Returning from deep space mission

[BamBam]

Thanks to the hard work / tinkering of many fellow players, I now have a deep space mission orbiting Kerbol at around 14000000km.

solar panels recharging battery, ION drive for unlimited tiny thrust, and ZO2 filters keeping breathable atmosphere for my frightened little kerbanauts.

My question is : How do I navigate my way back to a nice controlled landing on Kerbin? Gonna have to be a careful approach due to amazingly low thrust by ion engine.

I have MechJeb latest version and game version .15.2

[Pluto100]

Wow! Good job on that !

[GWBBQ]

Your best bet is a bielliptic transfer. There are a number of orbit calculators in the Tools and Applications subforum of the Add-ons forum, they can tell you what the optimal altitudes and velocities for each burn are. The Wikipedia article for bi-elliptic transfers has all the equations if you\'re feeling ambitious.

[Ydoow]

I dunno how your gonna manage to calculate an exact hit on Kerbin.

So you\'re best bet is to go for a counter-Kerbal-revolving approach, ensuring you\'ll meet up with it so long as you get the right altitude

[illectro]

No a counter revolving approach doesn\'t work because you have less time to adjust your path to a return trajectory, just orbit in the same direction and adjust your apsides until you get a soi change.

And since you say you\'re solar powered, make sure you try to land during the day.

[Kosmo-not]

You need to calculate the phase angle needed for an intercept orbital transfer and then burn at the appropriate time.

[Randox]

I dunno how your gonna manage to calculate an exact hit on Kerbin.

So you\'re best bet is to go for a counter-Kerbal-revolving approach, ensuring you\'ll meet up with it so long as you get the right altitude

This is what I would do. Less math, more edge of your seat panic maneouvers. Ideally, you would actually stop moving around Kerbol shortly before Kerbin arrives, and just hold your orbit using your engine, assuming it has enough thrust and can recycle its fuel fast enough to make this viable (and maybe start running away from the planet to give yourself some extra time for course corrections). If not, your going to be coming in super fast, and your engine might not have enough thrust to make the needed corrections. If you have a small engine attached to your command pod, that might come in handy (more thrust? and less mass). You don\'t need to hit Kerbin directly, but your going to have to be very close or you\'ll fly right by and get tossed into a different orbit and orbital plane, and that wouldn\'t be good. All things considered, your target circle would be about maybe 670-680km in diameter. Any more than 35-40kmkm from the surface at your nearest point, and friction plus your engine aren\'t going to have enough power to prevent a flyby.

Or you could take a sane and reasonable approach, and plot an intercept course.

[VincentMcConnell]

Get into a retrograde orbit around Kerbol at the same altitude as Kerbin. You\'ll get pulled in eventually...