Land an Outpost on Mun

[Smartshaunak251]

Hello, i recently got a mission to land an outpost on wheels consisting of a 17 kerbal capacity and a science laboratory complete with solar arrays and transmission equipment, the completed outposts weighs 16 tons, how do i land 16 tons on mun without rapid unscheduled disassembly?

[Vanamonde]

Just like you land a small thing, only more carefully. And I'm not trying to be funny. It's just the truth.

I run a campaign save in which I do not cheat, and a sandbox save in which I cheat for testing purposes. You could do that and cheat your craft to Mun orbit to practice landing it and making sure it has cushioned landing legs enough to avoid damage, then built a delivery rocket under it, then copy the design to your "real" save for the actual mission. 

Also, welcome to the forum.  

[Leganeski]

23 hours ago, Smartshaunak251 said:

how do i land 16 tons on mun without rapid unscheduled disassembly?

Moar boosters!

The central premise of rocket science is that any weight can be lifted with enough engines, regardless of whether that weight is fuel, an outpost, or even another rocket. If you can land a 1 ton craft on Mun using some engine, you can land 16 tons using 16 engines and 16 times as much fuel. There is no limit to the number of engines you can put on your rocket, so just keep adding more until it works.

Alternatively, use a bigger engine. A single Swivel provides more than enough thrust to land the entire outpost on Mun along with some extra fuel.

If you're have trouble steering such a big craft on the way down to Mun, I would personally recommend adding more reaction wheels, although some people prefer to use RCS thrusters.

[Grogs]

I think the important questions are: 1. What are the exact contract requirements? 2. What's your tech level? and 3. What are your plans for the base after completing the contract?

For question 1, sounds like you need a base that supports 17 kerbals, has an antenna, can generate power, and has wheels. First, 17 kerbals is a pretty big base, especially if you're early-mid tech tree. The antenna and power requirements are pretty easy, but I don't know how a wheels requirement usually works. If it's just that you need a ship that has wheels, you could add a couple of the smallest wheels to a regular lander, land to complete the contract, and maybe even jettison the wheels afterwards if you don't want/need a giant rolling base on the Mun. If I'm not sure exactly what equipment I need to complete the contract, I'll often just put it on the launchpad to make sure all the boxes are checked (except being on the Mun of course) to make sure.

For question 2, the tech level determines the parts available. Building a big base and landing it is much easier when you've reached the end of the tech tree and have access to bigger parts / better engines. Late game, I would probably build something with Mk3 parts: Mk3 cockpit, passenger module, CRG-50+science module, a couple of Mk3 fuel tanks, and then an engine like a Wolfhound. That's actually a lot like the ship I use to transport tourists / new kerbonauts around the Kerbin-Mun-Minmus system late in the game, so this contract might be a good way for me to get paid for building that ship!

For question 3, do you actually want a base / giant rover on the Mun? If so, then that's what I would design. Personally, I don't find such a base very useful, so I would probably build it like a standard lander that comes down tail first on a single engine. Assuming that just having a couple of wheels somewhere on the craft would fulfill the contract, I'd land to complete it, then jettison the wheels using decouplers and take off again.

All of these questions feed into how do you land the base. If you just want to complete the contract and not make a rover base, then just build it like a regular lander / rocket to land vertically with an engine and landing gear at the bottom. If you do want to use this as a proper horizontal base/rover, then you have a couple of options. Option 1 is to land it vertically as described above, then retract the landing gear and pitch it down using reaction wheels/RCS. This is super easy to do on Minmus, but somewhat harder on the Mun (but should still be doable). The biggest problem with this method is it's hard to ever get the base off the ground again. Maybe you can jump off a crater rim or something, but it's not going to be something you'll want to have to do very often. The 2nd option is to land it horizontally using 2-3 pairs of radial engines. In my experience, this is a lot harder to control and takes a lot of attention to where the center of mass is when the craft is full and where it shifts to when empty. The good news is that if you can pull it off, it's usually pretty easy to take off again if you want to move the base or put it back into orbit.

If you want more specific advice than that, I suggest you post some pictures of your design. Good luck!

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

On 2/5/2023 at 12:24 PM, Grogs said:

If you want more specific advice than that, I suggest you post some pictures of your design. Good luck!

Yeah, how can we give an accurate answer on how to help you if we don't know exactly what we're working with? A screenshot of the contract would be nice as well, as well as how far into the tech tree you are.

• Is it explicitly required to have wheels?
  • If so, what kind?
  • If not, then why do you want a mobile base? Is it to gather science in various biomes and harvest science faster?
• Exactly what kind of transmission equipment is required? Specific antenna models? Relay vs direct? 
• What kind of equipment do you have at hand?

 

Here's my favorite Mun Base, a replica of the Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated building from Phineas and Ferb. 

 

That base won't pass your contract, but I have a mobile base that probably will (assuming the contract isn't too restrictive on the wheel type). Though the rocket is designed for a Duna landing, it can be easily modified for a Mun landing - or just straight-up launch it there as-is, wiggle the mobile base off the last rocket, and deal with the profit loss.

 

• The lab is stashed in the cargo area behind the cockpit.

 

Hope this helps, and welcome aboard. 

 

[magnemoe]

One tricks is that you can test the base on the launch pad, it should then fulfill all the requirements except land the base on the Mun. This is even more useful if you want to use the base later as you can see how it drives. 
The base must stand on the wheels. so not put an random wheel somewhere and if it tips over during landing it don't count.  

If base is not designed to be used I would take the lab, put 4 2.5 meter fuel tanks and put around the lab bottom. put 4 hitchhiker modules on top. Put two wheels on each fuel tank, it will not be drive able but would be on wheel. 
4 medium reaction wheels on top of the hitchhikers one small solar pannel on the side of each of them, a couple of batteries, an antenna. One puddle or 4 terriers for transfer and landing. 
One good option is to have an tank on top of the lab you use for transfer and drop after Mun deorbit burn.