Rendezvous and docking?Slowing down and retro grade engine burn trowed the bottom of Horizon?

[Ten Key]

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember.

I do, and I understand. 

[Snark]

Perhaps other folks learn differently from the way I do.  I'm quite confident that watching a robot dock a ship via MechJeb would be a terrible way for me to try to learn it.  I'd learn by actually doing a docking myself, and if I'd need guidance and advice, I'd want an illustrated guide that shows what I'm looking at, explains what it means, and shows what the possible failure modes are and how to handle them.

But that's just me.  Someone else may learn better differently.

Anyway, FWIW, here's an illustrated docking tutorial I put together, designed to take the reader from "okay, you just got a rendezvous orbit that will take you nearby your target" to "okay, you're docked".  Basically, written the way I'd want it explained to me, if I were learning.

[Tfin]

Kerbal Engineer Redux gives you numbers so you can match orbits without fiddling with the pop-up AP/PE readouts in the map.

Kerbal Alarm Clock makes searching future orbits and tweaking for encounter easier.

Both have other uses, and are easy to recommend.

As said, match orbits while making sure the navball is set to orbit, not target (it switches automatically as you approach, so switch back).

 

-- My first rendezvous of my current (1.0.5) career was done with just a single 909. Don't try that! --

Get RCS first, have a pilot that can hold prograde, select "control from here" on the docking part. If you're docking to an existing station, target the docking port.

While the pilot handles the task of keeping you prograde to target, align the prograde marker on the navball with the target marker. Keep your relative velocity just above 1m/s or the pilot will decide he's done.

Use the separate translation (docking) controls I,K,J,L,H,N to align, so that your rotation controls are still available in an emergency.

 

This assumes your pilots are only 1-star, which they'll be if you haven't taken them anywhere yet.

[AlamoVampire]

I will be as plain as i will be blunt. Mechjeb is a valuable tool. I think anyone who tries to tell others that it is not and to stay away from it is both in error and is complicit in the theft of a path to education. You have your opinion, i have mine. We disagree and thus we part. I wish you well @Temstar and @tourist but we are at impass.