MechJeb & Less-Than-Semi-Automatic Instrument Landing

[Pontiac]

I KNOW there are MJ haters out there, but this is for those that don't want to fully automate, but still need assistance. Just spending the last few hours coming up, and perfecting this checklist has increased my confidence in landing anywhere on any planet (that can be landed on) 100-fold.

I've been going back and forth with playing KSP because I can't cope with the multitude of threading my brain has to do to get things done right, not to mention dealing with a 2D interface for a 3D world just doesn't help my situation any. I've spent hours trying to dock, or, trying to land manually and I never EVER get CLOSE within available fuel constraints. So my options were to not bother getting stuff to the ground on the Mun because I couldn't keep track of that many things I need to do to operationally get it done, not to mention deal with human errors of over or under correcting until it was too late. The other option was to let MJ do my landings for me so I can play some of the more interesting aspects of the game that I CAN do. Mainly designing ships and bases and rovers.

Since I really REALLY want to play KSP, I decided to remove SOME of the automation I know to be broken with MJ due to the massive amounts of hardware I want to haul to the Mun. I started playing with Smart A.S.S. and came up with a checklist for me to follow, as well as pre-landing sequence.

I'm on a machine that has practically zero graphical ability (Ok, enough to play KSP on the mun, but thats about it. It hits about 2fps to launch with any part of Kerbin on the screen) so when I get the opportunity, I'll record a video of doing this landing purely on instruments. I've landed several times on the dark side of the mun, looking directly down at the ground. I'm going to make one 3 part video. One landing on the day side, one landing on the night side, and one landing right by an anomaly.

Anyways, here's my check list.

Setup Custom Window: Surface Info 2:

- Altitude (bottom) ** Any reference to "Altitude" refers to THIS value

- Vertical Speed ** I'll always refer to this as Vertical Speed

- Surface Horizontal Speed ** Any reference to just "Speed" refers to THIS value

- Suicide burn countdown ** Use only as a reference. When you get close (We're talking just a few 10s of meters) to your landing point, this number becomes irrelevant.

(We're not using Surface Speed - Its on your navball)

Setup for Smart A.S.S.: (Hense forth SASS)

Surf:

* HDG: Anything (I use 0 typically to keep one of the two solar panels in direct sunlight, but it doesn't matter.)

* PIT: 90 (Important)

* ROL: Anything

Left hand Pos:

* Baby finger on CTRL

* Ring finger on SHIFT

* Fore Finger on X

* Thumb resting OFF of the space bar

* Middle finger in the air.

MJ Windows open, left to right:

* Surface Info 2

* Navball

* SASS

* Warp Helper.

* * Warp To = Maneuver Mode - Set for "5s"

* Maneuver Planner (Place to right of Warp Helper)

* * Used to "Clear Node" quickly. This could be optional.

(The gray text is completely optional)

Pre-Landing sequence while in orbit:

Align inclination to line up as close as possible with where you want to land. Maintain an orbit if possible. After some practice, you'll be able to correct during descent.

Ensure Landing Gear is Down

**QUICK SAVE**

Descent Notes:

My "Debugging" orbit was at about 140km from mun surface

Keep Vertical Speed IN THE NEGATIVES AT ALL TIMES.

* Otherwise your ship will start flipping around depending what mode SASS is in.

Landing Sequence

(EASY PART - lots of time to correct for mistakes)

Set for Planet View

Ensure Navball is visible

In SASS set Orbit Horizontal --> Back and hit EXECUTE.

Wait for Navball to settle

Engage maximum throttle

Bring target landing point close (But not directly on) to where you want to land (Roughly 10-20km away on the horizontal?)

Kill engine when satisfied

Set a maneuver node so it is just above where you want to land. This should be roughly 30-40km above the POI.

Time Warp to node

Clear node when the navball starts moving once out of warp. (Just a preference of mine)

Start burn to roughly zero out speed. (Important to get it as close to 0m/s, but 1-10k/sec is OK depending on altitude as the descent will correct this)

Set SASS to Surface Velocity --> Back and hit EXECUTE (This is the mode that will slowly zero out horizontal speed as we descend)

Switch to Ship view.

Manually Warp to about 10-15k above surface if needed.

(INTERESTING PART - You're committed now)

Always try keep vertical speed at roughly 10-25% of true altitude.

At about 2km above surface, verify horizontal speed - Should be in the mm/s range at this point.

Click SURF and EXECUTE.

(DIFFICULT, MEMORIZE THE NEXT PART)

At the intervals of 1,500m, 500m, 250m, and 100m, zero out or match 10% of altitude to vertical velocity. If you're altitude is 1500, keep the speed at -150m/s. The closer to 10% you maintain, more fuel savings.

Below 25-50m, keep ring finger (CTRL) and pointer finger (X) active keeping your vertical speed between 0 and -5m/s

On landing, hit X.

----

Some of the advantages of doing this is you'll get used to keeping an eye on the "Surface Info 2" pane and not on the ship, or on the ground. You'll be able to work in some time to correct mistakes at the lower altitudes, redirect to a different location while enroute, etc.