To construct a rover we need a base to attach the wheels, seats, and the power source.
Structural plates
We can start with structural plates, but we need to apply some tricks to attach them to each other.
Place one plate in the horizontal position
If you cannot attach the second plate directly to the edge
Attach the second plate first in a 90° angle
Turn on Snap
First, rotate
then move it into position
Stability assistance
Even if the rover performs fine on Kerbin, the low gravity on the Mun will cause the rover to roll in a quick direction change, a steep curve or during braking.
Move the wheels as high as possible on the body, so the center of mass is as low as possible.
Add Small Inline Reaction Wheels close to the center of mass, and set the Reaction Wheels to SAS only. In the default Normal setting as you control the rover the reaction wheels would flip it in the same direction.
Create the ngrok folder in your user’s opt directory mkdir ~/opt/ngrok
Step into the new directory cd ~/opt/ngrok
Move the downloaded installer into the new directory. Replace THEVERSION with the version of the downloaded file mv ~/Downloads/ngrok-vTHEVERSION-stable-darwin-amd64.zip .
Unzip the ZIP file unzip ngrok-vTHEVERSION-stable-darwin-amd64.zip
To be able to start ngrok from any directory, add the binary to the PATH. Add this to your ~/.bashrc file where the rest of the PATH statements are PATH=~/opt/ngrok:$PATH
IMPORTANT: Restart all your terminals for the PATH change to take effect
Verify the installation
When the terminals have been restarted for the PATH change to take effect
Test the installation with ngrok --version
Connect to your ngrok account
Execute this in the terminal to connect to your ngrok account. Get your authentication token from your setup page at 2. Connect your account ngrok config add-authtoken YOUR-AUTHENTICATION-TOKEN
If you have multiple monitors, you can connect them to your laptop and set up an immersive gaming environment.
Connect the monitors
Connect one of the monitors with an HDMI cable to the large HDMI port of the laptop
Connect the other monitor with a USB-C to DisplayPort cable to the USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C/Displayport/Power Delivery combo port next to the HDMI port (connectors 3 and 4 on the picture below) at the rear of the computer.
Configure the monitors
Start the NVIDIA Control Panel application
On the Configure Surround PhysX page select Span displays with Surround, and click the Configure button
To view the keyboard shortcuts click the Keyboard Shortcuts button
Enable the first two shortcuts and click OK
Set the bezel correction to set up the displays for a continuous image
Click the bezel correction button and adjust the offset of the two displays
To enable the Surround configuration click the Enable Surround button
OPTIONAL: If you want seamless experience, but don’t mind to cover a stripe in the middle of the screen, on the Change resolution page set the resolution to the bezel corrected value. This may not work for certain games where the center line contains important information.
Enable all displays
When you set up Surround, PhysX, the laptop built-in display gets disabled. To be able to use all displays
Open Windows Settings
On the Display page click the down arrow next to Show only on 2
Select Extend these displays
Using Alt-Tab quickly find the confirmation popup and click Keep changes
Select the large, combined display and make it the default display, so games start to run on it
Working with the surround display
In some programs the middle of the screen contains important information, and it can be distracting to be divided by the bezel. There are some tricks we can apply to circumvent it
Kerbal Space Program
Hold the the middle mouse button and pan the screen to move the important object out of the center of the view.
In Kerbal Space Program you can recreate the Apollo missions using the stock parts.
Apollo 11
An awesome Apollo 11 tutorial is located at Apollo 11 tutorial. Follow the instructions, but I have made some changes for easier operation.
Notes
Construction
I have added the Heat Shield (2.5m) to the bottom of the top command module just in case the command module does not have heat shield.
Added the Kelus-LV Bay Mobility Enhancer (retractable ladder) under the hatch of the lander for easier return after Munwalk.
Added solar panels to the lander and the service module.
Disabled the yaw, pitch, and roll functions of the RCS thrusters on the command module and all thruster blocks to Save on monopropellant
Take EV Fuel Cylinders from Cargo with you in the command pod, the lander, and on the Kerbals instead of parachutes to extend the length of EV operations.
Flight
Towards to Mun
While the Command Module and the Lander are approaching the Mun we want to use the Command Module’s engine. When we dock the Command Module to the Lander, the staging changes, and activates the Lander’s engines. The fuel gages indicate the active engines. In this configuration during the Mun orbit insertion burn the Lander’s engines will work against the Command module’s and make it very difficult to achieve a good Munar orbit.
Right-click the Lande’s engine in the staging block and click the Shutdown Engine button. If you have multiple Lander engines, do it for all engines.
