Next Goal: What to do after achieving orbit....

[SRV Ron]

These examples are based upon NovaPunch mods in career. This is the basic orbiter sent to Mun and Minmus, then returned for science.

A lander designed for Mun and Minmus that is Duna capable with return. Notice how much extra fuel is left after entering Mun orbit.

Similar can be designed using stock only. This lander is from the demo. As you can see, tons of fuel available for landing and return.

Just design something and give it a try.

[Werwolf]

Dock some stuff together, then try for some flybys of Mun and Minmus... then it's time for landings!

[r4pt0r]

a munar station with a big full orange tank,a lander to refuel, and a lab. drain all of the muns science, then boost your mun station orbit to minmus and do it again.

[TimePeriod]

5 by 5 Checklist.

1) Learn to orbit.

2) Learn to dock.

3) Learn to SSTO.

4) Learn to planet encounter.

5) Mix/max of it all above.

[qromodynmc]

go to orbit again,and again.. this game really depends on practice..

[Othuyeg]

Definetly a mun or minmus flyby. Mun is easier to do a flyby on, as its orbit is not inclined. Do an EVA on mun sphere of influence, take some goo with you, get science.

[davidpsummers]

Plan on recovering the probe for the most science points. Both of these manned designs did fly by and orbits of Mun and Minmus returning science before solar panels were unlocked.

http://i.imgur.com/GO5zTmR.jpg

I'm using a stayputnick and a science jr module. Do I have to get a heat shield from someplace to re-enter them?

[cantab]

Not in the stock game. At present the re-entry effects are just eyecandy and do not actually heat up your craft.

Now if you install the Deadly Re-Entry mod, then you need heat shields on stuff.

[Sun]

For return, go to Duna. For easy landing, go to Eve.

[lammatt]

Mun Flyby

or Minmus land-and-return

or High Above Sun and return

these three are the next thing you may want to do, they are a little bit harder than going into low orbit, but not by far.

Landing on Mun is considerably harder than Minmus if you havent master rocket powered landing yet.

[inigma]

No one's mentioned the wiki campaigns? See my sig.

[davidpsummers]

Well, I did the flyby of the moons and the orbits. (I have a question about that below) For Mun I just put the apoapsis tangental to the orbit and let it capture my craft. But for Minmus I did read about a rendezvous before hand which was good (it probably wouldn't have been big enough for my crude method). I just made a crude lander (just putting legs on my probe) figuring I would see what mistakes I made, but first go I landed and returned! Now I only wish I had enough confidence to have put on a parachute and return some science! I guess I need to "probe it" a couple more time before I send people….

My question, is there a way to coordinate your burn out of low orbit with a quick rendezvous? Eye balling it, it looks like for Minmus (with my rocket at least, I guess that makes a difference) I should aim about 1/3 of an orbit ahead of it.

[davidpsummers]

Not in the stock game. At present the re-entry effects are just eyecandy and do not actually heat up your craft.

Now if you install the Deadly Re-Entry mod, then you need heat shields on stuff.

Yeah, bit the game doesn't have heat shields, so I wouldn't be able to retrieve probes at all?

[r4pt0r]

Well, I did the flyby of the moons and the orbits. (I have a question about that below) For Mun I just put the apoapsis tangental to the orbit and let it capture my craft. But for Minmus I did read about a rendezvous before hand which was good (it probably wouldn't have been big enough for my crude method). I just made a crude lander (just putting legs on my probe) figuring I would see what mistakes I made, but first go I landed and returned! Now I only wish I had enough confidence to have put on a parachute and return some science! I guess I need to "probe it" a couple more time before I send people….

My question, is there a way to coordinate your burn out of low orbit with a quick rendezvous? Eye balling it, it looks like for Minmus (with my rocket at least, I guess that makes a difference) I should aim about 1/3 of an orbit ahead of it.

have you used "manuver nodes" yet? on the map view click on your ships orbital path. then you can plan a manuver and not need to eyeball it.

a blue icon will appear on your navball indicating where you want to point your ship for that burn. then you do the burn untill the dv counter to the right of the navball reads 0. (below the counter is a timer, telling you how long the burn will need to be)

also of note, if your burn needs to be 30 seconds, fire engines at -15 seconds until timer reads +15 seconds. half a burn on each side of the node for accuracy

[r4pt0r]

have you used "manuver nodes" yet? on the map view click on your ships orbital path. then you can plan a manuver and not need to eyeball it. http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/images/astrodeck/maneuverNode02.jpg

a blue icon will appear on your navball indicating where you want to point your ship for that burn. then you do the burn untill the dv counter to the right of the navball reads 0. (below the counter is a timer, telling you how long the burn will need to be)

also of note, if your burn needs to be 30 seconds, fire engines at -15 seconds until timer reads +15 seconds. half a burn on each side of the node for accuracy

EDIT: this page will explain it better than i m8.

http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Maneuver_node

once you can plan manuvers start learning docking( http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/73329-Docking-From-Navball-to-First-Station-and-Beyond )

At that point the universe is yours to peruse as you wish.

