How to land exactly where I want to

[PixeledGaming]

So I sent a rover to Duna and there was something interesting I wanted to check out using my rover. Point is, the planet spins and I never end up where I want to:(. Does anyone know some good tricks or tips to landing exactly where you want to?

Thanks:)

[matt_cain]

Two possible options for you are: 1. using the landing computer on the Mech Jeb Mod, or 2. quick saving (F5) when you finish your de-orbit burn and quick loading (holding F9) back to it if your orbit was off. Then you can just adjust your way to where you want to land. It will take several shots at first, but eventually you’ll get more accurate. Hope that helps.

[PixeledGaming]

Two possible options for you are: 1. using the landing computer on the Mech Jeb Mod, or 2. quick saving (F5) when you finish your de-orbit burn and quick loading (holding F9) back to it if your orbit was off. Then you can just adjust your way to where you want to land. It will take several shots at first, but eventually you’ll get more accurate. Hope that helps.

Thanks! That's gonna help!

[matt_cain]

Anytime man, have fun! Oh don't forget that Duna's atmosphere will slow your ship down as well so angle of entry is important to consider.

[PixeledGaming]

Anytime man, have fun! Oh don't forget that Duna's atmosphere will slow your ship down as well so angle of entry is important to consider.

Yeah! Skycrane got ripped off when I first started playing KSP!

[reilem]

A thing that people tend to forget all the time is that once they've done their de-orbit burn they do absolutely nothing until they land. What I always do is burn directly up if i see that my orbit is falling in front of my target due to planetary rotation. Burning up won't speed you up it'll just widen your orbit, then once I'm above my target i kill my horizontal speed and drop down. I then set my target as my target and i use the pink markers together with my retrograde marker to go directly towards my target.

Hope this helped

[AnalogAddict]

For Duna and other atmospheric worlds, I try to pick a spot 110 degrees from my landing site and lower my periapsis to 4~5km ASL (So periapsis is ~70 degrees ahead of desired landing target). This technique works from altitudes of 75~100km. Someone made a very handy chart that is more fleshed out than my method. At that point I let 'chutes and atmosphere do their work. Also I'll fire what expendable fuel I may have to fine tune the approach - albeit before the 'chutes deploy. This technique gets me back to KSC and repetitive landings making extra-planetary bases. This may take some trial and error depending on the drag of your craft.

How I do this is fairly simple for non-atmospheric landings, I position my craft roughly on the opposite side of the planetary body from the desired landing site and lower my perigee to 4~5km.

When this maneuver is properly completed, the perigee node should be almost exactly above the landing site.

As I approach the landing site, I begin to kill my lateral velocity.

I've found it easier to start burning before I think I should as to leave a decent amount of lateral velocity to get a more precise landing site in relation to my desired target, also during this phase I might burn normal or anti-normal to fine tune the final landing location.

Your mileage may vary depending on the style of craft you're attempting to land.

This is not the most efficient landing technique, however its reliable time and time again.

I did some tests with various landers and its 15~20% less efficient due to killing all horizontal velocity 4~5km above your target, then killing off the remaining vertical velocity as you approach the ground. As you get used to this technique you can improve that efficiency or fine tune one particular approach to be as efficient as possible (maybe 5% overhead vs suicide burns)

Edited July 18, 2013 by AnalogAddict

[SiliconPyro]

One thing you should remember is to switch your nav ball to "Surface" as you begin your descent. That way if your retrograde marker is directly at 0 (middle of the blue) you are matching the orbital speed of the planet and will have zero lateral speed relative to the surface. In other words, if you're over your target and set it to surface, just keep the retrograde marker in the center of the blue and you're coming down on top of your target.

[PixeledGaming]

Thanks guys! All these helped!