Jump to content

My first rendezvous


IU_R

Recommended Posts

Wow the thrill

Only started playing KSP a week ago and what a game so far, playing career mode.

I ran out of scientists and 1 of them was stuck in orbit.

The last couple days has been trial and error non stop and finally today i successfully brought him back home. What a night, sounds weird [snip] but this was one hell of a thrill catching him in space.

 

Great game, thanks for listening to my experience

Edited by James Kerman
redacted by moderator
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Tyko said:

Rendezvous is one of the toughest missions to fly  :) 

25 minutes ago, Dan Kerman said:

Rendezvous and docking are two of the hardest things to learn...

44 minutes ago, Starhawk said:

rendezvous is not an easy skill to learn.

I can't really see that, but if you all say so...

Not that I want to sound like I want to make light of his accomplishment, on the contrary. KSP is fun and new converts having fun is always welcome.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, IU_R said:

Wow the thrill

Only started playing KSP a week ago and what a game so far, playing career mode.

I ran out of scientists and 1 of them was stuck in orbit.

The last couple days has been trial and error non stop and finally today i successfully brought him back home. What a night, sounds weird [snip] but this was one hell of a thrill catching him in space.

 

Great game, thanks for listening to my experience

You most players getting docking maneuver problems is no joke, Gemini astronauts just had the same after all, they just were drifting alongside the target without being able to dock to it fo a while.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, Starhawk said:


Hello IU_R and welcome to the KSP Forum!

As mentioned above, rendezvous is not an easy skill to learn.

Congratulations!  That is quite impressive for somebody who has been playing such a short time.


Happy landings!

Thanks! Took a lot of effort and grind though tbh but defo worth it.

 

My next main mission is to have the first Kerbal stepping foot on the Mun and returning home safely!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, IU_R said:

My next main mission is to have the first Kerbal stepping foot on the Mun and returning home safely!

Believe it or not, that is comparatively easy. Your target is big, have no orbit of its own (relative to you, of course) and even pull you closer on it's own. What could go wrong with that :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/29/2019 at 1:12 AM, IU_R said:

Wow the thrill

Only started playing KSP a week ago and what a game so far, playing career mode.

I ran out of scientists and 1 of them was stuck in orbit.

The last couple days has been trial and error non stop and finally today i successfully brought him back home. What a night, sounds weird [snip] but this was one hell of a thrill catching him in space.

 

Great game, thanks for listening to my experience

Rendezvous, Docking and EVA are hard then they are not.

Man the work load the first times until you succeed.

Congrats and happy returns.

 

ME

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Congrats  IU_R on the rendezvous and relative docking:kiss:, I have been playing for almost 4 months and I haven’t had a good launch window and I haven’t gotten the orbit part out of the way, it’s either out of orbit or out into 150m and 200m (in the Thousands) and I come back after a few hundred km’s over the surface, can some body help my stupid self with docking,  orbit, rendezvous and RCS module and how to do it. If it’s off topic in the threat please feel free to send me a PM.;.;

Edited by Mikenike
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Mikenike said:

Congrats  IU_R on the rendezvous and relative docking:kiss:, I have been playing for almost 4 months and I haven’t had a good launch window and I haven’t gotten the orbit part out of the way, it’s either out of orbit or out into 150m and 200m (in the Thousands) and I come back after a few hundred km’s over the surface, can some body help my stupid self with docking,  orbit, rendezvous and RCS module and how to do it. If it’s off topic in the threat please feel free to send me a PM.;.;

Honestly a tutorial on YouTube would probably be pretty effective and easy to find. A visual aid will be more effective than an explanation.

My process is to make either your AP or PE match one of your target's.

Once one matches (doesn't matter which) make sure the ascending or descending node is tweaked in a way that the orbits lie flat with eachother so that they are as parallel as possible (your orbit as well as your target's.) A good indication of that is when they flip around the orbit because the descending/ascending angles have now reversed.

Once your orbit is flat and either your AP or PE matches one of your targets (again it doesn't matter which. Just make sure one of the distances from the planets is exactly the same,and in the same location) you can now estimate when you will encounter your target.

If your orbit is tighter on the one side than your target's, you will orbit quicker, catching up to it with each orbit. If it's further out, your target will begin to catch up with you.

Once either you or your target is about to pass entirely, you can then adjust the orbit to match their's more closely. Doing so will match your target's closest location when it does pass. If you do it right you will simply drift beside eachother when that happens.

You'll need to tweak the maneuver node in a way that the separation is as little as possible. This will take practice. Just fiddle with it until it's as close to 0.0km as possible. It's not necessary, but it will make docking easier if you're drifting closer to your target once you've reached the closest location your target will be at the time.

Pay very close attention to your prograde and target locations and steer it using lateral movements paying attention to your relative speed to your target. You don't want to smash into it, so like I said: lateral movements while maintaining a slow approach is ideal.

This will also take practice.

- - - -

Like I said a visual aid VIA Youtube tutorial might be easier to understand.

Edited by MisterKerman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Mikenike said:

Congrats  IU_R on the rendezvous and relative docking:kiss:, I have been playing for almost 4 months and I haven’t had a good launch window and I haven’t gotten the orbit part out of the way, it’s either out of orbit or out into 150m and 200m (in the Thousands) and I come back after a few hundred km’s over the surface, can some body help my stupid self with docking,  orbit, rendezvous and RCS module and how to do it. If it’s off topic in the threat please feel free to send me a PM.;.;

...play the tutorials.

to rendevouz you need to make sure target circle is in the correct direction of target orbit, bare in mind it is moving and you will be mostly going "upwards" to begin..(directly upwards if you are me (damn wind)).

then you have to trim the prograde / retrograde / pink ones (forgot / waiting for 1.7...), until you are aligned, then either speed up or slow down to match velocities using target mode on your navball.

then docking is a combination of going too fast and quick loading your save file OVER and OVER again basically.

seriously though there is a really long winded docking tutorial and if you get that nailed then everything makes sense.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Mikenike said:

I understand that if I ask this question I will be sounding dumb, but here goes nothing. What is prograde exactly?

Don't worry, it's not a dumb question. Prograde is this marker: :prograde:. It is the direction that you are moving in. For example: if you launch a rocket straight up, its prograde position should be straight up (not exactly, but that's another topic).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is no such thing as a dumb question, Mate, a question is a request for knowledge.

In terms of spaceflight in KSP it is your forward vector.  If you set SAS to prograde, the nose of your spacecraft will point to the path ahead.  Because you are travelling in an ellipse or a circle in orbit, the actual direction of that path keeps changing as you move around the planet, moon or star.

Another meaning is the direction of rotation of a body in space. When launching east from KSC you are launching into a prograde orbit because the planet beneath you is also rotating to the east.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...