Lunar experiment pack retrieval

[E. F. Kranz]

Apologies if this is banal; I never really considered challenges until I became utterly bored with moon landings.

The challenge is:

Land on the moon.

Deploy an 'experiment package.' (just drop something)

Launch and orbit the moon (at least) once.

Land back at the same spot to retrieve the experiment.

Return to home.

[my progress thus far: post-deployment orbit completed, currently on a return path to the area, at 80km 100m/s]

Update:

Somehow, during the journey, I lost connection to 5 RCS tanks. (they\'re tucked inside a hollow decoupler and only attached via a fuel line - which I assume broke?)

Currently at 5km with a stable descent rate, unable to locate the drop zone.

Not looking good.

[Tim_Barrett]

How exactly would you 'retrieve' a part from the mun? I\'m assuming some sort of hook part would be needed.

[Kryten]

How exactly would you 'retrieve' a part from the mun? I\'m assuming some sort of hook part would be needed.

The OP just specified that you had to land at the same spot.

[Tim_Barrett]

The OP just specified that you had to land at the same spot.

Oh I thought he meant literally pick up the thing and get back home.

That would be a neat challenge.

[E. F. Kranz]

Eventually, I assume actual retrieval would be possible. For now, it\'s enough to simulate retrieval by simply landing within a reasonable distance of the drop zone.

[FlandersNed]

now, as soon as i figure out how to get to the mun....

[Nibb31]

I gave it a try or two, but it\'s way to hard to locate a small object precisely, let alone mastering a pinpoint landing.

Or maybe the package that I dropped was not being persisted after an orbit...

[E. F. Kranz]

I\'ve had the same experience, Nibb31. I cannot re-locate the original landing zone. Next step: DROP BIGGER BREAD CRUMBS!

[semininja]

I\'ve had the same experience, Nibb31. I cannot re-locate the original landing zone. Next step: DROP BIGGER BREAD CRUMBS!

Have you tried the Signal Flares from CaptainSlug\'s pack?

[gabyalufix]

Just an FYI: objects on Kerbin disappear when you leave a 5km radius from them. I\'m not sure about the mun, since it has no atmosphere.

Before you get too caught up in attempting an rendezvous, someone might want to check if objects left on the moon stay there when you leave the area.

[NovaSilisko]

Just an FYI: objects on Kerbin disappear when you leave a 5km radius from them. I\'m not sure about the mun, since it has no atmosphere.

Before you get too caught up in attempting an rendezvous, someone might want to check if objects left on the moon stay there when you leave the area.

It\'s a very common misconception that because objects on the surface go away at this distance, things in orbit do too. But this is not the case.

[gabyalufix]

Which is not the case? I know discarded junk inside the kerbin atmosphere disappears, and I know stuff in orbit doesn\'t. My question is: do objects resting on the munar surface stay?

The hell with it. I\'ll check real quick.

[gabyalufix]

Bit more complex than I thought.

I dropped a set of flares on the munar surface, and rose. It appears that either when rising past 5km, or possibly when returning back to 5km, the mun base randomly explodes. I think it has something to do with the conversion to being on rails. Using timeskip seems to make it worse, but I did actually see a perfectly well-landed base randomly explode without any time dilation.

Odd.

[yaang]

I\'ve also found out if you return to regular time speed after a time warp that basically has the effect of moon suddenly hitting the brakes and tends to explode stuff on it\'s surface.

[RC1062]

Hopefully these problems have been solved in 0.14...

Anyway sounds like a great challenge. I\'ll try it!

[sal_vager]

I thought fuel lines didn\'t work with RCS tanks?

I read that RCS tank placement doesn\'t matter as they will automatically feed from the lowest on up, maybe your tanks themselves snapped off somehow?