Lateral Velocity and Landing

Nice & Slow

In this section of the tutorial i will cover lateral velocity and landing.

Firstly we need to understand what lateral velocity is. Lateral velocity is the speed you are coming in on a lateral plane, or sideways speed. Because you are coming in of an orbital trajectory (or not) you gain lateral velocity. For a spacecraft to be able to successfully land in a vertical manner, all lateral velocity must me killed.

Touchdown

its quite simple to lateral velocity, point yourself at the retrograde marker and burn slowly, you will notice your navball start moving from a lateral/horizontal plane to a more vertical plane. Be sure to watch your orbital speed, ensure it is under 300m/s.

Once your prograde marker is at polar position, your lateral velocity is killed, When landing ensure your speed is nice and low and try to land on a nice flat area (it can create complications)

The video will show you how i kill my lateral velocity and land on Minmus, so do enjoy folks!