(Mostly) Stock part Mun rocket

[Ivan Ivanovich]

'Mostly' only \'cause we still have no stock lander legs. I used the LEM-5 lander legs by CaptainSlug. Aside of that, stock only.

It handles fairly well, just a little oscillation after tossing the first booster stage, but that recovers soon after the second booster stage gets jettisoned. Orbit is achieved by the primary lifting orbital stage, TMI and munar-insertion burn is handled by the intermediate stage and the lander stage should suffice to land the rocket and get back into munar orbit. The length of the rocket makes it highly advisable to enable SAS and RCS during landing to let the ASAS handle the balancing of the lander. The RCS return stage has enough oumph to get the rocket back to Kerbin and get a nice and soft splashdown.

Biggest drawback is the overall length which leads to fairly bad pitch/yaw handling, orbital maneuvers sometimes need RCS assistance to be successful, and which can cause heavy oscillation and even structural failure if hard pitch/yaw maneuvers are attempted. Once in munar orbit, handling improves considerably and the lander has a very good response rate.

Try it and come back with some feedback, looking forward to it!

Enjoy!

[Tosh]

\'Stock leg\' can be built with two or three radial decouplers and a winglet. It\'s quite heavy though.

[SteevyT]

\'Stock leg\' can be built with two or three radial decouplers and a winglet. It\'s quite heavy though.

Actually, you only need one set of decouplers if you get them and the winglets low enough. (You have to use the larger winlets and the gimbaling engine though)

[Tim_Barrett]

You can also use stock boosters as landing legs (but burn them off as a de-orbit engine).

Now you have alot more fuel left to land and get back.

[Tosh]

Actually, you only need one set of decouplers if you get them and the winglets low enough. (You have to use the larger winlets and the gimbaling engine though)

Yes, that works too)

[Ivan Ivanovich]

Hmm... I tried landing on the winglets, but they proved to be quite flimsy.

[Tosh]

Hmm... I tried landing on the winglets, but they proved to be quite flimsy.

Try to keep vertical speed below 2m/s... and horizontal speed at 0. With the lander I\'ve shown it\'s quite simple: burn retrograde until green marker begins to move to the center of NavBall, then gradually drop vertical speed keeping green marker centered. Use ASAS between course corrections. Slow down to 5m/s when below 1000m, and to 1-2m/s when you see a lander\'s shadow on the ground.

...and hope you\'re not heading to a steep slope

[blurrr 2]

If you\'re going non-stock for lander legs, why not use silisko\'s mini solid rocket boosters? They are tiny and 3 pack a punch.

[Tim_Barrett]

This thread focuses on stock parts.

[Commander Zoom]

As noted in the OP - we don\'t have stock legs. We do have stock SRBs.

[Hikaru]

We also have stock fuel tanks, and fuel lines to connect them. Why not do something similar to what I did with my ship? While I used a mod lander leg part, I bet fins would work just as well - attach four fuel tanks to four radial decouplers on the landing stage, attach four fins to the tanks in the appropriate spot, and there you go. Wider base for a smoother landing, you can control the thrust output, and once they\'re empty you can ditch them. What\'s not to like?

[rebelcommando1807]

We also have stock fuel tanks, and fuel lines to connect them. Why not do something similar to what I did with my ship? While I used a mod lander leg part, I bet fins would work just as well - attach four fuel tanks to four radial decouplers on the landing stage, attach four fins to the tanks in the appropriate spot, and there you go. Wider base for a smoother landing, you can control the thrust output, and once they\'re empty you can ditch them. What\'s not to like?

One tank too many. And not enough fins.

Managed to get down with Spaceworthy X-3 a few minutes ago. Lander stage was three radially attached tanks, non-gimballing engine, three RCS tanks atop those tanks, 20-something RCS thrusters, 2 central tanks for returning, ASAS, the pod, a stack decoupler, and a parachute.

Now, what would be awesome to see.. If someone made a rocket with the lander at the bottom of it all, just using stock parts.

At any rate, screenshot (Yes, I landed on a slope!) and .craft below, if anyone cares.

Only stock parts, and use the RCS to kill lateral velocity before landing. You have a bit of wiggle room for hovering (Without the gimballing engines, mind you), but not much. Make that last main engine count! you need it to actually get into the Mun\'s orbit.