![kerbal space program mun lander kerbal space program mun lander](https://hirnstroeme.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/screenshot1145.png)
The more energy you spend pushing against all that air, the less fuel you have later on to do more interesting things :)Īlso, that’s not a nose cone :) It’s a flight computer, essentially. But it’s just good rocket design overall not to get going too fast until you’re into the upper atmosphere. That can change if the payload is particularly fragile, of course. I generally design my launchers so that they’re not going at high enough velocities while still in the thicker part of the atmosphere to have to worry about fairings/nose cones.
![kerbal space program mun lander kerbal space program mun lander](https://64.media.tumblr.com/01a9760e4cf1e60c9576ea6179f527ec/tumblr_inline_p49vce87Il1qc76r0_1280.png)
I haven’t played enough with the new aerodynamics to know whether or not a nose cone would reduce the drag on my craft during launch. Just takes a little bit of planning to make sure your craft lands softly enough, the instruments are positioned so they don’t burn off on reentry, etc. Most of them aren’t very heavy, and returning them (especially from somewhere as close as the Mun) is usually a fairly trivial task. Some of the most expensive pieces of the spacecraft are the science instruments. It’s not too bad, but definitely not super newbie friendly :) Once poor Valentina spent a week going around and around in orbit as she repeatedly skimmed the top layer of the atmosphere and sloooooooowly came back down. It allows for some adjustment and error in figuring out where you want to land, but more than once I’ve gotten down to the last drops of fuel and barely made it back to Kerbin. There’s a little bit of margin of error with that lander, but there’s not TOO much extra fuel.
![kerbal space program mun lander kerbal space program mun lander](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ie18pxXbzfg/maxresdefault.jpg)
Here’s the craft file if you wanna look more closely: So yeah, don’t feel bad if you’re not finding yourself with the same OCD level of knowledge and detail I have with my craft haha