free return trajectories

[steuben]

Any guidance for  setting up free return trajectories to the Mun from Kerbin and back?

I'm trying for a path that will go around the Mun below 30km and return to Kerbin below 70km. Playing with the maneuver nodes I can get a low Mun Pe and a high Kerbin Pe, and vice versa. I suspect that I'm pushing on a tetter-totter, so I'll never be able to get what I'm looking for.

 

 

 

 

[FullMetalMachinist]

It is most certainly possible to get a low flyby and also have a re-entry trajectory into Kerbin. It just takes loads of fiddling with the maneuver node. Here's a good and quick tutorial. 

 

[ajburges]

The biggest tip I can give is to use a retrograde Mun orbit. You can't free return from a prograde Mun orbit in a practical manner.

[WanderingKid]

I did some goofing around with no-tech approaches to Mun and got these results for blind shots at the Mun.  With Maneuver Nodes you can refine this much more accurately, but it's the guidelines I've ended up with:

 

[Death Engineering]

Works from Duna to Ike as well..