AlexL Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Thanks to this video from Scott Manley, , I now know how to calculate the angle at which to perform a transfer burn for orbital rendezvous.I just want to know if there's a good, free way to tell if you're at that angle without having to hold a protractor to the screen.What do you guys use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pebble_garden Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Assuming your target is in a circular orbit, establish your vessel on the same orbit. Then, if you are behind the target, lower your orbit a km or two and wait until you catch up, making sure to return to the target orbit as you get close. If you're ahead of the target, follow the same steps but with a slightly taller orbit. Be patient. The closer you can get with pure orbital maneuvering (down to 400m or so) the easier your final RCS closure is going to be. But if you can get within 1km, that should be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinfoilChef Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 I've got a similar question but in my case the target ship is in a very elliptical orbit where the apoapsis is near the orbit of Minmus and the periapsis is about 1050km above Kerbin. The target ship is out of fuel and has no RCS (wouldn't help anyway, it's a gigantic whale of a ship). My goal is to rendezvous with it and de-orbit it. Any recommendations how to accomplish this? (other than ending the flight) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmo-not Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 I don't know of any free on-screen protractors, but there may be some out there.There's also a way to know when you're at the proper phase angle by measuring the distance between the two craft. This only works when the craft are within 100km when at that phase angle. My tutorial on how to do this can be found here. (this only works with circular orbits) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltesh Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 MB-Ruler is a free-for-personal-use on-screen ruler with protractor capabilities. I've had it on my system for awhile, but the only thing I've ever used it for in KSP so far is confirming Minmus' axial tilt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexL Posted September 12, 2012 Author Share Posted September 12, 2012 Kosmo-not, Maltesh, you have my thanks.As for your crew Tinfoilchef, they may just need to get out and push, repeatedly, with jetpacks. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awaras Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 MB-Ruler is a free-for-personal-use on-screen ruler with protractor capabilities. I've had it on my system for awhile, but the only thing I've ever used it for in KSP so far is confirming Minmus' axial tilt.This is awesome. I tried it and it works great. It will be very useful when 0.17 comes around. Thank you very much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinfoilChef Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 As for your crew Tinfoilchef, they may just need to get out and push, repeatedly, with jetpacks. Good luck I've tried that, a few times actually, after seeing one of Scott Manley's videos where he showed exactly that kind of maneuver. Each time I somehow lost control of the eva pack and it just started thrusting out of control leaving the astronaut spinning wildly with no pack fuel in a fate very reminiscent of the fate of Frank Poole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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