How do I aim for an ocean for splashdown?

[HebaruSan]

On 10/19/2017 at 3:17 PM, DerGolgo said:

I wanna see if I can't just dump something floatable in some ocean, set it as target, and let Astrogator figure out a maneuver.

On 10/19/2017 at 6:27 PM, DerGolgo said:

I did now try out making myself a buoy. A scaled-down Sea Dragon ballast tank, stuck to a big, shiny ball, with a bunch of lights and the electric things for those. I'm German, we don't do "simple".

Took a craft to munar orbit, set the buoy as target, and called up Astrogator.
No data for a trajectory to rendezvous with my buoy, only dashes. Went on a trajectory to Kerbin, and tried Astrogator again. This time, all I got was the "escape trajectory" warning, no data at all.

Wow! I never would have thought of trying that. I'm kind of flattered that you thought Astrogator might be able to handle it!  I don't think it could do targeted surface landings even on an airless world, let alone account for re-entry, and from a satellite body no less. Though now that you've pointed this out, maybe some improvements could be made for surface targets...

Please stop by the main thread if you have any more crazy ideas like this! (Link in my forum signature)

[Tyko]

All great answers here...my quick and dirty solution is to set my de-orbit burn over that giant crater on the far side of the planet - the one that looks like a big target. If I start there and set my PE at 30-35Km I pretty reliably land in the ocean near KSC>