blizzy78

I don't see the advantage of aligning yourself when you're not even close enough to see the target port. Personally I just move close to it, align myself rotation-wise, move to the docking axis, and go forwards to dock. It takes only a tiny amount of RCS fuel to do that. You know, you can always use timewarp if things don't go "fast" enough. This saves a lot of fuel and still you're going faster than usual.

(source: Kethane thread)

So I take it your concern is only on the roll axis rather than yaw/pitch.

(double-post)

I usually just switch to 'chase' camera mode and rotate by hand until yaw and pitch axes look parallel. Then move in closer and adjust again as necessary. No need to switch vessels. I don't really get why people recommend this all the time. It just isn't necessary at all.

Why not launch a small probe (instead of live Kerbals) and try it out for yourself? That's just part of the fun

For now they're just placeholders.

Atmospheric Landing Chart: Pinpoint landings on Duna, Eve, Kerbin, Laythe!

You could use Quantum Struts around the docking port. Four of them in a ring around one of the docking ports works wonders. Also, are you on KSP 0.21 yet? SAS has been getting some serious rework and shouldn't break stations apart anymore. Or at least that's the theory

There's no need to be. This forum is here to help, so start asking questions!

I think the keyword here is terminal velocity.

Is this question about docking or rather about setting up a rendezvous course?

Why have two sets of wings when you can go with one?

Also, you should put active control surfaces at the bottom of the rocket. The center of lift should be behind the center of mass.

Great plugin, thanks for making it!

Honestly, I can't answer that because I don't pay any attention to this detail. I simply change my orbit so that it intersects with the target's orbit, move the maneuver node through time so that I get a close encounter, and then just burn towards the retrograde marker (in "Target" navball mode) when at closest distance. Thinking about it, the point is not if your target is ahead of you or vice versa, but whose orbit is higher. If your orbit is higher than your target's, you need to come a bit below its orbit to get an intersect. This means that you will be going slightly faster at closest distance. You will want to arrive slightly behind your target so that you can catch up using your higher velocity. On the other hand, if your orbit is lower than your target's, it the complete opposite way.

That's the SAS doing it. For small degrees of rotation, it will tend to swing back. As for deactivating it, I deliberately chose to activate it all the time in the tutorial, because I find it incredibly helpful, even more so with the changes in 0.21.

Yes, it has. Actually I've pulled it from the archive, because as a regular craft file it is not the same while in the tutorial scenario. The reason is that when you load up the tutorial, the plugin will modify the mass of some of the parts for easier maneuverability. I found that the original side pods were much too light. Not sure if and when the craft file returns.

Let me know if I can be of help

Docking Tutorial 1.1.0 is now available for download. Please see the OP for a list of changes.

Hmm, that's odd. I just rotate the camera so that I see everything from the side, then just use up/down to line up with the docking port's axis. Then repeat the same with a top down view and moving just left/right. Another quick check from both viewing angles again if both directions are aligned property, and the only thing left is moving forward.

Which is exactly why I'm favoring the "chase" camera mode. In this mode, up is always up, left is always left and so on. (Assuming the camera is behind the craft - you can still rotate the camera in "chase" mode.) In EVA mode the camera works almost exactly like the "chase" camera, so I feel KOCOUR is pretty much right.

Haha, congratulations nonetheless Good plan, I'll see about implementing that. As for repetition, I kind of want a feature in the tutorial that lets you reset the entire scenario to a certain point. Such as, "click this button and I'll reset everything for you so you can try it again." Not sure if that's possible, though.

Your mileage may vary I find both docking and rendezvous easy. Not everyone is the same.

Is there a demo video somewhere? I'd really be interested in seeing that (and possibly stick it into the OP.)