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[Dutchling]

Well, I finally got to Mun and created a nice new crater.

How do people here know fast/slowly to descend? I'd use MechJeb but landing mode is still locked :X

[LordSlowpoke]

5m/s vertical without landing legs

up to 30m/s with

[Dutchling]

Yeah but when do you start getting that speed? You obviously can't got from 10km to 0 at 30m/s and expect not to run out of fuel halfway down :S

[LoSboccacc]

Divide height by 100, that's max speed under 10000mt, height divided by 1000 under 500000mt

Not the most efficient by far, but safe and simple.


Or, suicide burn at 100000mt, stop, then freefall till 10000, stop, freefal to 1000 and eueball approach. That is more risky and frisky and works with rimewarp, but needs a good twr.

[Octobomb]

Did you kill your horizontal velocity?
Other than that, it's mostly a practice /intuition. For your first landing, pack plenty of fuel and a good TWR. Speed wise, a rough guide is 10m/s for every 100m, most of the mun being 2km or so up. Also, for the love of Kod, don't rely on Mechjeb. I love it to bits and it can be invaluable, but it's not designed to hold your hand. It does everything in the most clinical fashion possible, executing for a landing what's known as a 'suicide burn', where it kills all velocity at the last possible moment. It's suicide for anyone uncomfortable with landing, hence the name. Learn it yourself. Don't cripple yourself - you'll need those skills.

[Dutchling]

Yeah I was going straight down.

And I try to rely on MechJeb whenever I can . I like designing ships and fucking around in space more than actually performing difficult manoeuvres.

[BigD145]

MechJeb is not quite so bad about suicide burns at the moment.

[Octobomb]

MechJeb is not quite so bad about suicide burns at the moment.

Thank goodness. Landing with experimental craft was a hair raising experience, to say the least.

Yeah I was going straight down.

And I try to rely on MechJeb whenever I can . I like designing ships and fucking around in space more than actually performing difficult manoeuvres.

No. Bad. Mun landings aren't 'difficult' at all. They do however involve feeding the brain a large amount of information, all of which is unfamiliar, and requiring you to process it in real time. This makes it mentally taxing, and by no means easy but it's very possible and it is worth it. I'm sorry if I sound patronising or mean but I jumped up and down and screamed like a four year old girl when I landed on the mun. If you're having trouble, go to minmus. That's what I did. It has lower gravity and flat plains and if you don't mind getting a polar orbit then landing on the equator doesn't even need a plane change to get to. KSP is a hard game and worth learning at least once. Then mechjeb all you want. Have fun.

[Dutchling]

Oh, I landed on Mun and Minmus without any mods before. Its just that it has been a while (before science stuff was added at least).

[LoSboccacc]

yeah, remember when you burned for the mun 'when you see it rise over the horizont, prograde 870m/s and hope for the best'

[miauw62]

30 m/s with lander legs on the mun is suicidal, you'll just bounce, topple to one side and fly int othe surface while trying to correct that 1m above the surface.

protip: find a flat area. make sure you have some spare fuel so you can fly to a nearby flat area if you end up right above a sloped area.

[Putnam]

You want to be as low as possible horizontally. None of this "straight drop from 10,000 meters" crap, you should be 1000 meters off of the ground when you kill your horizontal velocity. Makes it way easier.

[Dutchling]

Welp, I did it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

A beautiful belly landing on the Mun.

[jhxmt]

Taking back off again (assuming you're going to attempt that) might be interesting for you.

[LoSboccacc]

Taking back off again (assuming you're going to attempt that) might be interesting for you.

pointy end is toward space (ever so slightly) shouldn't be too hard