What's the best inclination for an Eve Space Station?

[xspotatoes]

Hey all,

So I'm filling a contract to build and Eve Station and I want to continue using it afterwards. What's the best inclination for it to receive incoming spacecraft from Kerbin for refueling as well as a staging area for a landing attempt?

Thanks

Edited August 2, 2015 by xspotatoes

[Warzouz]

I built one few days ago. Well, I built space station everywhere...

I chose the Gilly orbital plan, at a high 2000km. I assume it's the only body I would go on a regular basis. For Eve, I set a probe carrier on a low polar orbit.

When I'll got to Eve, it'll be with a heavy staged lander, so I don't reallyc are where I land. further more, If I'm stuck in orbit, I can send a small ship from the station. they all have a docking port.

[Hcube]

i would say equatorial since gilly is not a place i would visit very often, and equatorial is the best if you want to do an Eve return mission. When doing one of those you will aim for an equatorial landing site so that you will get the much-needed rotation boost when lifting back up! this way, you will be on the same plane as your refueling station, refuel, and head back to kerbin !

[xspotatoes]

Thanks for the advice! That's what I was thinking as well, but just about every one of my crafts manages to come in at around 17 degrees so I wasn't sure if that would be better.

[Tank Buddy]

You would want an equatorial or near equatorial orbit (possibly a few degrees toward Gilly but low inclination nonetheless.)

If you have an inclined orbit it will not help with inbound craft because it will not shift to accept craft coming in on Eve's plane, as the obit will remain static relative to Kerbol's cartesian grid. In other words, the inclination will only be helpful twice an Eve year (two spots in oposition), and even then they won't often coincide with an Eve launch window.

So the best inclination is 0 degrees. Unless you are a hipster and want a retrograde orbit. (This actually allows an ion powered craft to be in daylight for an outer system transfer burn)

[xspotatoes]

What's a good altitude for the station?

[RocketPilot573]

What's a good altitude for the station?

Not too low, maybe 300 km? Eve has a lot of gravity, once you get too low then you become kind of stuck in it's gravity well (need lots of delta-V escape).

[spudman2]

Eve has a lot of gravity, once you get too low then you become kind of stuck in it's gravity well.

But Oberth Effect.

[Tank Buddy]

But Oberth Effect.

It is easier to lower your periapsis from a higher orbit to use the Oberth effect than being too deep in the gravity well.