Exploring the Mun

[Puck Man]

[introduction]

Hello KSP players, this is my first thread on the forums. Though a newbie in here, I have KSP for some months now. Before the 0.16 update, I learned how to get into orbit and manipulate it and the basics of travelling from one celestial body to another. Though I had gone to the Mun many times, I never managed to land because any landing gear I used broke and I ended up stranded on The Mun. I stopped playing for a while because I was frustrated with the fact that I could not land on the Mun but after learning that 0.16 came out and it had stronger landing legs I hopped right back in. The first thing I noiced was that not only my previous ships were incompatible but they were also impossible to be made again due to the change in size of some components. So I had to start from scratch. In the 3 days I have played 0.16 I have made 2 ships and a 3rd one is under construction. My first ship was the Mun Lander, it can go to the Mun and possibly back and it carries one crew member. The Kerman who had the honour to be the first man to fly it was none other than Jeb, who went and landed succesfully on the Mun. The Mun lander has plenty of fuel left so it can probably go back to Kerbin but I have not tested that yet because with the addition of EVA I decided to dedicate my (Kerbal) life to the exploration and study of the Mun. With that being said I hope that you will enjoy my posts and find the information I collect useful.

[Vanamonde]

I also like to leave my ships on the moons and come back to vist them later, but you really should try the return trip a few times. It\'s a different and interesting kind of challenge. Though, like you, right now I\'m still trying to work out a ship that gets there reliably in the first place. So far: 3 fatal crashes, 2 non-fatal crashes, 2 landings without enough fuel to get back, and one intact landing that might have enough fuel to get back, but is badly glitchy for some reason. ???

[Puck Man]

[Entry 1]

Captain: Jebediah Kerman

Vessel: Mun Lander

After the first succesful landing on the Mun, Jeb had the onour of being the first to step on the Mun. The landing location is located in the edge of the nearside, near one of the largest craters on the Mun.

The first thing I did was to learn how to use the jetpack and push it to its limits so that I know what it\'s capabilities are. I have managed to cover a maximum distance of 13km before running out of fuel and reached a maximum of 8000 meters in height but I could do more. I am sure that if handled right ,it can cover even larger distances.

After I noticed there was that huge crater near my landing spot I decided to relocate my ship about 13km away from it. I don\'t want to risk going any further because the landing stage has little fuel left in it and the return stage cannot land so the Mun Lander will stay put until I decide to return to Kerbin. I decided to go explore it but it was too far. I ended up running out of fuel somewhere after the edge of the crater, the center is too far to go on foot so I am slowly returning to my ship which is 13km away. You can imagine how slow that process is >.>

The second ship I made is called the Explorer and it can carry a crew of 3 but it cannot return to Kerbin, or maybe it can but it is highyly unlikely. Since I had to make it with the new parts it\'s not exactly fuel efficient and there\'s plenty room for improvement. It was initially made to be able to go to the Mun and back but I then changed it to reconnaissance. After I realised I had spent way too much fuel to get to the Mun I decided I would leave it in low orbit for observation. While orbiting the nearside at 2000 meters I noticed there was an arch of some sort. After searching the forum I discovered that little is known for that arch so I decided to explore it and the Mun and post my progrss here. since my orbit was too low, I could land with a lot of precision so I landed near the crater on whose brim is the arch. The explorer shall serve as the base of operations for the expeditions on the nearside.

The 3rd ship I am making is basically a Rover transporter. I have made a rover out of default parts and I will modify one of my existing rockets to send it to the Mun. I will drop it off near the Explorer and send one of my astronauts to the arch for experiments. The rover can cover large distances and it will take a while before I need to send a new one.

For now my top priorities are to get Jeb back to his ship and return to Kerbin and sending the rover on the Mun. After that I will probably start making an extraction vessel which will go to the Mun and retrieve astronauts that are not needed.

That\'s all for now, I will post pictures with my nest post. Farewell for now.

[Puck Man]

[Entry 2]

The Mun Rover has landed successfully 17.4km away from the Explorer. Under the command of Bill Kerman, it has proven to be a very efficient means of transport. It is slow ,because although it capable of high speeds, it can easily break apart, but it is also very efficient spending pretty much no fuel and requirinf minimum thrust for a few second to reach cruising speed. It\'s not as fast as the Jetpack can be but it can cover much larger distances. I am currently heading to the arch which is pretty far away but I can easily reach it with the rover. The only problem is that it might take some time.

A second, more advanced, Rover is on the drawing board and soon it will depart for the Mun. There are many reasons for that.

1st) I will be able to explore the farside quicker

2nd) Now that I\'ve driven the first one I know what needs to be improved and I can make a sturdier, faster rover

3rd) I want to rescue Jeb who has been stranded in the crater for 76 days now and sending a rover to pick him up will be much faster than walking all the way to his ship.

And there\'s a picture of my Rover in parking position. If you leave it unattended on its wheels it can roll to its destruction pretty quickly

[Puck Man]

[Entry 3]

After realising my rover was gonna get me to the arch next year I decided to just take off and land near the arch. After reaching it it was very clear it was natural arch et it can\'t have formed on the Mun. Maybe the devs just put it there for the heck of it, sure does its job on attracting attention. I rolled the rover here and there and took some measurements which are off by a few meters. The one that\'s off by the most is the hight one because for some reason you can\'t go under it, you just die if you try.

Height : about 160 meters

Length: about 300 meters

Pictures soon to follow

Next I will send a rover to the Mun to retrieve Jeb and return him to his ship