Minmus Encounters

[weebiboi.ksp]

How do I get Minmus encounters?

I know how to get Mun encounters, maneuver nodes, orbital maneuvers, making circular circular orbits, etc. But each time I try to get a Mun assist, it always puts my craft on free return trajectory. How do I stop this?

 

(basic orbital maneuvers, for the orbital maneuver part)

Edited April 16, 2018 by weebiboi.ksp
I want to clarify a couple things

[hitbox]

I never try to use the Mun in my travels to minimus.

I just go direct.

you may need to adjust slightly your angle of incline/declination (the purple part of a mmaneuver node) before burning prograde out of Kerbin's gravitional influence. this makes getting an encounter much easier

if you look you will see that minimus is slightly oblique in it's orbit of kerbin, as compared to the mun.

also set your maneuver node up in a place that is 90degrees behind the current location of minimus.

i am just a beginner myself but all these things work for me.

Also i watch scott manly on the youtube. he is helpfull

 

[bewing]

It only takes about 100 m/s more to get to Minmus than it takes to get to the Mun. So to do an assist you have to get all the way to the Mun anyway, and the most you can possibly save is about 100 m/s. Usually the Mun will give you too much, and then you have to spend a lot more than 100m/s when you brake into orbit at Minmus. So yes, don't bother with an assist just to get to Minmus.

The basic answer to your question is the concept of a midcourse correction. You set your transfer up to get you close to your target. You don't expect to see an encounter with your first maneuver or on your first burn. When you are halfway to your destination, you do another small burn. If your current orbit goes above the target's orbit, then you burn south. If you are getting to your target too early, then you burn retrograde or west or Radial In. Etc. Use the blue "Closest approach" marker to deduce how early or late you are. Get the number down to 2.5Mm to get an encounter. Once you have an encounter, focus Minmus to see the resulting trajectory. Tiny burns north and south will get your trajectory equatorial. Tiny burns east and west (or prograde and retrograde) will change your Pe height.

So: ways to get to Minmus.

1) Launch straight up from the launchpad on Kerbin, and aim 30 degrees ahead of Minmus. This gets you to Minmus very fast, it's very easy, and the deltaV cost is very reasonable. Then do a midcourse correction.

2) From LKO, burn or create a maneuver node such that your Ap is 45 degrees ahead of Minmus, and at around 45Mm to 50Mm. Then do a midcourse correction.

 

Edited April 12, 2018 by bewing

[Gogi]

The easiest (but inefficient) method must be matching minmus inclination while in LKO. Than just transfer to it like you would to the mun.

[Zeiss Ikon]

11 hours ago, Gogi said:

The easiest (but inefficient) method must be matching minmus inclination while in LKO. Than just transfer to it like you would to the mun.

This is the way I usually do it, but I really need to try the "set up something close-ish and make a correction burn partway there" method.  That one has worked well enough that NASA has been using it for, um, about 55 years...

[KevinW42]

On 4/13/2018 at 2:58 AM, Gogi said:

The easiest (but inefficient) method must be matching minmus inclination while in LKO. Than just transfer to it like you would to the mun.

Almost as easy but much more efficient is to launch into an equatorial orbit, set minmus as your target and put a maneuver node for your transfer burn at an or dn, then hit next orbit until your encounter markers line up. You don't even need to match planes since you'll arrive where they intersect. 

[GrouchyDevotee]

For Minmus and the Mun I usually;

get into Kerbin orbit,

then set my target,

then do any orbital plane changes,

now I zoom out the view and look at the target orbit from "above"

then I drop a manoeuvre node  30 - 45 degrees before I'd be under the target

add some prograde until the apoapsis is just a little higher than the target orbit

now I move the manoeuvre node back and forth until I have an encounter

keep the manoeuvre node open, and mess around with the camera view until I can see the closest approach,(the periapsis of the encounter)

and mess around with any, or all, of the nodes inputs until the encounter periapsis is right where I want it.

have a look at the Kerbals guess at how long the burn will take to do, and start the burn at half the time before I reach the node. ( if the kerbal guesses it'll take 1 min 28 seconds to do the burn, then I begin the burn at 44 seconds before I reach the node. )

and then repeat this procedure around halfway or two thirds of the way to the target.

[GoSlash27]

 I actually launch into Minmus' orbital plane. Zoom out until I can see Minmus' orbit line, rotate my view around Kerbin until the AN and DN overlap, then wait for KSC to arrive under that spot. I aim a little north or south of due east, depending on which way Minmus' orbit is leaning.

Best,
-Slashy

[juanml82]

10 hours ago, GoSlash27 said:

 I actually launch into Minmus' orbital plane. Zoom out until I can see Minmus' orbit line, rotate my view around Kerbin until the AN and DN overlap, then wait for KSC to arrive under that spot. I aim a little north or south of due east, depending on which way Minmus' orbit is leaning.

Best,
-Slashy

And if you use mechjeb, the ascend guidance module shows you the time remaining for the moment you need to take off so you're at either the AN or DN and just taking off heading either 96° or 84° will put you in an orbit that matches Minmus inclination

[weebiboi.ksp]

I found out how to get minmus encounters already, so do not answer this question.

[Curveball Anders]

You can eyeball a 6 degree launch to Minmus without much bother.

And then Minmus is much cheaper that Mün due to it's lower gravity.