Kerbal Space Program Mission #7, part 2

Munar Lander 4, part two: Let's land it right this time.

Day 17

Active project: Munar Lander Project

Active mission: Munar Lander 4
Selected vehicle: Lightning 3

Assigned crew: Thong Kerman

Finally it is morning in the big far-side Münar crater, bright enough to initiate a landing.

"The Morning is here! / Sunshine is here! / The Sky is Clear! /
Get into gear! / Breakfast is near! / The dark of night has disappeared!"

Thong finally begins to bring the craft down for a landing as close as possible to Josh's site.

We can see Josh from 30km away and even from up here he looks rather peeved.

He might as well take advantage of the broadcasting equipment and send us an in-flight report on the way down.

Imagine a car that goes from zero to 60 in seven seconds, and from 60 to zero in also seven seconds.

When the transfer stage runs dry and has to be finally ditched is when the landing gets tricky. Though not the same way as before, thankfully.

Now imagine that car is stuck on the interstate with a fuel gauge reading 'Empty' and if it doesn't find  a gas station soon it will be stuck going 60MPH forever.

Thong overshoots the site a bit simply for trying to conserve fuel, but this results in a riskier 'slamming on the brakes' maneuver close to the ground.

Well the jokes on you, because Thong is able to pull it off.

The lander's engine proves itself as capable of a quick deceleration and Thong lands the Lightning 3 as the first successful moon landing.

Watch that first step, it's kid of a long drop even in low gravity.

Not to detract from Josh's historical landing of course, but the possibility of returning home is pretty substantial. The vessels are three kilometers from eachother; I was hoping for about a tenth of that to make for an easy journey, but it's still within the achievable travel distance.

Yay!

Having another astronaut on the Mün means the 4th Munar Lander mission can perform more tasks than simply driving Josh home. Thong plants his mission flag for boasting rights and takes a second rock sample. Bringing these two home with their reports and samples will make for a substantial scientific contribution.

But first we have to get both of them off this rock.