Pegasus - An Easier "Eagle"

[pushingrobot]

I had originally written an enormously long post describing the refinement of my Mun rocket, but in the end I realized that nobody wants to read a three-page essay on all the redesigns of the lander and launcher.

Feel free to give Pegasus (and Chariot) a try. Their goal is to turn moon shots into milk runs, and I think they succeed admirably. I\'ll write up a proper Mun guide when I get a little more time, but in the mean time any other guide should give you the pertinent information on when and where to burn. Here\'s a launch stages cheat sheet, though, as well as tips:

6. Take off! (Chariot + boosters)

5. Jettison boosters (do this at T+2:04)

4. Jettison Chariot

--- launch over ---

3. Activate Pegasus main engine

2. Activate Pegasus boosters (first set, for getting to the Mun)

1. Activate Pegasus boosters (second set, for decelerating on final Munar approach)

0. Detach crew capsule (and deploy parachute)

When launching, turn on SAS and just let it go straight up for the first two minutes. Then at 2:04, when the boosters give out, jettison them and tip the ship 45 degrees right toward a heading of 090. Then when it approaches 80,000 meters, lay it down right on the horizon (heading 090). It\'s not the best orbital trajectory, but it\'s very easy and repeatable.

Your booster stages will do most of the work for you, but you\'ll need to assist them with your main engine. You\'ll probably need to burn about a quarter tank of liquid fuel to get to the Mun, and about half a tank during deceleration.

When approaching the Mun, don\'t brake too early. Between the main engine and boosters, you can be plummeting straight down at 800 m/s and stop in about 15,000 meters. Depending on your angle of descent, I\'d brake somewhere between 5,000 and 20,000 meters.

Also, don\'t forget about your SAS and RCS. Come to a (near) stop about 2000m above the Mun, then point your ship straight up--right on the white dot. Engage SAS and RCS, then use the throttle to control your vertical speed and the translation keys (I,J,K,L) to eliminate any lateral movement. Remember--if the green indicator on the navball is right in the middle, you\'re going straight up or down.

The longer you spend fighting the Mun\'s gravity, the more fuel you\'ll waste. At full throttle, you can accelerate around 20m/s per second. Doing the math, you can go from 20 m/s to stop in about 10 meters. Or 100 m/s to stop in about 250 meters. While you may want to double those estimates to account for reaction times and the slow keyboard throttle controls, don\'t feel like you have to float all the way down at 2 m/s!

Don\'t trust your altimeter. The ground on the Mun typically ranges from 50m to 200m above your altimeter\'s zero point, and mountains can stretch up over 1000m. Use your eyes!

And as you land, remember that RCS can work vertically as well. You can keep your throttle at a 'hover' level and use RCS to gently push down to the ground. Anything under 3 m/s should be safe.

If you bounce, check your ship for damage, line up, and try again. You might want to look for a more level patch of ground this time.

Finally, if you land and start slowly sliding, turn off SAS and use the RCS controls to manually slow yourself. If you\'re unable to stop, punch your throttle and lift off before you damage the ship.

[venku122]

I had originally written an enormously long post describing the refinement of my Mun rocket, but in the end I realized that nobody wants to read a three-page essay on all the redesigns of the lander and launcher.

Yes please

[Commander Zoom]

Yes please

Seconded.

[RedRockets]

don\'t hesitate to write long post but back them up with lots of screenshots.

RRs