Well crap...

[robly18]

So today I finally managed to land on the mun straight...

FML

[mustwinfull]

Congratulations, it must of been getting tense as you were so close to not having enough fuel.

Well Done and keep on going.

[sal_vager]

This is an opportunity robly

Now you can practice landing next to your craft with another craft, with a 3 Kerbal pod and 2 Kerbals in it.

Epic Munventure rescue mission awaits!

[robly18]

So I tried to reach escape velocity using RCS...

Didn't quite work as I expected.

I am now using the EVA pack, I shall now get a munar orbit and practice doing rezendvous instead.

Wish me luck!

[sal_vager]

Good luck robly, and getting back from the Mun on RCS is hard, it might not even be doable anymore, you need the whole tank and nothing else, just the pod, chute and a few thrusters.

Can it be done with the Kerbal jetpack? No idea, I'd try very hard to conserve my fuel though, only thrusting at apoapsis and periapsis, plus it's getting into Mun orbit that takes the most fuel, don't waste gas by trying to get too high.

[Qumefox]

Fuel saving tip. Small craft like this don't really need RCS. They're plenty maneuverable with just the SAS/thrusters all capsules have, and in a craft this small, shaving off half a ton from eliminating the RCS tank and thrusters, can actually have a very noticeable affect on fuel usage throughout the entire mission.

[Markus Reese]

Yup, like qumefox said, I only have the RCS for steering and attitude adjustments on large rockets myself. On the landers I might, but typically they jettison when I do my final liftoff, or the tank is getting low so it doesn't matter. Also always try and make sure you have a final stage that has enough fuel to get back from your destination by itself, be it mun, minmus or some other celestial body. For the most fuel maximizing return, try to burn retrograde at apoapsis, this is your slowest orbit point and as such have the most meaningful effect on periapsis, let atmospheres do the hard work for you.

[robly18]

Hooray!

I followed your advice and took the RCS away... The result?

I have fuel left!

Jebediah chillin near the capsule

A nice sunset.

I shall now attempt to get back to kerbal. I am confident on this

[Ascensiam]

Sometimes it's amazing what removing some arbitrary parts can do for your design. Just be happy you didn't forget the chute, realising it when dropping at 1000m.

[robly18]

Is bad day for Jebediah Kerman.

The rocket got up to 200 K meters from the mun, after wich it ran out of fuel. As such, it was unable to exit the mun's SOI. Jebediah Kerman's capsule, with him inside it, plummeted to the ground at 700 m/s.

[RC1062]

Did you go straight up? If so you're wasting a lot of fuel (this is because your thrust has to counter gravity completely). I would try going up to 5000m or so (this is the Mün so you don't need to worry about drag) then turn in the direction you want to orbit. This should allow you to raise you apoapsis enough.

Keep it up, you'll reach Duna in no time!

[robly18]

I was going at an angle of about 75º in relation to the surface.

My plan was to slingshot to kerbal, wich was standing "behind" the mun.

[Qumefox]

Did you go straight up? If so you're wasting a lot of fuel (this is because your thrust has to counter gravity completely). I would try going up to 5000m or so (this is the Mün so you don't need to worry about drag) then turn in the direction you want to orbit. This should allow you to raise you apoapsis enough.

Keep it up, you'll reach Duna in no time!

If you land on the wayward orbit side of mun, then lift off straight up in the opposite direction of mun's orbit, and have a speed of 543m/s when you leave mun's SOI, (which you give you an orbital speed close to 0 when you're back in kerbins SOI) you'll just fall directly towards kerbin without any additional fuel usage.

Not sure if this is more or less efficient than returning via orbits and orbital adjustments though.

[Ascensiam]

It looks like you're just on the edge of success, try adding slight alteration like an extra set of engines, a few extra fuel tanks etc.

[SiliconPyro]

Looks a lot like my first landing. After that it became routine. Landing something that could safely return however....

[XilentDude]

Awesome job you did there ! I still remember when 0.12 was launched.. only after 2 months I managed to land on Mun. After MANY failed missions.. Now, if I get in orbit and I have some fuel, I can achieve at least a elliptical Mun orbit.

If you are ever gonna try to land on Minmus, just bring a small fuel tank for liftoff and the reentry orbit to Kerbin.

And you should try to use Mechjeb. And yeah.. it's a cheat part but you can learn all the maneuvers from a circular orbit to landing on another planet.

Good Luck !

[robly18]

Awesome job you did there ! I still remember when 0.12 was launched.. only after 2 months I managed to land on Mun. After MANY failed missions.. Now, if I get in orbit and I have some fuel, I can achieve at least a elliptical Mun orbit.

If you are ever gonna try to land on Minmus, just bring a small fuel tank for liftoff and the reentry orbit to Kerbin.

And you should try to use Mechjeb. And yeah.. it's a cheat part but you can learn all the maneuvers from a circular orbit to landing on another planet.

Good Luck !

First of all, somehow, the first thing I did when I bought 0.16 was land on minmus and come back. No idea how I did it, but my point is, been there; done that

Secondly, I will not even touch mechjeb until I manage to land on the mun without problems. I don't want a crutch interfering with my peformance :|

Note:I'm not speaking bad of mechjeb, in fact I find it a very helpful tool for those in need, but I personally find it makes the game overly easy. Just my opinion though.