Calculating Transfer Windows (not mod!)

[Clipperride]

Without installing a mod, what would you recommend when it comes to calculating Transfer Windows?  Plus, are there guides, tutorial or any other reading you would advise I check out before heading out into deeper space?  (I have previously done a single Moho flyby, but that was quite sometime ago now)

Cheers 

Clipper

[bewing]

Well, we need a little more specification on what you want and are willing to do without considering it to be "cheating".

There are websites and spreadsheets with the xfer windows all calculated out for you.

You can launch a probe out of Kerbin's SOI, and circularize its orbit a few days ahead of Kerbin in the same orbit. Then create theoretical maneuver nodes and slide them around the probe's orbit to find the xfer windows.

You can fake the same effect by using 3 sequential maneuver nodes, from any ship in LKO -- but that gets a little messy and hard to set up.

You can use the tangent method. If you draw a tangent from Kerbin's current orbital location straight forward -- when your destination CB is on that line, that's the beginning of a (slightly inefficient) xfer window. But who cares about efficiency?

-- So, which method would you like more info on?

[mhoram]

The most important aspects of interplanetary travel are collected in this tutorial:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/16413-tutorial-interplanetary-how-to-guide/

This thread contains a nice chart for interplanetary transfer windows:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/43465-ksp-planetary-transfer-quick-reference-chart-gtgtgt-now-combined-ltltlt/

Two online-resources for calculating transfer-windows are:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/30367-web-app-launch-window-planner/

and

http://ksp.olex.biz/

[Clipperride]

The only firm specification is "not an mod" - I'd like the information to be outside the game.  Other than that, I'd like to start out easy, with a view to relying less on other people's work as I gain confidence and experience.

My overall plan is to progress along the lines of the USA and USSR with first fly-by, then orbital, then landing, then crewed landing and return (each being a different mission - as I play Science Mode, the total cost of the program isn't relevant. Although I do like to try and make each launch "realistic" in that I try to optimise my vechiles rather than simply strapping on more engines to solve a problem)

Spoiler

Spoiler

As you can see, my last Interplanetary probe got a little too close to its target!

 

PS @mhoram thanks for the links, not sure how your post is above mine, but I didn't see it when originally posting this reply!

Edited October 22, 2016 by Clipperride
Added pictures