My Interplanetary Maneuvering Skills are, Lacking...

[Ragingdonut]

I'm not new to KSP. I've owned the game for years now. But with all that time I've only made it as far as Duna (and back). So could the pros give me some efficiency tips, and how to plan missions out to Jool? Thank you. (If you could throw in some tips about docking, that would be lovely.)

[Firemetal]

Welcome to the forums!

Jool is very easy to get to. It has such a big gravity well that it is hard not to get an encounter! You want Kerbin to roughly be at 3:00 and Jool at 12:00. Pretty straight forward. I'd say you look at a DV map so you know what to bring. You can use a Tylo or Laythe gravity assist to get into Jool orbit and save tons of fuel. Literally. It should take around 2500 m/s to get to Jool orbit if you do it efficiently.

Docking is pretty easy unless your RCS thrusters aren't aligned properly. That has happened to me recently and trust me: ITS frustrating. (See what I did there?  ) Basically, you want to get an encounter under 10km with your target. It is better if you get it under 1km but if you can't that is ok. I see rendezvous as getting close to the target. Basically you're going to be going at roughly the same speed and be miles away from your target. You need to alter your velocity so you are moving faster and towards your target. However you are going to fly right by it if you do it this way so as soon as you're as close as possible to the target, burn retrograde relative to your target velocity, (click on the velocity counter on the navball to change it to target velocity if you didn't know) and burn retrograde until you are going at roughly the same velocity, then burn towards your target again and then burn retrograde and rinse and repeat. As soon as you are less than 200m away from target, activate RCS and use the H and N (Forward and backwards) and IJK and L keys (side to side, up and down) to move yourself into position. Then select docking port on your craft that you want to dock with and click "control from here". Then select a docking port on your target and hit set as target. Then dock. Simple as that.

Someone could probably explain it more clearly too.  

Again, hello and welcome!

Fire

[Vanamonde]

I wouldn't say that Jool is easy. It does make for a large target, but it's also way the heck out there, and you arrive at a pretty high relative speed. Slowing down to stay there once you arrive will involve burning a lot of fuel, or aerobraking. And I myself am still learning how to aerobrake in the game's revised aerodynamics and heating conditions. There's an additional complication in that the planet's many moons are likely to be in the way. That can hurt, if an encounter throws you the wrong way, or it can help if you use an encounter to help decelerate. All in all, I would advise you to try a mission to Dres or Eeloo first. Without atmospheres or moons, they wouldn't assist you in braking, but neither would you need to worry about complicating moon encounters and aero heating. 

[cubinator]

Here is a nice chart showing how the planets should be aligned to travel to and from them:

And here's a nice chart showing how much delta-V you should pack to get wherever you're going:

The delta-V equation adapted for KSP's LF/OX mix:

Delta-V = 9.81 * Isp * ln( [ship mass] / ( [ship mass] - ( .005 * ( [# units Liquidfuel] + [# units Oxidizer] ) ) )

It's a little complicated-looking, but it works anytime in flight and can be found with only what's given in the stock game.

[The Space Dino]

I've not even been to Duna, I'm currently still stuck in the Kerbin system due to dinosaurs not having the intelligence to fly spaceships and whatnot.

[IncongruousGoat]

For Jool, plan a really big delta-v budget. Because of the high relative velocity at encounter, and Jool's deep gravity well, capture burns consume an almost inordinate amount of delta-v. And then you need to encounter a moon (I presume), and that costs more, and then capture again, and then return, and...

Either that, or use it as an opportunity to practice gravity assists. Jool is the optimal place to do it, due to the tight packing of its moons. Using Tylo and Laythe assists for capture can significantly decrease delta-v requirements.

Oh, and for transfer windows & delta-v's I've found this tool useful: https://alexmoon.github.io/ksp/

Because porkchop plots.

Edited November 21, 2016 by IncongruousGoat

[NSEP]

Mess around with manouver nodes halfway through your path to Jool, untill you get the perfect encounter.

[Eldrad_Ulthran]

3 hours ago, NSEP said:

Mess around with manouver nodes halfway through your path to Jool, untill you get the perfect encounter.

Totally agree, that's the only way I can do it.

[Jonfliesgoats]

The launch window planner also gives you a good idea of where you need to burn to get into your desired track.  This should save you from having to make lots of corrections.  If you don't want to do any mods, you can calculate thrust to weight with a calculator and use the same calculator or online tool to figure your Delta v.  Google can explain concepts like delta v, TWR, gravity turns, specific impulse, etc.  Here are some links you may find useful on the PC and I dare say necessary on consoles:

 

TWR=Thrust/ (mass*local gravity).  You can do this in your head for Kerbin by dividing your thrust by ten times your vessel mass.  Your estimate will be close enough to ensure decent acceleration on launch.  

 

Launch Window Planning:

https://alexmoon.github.io/ksp/#/Kerbin/80/Jool/100/false/ballistic/false/2/161

 

Online delta v calculator

http://www.strout.net/info/science/delta-v/

Others have already given you decent Delta v maps of the solar system.  

Edited December 21, 2016 by Jonfliesgoats

[James Kerman]

I would also like to add that when you are doing your mid course correction burn that you "focus view" on the target body and fine tune your encounter there.  It allows for precise control over your orbital insertion or flyby.