In Mun orbit
After circularizing the Mun orbit, before the lander separation, stage one more time to activate the LEM main engine.
Landing on the Mun
As you descend, set the SAS to retrograde to keep the lander upright and be able to always reduce the speed with the main engine without the need for orientation adjustment.
On the Mun
In case you run out of monopropellant in your EVA Jetpack, plant a flag under the hatch, so you can climb on it and get back to the lander.
Take off from the Mun
To get the heading of the command module, turn it to prograde. This is the direction you need to get into orbit with the lander for the rendezvous.
Some people, like me, don’t want to pay Microsoft as OneDrive fills up quickly with documents and pictures.
To move your Desktop, Documents and Pictures folders out of OneDrive and disable OneDrive
Make a backup copy the contents of the Desktop, Documents and Pictures folders into another directories on your computer incase anything goes wrong during the configuration change.
Open OneDrive
Click the gear icon
Select Settings
To stop OneDrive auto start with Windows turn offStart OneDrive when I sign in to Windows
Click the Manage Backup button
Click the Stop Backup link
Click the Stop Backup button
Click the Close button
Disable the backup of all folders and click the X in the upper right corner
On the Account tab click Unlink this PC
Click the Unlink account button
Close OneDrive with the X in the upper right corner
Click the OneDrive icon in the tool bar
Click the gear icon and select Quit OneDrive
Click the Close OneDrive button
If you need to change the default Desktop, Documents and Pictures path
When you disable and quit OneDrive, the default location for Desktop, Documents and Pictures should change to C:\Users\YOUR_USER_NAME\…
If new files are still saved into the OneDrive folders
Open Regedit
Hold the Windows key and press R
Type regedit into the field and click OK
Click the Yes button to allow Windows to start the application
Make sure the Address bar is visible in Regedit
In the View menu you should see a checkmark next to the Address Bar item
Paste HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders into the address bar under the menu and press Enter
Check the value of the items with absolute paths to make sure those point to your user folder, not the OneDrive subfolder.
Where are my files
Disabling the OndeDrive backup of the folders OneDrive re-created the original Windows folders in your user directory: Desktop, Documents, Pictures.
Move the files and folders from your OneDrive folder to the newly created Desktop, Documents, Pictures folders. Leave the Where are my files shortcut in the OneDrive folder.
How to set the drive where files are saved
To set the drive where Windows saves files open Settings
In System select Storage
Click Advanced storage settings
Scroll down and select Where new content is saved
Select the destination drive. If you have only one drive, C: is the only option.
For certain games it is very useful to set the keyboard background colors based on their function in the game. You can group keys by color to find them easier during game play.
Create the effect
The effect contains the color of each key or key group.
Open the ARMOURY CRATE preinstalled application
On the Aura Sync page select the Aura effects tab, and click the Aura Creator button
Click the Device button, hold the CTRL key and select the keys to cerate a group, and click the Set as layer button
Right-click the name of the layer and select Rename
Enter the new name and hit Enter
Drag down the Static effect to the timeline
Make sure all layers have the same length, and start at the beginning of the timeline, otherwise a lightshow is created.
In the upper right corner click the color indicator
Select the color and click OK
Drag the layers to order them, the top layer will cover the lower layers. This way you can create a base layer with a single color for all keys (press CTRL-A to select all keys) and build the rest on top of it
When all layers have been created click the Save & apply button in the upper right corner
Enter the name of the effect and click the Save button
Assign the effect to the application
Return to the Armoury Crate application
Select the Game Library page
Select Create Scenario Profile
To select another, or add more application to the scenario, click the See Options button
Scroll down for more selections, or click the Cannot find app link to browse for the application
Click Aura Sync
Select the effect
Click the Save button in the lower right corner
Update the effect
While playing the game, you can switch back to the Aura Creator and update the effect
Click the Save & apply button to update the effect. The change will apply immediately.
There are mods for Kerbal Space Program 2 which make space flight much easier. We will not use “cheats”, these mods display the necessary information for easier maneuver node configuration, manual burn execution, and docking. We recommend the following mods:
Maneuver Node Controller
Docking Alignment
Micro Engineer
Launch to orbit around Kerbin
Mun
As the Mun’s orbital plane is parallel to the equator of Kerbin, launch the vessel Due East (90°) with 0 ° inclination.
Match the target planet’s inclination
While still in Kerbin orbit, match the plane of the target planet’s orbit.
We will stretch our orbit to reach the Mun’s sphere of influence.