EDIT 2: SORRY ON THAT DOUBLE POST

[chrise6102]

As mentioned, maneuver nodes are the way to do it, you can roughly approximate around a quarter of an orbit for Mun or about a third for Minumus but it gets much more complex for interplanetary an rendez-vous so best to learn to use nodes! Get the inclination right first (ascending and descending nodes) then just play around with nodes until you see an intercept.

As for recovering probes, he means that you don't need heat shields as the game doesn't have heat at all. You can even send a kerbal strapped to an external command seat screaming through the atmosphere of Eve at re-entry speeds and he'll be just fine. As long as you strap a parachute to your probe it can land safely.

[SRV Ron]

Yeah, bit the game doesn't have heat shields, so I wouldn't be able to retrieve probes at all?

Not to worry. Place a parachute on the probe and recover as normal. So long as you haven't installed a mod called Deadly Reentry, it will survive reentry.

BTW, legs on probe landing are optional.

[davidpsummers]

EDIT: this page will explain it better than i m8.

http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Maneuver_node

once you can plan manuvers start learning docking( http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/73329-Docking-From-Navball-to-First-Station-and-Beyond )

At that point the universe is yours to peruse as you wish.

T

Yeah, learning them is on my list. I'm just making progress as it is and I figure I learn a lot keeping it simple.

[davidpsummers]

[Just had a mission to minmus go bad because Mun was in the way, so annoying. Usually I can shake and encounter if I just keep raising apoapsis, but not this time. Annoying...]

So, I would recommend this order for a career mode...

flyby/orbit Mun

flyby/orbit Minmus

Land Minmus (Working on this)

Land Mun

I will look at link to the campaigns.

[Pecan]

So, I would recommend this order for a career mode...

flyby/orbit Mun

flyby/orbit Minmus

Land Minmus (Working on this)

Land Mun

Be brave, bite the bullet! Once you've done a Mun orbit plan to land on Minmus. Ok, you might decide to scrub the landing once you've got your Minmus orbit but you know you want to do it! Minmus has very low gravity so it is easy [in as much as anything is] to land on as long as you don't just 'throttle to max' all the time. Your first landing also gives a huge sense of achievement.

Tip (for your first landings): cirularise into low orbit, 7km is fine for Minmus/Mun, you won't accidentally hit any mountains at that altitude. Point retrograde (backwards, nose on the retrograde marker on the navball). Switch to map mode. For Minmus start your decelaration burn (high throttle) about a quarter of an orbit (90 degrees) before you reach one of the big, flat 'frozen lakes', they're the safest places to land. Watch your orbit-line in map mode and stop your decelaration when it intersects the surface roughly in the middle of the lake. Now go back to flight mode and watch the navball all the way down. Throttle-up slowly so your speed is decreasing and keep turning (face to the sky) so your nose-indicator stays on the retrograde marker. This initially reduces your horizontal speed which brings the landing-spot closer and makes your descent steeper. As the descent gets steeper the retrograde marker moves towards "straight up". As you turn your nose to follow the retrograde maker more of your thrust goes into reducing your descent rate. With almost any sort of TWR on Minmus you should find that full throttle is not needed but keep an eye on your altitude and VSI (Vertical Speed Indicator). The 'lakes' of Minmus are at 0m altitude so your altimeter will give a 'true' reading. By about 100m you should be almost stopped horizontally and, therefore, pointing almost straight up. Use the throttle to get/keep your descent rate under 10m/s and you're all set. Just don't panic as the ground gets close and open the throttle - even a little bit too much will quickly have you going back into orbit (or at least upwards).

Have fun.

[LethalDose]

For beginners, after you can hit LKO, i'd recommend the next 4 missions in this order:

1. Mun Orbit
   
2. Minmus Orbit
   
3. Minmus Landing
   
4. Mun Landing
   

After orbiting Kerbin, the next best target is to orbit the Mun. After you're solid on Mun orbits, Minmus orbits should be next. The Mun is closer and larger than Minmus, making it easier to approach. Minmus also has an inclined orbit, making it's approach difficult for beginners. While Minmus is harder to get to, it is easier to land on than the Mun (much lower gravity and easily spotted flat areas at Alt = 0), which is why Minmus landings are encouraged before attempting Mun landings.