stankwoo

Before the first maneuver which is the mun injection, it says my second maneuver to circularize after return from Mun will put me at 75KM around Kerbin. After the burn the Pe goes to 156,213KM.

Appreciate all the help. One thing I did forget to do was on the "initial state" was upload my dry mass, fuel/ox, etc. I also went to each of the DVs nodes and made sure to select the correct thruster and verify the information was correct. Still having the same issue where once I perform the first burn the second maneuver, etc. aren't matching up with MA. I'll keep playing with it to see if I can understand why.

@Drew Kerman thanks for the input. I just uploaded the maneuver and then executed it with Mechjeb just to make sure I was getting as close as possible in terms of accuracy. What are some other factors I should look out for? Interesting about advancing the mission script as you move along. What kind of sequence would it be? 1. Upload first maneuver and burn. 2. Next stage in mission is a "Coast" specifically coasting to Mun Pe. It isn't perfect but I am content so I do not bother with any corrections. 3. Next stage in mission is a "Coast" specifically coasting to Kerbin Pe on the return from around the Mun. I see that my Kerbin Pe is not what I originally had planned in the MA. Do I need to insert a dV maneuver? Also how do I input my current position, etc. for the MA?

Working on a mission to do a free return from the Mun and basing it off of the example included. I setup the mission exactly as the example and optimize - everything looks great. Upload the two DV maneuvers (trans Mun and circularize upon return). The two maneuvers play out perfectly on the map - burn to Mun for a 60KM Mun Pe and then sling shot around for a Kerbin Pe of 80KM where I then circularize. Next steps: 1. Set alarm on Kerbal Alarm Clock for first maneuver node. Warp to that time. 2. Check the nodes in map and still looks good. 3. Burn for first maneuver node to head to the Mun. 4. After burn, check my map and maneuver nodes. The Mun PE is changed (from 60KM to 52KM roughly) and the Kerbin return PE is changed to 160KM. I am trying to understand why the results of the maneuver nodes changed after I did the executed the first maneuver node. Was it time warping or something I am completely missing? My goal is to completely plan the mission so if I need to break it up into parts or something similar please let me know. Thanks! MAT file: https://easyupload.io/7rjlq3

Thanks! I was using "Minimize distance to body" similar to how the tutorial does it. I figured I would use it from the Mun to Kerbin to get as close as possible. The big difference I see is when going from Kerbin to the Mun the objective function is "minimize distance to body" and the stage is a coast to the Pe after the DV maneuver for trans Mun injection. I was trying to optimize using the same objective function but on a stage coast to SOI. Not sure if that makes a difference. Is there a way I can understand why it was having a hard time using "minimize distance to body"? Or is that something you just learn over time to try different objective functions? My goal was to understand the results of the optimizer so I could know where to tweak as necessary. Appreciate the patience while I attempt to harness the power!

Sorry, forgot to attach link earlier - here it is: MAT file

I really appreciate the explanation. On the example mission plan it basically looks like: 1. Coast to a certain true anomaly 2. DV maneuver 3. Coast to SOI 4. Coast to Kerbin PE For the optimization, there is a constraint on step 3 above: central body ID of Kerbin and Kerbin Pe altitude of 0,0. I am guessing the optimization would be set to step 3 and then "Minimize distance to body" with "Kerbin" as the body. Since it is on step 3, it will be optimizing step 1 and step 2 above with trying to get the result within the constraints (re entering into Kerbin). Is this the correct explanation? I will try this again tonight. My problem was I was getting a Pe altitude of 0 or close to it but my Ap was infinity. When I would upload it to KSP just to check, it showed me escaping the Mun but then also escaping Kerbin with a giant Pe. Basically not at all what the mission architect was telling me the final orbit was. That is the part I was having trouble on - using MechJeb maneuver it came up with was a Pe to re enter atmosphere and a Ap that was far away but not infinity. I'm not trying to leverage one tool against the other - just using both to learn what I am misunderstanding. (I'm positive the issue is between the seat and keyboard!) Thanks again for the help, this has been a great learning experience.

Ok, I'll see what I can come up with tonight. In the mission example that is included to show how to play Kerbin to Mun and back, there is a coast that is set as "SOI transition" after the DV maneuver. That is what I was trying to understand how it worked.

@Drew Kerman I appreciate the effort into the "get to/from planets and moons" wiki - this is what I followed with the other tutorial to plan my trip from Kerbin to the Mun. Now that I am at the Mun and in orbit, I am working the steps again but reversed. When I load up the "Rendezvous Maneuver Sequencer" and select "Orbiting About: Mun" - I can't select anything on the "Final (Desired) Orbit Info" section. I am slowly learning all of this so I may be misunderstanding - should I be entering a SMA that will get me out of the SOI of the Mun? Thanks!

First off, amazing program. I have been trying to do a simple mission plan from Kerbin to Mun and back. I was able to follow the Laythe tutorial to get a plan to Mun - now I am trying to plan back to Kerbin and I am having problems. I have been trying to follow the steps you have in the example mission where you go from Kerbin to Mun back to Kerbin. This is what I have been trying: 1. Put vessel into orbit around Mun using cheat menu 2. Create new mission, on the "SET_STATE - Initial State" I right click and copy in my orbit information in. 3. Create a COAST step to True Anomaly with a random guess of 200 (check for optimize) 4. Create a DV maneuver with a rough guess of what I need - I used Mechjeb to create a node to "transfer from the moon" - not sure if there is a better way to do this? 5. Create a COAST step to "Go to Next Sol Transition" - I would be very appreciative of an explanation of this step because I am not sure what the purpose is. I saw this is what the example mission did. 6. I am now copying the optimization constraints that the mission example had - i.e. for the "Coast - Go to Next Sol Transition" step, I set a constraint on Central Body ID to Kerbin and Altitude of Periapsis to [0,0], etc. 7. Watching the optimization, my Pe gets to 0 (most importantly into a capture orbit) but my Ap is infinity - my DV node sends me out of Kerbin SOI. My two big questions: 1. Can anyone help me out on understanding what I am doing wrong in creating a mission from Mun orbit back to Kerbin? I would be eternally grateful for tips or even a brief tutorial on how to plan from Mun orbit back to Kerbin. 2. In Mechjeb I used the maneuver planner to get back to Kerbin from the Mun orbit. I then tried to setup a mission and import what Mechjeb created. The mission architect and Mechjeb do not match up - i.e. Mechjeb and KSP show me I will get back to Kerbin but KSP TOT Mission Architect says I will not. I am curious on what I could be missing on getting everything to line up. Thanks!