Lander and Rover: Is there a better way to do it

[ls612]

I am a new player (playing now for about a week) and have designed a Lander/Rover combo that can go to the Mun or Minmus, but it looks ugly and is incredibly complex to stage (it basically uses a skycrane after landing). Here is what it looks like.

Is there a better way to do this, or have I inadvertently found the best way to combine landers and rovers?

Edited June 3, 2013 by ls612

[zanzibar196]

*confused* Don't see a picture of what it looks like, so I have no idea how to answer your question...

[Dunbaratu]

Did you mean to post this with a picture? If so, it's missing.

[rryy]

Fixed.

Instead of having a Poodle engine below that fuel tank, try putting four LV-909s radially. Then, stick the rover below the lander so when you land the lander, you can simply decouple the rover onto the surface.

[Dunbaratu]

Why not build your rocket stack with the rover UNDER the lander (I assume the service module there is intended to land and not remain in orbit, because you gave it lander legs).

That way your lander also acts as the skycrane for the rover and you don't need a separate skycrane for the rover. You hover the lander to a near stop above the ground, drop the rover from underneath it, then deflect the lander aside a little bit and land it. (Or, if you use landing legs long enough and the rover is short enough, you might even be able to just land the lander with the rover still attached and then drop the rover from there.)

[edit: oh I see that was already rryy's suggestion. I just misread that post.]

[kahlzun]

The way I do it, the skycrane is the lander:

It might not look it, but this thing can easily land on Tylo.

The tanks are attached to decouplers so they will eject after landing. Just stick a decoupler on the bottom, and a rocket under that, and you've got a lander for anywhere*

(* May not have return capability on all worlds)

[Uberick]

I'm a big fan of integrating the skycrane into the rover. . .

For smaller ones, I usually pack them on top(bottom, since the LM is inverted) of the LM with a docking port. (make sure to include a probe body so it can control itself)

Hope this helps!

[ls612]

Fixed.

Instead of having a Poodle engine below that fuel tank, try putting four LV-909s radially. Then, stick the rover below the lander so when you land the lander, you can simply decouple the rover onto the surface.

I like this idea the best, thanks. Note that the top is the Escape tower, the skycrane is underneath it. Now I just need to find the Polar Mun Arch.

Also, what was causing my image to not show? I thought I had done the BBCode correctly.

Edited June 3, 2013 by ls612

[rryy]

I like this idea the best, thanks.

Also, what was causing my image to not show? I thought I had done the BBCode correctly.

The image link you use has to only show the image and no other stuff around it. The link you used, http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=150086291 , had other stuff around the picture, but clicking on the picture would lead you to this link, http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/594753342785873146/AFFC0F262795892FDF8C675B644BCAA1F59A5F51/ , which shows only the picture.