I can't get my landers where I want them

[Zeb Kerman]

I've been playing KSP for a while, but I've never successfully landed anywhere (except Kerbin, of course). According To Matt Lowne, Minmus is easier, but I don't know how to get there. I've tried going into a kerbin orbit, but my manoeuvres never gets me in Minmus's SOI. I've also tried the Mun, for its bigger SOI and closeness to Kerbin,  but to no avail. I also, can't rendezvous, which means Apollo style missions are impossible. Any ideas for getting me to the mun/minmus. I have the entire tech tree from mobile processing labs, so that isn't an issue. I also have Making History, but no mods. I am open to suggestions and any tips

[bewing]

3 hours ago, Zeb Kerman said:

Minmus is easier, but I don't know how to get there. I've tried going into a kerbin orbit, but my manoeuvres never gets me in Minmus's SOI. I've also tried the Mun, for its bigger SOI and closeness to Kerbin,  but to no avail.

The easy way is:

To get to Minmus, lead it by 30 degrees. Launch straight up, and burn until your Ap is at 46Mm. This will get you very close, and may get you an intercept right away. If it doesn't, in map mode swing the camera around until you are looking at your Ap from the other side. Is it above or below Minmus' orbit? If it's below, turn your ship to point North (on the horizon) and burn a little bit until your Ap is on Minmus' orbit. If your Ap was above Minmus' orbit, burn South.

For the Mun, do the same thing except lead it by 45 degrees, and set your Ap to 11Mm.

If you want to go to Kerbin orbit first, then lead Minmus by 60 degrees or the Mun by 90 degrees, and burn prograde on the other side of Kerbin from there.

 

[Rauko]

My way to do it is:

First get to low orbit.(as close as possible to 0 inclination)

Then create a maneuver node anywere and increase prograde until its apoapsis is bigger than mun orbit.

Then  set mun as target and drag the node (forward or backward, as long as it remains "in the future") until you get the encounter. (Having it as target enables position markers that says where your ship and the target will be when you cross its orbit)

With minmus is similar, althought you may have to correct the inclination (cheaper in a midcourse burn)

[Vanamonde]

My guide is a few versions old now, but might still be helpful.