Which Is Easier Going To The Mun OR Minmus?

[Apollo1391]

Hi I am new to playing KSP though I have seen many youtubers play it and right now I am trying to land on the Mun after Dozens of failed attempts including a crash landing destroying the lander entirely, now I am beginning to think if Minmus is an easier option to head or if I should stick to the Mun. What are your thoughts?

[Xaiier]

Minmus requires slightly more delta-v to get to, as well as an inclination change, but its gravity is much lower making landings much easier.

[MBobrik]

Minmus is MUCH easier. In the low gravity, the entire landing happens like in slow motion. Plenty time to adjust velocity. You will even have to time warp to speed things up.

[Ralathon]

Getting to the Mun is easier. Landing is easier on Minmus however.

Since the hard part isn't the delta V but the landing I say go for Minmus.

[ComradeGoat]

What they said. Minmus is harder to get to, requiring an inclination change. Use manoeuvre nodes. It's *much* easier to land on when you get there.

[El wonso]

Plus the 'oceans' on Minmus are at 0m asl.

[ComradeGoat]

Plus the 'oceans' on Minmus are at 0m asl.

And lots of them are equatorial. Very forgiving indeed. Minmus is a nice place to learn how to land on atmosphere-less bodies.

[Apollo1391]

can you guys list pros and cons so I can balance them out and decide where I go first

[RocketPilot573]

Getting to the Mun is an easier task. While a Minmus mission will require less fuel, however getting to Minmus involves changing your inclination so I would recommend going to the Mun first.

[Apollo1391]

Getting to the Mun is an easier task. While a Minmus mission will require less fuel, however getting to Minmus involves changing your inclination so I would recommend going to the Mun first.

That's exactly what I was thinking after I looked up some facts for both

[AustralianFries]

[table=width: 500, class: outer_border]

[tr]

[td]Mun[/td]

[td]Minimus[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]860~ Delta V to get to[/td]

[td]920~ Delta V to get to*[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]210~ Delta V for capture[/td]

[td]80~ Delta V for capture[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]640~ Delta V to land[/td]

[td]240~ Delta V to land[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Total Delta V spent at landing: 1710[/td]

[td]Total Delta V spent at landing: 1240*[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]In simple terms: Easier to get to. Harder to capture. Harder to land.[/td]

[td]In simple terms: A bit harder to get to. Easier to capture. Easier to land.[/td]

[/tr]

[/table]

*May not include inclination changes; however the change is fairly small so you shouldn't have to worry too much.

Source

Edited July 9, 2013 by AustralianFries
Table boarder and source URL update.

[Ralathon]

can you guys list pros and cons so I can balance them out and decide where I go first

Minmus Pros

Really low gravity makes everything go very slowly.

Perfect landing targets in the form of oceans.

Very little dV needed to get in and out of orbit.

Minmus Cons

Getting there is slightly more expensive in dV than getting to the moon.

Inclined orbit, so you need an inclination change or launch at a specific time.

Since it is further away it takes longer to get there (important if you have life support mods I guess)

Mun Pros

Basically the inverse of all minmus cons.

Mun Cons

Inverse of minmus pros

Seriously though. It costs about 830 dV to get to the Mun and about 900 to get to minmus. You can probably get to either with the same rocket. And Minmus is simply much much more forgiving than the Mun when landing.

[TheDarkStar]

MUN

Pros: Less fuel to reach

No inclination change

Cons: More gravity (harder landing/more fuel needed for it)

Possibly very bumpy ground

MINMUS

Pros: Less gravity (easier landing/less fuel needed for it)

Flat seas at 0m at equator

Cons: More fuel to reach

Inclination change

[AustralianFries]

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Dang how bout that triple ninja.

[Ralathon]

Dang how bout that triple ninja.

At least we are pretty consistent.

[Genius Evil]

It sounds like your problem is how you're landing, not where you're landing. What you want to do is look at the navball. Notice that firing your engine(s) causes the retrograde marker to move away from the heading marker. (Don't remember what it's really called, the thing that shows where you're pointing) As you land, you want to keep your retrograde marker at the top of the blue half of the navball. Hope this helped!

[Mr Shifty]

MUN

Pros: Less fuel to reach

It actually takes less fuel to reach Minmas because the capture burn is so much smaller. The only way Minmas isn't easier is that you have an inclination change.

[AustralianFries]

At least we are pretty consistent.

What do you mean? Are you implying I wasn't consistent or something?

Edited July 9, 2013 by AustralianFries

[Apollo1391]

here is one problem with me when it comes to going to minmus. I am a Fuel Guzzler I take deep burns and always throttle up fully its just a bad habit that ive tried to break

[firerider521]

What do you mean? Are you implying I wasn't consistent or something?

Maybe consistent among each other?

[AustralianFries]

here is one problem with me when it comes to going to minmus. I am a Fuel Guzzler I take deep burns and always throttle up fully its just a bad habit that ive tried to break

Well, I just posted the actual numbers. Technically, you will use less fuel by going to Minmus. So it should be fuel guzzler friendly. And there's nothing wrong with going full throttle. Thats how most people burn anyway.

[Ralathon]

here is one problem with me when it comes to going to minmus. I am a Fuel Guzzler I take deep burns and always throttle up fully its just a bad habit that ive tried to break

Nothing wrong with max throttle burns. The harder you burn the faster your velocity changes. So it equals out in the end. Full power burns are generally better than low power burns since the velocity change better approximates an instantaneous change.

Maybe consistent among each other?

This.

[Apollo1391]

Well, I just posted the actual numbers. Technically, you will use less fuel by going to Minmus. So it should be fuel guzzler friendly. And there's nothing wrong with going full throttle. Thats how most people burn anyway.

Well just to give you an example the first time I tried to go to the mun I got out of the whole kerbin system into a kerbol orbit

Edit:Grammar

[SuperWeegee4000]

Minmus requires less Delta-v than the Mun, although it is inclined.

[Apollo1391]

Sorry guys I must be paranoid