Pinpoint landings?

[Draconiator]

How does one do a pinpoint landing on KSP? I'm building a base on Minmus, and so far, every one of my landings (except the robotic lander, it started 70KM away) did not land in the same place practically, and my last two rovers (second pictured below, Fuel Transporter) had to drive the rest of the way. The one below landed at 6.7km away (I'm halfway there), the other one landed maybe 2-3KM away, don't remember. Sending a fuel depot up later...and that thing won't have wheels. it would be awesome if I had help here lol

[*Aqua*]

Small deviations in your orbit can make a huge difference.

For precision landing I always plot an orbit which overshoots the landing target. When I'm straight above my target I do a full burn to cancel out my horizontal velocity (surface speed must be 0 m/s). When I'm not near enough I make a quick burn into the target direction. Then I gently bring my lander down.

[Reactordrone]

You'll need to account for rotation of the planet and the change to your predicted ballistic path as you slow down. To account for rotation you'll need to aim slightly to the East of your target so that by the time you've reached the ground the surface will have rotated underneath you. A stop and drop, almost vertical approach is generally easier to get close to a target than a shallow entry angle (although it will burn more fuel) and a higher thrust to weight ratio will help to minimise burn time allowing you to stop dead when you're over the target.

[juanml82]

Mechjeb. Without the autopilot, it can show where you'll land (and you'll have to do it as Aqua said, as you need to kill your horizontal velocity prior to landing). With the autopilot, it's so precise it can land on top of your existing base.

[Anquietas314]

The Trajectories mod is great for visualizing 1) your landing location and 2) your "true path" relative to the surface of the body you're trying to land on. Both of these are enormously helpful for pin-point landings . Added bonus: accurate aerobraking/deorbit predictions, without the autopilot features of mechjeb to tempt you .

EDIT: if you use trajectories, make sure that the landing marker is just slightly beyond your target, otherwise you'll fall short when you start slowing down. Same goes for mechjeb.

Edited January 17, 2015 by armagheddonsgw

[GoSlash27]

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/104638-Reverse-gravity-turn-landing-technique-for-airless-bodies

Here's how I do it.

Best,

-Slashy

[JTpopcorn]

Quite simple, overshoot but not by a ridiculus amount start to burn in the opposite dirrection your orbitting in (NOT RETRADE YET) and lower your horizontal as you approach. For the landing stay on the retrograde but dont use the sas option for it because if you go up you will flip over. Know your twr for max delta-v consirvation burn as late as posible.

[Janos1986]

Overshoot to be right above the target at a couple thousand meters, and when you're there burn retrograde at the horizon until your retrograde marker (if you're targeting something, also your target marker) is pointing as near as possible to 90° pitch.

By doing this you should have killed your horizontal speed and you should now be falling straight down to your target. End it with your usual descent method and you're good. Apply slight horizontal correction to straighten your approach, even with RCS translation if you have it on your lander.

It's not the most fuel-efficient technique, but it gets me within 10 METERS or less of my landing spot when performed with precision and patience. I had to be careful to dodge the solar panels of my target a couple times.

One last advice: practice on Minmus.

Edited January 18, 2015 by Janos1986

[FlyingPete]

When you get close, it's useful to target the base. You can then use the navball indicators to get your relative velocity pointing at the base.