Follow the maneuver node marker or stay stable during burns?

[imaspacestation]

Been playing without any mods recently and had a question regarding maneuver node markers. In previous game versions, we never had SAS that can hold maneuver marker, so the way I remember always doing burns was to align with the maneuver marker at first, and then just keep stable all the way through the burn, which would bring you from half-way to the prograde/retrograde marker, then on top of it, then half-way to the other side.

Now with the SAS being able to hold the maneuver node, is it better to hold that marker instead? Or just use it to align and then switch to stability like the old way?

[micha]

If you burn while letting the maneuver node drift away from your actual heading, the resultant orbit won't be what you plotted. That may or may not matter much depending on the actual burn. But to end up with the exact orbit you plotted, you need to stick with the maneuver node; whether you do it manually or via a skilled pilot / advanced probe core.

[Claw]

I'd say for the most part I agree with micha. It's going to depend on the burn, but generally following the maneuver node will work best. On longer burns though, it will start to drift a lot as the orbit changes and the ship is further from the node. Sometimes it's best to reset the node, but if that isn't practical I'll usually stop chasing the maneuver node at that point and keep what I have.

Also watch the SAS when using the maneuver node hold mode. Sometimes it spasms (with small vehicles), and when the maneuver node drifts off (especially at the end of the burn), it might start flopping about while chasing the marker.

Cheers,

-Claw

[Nich]

For adjustments I follow the marker as it is a small burn anyways and I want the exact path plotted. For transfers I ignore the maker and follow propagrade/retrograde until I am close then set up an adjustment maneuver.

[FancyMouse]

For transfers I follow maneuver as well. There's always some loss when following certain direction (whether normal/radial) when continue burning towards it. An extreme example would be to change inclination 180 degree. If you burn normal/anti-normal all the way, you'll burn pi*v dV where v is your current velocity. But certainly the most efficient way (not counting high elliptical orbit method here - I'm talking about a single burn) is just to burn directly towards your final velocity and that will be 2*v<3.14*v.

Prograde/retrograde burn has a different story because it changes the markers only when you actually move in the orbit, which means if prograde changes noticeably, you're already having a long burn anyway. However my experience shows following maneuver still result in a more accurate final orbit. Don't have any theory to back myself up, though. It has to be somehow related to how to deal with long burns.

[KSK]

I follow the marker until near the very end of the burn where it scoots away from me. At that point I just keep my current heading or go prograde.

[ajburges]

For long burns, I follow until it really migrates, then manually correct burn inaccuracies.

For pure inclination change, I simply follow (anti-)normal.

For orbital burn I just follow prograde.

To circularize orbit I manually burn with KER displays.

For intercept I cancel early and use KAC to minimize closest distance.

I will follow the marker when lazy/pressed for time though.