Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Average parking orbit for my missions is 14KM. Nice and safe up there. But for the DOI prior to descent, I drop it to an altitude of about 5.5KM.I did a mission a while ago to establish that 7KM was also very safe. It just depends at which altitude you feel comfortable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidF Posted July 12, 2012 Author Share Posted July 12, 2012 Average parking orbit for my missions is 14KM. Nice and safe up there. But for the DOI prior to descent, I drop it to an altitude of about 5.5KM.I did a mission a while ago to establish that 7KM was also very safe. It just depends at which altitude you feel comfortable. I was more or less roleplaying a recon mission for a downed rocket. I posted about it in the Fan Fiction area. I went around 5-6k a few times before beginning my trip back home. Was pretty safe at 5k, didn\'t notice any pull towards the surface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentMcConnell Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 I was more or less roleplaying a recon mission for a downed rocket. I posted about it in the Fan Fiction area. I went around 5-6k a few times before beginning my trip back home. Was pretty safe at 5k, didn\'t notice any pull towards the surface.I\'ll have to give 5 a try. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidF Posted July 12, 2012 Author Share Posted July 12, 2012 I\'ll have to give 5 a try. Thanks. If you are using the Mech Jeb, I suggest going down in stages. It uses some extra gas but it works pretty effective for me. I slowly pulled in when I was doing it. Should survive about 2 turns, maybe more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
togfox Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Your orbit around the Mun won\'t degrade. There is no atmosphere so no aerobraking to upset your orbit. If you set your orbit for 5km then you\'ll stay there forever. Your orbit was probably not perfectly circular so you had the impression you were \'falling\'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidF Posted July 12, 2012 Author Share Posted July 12, 2012 Ah okay, thanks. I\'m not well versed in Space, if you can tell. LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
togfox Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 I pity your EVA Kerbals in v0.16. ;P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidF Posted July 12, 2012 Author Share Posted July 12, 2012 I pity your EVA Kerbals in v0.16. ;P They\'ll last a minute.. Guaranteed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmiteZero Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 ....without worry of getting pulled into the surface?......didn\'t notice any pull towards the surface...I think you don\'t understand how gravity works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidF Posted July 12, 2012 Author Share Posted July 12, 2012 I think you don\'t understand how gravity works. I jump, gravity pulls me down. All I care to know. I never really was interested fully in Space travel and what not like that and am learning slowly. My \'school\' education is a little low, everything I know is self taught or tutor taught.. I\'m behind a lot on Science. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atimed Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Just tested it... 3.990 m is deadly... but 4.005 m you just scratch the moutin a bit..Have fun.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmiteZero Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 I jump, gravity pulls me down. All I care to know. I never really was interested fully in Space travel and what not like that and am learning slowly. My \'school\' education is a little low, everything I know is self taught or tutor taught.. I\'m behind a lot on Science.Nutshell layman explanation related to this thread:You\'re always getting pulled towards the surface, no matter how low you are. You won\'t suddenly get 'sucked in' for no reason. What makes you not hit the ground is your lateral speed. If the Mun were a perfectly smooth sphere, one could in theory orbit it at 1cm high. Since the Mun is not perfectly smooth, the only problem with low orbits is running headlong into a geological formation. ;DIt\'s the fact that gravity is always pulling you towards the surface that makes an orbit possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidF Posted July 12, 2012 Author Share Posted July 12, 2012 It\'s the fact that gravity is always pulling you towards the surface that makes an orbit possible. Ah, I was more so talking about Altitude lowering when I was referring to a pull to the surface. I had a thin grasp that Orbiting is essentially falling but missing the ground. I should\'ve been more specific, aye? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markus Reese Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 You are partially correct, orbit is a combination of gravity pulling you down, and your horizontal velocity increases your altitude. Imaging a ruler laying across a sphere. This is your horizontal velocity essentially. You can also think of it as a flight path with no gravity. With gravity, it is like bending that ruler. You are moving 'up' at an angle, and gravity pulls you in. Without resistance, you are then curving around. If your horizontal velocity causes an increase in altitude counter to that of the pull of gravity, orbit will increase. If you get closer, the pull of gravity does get stronger. However whether you escape or create orbit is entirely related to your velocity relative to the suface. So if you are going 4m/s when you hit 4000, you will keep decreasing. Gas up to 1000m/s velocity parallel to surface, off you go. hope that helps clarify. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
togfox Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 I just checked the KGSS maps ... ~3257 metres is the highest peak and when I say approx, that means fly at 3500 or 3300 if you\'re nuts, which Jeb is of course - nuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanamonde Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Attached is Newton\'s nifty explanation of how orbit works. A canon is on hill V firing canonballs to the right. Fire the ball slowly and it does move sideways, but gravity also pulls it down and it lands at D. Fire it a little faster and gravity still pulls it down just as hard, but it\'s also moving sideways faster, so the ball goes father before landing at E. Fire the ball somewhat faster, and as the ball travels, the earth curves away underneath it, so the ball goes even farther before hitting the ground at F, and faster/further still at B down there. But at a certain speed, the orbital speed, the earth (or whatever) curves away at the same rate that the canonball falls/flies. The ball really is falling (freefall), but will just keep falling and never hit the earth. Of course, this illustration pretends earth has no atmosphere to slow the ball down, but the idea still works if you just imagine the mountain sticks up out of the atmosphere. Newton. Figured this out. In 1687. 270 years before Sputnik actually did it for the first time. (So nobody gets into any kind of legal troube, I copied the picture from here.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leopardenthusiast Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Ah, I was more so talking about Altitude lowering when I was referring to a pull to the surface. I had a thin grasp that Orbiting is essentially falling but missing the ground. I should\'ve been more specific, aye?Yep. That\'s about all there is to keeping a spaceflight going for any decent amount of time, you just have to fall and miss the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der Kosmos Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 Sorry to Necro but, I just hit the side of a mountain between 4 and 5km. It was an equatorial orbit and the mountain was the rim of one of the larger craters I think. I would have cleared it if I had about a hundred or so more meters.The wiki says the highest peek is 7061.1416 m at 82° 31′ 5″ S 152° 19′ 31″ W so 6 or 7km is probably safe for most equatorial orbits with anything higher than 7.5 being safe for polar orbits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRV Ron Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 I was more or less roleplaying a recon mission for a downed rocket. I posted about it in the Fan Fiction area. I went around 5-6k a few times before beginning my trip back home. Was pretty safe at 5k, didn\'t notice any pull towards the surface.There won't be any pull as there is no atmosphere to slow down you orbital speed. Get below 5k and there is the risk of running into a mountain peak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sirine Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 Sorry to Necro but, I just hit the side of a mountain between 4 and 5km. It was an equatorial orbit and the mountain was the rim of one of the larger craters I think. I would have cleared it if I had about a hundred or so more meters.The wiki says the highest peek is 7061.1416 m at 82° 31′ 5″ S 152° 19′ 31″ W so 6 or 7km is probably safe for most equatorial orbits with anything higher than 7.5 being safe for polar orbits.Agree. I'll always set it to 15km due to my lander are "slow" to slow-down. Made room for some error. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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