Career Missions - landing to take a temperature reading or gravity reading

[POllik]

I am pulling out my hair.

My problem relates to missions like landing at a particular spot on Mun to take a reading...I don't have an issue with similar type missions on Kerbin.

This is what I can't get my head round...I activate the navigation marker, and providing I am pointing vaguely to towards it, I see the marker on the navball. So my problem is that as I approach the designated area, I can't see the navigation marker because I am pointed retrograde for my descent burn. I can't eyeball the landing area because it is not marked in 3D view. I am blind. The idea of taking a rover or doing little corrective bunny hops seems a bit tedious, not to mention not very scientific either.

The vids I have watched about landing to a target all assume that some is there, visible, but career missions don't

How does everyone else approach the issue?

This is in 0.90 beta, with mechjeb, but no other mods.

Polly

Edited February 4, 2015 by POllik

[Sirrobert]

If you have mechjeb, you can mark a location and tell it to autoland.

If you don't want to, you can use manouver nodes to plan out the exact landing in advance

[Randazzo]

I delivered a rover via a skycrane-sort-of-thing for this particular issue rather than trying to land on each spot, but it took ages as I had to drive AROUND a crater. Thoeretically I guess you could build a lander on wheels capable of taking off again.

[Slam_Jones]

I find it's much easier to skip those contracts for Mun and just do the ones for Minmus. The lower gravity means you can easily send a small Ion-Powered probe with a couple thousand dV there to do simple bunny hops. I did this once, and completed 6 or 7 seismic contracts, each of which involved landing at 4 or more seperate locations each. Since the gravity is so low on Minmus, you can easily stop your horizontal speed when you reach the zone, and landing is usually a very slow, simple process.

Just my two cents.

[tsotha]

I've been dealing with this frustration too. So far the best solution I've found is the NavHud mod, which essentially overlays the nav ball onto the staging view. That way you have a 360 degree view of the nav ball. If you ship is pointed up you can look down and see what's on the other side of the nav ball.

Actually using it to land in the right spot takes some getting used to, but it's doable.

Edited January 30, 2015 by tsotha

[The Yellow Dart]

I usually just plan to make inefficient landings. When you fly low over a surface target, it tells you when you are over the target area. So as I approach it in map view, I make sure I am moving slow enough to stop reasonably quick. I usually still overshoot a little but can backtrack before setting down. If you want a mod fix, you want "In Flight Waypoints".

Edit: link to In-Flight Waypoints

Edited January 31, 2015 by The Yellow Dart

[POllik]

Thanks for all the suggestions...they helped.

The problem with Mechjeb auto lander is that it is sometimes hard to mark the exact spot, but with the HUD and waymarkers, I think my problem is solved.

Well, apart from not being very good at KSP :/

Thanks again

[Kryxal]

I just had a bit of an odd idea ... add an extra probe core backwards, and control from there on descent.

[POllik]

Actually that isn't a bad idea, although it would interfere with MechJeb auto lander and SAS, but if you weren't using mods, it should work

[eddiew]

You could consider the In Flight Waypoints mod, which is very lightweight and handles exactly this problem

*edit* Note to self; read whole thread before suggesting the same thing again. Consider this a second vote for the IFW mod

[POllik]

Yup...thanks. That was suggest higher up the thread

[Enceos]

Take a look at my girl that I'm using for this kind of contracts: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/109019-Orbital-Maneuvering-System-Apple-%28very-cute%29

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[DrD]

On minumus last night I had 3 zones to check all fairly close. I landed kind of near then EVA'ed Jeb into each zone and planted a flag. Lander had a probe core so it was easy to then bunny-hop over to the flag. Marginally easier than finding the zone with the lander.

I may try making one of those little runabouts with an external seat and small engine and bringing it with lander.

Rovers are just too slow and fiddly to be any help.

[Wanderfound]

I tend to do these by landing a spaceplane in the general vicinity, then taxiing on the ground the last little bit.

[yithpistol]

I've found using a long distance plane works if you're good at landing. Use external fuel pods and if your plane has two fuselages, you'll have 400 fuel total. Problem is when the landing destination is, get this, in the goddamn ocean. I have tried to make a seaplane, but it won't work with current build. You could also stay low and separate your cockpit and float to the location. You'd have to be deadly accurate, however. Landing and taxiing is a better option, but put on some podcasts. I may have to cancel some of my Kerbin missions sadly.

[Enceos]

I use VTOL for ocean landings.

[Mahnarch]

VTOL?!! Ocean Landings??!!

Do you know how many tons of steel and aluminum I've let sink to the ocean floor before saying "F- it" and this never occurred to me?!

[-Velocity-]

I delivered a rover via a skycrane-sort-of-thing for this particular issue rather than trying to land on each spot, but it took ages as I had to drive AROUND a crater. Thoeretically I guess you could build a lander on wheels capable of taking off again.

This is what I do. Only for Eve missions have I ever built a rover that is not in fact also a rocket powered lander capable of flying back into orbit. In KSP, it's so easy to get into orbit and wheels are so lightweight that it's pointless to separate the functions of lander and rover, except on Eve and maybe Tylo, but I've even built rovers capable of landing on Tylo and flying all the way back into orbit again, all in one stage, and using only stock parts. Only for Eve is that not possible.

Edited February 5, 2015 by |Velocity|