Mun... how on kerbal do i get there???

[Ritiric]

Oke guys... its a shame, but i have never been on the mun before. i see people doing it in like 10 minutes, but i am trying to do it for like 2 days now... Can someone please give me some tips or how to's to get there? i wanted to launch a space station to mun, but even that is impossible for me... HELP?

Greetz

ps: Ive watched several how to's on youtube, but i dont understand them!!!

[Mr Shifty]

Please describe what you've already tried. Are you able to get to orbit? Can you get a Munar rendezvous set up?

[Dave Kerbin]

How far have you gotten?

1. Rocket lifts off and can return on parachute without spinning out of control and blowing up.

2. Rocket into stable orbit (PE reads 70,000m or higher)

3. Rocket reaches encounter with Mun (orbit switches to show a path relative to the Mun)

4. Rocket pulls into stable orbit around the Mun

5. Rocket descends toward Mun

6. Rocket lands on Mun without exploding. Flag is planted.

7. Rocket has enough fuel to lift off Mun

8. Rocket gets back into orbit of Mun with fuel left (you might skip this step)

9. Rocket breaks out of Mun orbit and into Kerbin orbit

10. Rocket has fuel left to return to Kerbin

[Stankleberry]

Are you putting rocket engines onto your spaceship? Those are very important.

[Nostur]

Are you sure your engines are pointed to the right direction? (Normally, you want them to be pointed to the ground)

[Nibb31]

This is how you get into the Munar orbit, and how to use manoeuver nodes:

1- Launch your Mun rocket into Kerbin orbit.

2- Open the map and create a manoeuver node somewhere on your orbit.

...a- Pull the Prograde handle of the manoeuver node until the plotted orbit reaches the Mun's orbit. If you go too far, just pull the Retrograde handle to bring it down.

...b- Grab the middle of the manoeuver node and pull it around the orbit until the Ap of the plotted trajectory creates an encounter with the Mun.

...c- Adjust the Prograde - Retrograde handles of the manoeuver node until you see the Pe around the Mun at your desired altitude. 50km is a good start.

...d- Switch back to the main view (or pull up the navball in Map mode) and point your ship towards the Blue marker. The gauge on the right of the navball indicates the delta-V that you will need to spend, the estimated burn time, and countdown to the manoeuver.

6- Warp until you reach the manoeuver node (watch the countdown), and burn for the time indicated. Stop the burn when the Delta-V gauge reaches 0. You are now en-route to the Mun.

7- Warp to the Mun's SOI. Once in the Mun's SOI (when your blue orbit is around the Mun), you can adjust your Pe again.

8- When you reach the Pe around the Mun, point your ship retrograde and burn until your orbit is circular around the Mun. Congratulations, you are now orbiting the Mun.

Or you can do it like us old-timers did before we have these new-fangled navigation nodes:

1- Launch your Mun rocket into Kerbin orbit.

2- Warp until the Mun rises on the horizon. When it does, point the ship prograde and burn until your orbit intersects the Mun's orbit*

3- Warp to the Mun's SOI. Once in the Mun's SOI (when your blue orbit is around the Mun), you can adjust your Pe again.

4- When you reach the Pe around the Mun, point your ship retrograde and burn until your orbit is circular around the Mun.

*- This tip works for all Planet => Moon transfers, although some might need an inclination change.

As you can see, getting anywhere in space is about changing your orbit. This sort of transfer is called a Hohmann Transfer. Nothing ever goes in a straight line in space.

[blizzy78]

Are you putting rocket engines onto your spaceship? Those are very important.

Are you sure your engines are pointed to the right direction? (Normally, you want them to be pointed to the ground)

Perhaps you two guys shouldn't post at all if you're not wanting to be helpful.

[Ritiric]

Aaaah thanks, i will try it.

@Stankleberry: No, i use steam, oke?

@Nostr: No, ive pointed them up.

Guyzz plss... im not that stupid!!!

Thanks blizzy and thanks nibb, you guys are very6 helpfull

[Stankleberry]

Perhaps you two guys shouldn't post at all if you're not wanting to be helpful.

Perhaps you should take your own advice.

[Traches]

Perhaps you two guys shouldn't post at all if you're not wanting to be helpful.

Given the level of detail the OP gave describing his problem, how do you know that's not his problem?

[Mmmmyum]

Also it might help to pack more delta-v than needed. There's no penalty for having too much fuel "in the tank". Just so you can mess up a bit

[Scrogdog]

One other tip, split your burn. In other words, if you have a 20 second burn, begin it when 10 seconds away from the node and end it 10 seconds past it.

The further you are away from the node, the less efficient the burn. So, if it's a long one, try a series of timed "kicks" rather than one long burn.

[Daid]

If all else fails, you can still use the "old school" way of getting to the mun. Before we had the waypoint planner.

When you have an orbit over kerbin, try to get a 100km orbit (if you cannot get this yet, practice orbiting first), then, wait till you see the mun rise over Kerbin, once you see this, fire your engines towards it. Switch to the map, you should see your orbit hitting the mun orbit at some point, kill your engines. Usually this makes you end up at the mun.

Your first target, just try crashing on the mun :-) landing is a whole next step. (Took me quite a few tries to get a successful landing without blowing up Jeb the first time)

[capi3101]

Some information, as Mr Shifty indicated: what technologies have you unlocked, and what have you tried so far?

Short answer: 5410 m/s of delta-V for a Munar flyby and free-return, 6480 to go into Munar orbit and later return, 7760 for a Munar landing. Greater than 1 TWR at launch.

