Minmus basics

[Kerbalstar]

You need to burn towards the target at intercept, then burn until your relative velocity equals zero and repeat until you are as close as you desire. To rescue a Kerbal, you need to switch to the craft with the bracket {} keys, once within 2.2km, and EVA the Kerbal to your rescue craft. Ideally they should not be more than a few tens of meters apart. To capture a wreck you need to klaw it. My guess is that it is simply a Kerbal rescue mission, and you do not need to klaw the wreck. 

--Kerbalstar

[Superfluous J]

4 hours ago, MPDerksen said:

How do I determine how much dV this thing has?

Assuming you're using 1.6.x, the game tells you on the right side in the stating. Each stage's dV is listed, as is the total dV underneath. I suggest clicking the dV button along the bottom to change it to Vacuum, even though you start in the atmosphere you spend most of your time there, and most of us around here use the Vacuum dV numbers even in atmospheres.

4 hours ago, MPDerksen said:

How much is a reasonable range to get into LKO of about 85K?

3000 is possible but not likely. 3300-3500 is more reasonable. 4000 if you're sloppy and 4500 if you follow a tutorial from 2014.

[MPDerksen]

2 hours ago, 5thHorseman said:

Assuming you're using 1.6.x, the game tells you on the right side in the stating. Each stage's dV is listed, as is the total dV underneath. I suggest clicking the dV button along the bottom to change it to Vacuum, even though you start in the atmosphere you spend most of your time there, and most of us around here use the Vacuum dV numbers even in atmospheres.

 

Using Version 1.4.x.  Perhaps I should upgrade?  Wonder if I can/should do that through Steam?  

My questions are all over the place.  I'm going to start a new thread based very specifically on the current mission.  I really appreciate the quality of the answers here, and the patience.

[Daveroski]

Ok so you are going to Mimnus.

It doesn't matter if your orbit is 0 degrees.

From the posts above you have found out about the AN and DN points in your orbit.

What they mean is that if you make your AN bigger than that of the orbit of Mimnus, eventually Mimnus will cross your orbit.

So you will be starting from the AN or DN you will be looking at both to start with.

Plot a course from the AN and extend it past the orbit of Mimnus, only slightly, until you can see the white markers showing you where your ship will be relative to Mimnus at it's closest approach.

Right click the node you created and see the + and - symbols. Click the + symbol and count how many times it has to be clicked until the course shows that you have an intercept with Mimnus. If the white markers vanish on any click , right click your node again and extend the AP a little more until you see them again.

The number of times you clicked it is the number of orbits you will have to make around Kerbin before you reach the point where you have to leave orbit.

Now look at the same thing with the DN. You will find, depending on the Position of Mimnus, that one of them will take far fewer orbits than the other. After a couple of times, you will pick the right one just by seeing where mimnus is.

Once you have a course plotted which gives you an encounter. Right click the node again and right click the pe of Mimnus.

Hover over the Prograde symbol  and using the mouse wheel and watching the Pe on Mimnus you can refine your course. Ideally, you want to be passing Mimnus on the right hand side as you look at it. This will make sure that you will be going the right way around when you get there.

I say ideally because in all likelihood you will seem to be passing at an angle. At this point you can click on Mimnus itself and select to Focus the camera on Mimnus. When you do this, the camera will centre on Mimnus and you will be able to zoom in and see just how your course takes you past Mimnus. From this view, if the periapsis is not showing hover the mouse over the pe and it will show you the altitude.Rght click it to make it stay visible.

It will be tempting at this point to play with the Normals to see if you can improve it and end up losing it and having to start over from the beginning.

So you have a course plotted to take you into a flyby of Mimnus. the next trick is to see how long the burn is going to be and remember half that number. That is the amount of time you will start your burn before you reach the node. SO for example, if the burn time is 1 minute and 30 seconds, you will start your burn 45 seconds before the node and burn until the burn reaches 1 and then use the shift key to slow burn the last little bit.

Don't worry if it goes over a fraction of a second. Click the little x and cancel the node.

Now look at the map. If you timed it correctly and had enough fuel you will now be seeing your periapsis around Mimnus.

