Orbital Angles

[NomenNescio]

So, so far I've been using the mun to find out how close my craft's orbit is to perfect equatorial or polar orbit. I was wondering, is there a way to see the angle of your orbit without having to set the mun as your target? I wanna see if I'm in a perfect polar orbit of other bodies that don't have the mun as a reference point and I'm at a loss.

[Jonboy]

Install an information mod like Kerbal Engineer Redux. It really should be stock for just this reason.

[regex]

if you're talking just bone-stock, the Mun is your best indicator of orbital inclination.

[NomenNescio]

Install an information mod like Kerbal Engineer Redux. It really should be stock for just this reason.

...........*facepalm* I already have it installed.................

Thank you anyway!

[luizopiloto]

You can use the NavBall... just see how much degrees from where the (90° HDG line) your Prograde indicator is...

Edited May 21, 2015 by luizopiloto

[Chaos_Klaus]

You can use the NavBall... just see how much degrees from where the (90° HDG line) your Prograde indicator is...

Only when you are at either the ascending or descending node. But oh, you have no way of knowing where that might be, exept when you target the mun.

[luizopiloto]

Only when you are at either the ascending or descending node. But oh, you have no way of knowing where that might be, exept when you target the mun.

You can aways see the inclination on the navball... ¬¬"

[Caelib]

You can aways see the inclination on the navball... ¬¬"

Trying to determine your inclination based on the navball by "eyeballing" it is useless if you're trying to get within 5 degrees. I believe the OP is trying to get an inclination of 0.0, which cannot be done via the navball.

[cybersol]

I always add inclination into the KER hud that shows apo and peri, because its that fundamental to your orbit.

[Kuu Lightwing]

I read that as "Orbital Angels"...

Also, I need to add inclination to my KER hugs HUDs, too... BRB.

[JellyCubes]

Only when you are at either the ascending or descending node. But oh, you have no way of knowing where that might be, exept when you target the mun.

You know when you're at a node when the difference between the 90 degree heading line and the prograde indicator is at its maximum. Keep the ship pointed towards the prograde and the navball will give your heading to the nearest degree.

A horribly inefficient way of determining inclination, but possible to the nearest degree.

[moronwrocket]

Check your normal vector while in Orbit mode on the navball. <2* might be difficult to tell though.

[DarkGravity]

Maybe get a mission that requires a perfect polar or equatorial orbit and wait for the mission indicator to start flashing green? (Pretty weak answer, I know.)

[Red Iron Crown]

You can aways see the inclination on the navball... ¬¬"

How? At the midpoint between ascending node and descending node the prograde vector will always be 90 degrees or 270 degrees, no matter the inclination. Between those points and the nodes themselves the vector will fall between 90 and 90+/-Inclination or between 270 and 270+/-Inclination. If there is some way to tell inclination from the navball at any time I'd love to learn about it.

[ArmchairGravy]

Be a boss and just use orbital elements in KER.

[impyre]

I agree with moronwrocket; the normal vector will always be pointing "up" from the perspective of your orbital plane... when your plane is equatorial and prograde, this is polar north... when you are retrograde and equatorial, this is polar south. Adjustments can easily be made by watching prograde marker through at least a half orbit... make a note of its maximum deviation from the horizon, the next time you hit the point of maximum deviation will be at the next node (ascending or descending). Even getting in the ballpark (plus or minus a few degrees of phase) will allow you to create a fairly equatorial orbit with only a single adjustment. This method works even for elliptical orbits. (Though I make no promises about efficiency)

@Redironcrown, I'm pretty sure he's talking about the fact that normal vector shows inclination, since navball polar alignment is always correct.

Edited May 22, 2015 by impyre