Short trip out of Kerbin SOI

[ndiver 137]

Dear members,

being currently in the grind of the crew experience in career mode, one of the best way to get experience is to make a short trip out of Kerbin SOI and come back to Kerbin according to this thread:

What is the most efficient way to do such trip?
I was considering to burn in the same direction than the orbit of Kerbin to go slightly faster than Kerbin and then burn in retrograde direction once out of Kerbin SOI to let the planet catch up the ship. Is it the right way to do such trip?

[cubinator 8,664]

Just do a prograde burn at any time in LKO until immediately after your orbit becomes an escape trajectory. Then, just after you leave Kerbin SOI, do whatever science, etc. you have planned, then burn straight towards Kerbin until you get an encounter. Once back in Kerbin SOI, manipulate your trajectory to where you want it. 

[Magzimum 514]

If you're not aiming for any planets, you can always use the Mun as a slingshot. Good chance to give that some practice! In my (very limited!!) experience, the dV savings are in the order of 200-300 m/s if you use the Mun to get out of the Kerbin SOI.

Apart from that, I am not sure that it matters which direction you choose, as your frame of reference for this mission is still Kerbin and Kerbin alone... but let's wait what others have to say on this.

Edited August 8, 2016 by Magzimum

[mk1980 157]

a nice training roundtrip is to do a minmus landing, then a short hop outside kerbins SOI (very cheap when you're already out at minmus) and then use the mun for a gravity assist on the return trip (to capture into a kerbin orbit through the atmosphere). kerbin orbit + minmus landing + sun orbit + mun flyby is enough XP for level 3.

EDIT: you have to plant a flag on minmus, otherwise you'll only get 15.75 XP (plant flag rather than just landing adds another +0.5)

Edited August 8, 2016 by mk1980

[bewing 3,077]

Theoretically, if you just barely exit Kerbin's SOI on the prograde-and-low side, you don't even need to do a retro burn -- the planet will catch up to you all by itself. However, it can take half a year.

But yes, a trip to minmus for flag planting, then a trip outside works nicely. It takes 35 or 40 days total, though.