Here we go,my first ever AAR.Comments good or bad welcome,I promise I won't cry.
I should state that I did use the Mechjeb mod (an automated system to those who don't know) however I did turn it off where stated.It's not perfect I found.
Everything else is all stock parts.
Your pilot for today's mission is the great Jebediah Kerman.Well known to all budding astronauts in the Kerbal Space Program as the guy who just can't stop smiling.

There she stands.'Mun 1' (I know,how original)



Blast off! I'm just using liquid fuel engines for this attempt.Solid fuel rockets are too dangerous!


Starting the gravity turn.


That's where I hope to be going.


Now in a stable orbit around Kerbin.Note my many 'failed attempts' littered around orbit.


It looks lovely from up here.


The blue line is my intercept course for the Mun.On the left is a failed space walk.Poor old Gregley Kerman.I may attempt a rescue one day.


Getting close.I will soon be going full manual for the landing attempt.


My intended landing site.


The 'de-orbit burn' I think it is called.


Out of fuel! Time to lose the main engine stage.Fuel management is a HUGE part of this game.This particular design took hours to come up with.Trying to juggle between fuel amounts and weight can be a headache.


Every attempt I have made using Mechjeb to land on the Mun has failed so far.I'm not sure why,maybe it's my design.Sometimes it says that the engine doesn't have enough power for the descent,sometimes it doesn't but still crashes.It seems to me that it comes in too fast and at the last minute applies full power to the engine to correct the descent.The engine I am using doesn't seem to have the power to cope with an automated landing.Who knows,maybe some experts can tell me why.

Anyway,full power applied to slow this beasty down before attempting to touch down.


I'm getting very nervous.If this works it will be my first Mun landing that didn't end up in disaster.


It's a long way back......


I have managed to bring my surface speed right down,but at the last minute I chicken out and activate a Mechjeb landing to complete the last few metres.Luckily the landing gear pops out.Unlike one of my earlier designs,the landing gear actually extends past the engine nozzle.


At last! After literally hours and hours of failed launches,botched orbits and disastrous landings I finally make it.


Where is the Kerbin flag?


Now,anyone know how to get back?

*Applauds*


Well, you could just wait for a rescue team to arrive...



Also, staging is very important. For Mun ops, I'd opt for a three or even four stage design, as this leaves you with less mass to accelerate/decelerate along the way.

+ 1 ;-)

Great AAR Congrats !!

Thanks guys.
I still have fuel so there may be a part 2 to follow.

*Edit* Damn and blast it!

I left KSP running in the background while I did my AAR.
As I was tidying up my desktop I accidentally closed KSP.

I reloaded it up and pressed F9 but it keeps putting me back at the launch pad.
Ctr F10 shows no saves.What have I done wrong?

Your successful landing irated Murphy, and now he took his revenge. Par for the course, I'd say.

cant wait for the return trip

Ok,I figured out how to get back to my Mun landing spot.
Hopefully I will make it home ok.
Further AAR to follow.

Ok,here we go with the return trip.

After a quick 'butchers' at the planet surface,Jebediah boards the capsule.


Blast off! I don't have much fuel.I have no faith whatsoever in Mechjeb doing the job so this is a full manual attempt.


Please don't miss.Please don't miss.


Am I glad to see the back of that place.


There is nothing scientific about the return at all.NASA will probably be cringing at this but somehow I manage to pick a landing spot on Kerbin.


I have no idea what's going on here,all I know is that at some point I will 'land' on Kerbin.


So close! If I cock this up I probably won't have enough fuel to make another attempt.


I try to make it look as though I know what I'm doing by using the last of my fuel to slow down a bit.


Time for the final separation.All that's between Jebediah and a watery death is some parachute silk.


'Chute deployed....


....and it's open! Can I hear a sigh of relief from within the capsule?


Damn! He's done a Gus Grissom! No rescue here little fella.It's a long swim back to land.


Well that's it.I am extremely satisfied with the outcome.It was a bit brutish in places,no finesse at all.
My complete misunderstanding of the Hohmann transfer orbit,landing sequences et al did not prevent my success.
Yes,I'm more surprised than you are to be honest.

Does it take into account the angle at which you re-enter the atmosphere?
(Arguably the most critical aspect)

Your AAR suggests that this is not the case ... or that you were incredibly lucky, if you did it "by hand and guesswork" as you wrote.

As soon as I lifted off from the Mun,I pointed the ship at Kerbin and opened up the engines.I made a few course corrections on the way.
You won't find that in any NASA handbook that's for sure.
My only reason for not going about it in a more realistic manner (apart from my ability) was the low fuel.
I was worried I would use up too much of it trying to get into an orbit.
It was a one shot sort of thing,and lucky as you pointed out.

No complaints from Jebediah,he lives to fly another day.

*Applauds again*



(Wasn't it an early Gemini crew that had to spend a few hours waiting for pickup?)





Atmospheric friction is not implemented (yet).

Nicely done AAR! Thank you!

I feel like drinking some Tang..! Well done!

It's an awesome game even in it's present Alpha state.

btw Chucky, I really like your spacecraft design. Very nicely done!

Thanks guys.Your comments are appreciated.
You get a whole load of entertainment for $18.One of my best purchases for ages.