it would be awesome if MechJeb could laterally translate to a flat spot shortly before touchdown

I second that. Alot of times that I've fliped my ship after Mechjeb landed it in a slope.
The lander module could do a scan of the terrain in a radius of the target (that we could change that radius) and chose the target with least inclination to land, prefereably 0º.

oft requested, tracking in #1052, closing as dup