How does one do an interplanetary transfer in the game?

[HyperDraco]

Hello to all,

I have failed miserably as you can see by the title...

I left the solar system and crashed an ISSBM into the sun but, cannot fly to Duna without smashing my poor F5 and F9 keys...

Can someone give me a step by step guide on how to move to other planets? (Interplanetary transfers and their angles and times. I am an idiot, you see...)

Please Help me 

and, Thanks

(I HAVE NO FRIENDS) 

[Hydrothermalventclam]

Have you seen Scott Manley's video?  He does a fairly good job of explaining things.

Basically you wait for the right time, then burn at the right place.  Figuring those two out is the complicated part.  I use kerbal alarm clock to tell me when the transfer windows are, and then a bit of trial and error to get the exact burn.

There are also tools like transfer window planner that can help you figure out how and were to burn.

Mechjeb can also automatically execute transfers for you if you want.

 

Also, I think this post should be in the Gameplay Questions and Tutorials section, not technical support. (feel free to correct me if I am wrong about this)

Edited October 23, 2018 by Hydrothermalventclam

[Vexillar]

Crashed into the Sun?  You certainly don't have a problem with delta-V, then... 

Basic "Kerbal" (simple minded) method of doing an interplanetary Hohmann transfer:

1. Get your ship into a stable orbit of Kerbin.

2. Burn prograde to escape Kerbin into a stable orbit of the Sun (far enough from Kerbin, but not too far).

3. Set desired planet as target.

4. Check where the Ascending / Descending nodes are on your current orbit and plan a burn normal or anti-normal at the node to align your inclination to the target planet (An Dn down to 0 degrees or NaN).  Execute the alignment burn.

5. Choose a point on your current orbit to plan a burn prograde (for planets further out than Kerbin) or retrograde (for planets further in) until you reach the orbit of the target planet.

6. Swing the planned burn around the orbit to try to get a close approach.

7. Do your transfer burn.

8. Wait. (Timewarp time, usually).

9. When you get close to the target planet, if you don't have an encounter (are going into an escaping orbit of the target), select velocity relative to target and burn retrograde to match your speed to the target until you do.

10.  when you have an encounter, you may choose to do a course correction burn to align your escaping orbit with where you want to go into orbit round the target.  It's best to orbit in the "right" direction, i.e. with the planet's spin, especially if you're planning to land.

11. When in your (escaping) orbit, burn retrograde to the orbit to achieve capture.

12a. If you're planning to land, choose your time and place of landing, switch to velocity-relative-to-surface and burn retrograde as necessary.

12b. Don't forget your landing gear, parachutes and ladders as required.

12c. Please take care of our planets, don't hit them too hard when you get there.

 

Edited October 23, 2018 by Vexillar

[HyperDraco]

4 hours ago, Hydrothermalventclam said:

Have you seen Scott Manley's video?  He does a fairly good job of explaining things.

Basically you wait for the right time, then burn at the right place.  Figuring those two out is the complicated part.  I use kerbal alarm clock to tell me when the transfer windows are, and then a bit of trial and error to get the exact burn.

There are also tools like transfer window planner that can help you figure out how and were to burn.

Mechjeb can also automatically execute transfers for you if you want.

 

Also, I think this post should be in the Gameplay Questions and Tutorials section, not technical support. (feel free to correct me if I am wrong about this)

Ok thanks! I am not really used to posting on the forums so sorry if I make a mistake!

3 hours ago, Vexillar said:

Crashed into the Sun?  You certainly don't have a problem with delta-V, then... 

Basic "Kerbal" (simple minded) method of doing an interplanetary Hohmann transfer:

1. Get your ship into a stable orbit of Kerbin.

2. Burn prograde to escape Kerbin into a stable orbit of the Sun (far enough from Kerbin, but not too far).

3. Set desired planet as target.

4. Check where the Ascending / Descending nodes are on your current orbit and plan a burn normal or anti-normal at the node to align your inclination to the target planet (An Dn down to 0 degrees or NaN).  Execute the alignment burn.

5. Choose a point on your current orbit to plan a burn prograde (for planets further out than Kerbin) or retrograde (for planets further in) until you reach the orbit of the target planet.

