Apollo 11 Recreation (Mun and back safely no mods / stock parts / LM+CM docking x2)

[lunchlady55]

Hi,

Just went to the Mun and back successfully with no mods, stock parts, in a re-creation of the Apollo 11. Basically, I did the tutorial on the wiki with the 2 docking procedures, one to flip the LM in front, one to re-dock after returning from the Mun surface. I couldn't get off the ground with only 4 engines on Stage I, had to bump it up to 6, and added quite a few more struts to keep the thing together. Those were the only deviations from the build instructions on the wiki. Not sure if things have changed in 0.20 that made it this necessary or I'm just a bad pilot. I also had to do a return burn, the free return trajectory was just too complicated for me with the docking involved. Docking was hard enough for me in a stable orbit.

I only have a couple of screenshots:

On the Mun:

http://i.imgur.com/eA5zHL3.jpg

After splashdown:

http://i.imgur.com/a4EPyTb.jpg

Jebediah was my first Kerbal on the Mun, and he didn't even stumble! So proud of that little guy!

I also noticed the ladder wasn't quite long enough. I had to jetpack a little to get back into the LM.

Notice the mono-propellant remaining...that was all that was left after docking at the Mun...it was pretty hairy there for a while, switching back & forth between the LM & CM to dock. The LM ran out, and I had to complete it with only the CM. Scary! It took about 2 days in game, playing the waiting game for the orbits to sync up for re-docking in Mun orbit.

Anyway, I know it's not much, but I'm pretty happy to have done this without mechjeb or modded parts.

Can't wait for the full game / campaign mode! Thanks Squad! This is an awesome game!

[reenact12321]

I'm so glad someone completed this rocket successfully. I've been trying to play with more advanced rockets (namely multi stages and having docking ports) but I couldn't figure out how to assemble this one. I put the CM together and then the LM, but couldn't figure out how to attach the LM to the poodle rocket stage. The docking port on top just didn't seem to allow it to snap to any of the other parts. Even the picture shows it sort of floating off below the rocket. I tried attaching the decoupler (the blue explosive one, I forget the name) to the port and that seems to work but then it won't let the whole unit snap to the poodle engine on the bottom of the CM section.

Could you please post your craft file as, it would answer a lot of questions about design technique for me. Thanks!