Phase Angles

[TheRagingIrishman]

Can anyone explain the maths behind calculating the proper phase angle for an interplanetary transfer between plannets (assuming circular orbits and standard Hohmann transfer)?

[Human Person]

The easiest way would be using Kepler's second law (also called law of Ares) to calculate the time needed for the transfer and then backtrack the planets position.

Tell me if you need more detail and I'll write it tomorrow.

Good night.

Edited June 6, 2017 by Physics Student

[KSK]

This forum tutorial goes into some of the maths and links to a handy online calculator for planning interplanetary transfers. For gameplay, I've found the calculator is very useful as it lets you work out transfer windows by date rather than using phase angles