Set the control point
As the lander is attached to the command module, make sure you use the command module’s engine, and control the joined spacecraft from the command module. If the lander can is set as the “Control From” location, the burn will slow down the combined space craft and it will crash into Kerbin, instead of speeding it up towards the Mun (been there, done that).
Right-click the pod of the command module and select Control From Here
Create the injection burn
Click the orbital path and select Create a Maneuver Plan
Click the Mun and select Focus to keep the Mun in the center of the screen
Right-click the Mun Periapsis to keep the value displayed
Using the prograde vector and moving the maneuver, plan an orbit to set the Mun Periapsis to around 10 – 15 km
The planning is done at the current Mun location, but the real encounter will happen at another location further down the orbital path of Mun.
Start the burn and stop early before your orbit reaches the orbit of the Mun. Delete the maneuver to see the real values on the map. Continue the burn with the low throttle, and when the Mun periapsis node appears on the map, stop the slow burn, and right-click it to keep the value displayed.
Continue the low throttle burn to fine-tune the orbit, and watch the number of the Mun periapsis to stop at the planned value.
Capture orbit
Create a maneuver at the periapsis, and use the retrograde vector to slow down, and bring the apoapsis closer to the Mun for a circular orbit.
Warp ahead to the maneuver and execute the burn. Fine-tune it to reach the planned apoapsis.
Landing on the Mun
To land on the Mun, create a maneuver with a negative periapsis to hit the surface a few kms further away, so you can slow down and start a steeper approach to avoid hills.
Place the lander in a 15 km circular orbit
Create a maneuver with a retrograde burn to set a -60 km periapsis
Move the maneuver to hit the ground a few miles further downrange with three clicks on the right side maneuver time mover button
Adjust the latitude with the Normal and Antinormal vectors
After the deorbiting burn, set the SAS to retrograde to be able to slow down the craft with the main engines. If the throttle is too sensitive, set the Thrust limiter to a lower number
Orient the space craft
During landing and takeoff it is very important to know which way the lander faces. Unfortunately, if the Lander Can window faces upwards during deorbit and forward when the craft is in vertical direction, as during the real Apollo missions, the WSAD controls tilt the craft in the opposite direction as expected. If we want our kerbonauts to be able to use the window, we need to adjust to this. We can rotate the lander 180 degrees to make maneuvering easier, but we need to remember which way we landed. To be able to rendezvous with the command module, we need to take off in the same direction as we landed.
Land the space craft
Use the altitude above ground to avoid hitting hills and highlands
Click the altitude gauge of the Nav Ball to switch to ground altitude or
Activate the Micro Engineer mod and open the Surface panel
Landing
At the time of touch down keep the vertical speed below 12 m/s to protect the landing legs.
EVA on the Mun
The Kerbonaut jetpack is very powerful, to be able to lift the Kerbal in a high gravity environment. It is too powerful in the low gravity of the Mun. To be able to make slow, precise movements, right-click the Kerbonaut, and set the Jetpack trust to 50%.
Take off from the Mun
Take off
As we already mentioned above, to be able to rendezvous with the command module, we need to take off in the same direction as we landed.
Hover above the Command Module with the mouse to check the altitude of the command module orbit
When the Command Module is almost overhead, take off and tilt the craft forward in the same direction as it landed
Burn the main engine until the apoapsis reaches the Command Module orbit altitude. MAke sure to keep the correct direction.
Circularize the orbit
As we already did it in Kerbin orbit, create a new maneuver in the apoapsis to bring the periapsis to the same altitude.
Before you undock the lander transfer the crew and resources to the Command Module
Transfer the crew
Use the Kerbal Manager to transfer the crew
Transfer the resources
Use the Resource Manager to transfer the remaining resources from the lander
Expand the Monopropellant section to transfer the RCS fuel and electric charge
Select the OUT button on the lander and IN button on the Command Module storage, and click START
Expand the Methalox section
Select the OUT button on the lander and IN button on the Command Module storages, and click START
Going home
To escape the Mun’s sphere of influence, and return to Kerbin, we need to increase the apoapsis retrograde relative to Kerbin.
Create a maneuver on the prograde side of the Mun, to increase the apoapsis with a prograde burn until Mun Escape is displayed.
At this point the Kerbin periapsis is usually still too high for re-entry.
Right-click the Kerbin Periapsis to keep it displayed, adjust the time of the maneuver to minimize the Kerbin periapsis, and adjust the prograde vector to set the periapsis to around 35 km.
During the burn, the actual Kerbin periapsis will appear and display the changing value. With low throttle continue the burn until the Kerbin periapsis reaches 35 km height.
