THIS GUIDE WAS WRITTEN FOR AN OLD EDITION OF THE GAME AND IS NO LOMGER UP TO DATE

This guide is aimed at helping people build a simple and easy ship capable of travelling to Duna and back again without the use of mods or any advanced maths.

A full video guide can be found below or continue reading for a description and helpful images.

The ship seen in the video and screenshots can be downloaded here - https://www.dropbox.com/s/cznnnrzbgl6qci1/d-5.craft?dl=0

EDIT - this ship can no longer make the journey without a small fix, see below.

A Duna rocket should be built in a similar fashion to a Mun or Minmus rocket.

The most efficient and easy to use design would be a 3 stage rocket.



The first stage should be used to get into low orbit of Kerbin and should be kept powerful and simple.

The second stage is used to transfer to Duna orbit, this can be suprisingly small as the delta-v required to reach Duna is not much more that is required to travel to one of Kerbins moons.

The final stage is the lander itself, personally I prefer a 1 stage lander with drop tanks, although a full 2 stage lander can be used as well but will be much heavier. You will need a moderate fuel allowance here as the lander will be needed to return all the way back to Kerbin. Parachutes are a must.

Before you lauch your rocket, you first need to ensure Duna and Kerbin are aligned correctly.

From the tracking station or map view, zoom out until you can see both planets orbits and then advance time until Kerbin is aproximatly 30 degrees or 1 hour on clock face behind Duna as shown here.

This can be done by sight, dont worry about getting a protractor out and pressing it to your screen.

Launch your rocket and place it into a low orbit, 100 km is fine. If you are aiming for Duna then this step should not be a problem. If you are using my ship design then you should have around 90% of the fuel in stage 2 remaining for the next step.

Zoom out on the map screen and select Duna as a target bu clicking on it.

From the night side of Kerbin create a maneuver node and increase your prograde speed by approx 1000m/s.

If everything is correct you will be very close to encountering Duna, you may need to adjust your node slightly or even move it to a different part of the orbit but at this point it is trial and error.


Once you have a close encounter fire up your engines and be on your way.

You may need to adjust several time on the journey, the closer you are to Duna the less sensitive your movements become but the more fuel you will use.

As you get closer you will want to bring down your periapsis to approx 15km along the equator line, this can be difficult but with practice can be easily done from far away.


The reason you want your orbit this low is simple, Duna provides us with an easy method of orbital insertion...

Duna has a very thin atmosphere starting at 50km but becomes reasonably thick at around 20km.

With the interplanetary speeds you are travelling at, entering the atmosphere at 15km will cause a huge amount of drag on your spacecraft and slow you down into orbital speeds without the use of engines and create a light show in the process.

Typically your orbit will be terrible and your should use your engines to either stabilise it or to pick a landing spot. I recomend the darker coloured craters as they are usually flatter and easier to land in.

EDIT - After the latest updates the craft I provided can no longer survive the heat from the braking. This can be fixed by adding a heat shield and an extra decoupler beween the lander and the middle stage.

Landing is easy on Duna, parachutes are your friend.

Duna has a very thin atmosphere and low gravity, this means that although parachutes work, you will need about 3 times more of them than you would need on kerbin.

I would suggest firing your engines to slow down for the last few seconds just to protect your legs and engines, less that 10m/s is a good landing speed.

Now the long part.

To return home you will need to wait for Duna and Kerbin to be in the same orbital alignment as they were on your way here, this will require going to the map screen or space center and speeding up time for a little over a year.

To take of from Duna is very simple, use the exact same method as from Kerbin. Aim for a 90 degree orbit and around 80-100km height. If using my provided ship you will want to jettison your fuel tanks and legs part way through this burn.

Once you are in orbit and the planets are quite literally aligned its time to go home.

You will need to follow the same steps as you took to get to Duna but going in the opposite direction. Select Kerbin as your target on the map, create a burn, this time on the day side pointing backwards and for approx 1000m/s, again adjusting as necessary.


Beware of Ike at this stage, its huge spere of influence can make things difficult.

Kerbin approach should be identical to Duna, but aim for a periapsis of around 30km and you will need a good heat shield as you will be coming in hot.


Welcome home and congrats on your Duna mission success!