bitbucket_

Too bad they didn\'t get the exact 1×4×9 proportions, but still, I LOL\'d.

What he said. Basically, to get there and get back with the least amount of fuel, you\'re going to have to wait for a launch window, recurring at the length of the synodic period depending on the orbit of the other planet. The optimum timing and positioning will, of course, depend on what orbits the dev team gives them. The formula for determining the synodic period between any two planets is: S = 1/(1/P-1/Q) where P and Q are the orbital periods (in days) of the two planets, P being the inner planet. Of course, I figure most people will take the Jeb approach and just stick so many boosters on their ship they can more or less straightline it in a few days\' mission time.

Most of my munar missions in version 0.13._ took 6-7 hours of mission time to reach the Mun and land, though with persistence (and the Mun not always in the same place at every liftoff), it varies. The shortest time to a Mun landing I ever had was about 5 hours and 20 minutes, when the Mun was lined up so that I had to go directly to trans-munar insertion late in my gravity turn (the mun rose while I was just getting to 70km up), rather than settle into a parking orbit first.

I\'ve been lurking silently for months, but this challenge was what got me to break the silence. An interplanetary voyage was the one thing I hadn\'t tackled to satisfaction, being there are no other planets, so why not give it some practice? My computer is terrible, falls somewhat below minimum recommended specs, and thanks to integrated graphics, Kerbin has oceans of pea soup instead of water. Oh well. Anyway, on to the mission! Enter the Kerbal Escapecraft: On the lauchpad, awaiting a space voyage of destiny. This ship is some dreadful chimera made from parts originating from several modpacks. What better to contend with the Space Kraken? The one downside to the engines I used on the outer boosters is that they\'re liquid fueled SRB-style \'once you pop, you can\'t stop\' engines, that deliver a LOT of thrust. (Jeb insisted.) I prefer to have a bit more control over my boosters for more practical applications like just going to the Mun. Out of the atmosphere in 90 seconds. By the time the outer boosters are out of fuel, the Escapecraft is well in excess of escape velocity. Kerbin\'s gravity slows the ship down a bit, but in a mere 40 minutes the Kerman brothers are beyond the Mun\'s orbit. It occurs to me at this point that I should not have left the mission planning to Jeb. His outline was basically, 'Point rocket at Kerbol, blast off at FULL POWER!' No direction, no control, no plan, max throttle. Oh, you silly, silly Kerbal. Well, gotta try, right? Five hours after launch, the ship leaves the relative safety of the Kerbin/Mun SOI and enters the Kraken\'s lair, interplanetary space. It\'s a 20-day cruise to a 4.22 million km periapsis around Kerbol, complicated by wrestling the Kraken over control of the ship while not in timewarp. I manage to fend off the unseen assault on the craft\'s orientation controls in fits and starts. 45 days out, the Escapecraft has come full circle on its first orbit, but Kerbin has gone around almost half an orbit. Getting out to deep space is easy. Getting home is hard! The second time around, Kerbin beats us to the rendezvous. Accelerating does not give us the desired result. All we did was raise periapsis to around 8.4 million km. Retreating to periapsis and again doing battle with the Kraken, plan B goes into effect; first I recorrect apoapsis to just beyond Kerbin\'s orbit, using up what\'s left in the large lower fuel tank and jettisoning it. With less ship to grapple, and not being so deep into Kerbol\'s gravity well, the Kraken is kept at bay as long as we stay under 10km/s. More or less matching orbits to Kerbin. But it still doesn\'t close the distance fast enough and the Kermans can\'t hold out forever in deep space. Kerbin pursues the Escapecraft for a full orbit without closing much distance. Finally, I push the orbit out even further, hoping this will be adequate. Yet another orbit passes; by now the poor Kermans are probably insane and claustrophobic from being pent up in a 2-meter cockpit for four years. Finally, the ship draws close enough to slip back into Kerbin\'s sphere of influence! It\'s now or never, so I slam on the brakes. Back into a closed orbit around Kerbin after being lost in space for 418 days. Another retro-thrust to drop the ship into low orbit. Hang on, guys, we\'re getting you home! Lining up for the deorbit. Apparently some disaster had befallen Kerbin while they were away; the land and sea were in flux, the terrain marred by ridges and escarpments, adding to Bill and Bob\'s usual reentry discontent. I used up most of the fuel I had left shifting the inclination to try and come down at the space center. I\'ve never pulled off a landing at the space center; the closest I ever came was touching down a stone\'s throw outside the perimiter fence on a return from the Mun. For me, on most missions, it\'s good enough to just get back to the planet. In the end, I wasn\'t going to risk their safe return on showboating, and decoupled the capsule after ensuring a re-entry, leaving the engine to its fate. At least I\'m landing on the right continent! The capsule comes to rest about 8 km southwest of KSC. Eh, could have been worse. The final rundown. After 421 days in space and a 350 million km journey, the Kermans are home, though it seems to them to be a very different Kerbin than the one they left. At the mission debriefing, Bill and Bob ask what happened to the planet while they were gone, but KSP psychologists inform them that everything is in fact normal—their long journey has given them SPACE DEMENTIA! Jeb just took it in stride. Mission accomplished?