Fixed Point Landing

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The fixed point landing technique is one of the most challenging tasks to perform, both in the simulator and in reality.

Challenges

For a planet with an atmosphere, any rocket will not follow the flight path displayed before atmospheric entry.

Another problem is that there are no landmarks on some celestial bodies, so you have to create them in the planet editor which requires the DLC or to place a rocket in it.

The third major problem is that landing at a fixed point requires precise flying maneuvers and extra fuel consumption.

The way to see a landmark is by opening the map or if there are none, place a rocket on it.

Methods

Without atmosphere

For Moon, Mercury, Mars's moons and the Galilean moons of Jupiter, follow these steps:

1. Send a lander to a certain point, so that you can see your target, or choose the landmark you wanna land on.
2. Bring the rocket into orbit (not very low; the rocket will need space for maneuvers). A good rule of thumb is to be about one planetary radius above the surface.
3. Decelerate your rocket so that its flight path will become perpendicular to the surface.
4. Conduct some trajectory correction maneuvers. If the landing place is not below the rocket or the landmark, fire the engines forwards or backwards, so that the rocket will be above the target.
5. Sometimes, it is good to keep a slightly tilted trajectory, so that you can see the flight path intersecting the target.
6. Let the rocket fall toward the surface. From time to time, fire retrograde and perform some trajectory correction maneuvers to change the flight path to the left or right.
7. When the rocket is close enough, change from map view to physics view and zoom out to make it possible to see the rocket, the surface and the target. Burn retrograde and conduct some left-right corrections.
8. For landing on other rockets it's recommended to reduce the rocket's velocity to under 10 m/s in order to avoid damaging both rockets.
9. For small celestial bodies like Phobos and Deimos, it is possible to gently adjust position of a rocket with the help of RCS Thrusters. This is the first place where a fixed point landing should be attempted.

With atmosphere

If a planet has an atmosphere, things become more complicated.

In reality, complex mathematics and high-precision maneuvers are required to land a rocket. In the simulator, this is not required.

For a celestial body with an atmosphere, follow these steps:

1. Get a landmark or a target rocket (a lander) where you want to land to mark the landing zone, if the target is the launch pad, build a small rocket next to it.
2. Perform an aerobraking maneuver or a retrograde burn to create a reentry path. The end of the path should be slightly further from the landing area.
3. Once entered the atmosphere, excess velocity may cause the rocket to rotate and burn up. Apply slight engine or RCS thrust to a proper angle—about 25 to 40 degrees from vertical depending on the altitude.
4. Execute a burn when arriving at the lower part of the atmosphere. This slows down the rocket to prepare for a propelled landing or a parachute landing.
5. If it is planned to execute a parachute landing, deploy the parachute when the velocity and the altitude is suitable.
6. If it is planned to execute a propelled landing, fire up the retrorockets to slow down the rocket to a safe stop. Whilst burning, the trajectory should adjust itself to be directly onto the landing area. Rotate the rocket if needed. (Another important thing is to make sure the rocket has adequate fuel for landing also, since it will take a while to slowly descend through the atmosphere to the ground, which means greater fuel consumption, this may cause situation when large lander is required.)

Tips

Conducting a fixed point landing is very difficult. For less experienced players, attempt this first on Phobos and Deimos, then, try it on the Moon. After a successful Moon fixed point landing, try it on Earth (where experimentation is easier), then on other planets.

For landing directly on top of a helping rocket (this is often done on Venus), it's best to burn retrograde to slow down below 10 m/s to avoid damaging both rockets.

1. On Mars, it's recommended to burn retrograde if the rocket's altitude is below 2500 meters and then deploy the parachute.
2. On Earth, it's recommended to burn retrograde once the parachute is deployed to slow down and perform minor trajectory corrections.
3. On Venus, once the parachutes are deployed, perform minor trajectory corrections only.