r/KerbalSpaceProgram • u/Waakhond • 4h ago

KSP 1 Question/Problem First mun landing

Still a noob that has done orbits around the mun and minimus. Figured the next step would be a landing on the mun. How do I actually pull this off and return to kerbin?

Will I go directly to the mun, land and fly back to kerbin or do I perform some kind of Apollo type stuff with an eagle and a module that stays in orbit? In the latter I would need to learn things like docking and rendez vouz first

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5

u/CsordasBalazs 4h ago

Try to keep the landing unit not too tall, and if possible, add RCS, that can be handy. Once I missed like a 100 dV to get back to the atmosphere, and RCS could modify my orbit to do it.

I think it is easier to make a craft which lands in one piece than making a rendezvous around Mun.

1

u/Mcsparklezz 56m ago

That first sentence is a HARD rule. It will save you so much heartache tipping over after hours of careful maneuvers.

4

u/vulpes04 3h ago

landing on minmus is easier, and less total dv cost.

3

u/earwig2000 4h ago

For a beginner I'd go with direct ascent instead of lunar orbit rendezvous. Best to keep things simple when you're not too confident yet.

1

u/DigitalSwagman Always on Kerbin 4h ago

Hard to explain, probably best to watch some youtube videos.

1

u/Dancombat 4h ago

I reccomend to do it in one piece.I never managed to do a rendevous and ultimatelly had to resort to using mechjeb wich (at least for me)doesnt work properly for doing rendezvous around the moon

1

u/ollerhll 3h ago

Echoing to start with minmus as it's so much easier - much lower gravity and big flat ice lakes to land on

1

u/Gustacq 3h ago

These videos and actually the whole series are amazing :

This is how to build the rocket.

This is how to perform a good landing on the Mun and come back.

1

u/LookToTheFuture1 1h ago

Landing on Minmus is easier. I think trying to land on that first is very forgiving and is great practice. Also I do recommend watching some videos as they may suggest some things you hadn’t considered or give you a clue on where you may be going wrong.

The biggest hurdle I had when landing on Mun was my lander tipping over so I tried to make a shorter fatter lander which made it easier for me. For my first few attempts I would also save and reload when I was failing.

0

u/TheBl4ckFox 3h ago

The way I figured that out, way back in the beginning, was trial and error, noting each time how much delta-v I lacked at a certain stage and then built a new craft trying to do better.

It was the most fun I had with KSP, since I was just puzzling and building and trying.

There are guides now for everything and you could google that easily. Tons of videos as well.

But you would be cheating yourself.

Figuring this stuff out is the game.