Cheat Sheet and Max plane change figures

[Biggen]

The cheat sheet shows a number for each body called "Maximum Plane Change".  What is this?  Is this figure the total amount of dV needed to go from a 0 degree inclination a 90 degree inclination plane change?  And, if so, is this maximum being referenced from within Kerbin's SOI before you leave or from the SOI of the targeted body after you arrive?

From the limited experience I have with KSP, it's always better to change you to your desired inclination furthest away from your desired target in order to save as much dV as possible.  So, for example, if I want to go into a polar orbit around Moho in order to visit the Mohole, I'd plan a maneuver node in LKO to combine my ejection burn and a normal burn to get a 90 degree inclination upon arrival.  This would be about a 83 degree inclination change as Moho is already at 7 degrees inclined from Kerbin.  Following this example, am I expected to budget the extra 2520 dV needed for the normal burn in addition to the regular dV needed for the ejection burn or is that figure the ABSOLUTE max I need once captured in Moho?  I'm just trying to understand where the maximum dV figure is coming into play.  If that is within the SOI then I could reduce that figure dramatically and combine my burns from LKO as is my intention.

 

Edited February 7, 2017 by Biggen

[Sharpy]

Planets in KSP don't orbit in exactly the same plane - their orbits are inclined more or less relative to Kerbin orbit.

That means you may need to add normal component to your ejection burn to make the encounter, otherwise you'll fly "below" or "above" the target planet's SOI.

If you perform the transfer in such a way that your encounter happens to be at ascending/descending node, then no plane change is needed. But if it happens right between the two, you'll need a large normal/antinormal burn - and this value is the most pessimistic value for that burn when trying to encounter given planet, when you start your burn from equatorial orbit.

Note how no values are given for Mun and Kerbol. Mun being in equatorial orbit, and Kerbol being Kerbin's central body, so any departure inclination works.

(and these figures have very little in common with inclination changes *at* the destination. When departing Kerbin for Moho, the change between arrival into equatorial or polar orbit is of order of 0.1m/s. But to reach Moho SOI you may need to spend 2520m/s on a normal burn, on top of 950+760=1710 just to drop your periapsis to reach Moho orbit.

Edited February 7, 2017 by Sharpy

[Biggen]

Ok, so these are encounters we are talking about.  This has nothing to do with calculating dV to arrive at Moho in a polar orbit instead of an equatorial orbit.

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

My memory is fuzzy, but the numbers for inclination changes on that map are either at An/Dn mid-transfter, whereever that happens to be (the author made the orbit and took note of that value) or mathematically calculated basically at the same point.

So no, they're not in reference to any SOI other than the Sun. So the values are non-combinable with a Normal+Prograde burn you would want to do at Kerbin.

Edited February 7, 2017 by Rosco P. Coltrane