can i Refuel?

[kevo]

hi all i managed to land on the mun last night after numerous attempts which i ended up falling over about 15 times so i redesigned my lander and managed to land at last . The only thing is im short on fuel to get back so is there anyway i can get my lander refuelled or is it stuck there now ?

[Kimberly]

If you can dock your lander to a craft that has fuel, you can refuel. With the Kerbal Attachment System mod, you can also drag fuel lines to nearby ships.

It may be easier to just land a new, better lander that will have enough fuel to take off. If it includes a Hitchhiker Storage Container, you'll have space for your stranded kerbonaut.

[kevo]

thx kimberly looks like ill hve to get tht mod u mentioned for the fuel lines as there is no docking port on my stranded lander. or ill just go and get my kerbal with a new lander thx for the reply

[KerbMav]

Landing and taking off again, even returning to Kerbal too in the same go, shouldnt use up that much fuel - maybe you did use up to much of it during your approach or while slowing down your decent?

During my first landing I wanted to slow down to early and Mun's gravity accelerated me again so next time I waited till I was already much lower, slowed my decent and lateral movement to an extend and continued dropping to then start my real breaking maneuver at 10-20km height.

Wont help you now, but I thought Id mention it before you start packing loads of tons of fuel next time!

[stom]

Good job landing. Looks like a sturdy lander!

I wouldn't worry about refuelling this particular craft. Like Kimberly says you might have more fun trying to build a bigger vehicle to bring them all home. Or this could be the start of a moonbase!

[AndreyATGB]

You have 3 options:

1. Make an unmanned lander to save him, if you use a seat it'll be under 10t.

2. Unmanned rover to refuel if you have docking port, though highly recommend using KAS as mentioned above. Docking on land is terrible.

3. Make a better manned lander and land next to your old one, basically same as 1 just larger.

[dazhat]

You have 3 options:

1. Make an unmanned lander to save him, if you use a seat it'll be under 10t.

2. Unmanned rover to refuel if you have docking port, though highly recommend using KAS as mentioned above. Docking on land is terrible.

3. Make a better manned lander and land next to your old one, basically same as 1 just larger.

Does a kerbal have enough eva fuel to make it back to kerbin? Of course she would be squashed on landing but it would still be a landing.

[kevo]

thx fpr reply kerbmav i think i did probably start burning retrograde to early i was just paranoid because on all my other failed landings i was always falling over because i was still moving sideways plus i had a narrower taller lander which wasnt helping.

[kevo]

thx for replying stom. thx i was happy with my lander way better than my first one . ur idea of starting a moonbase sounds great but that wont be anytime soon im not really good enough to start tht yet .

[kevo]

thx for reply andrey. id love to do a rover eventually . there is no docking port on my lander though so as u say the mod kimberly suggested ive thought about because of the fuel lines u can connect to another craft . yeah i cud make the same lander thts on the mun now and add another fuel tank which should be ok . i think im losing alot of fuel on the transfer to the moon i dnt think im entirely understanding the most efficient ways to get a good transfer yet .

[kevo]

if i tried to just eva the kerbal he would be doomed lol

[kevo]

dazhat if i tried to eva the kebal from the mun he would be doomed lol

[Novamarine]

There is a fourth option...

Assuming you have even a little fuel to get the ship up in space for a minute or two, you could design a capture vehicle that would use a claw made of the one type of landing legs (I can't remember the name) to grab the moon lander and fly it back to earth. No docking required.

However,

This is a very advanced and difficult manuvure. But is still possible. I've seen it done before

[Sirrobert]

I believe you do have enough EVA fuel to get back to kerbin actually.

You're not going to land safely ofcourse

Regarding the docking point (asuming your lander has a docking port).

As long as you still have enough fuel to get into munar orbit, you can put your craft in orbit, and dock your refuel ship with it in that way. Saves having to design the refuel ship to land, thus making it lighter.

[kevo]

hi sirrobet my lander hasnt got a docking port on it unfortunatley:(

[Kimberly]

hi sirrobet my lander hasnt got a docking port on it unfortunatley:(

Why not launch it into orbit, let your rescue ship rendezvous with it, and then let the kerbonaut EVA and enter the hitchhiker container? No docking or landing required!

[kevo]

yeah tht will work kimberly i think i just have enough fuel to make an orbit . thx

[Sirrobert]

yeah tht will work kimberly i think i just have enough fuel to make an orbit . thx

It takes VERY little fuel to get into orbit around the Mun.

[Cartz]

thx fpr reply kerbmav i think i did probably start burning retrograde to early i was just paranoid because on all my other failed landings i was always falling over because i was still moving sideways plus i had a narrower taller lander which wasnt helping.

A little trick I learned to simplify landing is to do your descents to atmosphereless worlds in two stages. First, burn retrograde (backwards) at your apoapsis to lower your periapsis to only a few km above the surface of the planet/moon.

Then, burn retrograde at your periapsis, but actively follow your retrograde vector as it moves towards the vertical as you slow down. When the retrograde vector is pointing straight up, you've stopped moving laterally and can just decend the last few hundred/thousand m to the surface in a very controlled manner.

Two reasons I do it like this: First, it limits the area in which you will end up landing significantly, making precision landings a bit easier. (this is relevant if you're about to send a rescue mission) Second, when you're burning retrograde at your periapsis, your vertical velocity is nil so your orbital velocity is your lateral velocity so you have a very good idea of how much burn is required to halt that motion.

Another thing I like to do is just at touchdown, assuming my spacecraft is facing directly vertical, is to flare the engines quickly to nearly halt my decent 3-5m from the surface, then cut power completely with x. Then as my craft is hitting the ground, use RCS translate down to halt any potential bounces or rattling around.

[kevo]

hi sirrobet ive just tried and i hvnt even got enough fuel to get into a full orbit . plus i pressed end game by mistake so my lander and kerbal hve dissapeared now just my flag left there

[kevo]

hi cartz thx for the advice il be trying all that . in ur last paragraph wht uve mentioned i was trying to do that on all my other failed landings i guess im must be heavy handed on the throttle cos i just start ascending again plus i didnt hve rcs on my lander like u said. i think il start putting rcs on my landers more

[KerbMav]

i guess im must be heavy handed on the throttle cos i just start ascending again plus i didnt hve rcs on my lander like u said.

Does caps lock reduce throtteling up/down as it does with movement?

Second, when you're burning retrograde at your periapsis, your vertical velocity is nil so your orbital velocity is your lateral velocity so you have a very good idea of how much burn is required to halt that motion.

You just gave me a hand-to-forehead-lightbulb-moment, thank you!

[CCKinnison]

Does caps lock reduce throtteling up/down as it does with movement?

It does not. Throttles are fully operational with caps lock on.

[Aragosnat]

If you don't mind cheating a little. You could have edited in a ship that is similar in desing with a docking port or go worse and just give yourself enough fuel to get home. Hey. That kerbal might have found some anyways.