Munar Lander/Rover

[zeppelinmage]

This is my most complicated mission to date. I've already launched manned land-and-return missions to the Mun and Minmus, as well as my previously mentioned KOES (Kerbistationary Operational Environmental Satellite) constellation. This is a combined lander and attached rover, with the plan to collect a ton of science in multiple biomes on the Mun, and perhaps find some Easter eggs with the rover.

With a little re-working of my rover and launch vehicle, I was finally able to deliver my 7.1t lander/rover to the Mun. I ended up using the smaller wheels on the rover so it could escape out from under the lander (lower speed, boo). I also switched out the Skipper engines for 4x LV-T45s on the main stage, and 16x LV-T30s on the boosters.

Liftoff successful! With my redesign, the main engine burns for quite a while, until the periapsis reaches ~85km.

I separated the main engine here, despite there being about ~200 m/s left in it. Orbital stage was ignited when the vehicle reached apoapsis, burning to "circularize". Due to a bit of mis-timing, the orbit ended up quite eccentric: 70x400 km.

Orbital stage separation. Note the extended solar panels. In my KOES mission, I found my reaction wheels completely drained the batteries if I forgot to extend the solar panels. Now I make a note to do it as soon as my craft exits atmo every time.

Munar injection trajectory selection. I planned one with a Munar apoapsis ~20km. (You can also see my previous manned mission flags on both Mun and Minmus.)

Burn time.

Final injection trajectory. Pretty good, if you ask me.

Munar orbital burn. Circularizing ~20km.

Now to select a landing site. I wanted something other than what I did before. The other mission landed in the "Munar Midlands", so I aimed the inclination towards one of the craters. When that burn was complete, I still had quite a bit of fuel left in my munar injection/orbit stage, so I bled off the remainder prior to my planned LZ to ensure my lander stage had enough fuel for a good landing.

Here I separated the lander to complete landing maneuvers. Because my lander (and its engines) is pointed "backwards" I had to turn "prograde" to complete the maneuver. The lander's center of mas was off by just a smidge, enough that it took a lot of feathering of the throttle and reaction wheels to get it down. After a couple attempts, I was at last successful.

Touchdown! Made it at 5.5 m/s. Nearly tipped over, but thanks to the crater's incline, it remained upright.

Lander and rover deployed in the Twin Craters region. Now for the Science, and the eventual roving. (I named the rover Munar Bug for obvious reasons. )

[KeithStone]

I like this design a lot! smooth, simple, and that rover looks great!

[zeppelinmage]

Thanks! =) I tried to go as small as possible while also meeting mission objectives. The fuel for landing took up the lion's share of those 7t. lol.

The design came about due to my screwing around with rover parts. Built one I liked, then decided to deliver it.