Is there something wrong with my design?

[AmpsterMan]

That's not a bad way to do it actually. Glad to see you are getting there, make sure to post pics when you make it!

[ISmokeThis]

Ok guys, so I made it to Mun and back to Kerbin. Barely. I had to use all my mono-propellant and the parachutes did the rest. The thing is, I had a kerbin operating the rocket unknowingly for half the mission ><. It's ok though, because I had no idea how to land precisely where my poor kerbal is stranded. I plan on trying again after I figure out how to do this. Currently, I am thinking that I need to get into orbit with Mun first, then I need to create a maneuver that brings me (at an angle) over the kerbal and past him a little. Once I am an arbitrarily close distance to the kerbal and his ship, I burn retrograde and then my ship should land more or less right on top of him. Even if I am very precise, I think I would still need to run a very long distance to rendezvous with the rescue vehicle. Does anyone have any better ideas?

[Illiad]

I'm currently on route to Mun. I made a gravity turn when leaving the atmosphere and I can't see any noticeable increase in fuel. However, I don't really have any idea of how much I would have if I didn't make a gravity turn.

Am I landing on Mun correctly? I just make sure I fall into its orbit then apply thrust towards retrograde motion.

I've been unsure as to the most efficient method of decelerating towards an object. My current theory is that it's near optimal is to place your apoasis at twice your height by applying retrograde burn as you descend.

If you don't have the fuel coupling unlocked yet, this next bit is moot: Forget boosters, go with asparagus launchers. They take longer to build, but are quite awesome.

[JiWint]

your rocket is overpowered actually,though that is not a bad thing.

But your lander is very underpowered,it doesn't actually need that probe,battery,lights,struts and rcs stuff.

If you want,PM me so I can send you one of my "Kerbal Rescuers" designs,that were made to rescue guys from planets

[LethalDose]

Ok guys, so I made it to Mun and back to Kerbin. Barely. I had to use all my mono-propellant and the parachutes did the rest. The thing is, I had a kerbin operating the rocket unknowingly for half the mission ><. It's ok though, because I had no idea how to land precisely where my poor kerbal is stranded. I plan on trying again after I figure out how to do this. Currently, I am thinking that I need to get into orbit with Mun first, then I need to create a maneuver that brings me (at an angle) over the kerbal and past him a little. Once I am an arbitrarily close distance to the kerbal and his ship, I burn retrograde and then my ship should land more or less right on top of him. Even if I am very precise, I think I would still need to run a very long distance to rendezvous with the rescue vehicle. Does anyone have any better ideas?

First off, GOOD JOB! Congratulations on getting there and back. Its a major milestone.

Now, the rescue mission... I'd give you the following advice:

1. Obviously, you need an empty seat on your rocket. You can either use your create a 1-kerbal ship with a probe module, or a 2-kerbal ship. You can empty that seat in one of two ways. In the VAB, click on the crew icon and empty one seat, then launch, OR exit the VAB and start the mission through the launchpad interface at the KSP.
   
2. Plan to land during the Munar day time. Don't land when it's dark.
   
3. Your stranded kerbal can be useful by giving you the altitude of your landing zone (LZ)
   
4. Seriously, don't land on the dark side
   
5. Burn retro until you will contact the moon PAST your target, then burn to cancel your horizontal velocity when you're over your target kerbal.
   
6. DON'T. LAND. WHEN. IT'S. DARK. Just... don't.
   

Your approach sounds great: Get into a Munar orbit, preferably one that goes over your target, and burn down.

Try to reduce the size of your rockets, and you'll be in good shape. The next big hurdle is learning how to rendezvous and dock.

[Saberus]

WIth as big as that rocket is, you may be wasting fuel fighting drag on the way up. try to keep it under 200m/s while in the lower atmo, the lightest blue part of the meter. Any more than that and the drag will just sap the excess thrust. Once you're starting your gravity turn at about 10,000 meters, the atmosphere starts to thin out and the drag becomes more reasonable.

If you need more than one SRB per ton of payload, you're too big, and you're wasting delta-v fighting lower-atmospheric drag.

[ISmokeThis]

First off, GOOD JOB! Congratulations on getting there and back. Its a major milestone.

Now, the rescue mission... I'd give you the following advice:

1. Obviously, you need an empty seat on your rocket. You can either use your create a 1-kerbal ship with a probe module, or a 2-kerbal ship. You can empty that seat in one of two ways. In the VAB, click on the crew icon and empty one seat, then launch, OR exit the VAB and start the mission through the launchpad interface at the KSP.
   
