Erm, how screwed am I?

[Soda Popinski]

But yeah, suicide burns use more delta v...I think, than a nice circular orbit followed by a little landing burn.

No they don't, since you don't loose delta-v to gravity drag. You do need good TWR, though. Maybe I have the terms confused, but I thought suicide burns just mean going full thrust close to the surface, instead of gradually bleeding off speed (maintaining altitude / 100 = target speed in m/s).

Good luck with the lithobraking maneuver.

[Beachernaut]

Either way, that rocket is going to end up crashed on the Mun. You're choice whether you want Jeb to land or aim for orbit. I'm in an almost similar situation, just a bit further down the line. Jeb is currently landed on the Mun in a lander that has about half the fuel needed to reach orbit.

[SpacedCowboy]

Nope! How in the heck did you get into that position in the first place ? At least just send us a snapshot of the ship the moment it plunges into the Munar surface ! (strictly for entertainment purposes)

[nlancaster]

Wait, WAIT! If that is Kerbal he is headed for, all he has to do is get into a shallow aero capture orbit, and then hit the chute after slowing down.

[GROOV3ST3R]

Wait, WAIT! If that is Kerbal he is headed for, all he has to do is get into a shallow aero capture orbit, and then hit the chute after slowing down.

That's the Mun.

[Javster]

Slow down as much as possible, then land Jeb on the surface with his RCS pack.

[Barklight]

If you act fast... before .23 comes out then yes you can save it. Why, you ask?

Well you'll burn away from the Mun... then you'll run out of fuel... Then you can tap into the limitless jet pack fuel your Kerbal has by getting out an pushing. You'll need to go back into the capsule to refill the jet pack from the limitless supply stored within.

Come .23 and that supply won't be limitless anymore.

I have actually done this on return from a Minmus flyby. Took over 90 minutes of in and out suit corrections before I was able to drop periapsis enough to aerobrake, but it worked. Here's my old mission report from it, even:

Lucky Return from Minmus Flyby

Edited December 9, 2013 by Barklight

[User Unrelated]

Whatever you do, don't separate the staging before you... uh... "land"

the bottom stages will absorb some of the impact, and you never know, you might get a lucky bounce.

If your capsule shoots off at a high velocity after hitting the surface, JUMP OUT, and try and use the EVA pack to slow down... you'll never survive in the capsule if it's hurtling all alone into the side of a hill.

[Spyritdragon]

I eont really see why everyone thinks ue's screwed. Its a pretty to very small craft and still has 20 units of fuel left - ive actually done alot with 20 units of fuel. Why cant he make orbit, or at least fly past the Mun into HKO?

[Cydonian Monk]

31km up going 725m/s almost straight down with a craft that is probably 3 tones max and 20 units of fuel left (15%), and an LV-909. Probably only has 200m/s or so of ∆v remaining. It'll be enough to miss the Mun if a lateral burn is undertaken immediately, but not enough to land.

Advice: Establish orbit. Send a rescue.

[Hidden Gunman]

Looks like a self-burying trajectory.

[KvickFlygarn87]

Bail Jeb out, use your jetpack to land, send rescue mission.