If you don't there is still probably no reason to panic. A course correction just to get you back in the vicinity using prograde or retrograde  (probably retrograde) be enough. so you can plot a course using either to find which gets you back in the ballpark.

Don't try to perform the node. Cancel it. If it was retrograde, point that way, if prograde point that way. then use shift and just tap it once and wait until your Encounter is back and then press X.

Now you can wait until you are in the Sphere Of Influence (SOI) of Mimnus before making orbit at the peripasis. From there you can change you orbit as needed.

This is not the most efficient way of doing it but  it's not far off. Don't let others complicate these instructions. True you might be able to save a little fuel here and there but not that much and the easiest solution is usually the best one.

If you follow these instructions and after a few attempts you are still not getting it, feel free to call me an idiot and I will take you through it step by step in private messaging.

 

D.

 

[MPDerksen]

Okay so I’m printing the above. Very appreciated. I just purchased 1.6 in Steam and so have to start over with a new Career. When I get back this far in the sim I’ll pull this out again. Hopefully soon

[Snark]

1 hour ago, MPDerksen said:

Okay so I’m printing the above. Very appreciated. I just purchased 1.6 in Steam and so have to start over with a new Career. When I get back this far in the sim I’ll pull this out again. Hopefully soon

You shouldn't need to start over again-- KSP updates are always backwards compatible.

If your Steam upgrade to 1.6 is in-place in the same folder where you were playing before, then you're already updated in your career and can just keep playing, no action required. 

On the other hand, if your 1.6 Steam installation is in a different place from your older-version install, that's still pretty easy.  In your old install, just find the "saves" folder.  That folder should contain one sub-folder for each career you were running.  Just take the appropriate folder for the career you were playing, and copy it to the "saves" folder on your new 1.6 install, and then you can continue playing as if nothing happened.  (You'll notice that some parts have a new look, though.) 

[MPDerksen]

1 hour ago, Snark said:

You shouldn't need to start over again-- KSP updates are always backwards compatible.

If your Steam upgrade to 1.6 is in-place in the same folder where you were playing before, then you're already updated in your career and can just keep playing, no action required. 

On the other hand, if your 1.6 Steam installation is in a different place from your older-version install, that's still pretty easy.  In your old install, just find the "saves" folder.  That folder should contain one sub-folder for each career you were running.  Just take the appropriate folder for the career you were playing, and copy it to the "saves" folder on your new 1.6 install, and then you can continue playing as if nothing happened.  (You'll notice that some parts have a new look, though.) 

GENIUS!  Just transferred the folder and I'm back up and running.  Now I can go back and digest the previous support comments.

Thanks,

[Vanamonde]

Quote

Last, I still struggle with landing on Mun without hitting too hard.  Playing with the Ctrl and Shift keys to keep the touchdown around 5m/s is SO hard.  Keep practicing? 

Yes, practice. But to make it easier, you can r-click on the lander's engine in-flight and reduce the maximum thrust. This gives you finer control because the full range of throttle settings will then cover a narrower range of actual thrust outputs. Example: reduce the Terrier's max output to 50%, and the throttle range is 0-30kn instead of 0-60. 

[Xd the great]

On 1/16/2019 at 8:26 AM, MPDerksen said:

Last, I still struggle with landing on Mun without hitting too hard.  Playing with the Ctrl and Shift keys to keep the touchdown around 5m/s is SO hard.  Keep practicing?

Have you ever considered using mods to help you determine the suicide burn height?

I usually aim for a way too robust lander and do single stage from LEO to minmus landing. Then when i am ~200m above, i stage the almost empty fuel tank and land. Gives me a decent idea of how high i am above the terrain.

And you may consider using a less powerful engine for landing.

5m/s is good, but 0.5 m/s is even better.

Try keeping the landing speed between 0 and 5 m/s when landing.

And because minmus has such weak gravity, be careful when decelerating.

[bamslamkabam]

The easiest way to get to minus is to try to lead the shot in some way. I usually target minmus  and then try to adjust for it moving in its orbit. Basically the same thing as getting a mun encounter by leading the ejection burn but on q bigger level. Also you may need a inclination change, I suggest doing after the ejection burn.

But the main way to learn it is practice and experimentation.

 

I hope this was helpful to you.