Matching Orbit Angles When Transfering to Another Planet

[Knight5search]

Duna is easy but im having issues getting my manouver nodes set up for travelling to some other other planets on higher inclination orbits.

Im using kerbal alarm clock and mech jeb to give me the timing but trying to set up the nodes myself when the window arrives. 

Does anyone have any tips or pointers?

Josh 

Edited May 31, 2017 by Knight5search
Being a retard

[Alshain]

Well the Angels are easy, it's the Seraphim that are difficult.

 

Ok, in all seriousness... when trying to match inclinations with a planet you have a few choices

1. Change inclination in solar orbit.  This is done just like you would if you were trying to get to Minmus, but it's a lot more expensive that way.

2. Maths.  Calculate your own ballistic trajectory.

3. Use a combination of mods, Transfer Window Planner + KAC + Precise Node will get you very close to the ballpark and then you just have to play with the maneuver till you find the encounter.

 

Personally I prefer option 3.

[Starman4308]

Watch for the nearest approach marker, and use it to help tweak your Kerbin ejection and possible correction burn. Otherwise, I generally use MechJeb for precise transfers, less tedious than setting it up manually.

Also, curses, I wanted to make the first angel/angle joke.

[Daveroski]

As I have played without mods for thousands of hours I found this page very helpful KSP Launch Window Planner by alexmoon

Using this I could launch my ship on the day I wished to perform the transfer.

Sometimes it can be very difficult to get a course to actually connect with the planet and a lot of fuel could be used in making the attempt from Kerbin.

I always found it easy and reasonably economical to get the two white 'closest approach' markers as close as I could and then make a correction to the course once I had left Kerbin SOI.

The course correction should be made as soon as you leave Kerbin SOI so that you use less fuel because the closer you get to your target, the more expensive are the corrections.

 

 

[Kryxal]

6 hours ago, Daveroski said:

I always found it easy and reasonably economical to get the two white 'closest approach' markers as close as I could and then make a correction to the course once I had left Kerbin SOI.

The course correction should be made as soon as you leave Kerbin SOI so that you use less fuel because the closer you get to your target, the more expensive are the corrections.

 

 

For plane-change, I find that's one of the worse spots to make your burn.  It's good for fine-tuning apoapsis via prograde/retrograde, it's good for adjusting arrival time via radial in/out, it's poor for changing planes via normal/antinormal.  My preferred point for that is about 90 degrees before closest approach.

[Daveroski]

2 minutes ago, Kryxal said:

For plane-change, I find that's one of the worse spots to make your burn.  It's good for fine-tuning apoapsis via prograde/retrograde, it's good for adjusting arrival time via radial in/out, it's poor for changing planes via normal/antinormal.  My preferred point for that is about 90 degrees before closest approach.

Every direction but normal and anti-normal are you having a laugh?

 

[Knight5search]

On 5/30/2017 at 4:39 AM, Starman4308 said:

Also, curses, I wanted to make the first angel/angle joke.

Palm on forehead.

[Knight5search]

Thanks for the information guys, ill have a play around. 

[Ty Tan Tu]

On 5/29/2017 at 7:01 PM, Alshain said:

 

Ok, in all seriousness... when trying to match inclinations with a planet you have a few choices

 

This is offered with a bit of tongue in cheek, but there is a fourth choice. If you are in an equatorial orbit around Kerbin, just wait scores of years until your orbit and the encounter inclination are at zero. You have effectually reduced the problem to two dimensions and all you have to do is fire prograde. :-)

Of course if you are taking about planets orbiting Kerbol, it would be excruciatingly long, but it is an approach that might actually work to save fuel when orbiting Jool. Bop has a sidereal orbital period of just over 25 days as opposed to Minmus' almost 50 days...

[Alshain]

On 5/31/2017 at 9:15 PM, Ty Tan Tu said:

This is offered with a bit of tongue in cheek, but there is a fourth choice. If you are in an equatorial orbit around Kerbin, just wait scores of years until your orbit and the encounter inclination are at zero. You have effectually reduced the problem to two dimensions and all you have to do is fire prograde. :-)

Of course if you are taking about planets orbiting Kerbol, it would be excruciatingly long, but it is an approach that might actually work to save fuel when orbiting Jool. Bop has a sidereal orbital period of just over 25 days as opposed to Minmus' almost 50 days...

Yep, that is an option as well.  It's about as effective as matching inclination in solar orbit.  Of course it is KSP, time is not a factor.

[Kryxal]

For that matter, you could use the Moho transfer technique.  Just leave to intercept the orbit at the node and make your plane-change (or most of it) at the same time, then adjust your orbit to actually meet up with the planet.