Rover power in KSP

kerbal-space-program

I've built a small rover in KSP. I launched it, landed on the Mun and literally pushed it off the top of my lander.

However, the outcome is seriously disappointing. Even at the maximum rated speed of the wheels, it would take like, half an hour to get to the closest nearby biome. Excluding the probability of destruction at that speed (I did go to 55m/s coming down a crater) it still takes a very long time, and going up a crater is pretty awful- barely 5m/s. Was I supposed to bring a rocket to move this thing along or something?

Bottom line, how can I feasibly explore even just the Mun in a rover? The time required to get anywhere is just so long, I don't see how it can work.

I covered the distance from the crater back to the lander in considerably less time with the Kerbal jetpack.

Best Answer

Short answer : Don't

Rover aren't technically speaking the most time-efficient way to explore a planet. 100km is longest trip i did, and it was insanely long. What's more, as you probably noticed, the risk of accident is still always high even if you are travelling at low speed with a well designed vehicle. I may be wrong, but i doubt anyone sane ever succesfully explored the whole Mun with a rover. That would take dozens of hours.

How the average rover expedition usually ends :

How the average rover expedition usually ends

Alternative :

The best way to explore biomes is to use a vehicle that Kerbal Space Program players commonly call a hopper. A hopper is in fact a simple lander with enough fuel to hop around a planet fitted with science collecting devices. If you have a bit of piloting skills, it is a really safer (and faster) option, though it does cost fuel.

Of course, if the target planet has a dense atmosphere allowing jet engine use, such as Laythe, then you'll probably want to use an airplane. For small planets, with low gravity such as the Mun, using a liquid fuel engine powered vehicle is the only option.

Hopping around a planet :

Hopping around a planet

As a reference, here is a wiki article about Hopping around celestial bodies that provides a bit more insight about Hopping vehicles design and strategies.

So why rovers even exists if they are useless for exploration ?

  • For the achievement : It is much harder to design a lander for a rover than a common lander.
  • For fun : Putting a feet on a planet is something awesome, but driving around with your high tech SUV really makes you the king of this place.
  • Sometimes, it can be useful to move things or kerbal around your bases.
  • To cover medium-small distances without performing a fuel burn with your lander.
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