Hold stationary orbit objective hidden requirements?

[SkyRender]

So I took a contract to keep a stationary orbit over a given location.  Easily done, orbital parameters matched for geostationary orbit at 0 degree inclination, target is exactly below me.  The condition will not complete, and thus the contract will not complete.  Do I have to maintain the position over that location for a specific duration, or?  What does KSP want from me here?

[Zeiss Ikon]

if you're flying the craft, you can point to the "contract" (looks like a document) in the menu (upper right, if you haven't moved it) and then scroll down to see the contract conditions.  There will be green checks on the completed conditions, and empty checkboxes beside the ones that still need to be completed.

Most likely there is a "stable orbit" requirement, which is usually ten seconds to two minutes, and you'll see it count down in the conditions.  Otherwise, there'll be something like "eccentricity less than X" or "eccentricity between X and Y", "inclination less than X" or "between X and Y", or similar conditions that haven't yet been met if the contract hasn't completed.

Fix your orbit for whatever unmet condition may apply, or wait for the "stable" check time to expire.

Also, a mod might want to move this to the "Gameplay Questions" section...

[SkyRender]

The only condition not met on the list is "Hold a stationary orbit directly above Area C-BHKZ".  It is located perfectly below my craft, and all other parameters are met.  There's no list for how long I have to hold the position, but time-warped I sat there for about 20 minutes and it still didn't clear.

EDIT: Just how precise does the positioning have to be?  Because it's not absolutely dead-on, it's technically a bit off by about 1.5 degrees or so to the east going by a placed Kerbnet waypoint.  The game doesn't really tell you how precise it expects you to be.

Edited November 29, 2019 by SkyRender

[Zeiss Ikon]

10 hours ago, SkyRender said:

EDIT: Just how precise does the positioning have to be?  Because it's not absolutely dead-on, it's technically a bit off by about 1.5 degrees or so to the east going by a placed Kerbnet waypoint.  The game doesn't really tell you how precise it expects you to be.

Generally, the original contract document (visible under the "active" tab in Mission Control) will show you details like that thAt don't t appear in the summary.  They'll give a tolerance, like "inclination 93-97 degrees, eccentricity .02-.04" for the sun synchronous orbit - - but some of those details may not show in the in-game summary.

Edited November 29, 2019 by Zeiss Ikon

[The Aziz]

The game should tell you "entering area" which means you're in the right spot.

But, unfortunately, while it's pretty easy to enter and exit one in a plane or on foot, in orbit not so much. 

[BadOaks]

You could burn to reduce or increase your orbital period slightly, then wait until you get the "entering area" notification and correct your orbit to be geostationary again.

Or if you have an estimate of how many degrees you are off, you can do a simple calculation to get into position. For example, if you are leading the target by 2 degrees and need to slow down, transfer period = 6 hours  * (362 / 360). = 6 hours and 2 minutes. Burn prograde to increase your orbital period by 2 minutes and by the time you complete one orbit you should be 2 degrees behind where you were relative to the surface.

[Starhawk]

Moved from KSP Discussion.

KSP Moderation Team

[bewing]

A 3 star contract is extremely precise. 1.5 degrees is way too much. If you are ahead of your target, raise your Ap or Pe by a little bit, and contrarywise if you are behind. When the game is happy, as said above, you will get a notification -- then fix your orbit again.

[Streetwind]

You can calculate ahead of time how to adjust your course in order to arrive at the precise required spot you need to be in one full orbit.

Kerbin's sidereal day is 5 hours 59 minutes and 9.4 seconds. If you are in a proper geostationary orbit, this is the number you should see for your orbital period (without the decimal place for the seconds, which the game doesn't offer).

Assuming the target is 1.5 degrees off: given a full orbit is 360 degrees, then (21549.4 / 360) * 1.5 = 59.859444... * 1.5 = 89.7891666...

Or, in other words: you need to raise your orbital period by 90 seconds if your target is behind you, or lower it by 90 seconds if it is in front of you. If you then loop around once, and restore geostationary orbit, you should find yourself directly, smack-dab above your target. Assuming the 1.5 degrees astimate was precise, of course. Measure it as well as you can.

 

Edited November 30, 2019 by Streetwind