Gilly Flat Spot

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

Does anybody have the coordinates for a flat landing spot on Gilly? I tried to land an ore transport on an old landing site (using MJ landing guidance), but it kept bouncing.

• I don't care about the ore concentration. I just need a spot that I won't keep bouncing off - regardless of ore concentration (I have the big drills)

This is especially crucial for manned landers. The last time I landed someone on Gilly, I lost two engines and a panel.

 

Thanks.

[magnemoe]

12 hours ago, Mars-Bound Hokie said:

Does anybody have the coordinates for a flat landing spot on Gilly? I tried to land an ore transport on an old landing site (using MJ landing guidance), but it kept bouncing.

• I don't care about the ore concentration. I just need a spot that I won't keep bouncing off - regardless of ore concentration (I have the big drills)

This is especially crucial for manned landers. The last time I landed someone on Gilly, I lost two engines and a panel.

 

Thanks.

Mechjeb has problems landing on Gilly because gravity is idiotic low. You can see some of this on Minmus with an high TWR lander. 

Your lander is a bit high for the distance between legs but it should be plenty of flat enough places. 
My tips is to use mechjeb to show landing spot, you can also mark the spot you want to land on. 

Now burn towards the spot so you downward speed in 10 m/s, you will need to do sideways burns to get the landing spot correctly, if you want you can increase downward speed to 20 m/s or a bit more. 
Turn around so engines point down, 100-200 meter above surface reduce speed to 2-4 m/s for touchdown, on touchdown use rcs to push down toward surface. 
You have landed. 

Now another problem is that then you mine and use time warp or jump back to lander its weight has increased this compresses the legs so the craft jumps, this is very visible in the low gravity. 

[Snark]

18 hours ago, Mars-Bound Hokie said:

Does anybody have the coordinates for a flat landing spot on Gilly? I tried to land an ore transport on an old landing site (using MJ landing guidance), but it kept bouncing.

I've found that the issue with Gilly isn't much to do with level ground.  If you're bouncing on a slope, you'll bounce where it's level, too.

A couple of things:

• Make sure that the "solid" part of the drills (i.e. the part with a collider, that doesn't include the telescoping portion) doesn't touch the ground when you swing the drills down to deploy them-- i.e. make sure that your drills are mounted high enough on your lander.  The drills "jiggle" while running, and if the uppermost short "sleeve" touches the ground, it'll keep jouncing you.  As long as that part doesn't touch the ground, then the drills will impart no motion to you and you're fine.
• Make sure that your landing legs are tuned appropriately.  YMMV, but in my experience, the "auto" setting for spring / damper isn't super great and tends to result in oscillations.  Try cranking the spring setting fairly low, and the damper significantly higher than the spring.

 

[magnemoe]

On 8/5/2019 at 6:06 PM, Snark said:

I've found that the issue with Gilly isn't much to do with level ground.  If you're bouncing on a slope, you'll bounce where it's level, too.

A couple of things:

• Make sure that the "solid" part of the drills (i.e. the part with a collider, that doesn't include the telescoping portion) doesn't touch the ground when you swing the drills down to deploy them-- i.e. make sure that your drills are mounted high enough on your lander.  The drills "jiggle" while running, and if the uppermost short "sleeve" touches the ground, it'll keep jouncing you.  As long as that part doesn't touch the ground, then the drills will impart no motion to you and you're fine.
• Make sure that your landing legs are tuned appropriately.  YMMV, but in my experience, the "auto" setting for spring / damper isn't super great and tends to result in oscillations.  Try cranking the spring setting fairly low, and the damper significantly higher than the spring.

 

Dropping the legs entirely and just use grinders or other high impact tolerant metal parts might be the best way. Optionally use the legs only for landing. Using plane landing wheels is also an option. This has the benefit that you can move the base with an small engine on the side. 

This is pretty much my standard base design. 
It has an small science lander on top who is an scaled down version. 

Wheels are only used to move the base, typically up to stuff who need refueling. Then I stop I retract them. 
As its no spring and dampeners base is very stable even after warp while drilling. 

[AHHans]

On 8/4/2019 at 11:56 PM, Mars-Bound Hokie said:

I tried to land an ore transport [...]

[Cue Adam Savage from the Mythbusters:] "Ah, theeere's your problem!" You don't land on Gilly, you dock to Gilly.

O.K. Jokes aside: what works for me is to: a) "land" at really low speed (< 1 m/s). For the last few meter I indeed use RCS  to slow down, and try to get to a zero-zero landing. (Well, try to...) And b) once I'm more ore less down and wobble around on the landing legs, I use RCS to push me downwards to the ground to dampen the oscillations. I.e. burn downwards when the navball shows the prograde marker.