Too much is dependent on the mass of your payload, so we do need some details. What exactly are you trying to do?

[blizzy78]

Given the level of detail the OP gave describing his problem, how do you know that's not his problem?

I don't. But I'm not implying he's stupid just because of scarce information.

[Bobhendly]

He hasnt responded to any of the posts.

[Espresso]

Maybe he was sick of being insulted? Seriously, how old are some of you guys, 3, anyone wanting to get to the mun would point their ROCKET engines to the GROUND.

[Vanamonde]

Here are walkthrough instructions and a (sandbox) example ship you can download to fly the instructions with: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/25029-A-moon-rocket-and-moon-trip-walkthrough-for-newbies-(21-1)

[Dun Kirk]

after a while asking to go to the Mun is kind of considered trolling.... plenty of guides are available if you google/youtube.

in short: once you get to orbit around kebin, use a high ISP engine, as you don't need thrust you need fuel efficiency.

a sloppy guide I did way-back-when

[700NitroXpress]

Take a look at this and see if it helps:

[ChrisMayhew]

This is how you get into the Munar orbit, and how to use manoeuver nodes:

1- Launch your Mun rocket into Kerbin orbit.

2- Open the map and create a manoeuver node somewhere on your orbit.

...a- Pull the Prograde handle of the manoeuver node until the plotted orbit reaches the Mun's orbit. If you go too far, just pull the Retrograde handle to bring it down.

...b- Grab the middle of the manoeuver node and pull it around the orbit until the Ap of the plotted trajectory creates an encounter with the Mun.

...c- Adjust the Prograde - Retrograde handles of the manoeuver node until you see the Pe around the Mun at your desired altitude. 50km is a good start.

...d- Switch back to the main view (or pull up the navball in Map mode) and point your ship towards the Blue marker. The gauge on the right of the navball indicates the delta-V that you will need to spend, the estimated burn time, and countdown to the manoeuver.

6- Warp until you reach the manoeuver node (watch the countdown), and burn for the time indicated. Stop the burn when the Delta-V gauge reaches 0. You are now en-route to the Mun.

7- Warp to the Mun's SOI. Once in the Mun's SOI (when your blue orbit is around the Mun), you can adjust your Pe again.

8- When you reach the Pe around the Mun, point your ship retrograde and burn until your orbit is circular around the Mun. Congratulations, you are now orbiting the Mun.

Or you can do it like us old-timers did before we have these new-fangled navigation nodes:

1- Launch your Mun rocket into Kerbin orbit.

2- Warp until the Mun rises on the horizon. When it does, point the ship prograde and burn until your orbit intersects the Mun's orbit*

3- Warp to the Mun's SOI. Once in the Mun's SOI (when your blue orbit is around the Mun), you can adjust your Pe again.

4- When you reach the Pe around the Mun, point your ship retrograde and burn until your orbit is circular around the Mun.

*- This tip works for all Planet => Moon transfers, although some might need an inclination change.

As you can see, getting anywhere in space is about changing your orbit. This sort of transfer is called a Hohmann Transfer. Nothing ever goes in a straight line in space.

Thank you to you I just managed to get my first space ship into Mun's orbit!

My only problem is fuel for a return journey!! I'm running a little light!

Poor Jebediah may have to sit for a while waiting to be rescued but he is however able to send me some Science back from Mun's orbit

Cheers!

[benzman]

Thank you to you I just managed to get my first space ship into Mun's orbit!

My only problem is fuel for a return journey!! I'm running a little light!

Poor Jebediah may have to sit for a while waiting to be rescued but he is however able to send me some Science back from Mun's orbit

Cheers!

A lesson I learned early was, if you are a bit light on fuel, or are not experienced enough to work out how much fuel you will need, when returning from the Mun burn to give you a periapsis that is well within Kerbin's atmosphere. Something like 30 Km or less. That way you are certain to land. Perhaps on the land or in the sea, on the daylight side or the night side, but you will land somewhere. I first tried to be cute and burn for an 80Km periapsis so that I could do a circularization burn and then time my re-entry burn to, hopefully, splash down in daylight just offshore from the launch pad. But I would usually run out of fuel and finish up in a big, ugly Kerbin orbit with no option but to organise a rescue mission.

[SRV Ron]

Thank you to you I just managed to get my first space ship into Mun's orbit!

My only problem is fuel for a return journey!! I'm running a little light!

Poor Jebediah may have to sit for a while waiting to be rescued but he is however able to send me some Science back from Mun's orbit

Cheers!

When you break out of Mun orbit, try for a direct Kerbal aerobraking. It will save needing a lot of fuel.

While not a lander, this is the orbital design used from early career mode for the mission.

[ChrisMayhew]

Thanks for the tips guys!

Since the last update it's really got me back into this game and I am getting a lot better at building crafts (Still some fall short of orbit, i need to work on figuring out how much thrust i need for the weight!) and managed to get another ship into the Mun orbit to rescue my poor Kerbal.. I sent an unmanned ship with a module for him to get into when I manage to match orbits so he can RCS across! Or that's the plan anyway..

I should also have enough fuel to get him back home

[Oddible]

Oke guys... its a shame, but i have never been on the mun before. i see people doing it in like 10 minutes, but i am trying to do it for like 2 days now... Can someone please give me some tips or how to's to get there? i wanted to launch a space station to mun, but even that is impossible for me... HELP?

Greetz

ps: Ive watched several how to's on youtube, but i dont understand them!!!

It would help a lot to see a screenshot of what you're trying - post it on imgur.com and let us see!