Mathz!

[Spacedock123]

You all know the maneuver tool, right? So easy to create orbits and transfers!

But what if it was gone?

I am trying to get to the Mun without the maneuver tool. I know that sounds easy(just eyeball it!), but I want to land in an exact spot. No jumps. Also, it will be more efficient than any designs I'VE made.

The main purpose is to understand Delta V and Laws of Motion better. So if I could get some info on how to find the rate of rotation of the Mun and exact gravity, that would be great! 

[Ten Key]

Hi @Spacedock123! This looks more like a question than a mission challenge, so I've moved it over to the Gameplay Questions area of the forum. If you're looking for general information about the Mun (rate of rotation, gravity, etc) you can find a lot of that in the sidebar on this wiki page.

https://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Mun

Best of luck!

[bewing]

The Mün is tidally locked to Kerbin. So it rotates once every 6 days or so -- ie. really slow. So the rotation rate is really not something you have to take into account.

Eyeballing a trip to the Mün is trivial. Just lead it by about 90 degrees. Landing in a particular spot on the Mün is pretty trivial too. Just change your inclination enough that your orbital trajectory passes over your target. When you are over your target burn in Surface mode retrograde until your speed goes to zero. You will fall pretty much right on top of it. You can adjust your descent as you fall to get even closer. Just point your nose in the direction you want to go and give it a little gas. Wait for a bit, then turn retrograde and cancel your horizontal motion again.

But if you want to do all this with Mathz and numbers, then the Knowledgebase icons in the tracking station will also give you some nice hard data. Without maneuver nodes, however -- there is no way of making your burns precise enough to do anything "exact".

 

Edited May 14, 2018 by bewing

[Spacedock123]

Thanks, Ten Key! Sorry for putting it in wrong forum.

bewing - sorry if I was unclear, but I'm not eyeballing anything. I'm kinda trying to do the college level math. But thanks for the input!

[RizzoTheRat]

Take a look at Kerbal Operating System mod.  It lets you write your own code within the game, so you can do the maths in real time. https://ksp-kos.github.io/KOS/

To get to the Mun I use the Vis-Visa equation to work out what velocity I need at my current altitude to push my Apoapsis to the altitude of the Mun, I can then use Keplers third law to work out both how long it takes for my ship to reach that Apoapsis, and the period of the Mun's orbit, so I can work out where I need the Mun to be at the point I fire my engines to ensure I intercept it.  Those 2 equations cover a surprisingly large proportion of things you want to do in KSP. 

As KOS is basically a DIY autopilot you can then use it to steer you in the right direction and fire the engines at the right time to do the manoeuvre.  I started playing with a month or two back, it's slow going but I'm learning loads.  I've not landed on the Mun yet but sorted out my Mun return script last night so I think I've not got all the components I need to do a Mun landing...in about the time it would have taken me to complete the tech tree with a couple of Duna landings in a normal game

A combination of OhioBob's website http://www.braeunig.us/space/orbmech.htm and Wikipedia should give you all the equations you need.

Edited May 15, 2018 by RizzoTheRat

[Gargamel]

11 hours ago, Spacedock123 said:

I am trying to get to the Mun without the maneuver tool.

You don't need any math to Get there.  Just launch to a circular 90ish km orbit, point prograde, fire when the Mun is half over the horizon, stop burning when you get an Munar encounter. 

For exact info on the various bodies, and some of the math related to space flight check out the Wiki, linked at the top of the page.