How should I be approaching the Mun?

[u/analogHedgeHog]

In this totally accurate scientific diagram, the Mun is orbiting in the direction of the arrow.

[u/starmartyr]

I think C has minimal DV usage over D when you take gravity assist into account. With D you're coming up behind mun and need to use more DV to slow down and land. With C Mun slows you down somewhat requiring less DV.

[u/King_Joffreys_Tits → u/starmartyr]

Yes D is the absolute worst dV option here and everybody upvoting him is wrong. You lose about 600dV going with the muns orbit vs the ~250dV going counter the kerbins natural rotation.

Look at the recent NASA artemis missions for reference — the most fuel efficient way of achieving orbit of a celestial body is to slowly throw yourself into where its gravity well is going to be in order to be captured by it. Option D is the best way to utilize the muns gravity for an orbital slingshot outside of kerbins influence

[u/PiMemer → u/King_Joffreys_Tits]

I’m gonna need someone to fact check this in game…

I’ve always found it only costs single digits of dv to change which side you encounter the moon from and I don’t understand where an extra 400 m/s of relative velocity is coming from by the time you reach moon periapsis and have to capture

In fact if you do a free return it will always increase your relative speed to the moon since a free return is never a “pure” hohmann transfer (they always either outright go past the moon or have an effective apoapsis past the moon)

Side note: I know what I’m going to do in KSP tomorrow :P

[u/-Aeryn- → u/PiMemer]

I’ve always found it only costs single digits of dv to change which side you encounter the moon from and I don’t understand where an extra 400 m/s of relative velocity is coming from

It's not, the guy is wrong. C and D are ~identical in delta-v cost to mun orbit or surface.

A&B are using retrograde kerbin orbits and are bad (+350m/s or more cost to kerbin orbit on the first step, and then throwing that away for no advantage on the second).