Poll: Kerbal Space Program's Mun Landers

[Daman453]

So, i just got this a week ago, i once went to the moon and then came back. It was awesome. It was in the demo. (Damn chut never slowed me down to 5 m/s so i crashed.) ((played it after a mounth after.)) I am still trying to learn the parts.

Edit: Anyone want to put a stock lander and rover to the moon? I need it.

Edited October 9, 2013 by Daman453
More Words!!!

[tomkpunkt]

Yes i can

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[Tiron]

Seriously...landing on the Mun and returning is not really that hard. It only really requires six things: A basic grasp of the most basic bits of orbital mechanics (Specifically: The knowledge of how to reach Kerbin orbit, and how to circularize into Munar orbit once you get to the Mun.) Knowledge of how to get to the Mun (either using the 'just after it rises' rule of thumb or brute forcing it via a lot of timewarping.) An understanding of how to land in vacuum (Killing your downrange, then limiting your vertical velocity.) The realization that to return you need to get out of the Mun's SoI, ideally in the direction of Kerbin (my first return trip I aimed in the wrong direction but was able to correct my orbit once I got into Kerbin's SoI.) A craft with the TWR and Delta-V to accomplish all of these tasks. Sufficient practice in accomplishing these tasks to pull them off without botching it up.

Learning all this and getting the practice is far harder than actually doing it: I saw a video on youtube recently (which I can't find at present), where a guy landed on the Mun and returned...using only his FEET. No Mechjeb.

My first mun landing came within a week or so of getting the 0.13.3 demo, using no mods. I used the 'just after it rises' rule of thumb, which was well known and easy to find (without any picture/video references however I ended up burning a bit early, it worked anyway.) I landed on AV-R8 fins because of the lack of landing legs (the main game had them already so guides on how to use fins as legs were nonexistent, just some references to having done it that way before.) I had distinct trouble killing my downrange velocity and tipped over on all of my first attempts, but my lander was so massively overbuilt that the undamaged part of it was able to take off while lying on the surface and return to Kerbin anyway. I started using mechjeb some time after having bought the game, and largely don't bother doing non-atmospheric landings by hand anymore.

Lately I've been taking SSTOs to the Mun. Yes, without refueling. My most recent trip was with my large rover-carrier SSTO:

The larger of the two flew there without refueling...and that's why the smaller one is there in this screenshot. The larger one turned out not to have enough fuel left to make orbit again, so I refueled the small one in Low Munar Orbit, then landed it next to the big one to refuel it. Both of them ended up with just enough fuel to reach the tanker in LMO.

I flew both back to Kerbin and landed them both at the space center. The smaller one on the runway, the larger one I botched it and landed short, the engines touching the ground and being destroyed in the process.

Here's a video of the larger one landing on the Mun and deploying the rover. It's got pretty crazy methods for doing both, and I already posted it in the 'crazy invention' thread, so if you saw it there go ahead and skip it.

Edit: Okay, now I found that video of the guy flying to the Mun and Back with his feet:

NO THIS IS NOT ME DOING IT, IT'S ABYSSAL LURKER!

Edited October 9, 2013 by Tiron

[WafflesToo]

Youbetcha!

part one

[Rainbow-Dashie]

I've landed on the Mun, got back to Kerbins orbit, and began a decent into the atmosphere, and deployed the chutes... though it failed to slow down and crashed into the sea...

So in theory i can do it

[Panzerbeard]

This was my Selene II design, only deployed once for a rescue mission (the legacy of the Selene I project..). I only launched it with 2 crew members instead of the usual 3, so I'd have room for the stranded kerbal, but it still counts, right?

I've done 4 or 5 missions with this little thing, the Selene III, but I never thought to take any screenshots of her returning to Kerbin.

[G4S3FR]

A not very cinematic imageset for proof

Prelaunch -

Launch -

Crew transfer -

Landing -

Landed -

Lunar liftoff -

Pre-crew transfer #2 -

Re-entry -

Points for unintentional accuracy? -

Splashdown -

I didn't take pictures of the munar transfer because it was boring.

Edited October 11, 2013 by G4S3FR

[boolybooly]

This is how we did it in the good old days, before Kerbals had legs

[Milo Kurtiss]

Where's the love for landing stages?

[Felsmak]

The remains of the lander that remain at the Mun to this day. Lost and forgotten.

[Awass]

Though, why would anyone lie about what they can and cannot do in Kerbal Space Program?

How did you launch the ascent stage of the lander? I see no fuel or engine? Was it all RCS?

[rodion]

How did you launch the ascent stage of the lander? I see no fuel or engine? Was it all RCS?

I can't tell exactly just from the screenshots but it looks like there is probably propulsion gear clipped inside of it.

[WeirdCulture]

Edited October 12, 2013 by WeirdCulture

[Superfluous J]

To see (and show) the City Lights mod that I'm helping on, I just started a new save, built a ship, launched it, and landed it on Mun. I built it so it could return, though I won't because the save was just to show off the mod and I wanted the ship to look nice there.

It was only later that I realized I had done all this in one shot with no mistakes, confusion, or danger to my Kerbals. Oh how far I've come from the early days.

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Edited October 12, 2013 by 5thHorseman

[Felsmak]

How did you launch the ascent stage of the lander? I see no fuel or engine? Was it all RCS?

There's a fuel tank inside the command pod, with four radial engines coming out through the bottom.

It wasn't enough to reach orbit, though. Had to use RCS for those final m/s!

[Awass]

How did you mount multiple engines like that under the same fuel tank (pic 1 and 2)

[Captain Sierra]

Various clipping, radial attachment port, cubic octagonal strut, etc.

[Galacticruler]

needs a third option:

Yes, but no time to prove it.

[possum]

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn206/thedrunkpossum/screenshot0.png' alt='screenshot0.png'>

Did not take any photos of the dockings or return.

[ulminati]

Pictures? Have a video instead. Bit of an oldie.

Edited October 12, 2013 by ulminati

[Buzzed Aldrin]

You had to land veeerrry gently on those wings.

http://imgur.com/a/pHE8y

[rodion]

You had to land veeerrry gently on those wings.

http://imgur.com/a/pHE8y

Wow, that's astonishing. I've never seen wings used for that before.

[roosterr]

I did it the hard way, Apollo style

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Edited October 12, 2013 by roosterr

[Tiron]

Wow, that's astonishing. I've never seen wings used for that before.

Used to be the only way to land, pretty much. Landing Legs were added after the Mun was. My first few Mun landings were that way, before I bought the game.

They left almost no clearance between the ground and the engines, though, as they were just BARELY long enough. Thus the gentle. Get too much flex, goodbye engines.

[Brotoro]

Apollo style? I did it Soviet style! <--Link