Best way to explore all the biomes on the mun and minmus?

[Roasty my Toasty]

For a noob that needs like 6500 dV total for a rocket with a 7-12t payload can land on and return from Minmus?

[Chibbity]

Getting to Minmus is just as easy as the Mun, excpet you have to match inclination first.

Easiest way to explore all the biomes is generally a hopper. Rover's take forever to get anywhere on the Mun, and they tend to be a bit floaty on Minmus due to gravity.

[andylaugel]

The idea with a hopper is that you take suborbital "hops" from one biome to another.

Kerbnet on some parts lets you view a map of the biomes nearby. You can add and label markers on this map, which will let you see those in map view and on your navball once you click on the marker and "activate navigation."

[maculator]

Well a lander with a ton of DeltaV helps. If your into mods waypoint manager an scansat let you plan ahead.

[Roasty my Toasty]

Does anyone have screenshots of a craft they use for this? And would anyone recommend an orbiter and lander design?

[Chibbity]

Originally posted by Roasty my Toasty:

Does anyone have screenshots of a craft they use for this? And would anyone recommend an orbiter and lander design?

I'd recommend just doing a direct descent and return with one stage, instead of "Apollo style."

Unless you are really married to doing it like they did it irl.

A hopper is just a lander with some extra fuel for hitting other biomes.

[AoD_lexandro]

I actually have a command pod ship I made for just this purpose, let me dig out a pic for reference for you. Brb.

Ok here it is;

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1310886282

General idea is using the converter tank to keep the mass down low. My engine in the pic is an Atlas low profile, which might be a mod but I cant remember tbh. In any case on Minmus you really do no need that much TWR so you can easily change it to a terrier or a set of spark or twitch engines instead.

The basic science is attached to the probe core at the top, and its piloted by a science officer to make the most out of bonus gains. A goo unit is on the back of the command pod out of shot, but reachable from the command pod doors so you dont need to go EVA flying.

[andylaugel]

Originally posted by Roasty my Toasty:

Does anyone have screenshots of a craft they use for this? And would anyone recommend an orbiter and lander design?

Here is an example of an early Mun or Minmus lander. It's got a pretty decent amount of dV, and has a built-in safety factor. Just remember to have your kerbal go on EVA to collect all that data and store it in the cockpit. This design is nice in that if the lander stage runs out of fuel, you just drop that stage and return home.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=678760392

There are times though when an orbiter and lander design works in KSP. My interplanetary missions rely heavily on "Nerv"-driven tug boats. The nuclear engines are efficient, and the tugs have 9 to 10 km/s of delta-v each, and can easily move 50-150 ton spacecraft around. But the acceleration is slow, making landing something they don't do. But fortunately their payload is usually one of my all-in-one bases, which can land, make fuel, and refuel their tug boat in orbit.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=764835435

[Roasty my Toasty]

Originally posted by andylaugel:

Originally posted by Roasty my Toasty:

Does anyone have screenshots of a craft they use for this? And would anyone recommend an orbiter and lander design?

Here is an example of an early Mun or Minmus lander. It's got a pretty decent amount of dV, and has a built-in safety factor. Just remember to have your kerbal go on EVA to collect all that data and store it in the cockpit. This design is nice in that if the lander stage runs out of fuel, you just drop that stage and return home.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=678760392

There are times though when an orbiter and lander design works in KSP. My interplanetary missions rely heavily on "Nerv"-driven tug boats. The nuclear engines are efficient, and the tugs have 9 to 10 km/s of delta-v each, and can easily move 50-150 ton spacecraft around. But the acceleration is slow, making landing something they don't do. But fortunately their payload is usually one of my all-in-one bases, which can land, make fuel, and refuel their tug boat in orbit.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=764835435

Do you have a scientist in the pod and a probe core? Assuming you reset the science junior and/or goo, or do you rely on the EVA samples

[andylaugel]

Originally posted by Roasty my Toasty:

Do you have a scientist in the pod and a probe core? Assuming you reset the science junior and/or goo, or do you rely on the EVA samples

I went back into my saves, and found that on May 5th, 2016, Jeb flew M-008 Cricket to Minmus without a probe core--the 8th launch as the mission number indicates. Not long after, Valentina took M-010 Grasshopper to the Mun, but she at least had a probe core. These were first-landings in that career with minimal tech available. M-014 Mun Cruise was also a one-shot and done, with minimal dV (6,800 m/s) but a larger 10-man crew. M-016 Mun Bus though could have some some hopping, with up to 7,359 dV, all the instruments, and a crew capacity of 10. But by my 20th launch, M-020 Reliant became my first mining ship that could biome-hop freely and finish exploring the Mun and Minmus (4,249 m/s dV, including ore). If it can land, it can refuel. It required a good bit of tech though to unlock the parts needed for it. It wasn't intended to land, but it could dock and pass its data to another ship.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=679956880
Having a probe core and scientist though would be a smart way of doing it.

[Harry_Robinson1]

MORE BOOSTERS

[RoofCat]

just hauling tourists go to a new biome every time. You will swim in money and have all the science in no time.

In case you have mining available, a mining ship can clean up the whole Mun as well. 16 jumps or so. Roughly 3 weeks needed with engineer onboard. Just use scientist to reset Material lab and Goo. Put those close to his pod. Boring simple grind.