2. Plan to land during the Munar day time. Don't land when it's dark.
   
3. Your stranded kerbal can be useful by giving you the altitude of your landing zone (LZ)
   
4. Seriously, don't land on the dark side
   
5. Burn retro until you will contact the moon PAST your target, then burn to cancel your horizontal velocity when you're over your target kerbal.
   
6. DON'T. LAND. WHEN. IT'S. DARK. Just... don't.
   

Your approach sounds great: Get into a Munar orbit, preferably one that goes over your target, and burn down.

Try to reduce the size of your rockets, and you'll be in good shape. The next big hurdle is learning how to rendezvous and dock.

Thanks for the guide. Actually, I am already able to rendezvous with orbiting targets ><. I was developing a space station on my sandbox account.

[ISmokeThis]

Hey guys, so I made an asparagus rocket, but after saving it as a sub-assembly and placing it again the fuel ducts are just little nodes that aren't actually attached to consecutive fuel tank. What's going on here?

[LethalDose]

Hey guys, so I made an asparagus rocket, but after saving it as a sub-assembly and placing it again the fuel ducts are just little nodes that aren't actually attached to consecutive fuel tank. What's going on here?

Probably a loading glitch. The fuel ducts and struts can be a little squirrely when being moved. Just take them off and replace them and it should be fine.

[ISmokeThis]

Probably a loading glitch. The fuel ducts and struts can be a little squirrely when being moved. Just take them off and replace them and it should be fine.

So, am I the only symmetry freak here? I read so many threads where the response is, "just place them individually." I refuse to do this and am always in search of a way to build my ship symmetrically. That being said, redoing this ducts takes a lot of effort making them all look the same.

Thanks for the fast responses btw

[ISmokeThis]

Ok, so I redid the ducts and overwrote the sub-assembly (which fixed it) for the asparagus staging and what I have is this:

As you can see, from the advice of JiWint, I have redone the lander by stripping it of many components. It now simply has 4 landing struts, 2 parachutes, a solar panel, and a ladder.

I flew it vertically until all of its fuel was spent and I must say it functioned PERFECTLY. I didn't have any torque issues.

[LethalDose]

So, am I the only symmetry freak here? I read so many threads where the response is, "just place them individually." I refuse to do this and am always in search of a way to build my ship symmetrically. That being said, redoing this ducts takes a lot of effort making them all look the same.

Thanks for the fast responses btw

I'd place them using symmetry. I'd just replace them using symmetry.

[ISmokeThis]

I'd place them using symmetry. I'd just replace them using symmetry.

Isn't it impossible to use symmetry when making an asparagus rocket? I cant have each fuel tank connected to the other.

[Kasuha]

Ok, so I redid the ducts and overwrote the sub-assembly (which fixed it) for the asparagus staging and what I have is this:

I'd definitely put those two chutes on the command pod. If things break, you'll save the crew, not the fuel tank.

Edit: actually nevermind, it works well.

Edited December 28, 2013 by Kasuha

[ISmokeThis]

I'd definitely put those two chutes on the command pod. If things break, you'll save the crew, not the fuel tank.

Good point.

Guys, I have no idea how to reach my kerbal. The spinning of the planet makes planned trajectories impossible.

[Kasuha]

The spinning of the planet makes planned trajectories impossible.

If I understand it correctly, he's on Mun. Mun spins very slowly.

Put your ship on low Mun orbit (10-20 km) and adjust the orbit so it goes above your Kerbal. Then plan a maneuver to pass above his position at low height (hitting surface behind him). Select him as target and then kill your horizontal velocity to get him in the middle of the navball - when that happens you're right above him.

[ISmokeThis]

I did it!

How I did it was I kept readjusting the trajectory as I got closer and closer. I was able to reach kerbin's atmosphere with about 12 liquid fuel left. I am not sure I could have created a more efficient ship for the job. Thanks so much for the help guys.

Lol, Mun landing screens are missing because of I have a swear word in the flag name.

Thank you so much for the help guys.

Also, this is my first thread here and I don't know how to make it have the answered prefix.

[Weegee]

I did it!

snip

Wow, good job! The first time I stranded kerbals on the Mun, I got really frustrated with the same issues you faced, but my rocket was a little bit uhh... less ridiculous. Ultimately I just never rescued them and made a new save... Sorry Jeb, Bill and Bob!

Anyway, edit your first post to change the prefix.

[microbe999]

That rocket was seriously overpowered...perhaps you should use the bigger 2.5 meter parts, or practice more efficient orbital maneuvering and landing.

[PT247]

as another option, you can send a manned rescue ship by sending up two pods, one upside down under the main one. This will default to only one Kerbal flying up in the main pod and the second stays empty so you can collect the lost one.