6. Swing the planned burn around the orbit to try to get a close approach.

7. Do your transfer burn.

8. Wait. (Timewarp time, usually).

9. When you get close to the target planet, if you don't have an encounter (are going into an escaping orbit of the target), select velocity relative to target and burn retrograde to match your speed to the target until you do.

10.  when you have an encounter, you may choose to do a course correction burn to align your escaping orbit with where you want to go into orbit round the target.  It's best to orbit in the "right" direction, i.e. with the planet's spin, especially if you're planning to land.

11. When in your (escaping) orbit, burn retrograde to the orbit to achieve capture.

12a. If you're planning to land, choose your time and place of landing, switch to velocity-relative-to-surface and burn retrograde as necessary.

12b. Don't forget your landing gear, parachutes and ladders as required.

12c. Please take care of our planets, don't hit them too hard when you get there.

 

Do not worry about Step 12c, I (Kind of) value my Kerbals...

(It might hit it around c² but, I do not C that as a problem!)

(Sorry, i will leave now...)

[Xd the great]

On 10/23/2018 at 9:13 PM, HyperDraco said:

Ok thanks! I am not really used to posting on the forums so sorry if I make a mistake!

Do not worry about Step 12c, I (Kind of) value my Kerbals...

(It might hit it around c² but, I do not C that as a problem!)

(Sorry, i will leave now...)

Well, it is pretty similar to launching stuff from kerbin to the moons.

Except that you need to use manouver nodes to ensure you have a nice escape and is flying towards the target.

[HyperDraco]

On 10/26/2018 at 3:02 PM, Xd the great said:

Well, it is pretty similar to launching stuff from kerbin to the moons.

Except that you need to use manouver nodes to ensure you have a nice escape and is flying towards the target.

See, I find the problem at what time you place a maneuver node and where in your orbit corresponding to the celestial body.

[Superfluous J]

1 hour ago, HyperDraco said:

See, I find the problem at what time you place a maneuver node and where in your orbit corresponding to the celestial body.

Basically to go out to Duna or Jool you burn as you enter night. To go down to Eve or Moho burn as you enter day.

Just get the node in the area and at the right amount prograde, and then drag it back and forth a bit on the orbit to find the spot where you gst the highest apoapsis (or lowest periapsis) around the sun. Then tweak prograde to actually encounter the target orbit.

[Xd the great]

5 hours ago, HyperDraco said:

See, I find the problem at what time you place a maneuver node and where in your orbit corresponding to the celestial body.

Going high(duna or jool): burn prograde relative to the sun.

Going low (eve or moho): burn retrograde relative to the sun.

[Gargamel]

On 10/26/2018 at 8:02 AM, Xd the great said:

Well, it is pretty similar to launching stuff from kerbin to the moons.

Similar in that you have to alter your orbit, by burning.  But, from within Kerbin's SOI, you can create a node to get you to the right altitude, and then swing that along until you get an encounter.  In case of the Mun, you just have to wait till it crests the horizon from LKO, and burn prograde.   You really can't go interplanetary from LKO using this method.   The techniques listed above work though. 

The only way you can brute force a IP transfer from LKO, is to setup a node that will get you to the right orbit, and then click advance one orbit until you (almost) get an encounter.   Depending on how far away the transfer window is,  that might be thousands of clicks.  And even then, the nodes position around Kerbin relative to the Sun will shift a bit with each orbit, so you'll have to fudge that along too while you are clicking away. 

59 minutes ago, Xd the great said:

Going high(duna or jool): burn prograde relative to the sun.

Going low (eve or moho): burn retrograde relative to the sun.

Again, very difficult to figure out while in LKO.  VHM's comment makes it much easier to figure out. 

[Pecan]

There are some excellent online tools for calculating transfer windows (eg; https://alexmoon.github.io/ksp/ , http://ksp.olex.biz/ ).

The main thing is that it's going to take a long time to get there, so it's important to work out where the target planet will actually be in its orbit; it's easy to go the distance but miss the planet completely.  MJ's plotter is similar to the alexmoon one but the online tool offers more options.

[HyperDraco]

Thanks everyone for your help!

I am building the Orion spacecraft currently on the Delta IV Heavy LV currently 

Duna: Set As Target