How to get a good orbit around kerbal.

[DarkSlayer]

I always have issues orbiting kerbal. They are very odd orbits where it stretches across and they orbit up and down. How would i go about orbiting around the equator always?

[rflrob]

Put simply, always fly east. It comes down to your piloting skill (or MechJeb's if you go that route), and how much time you spend with a heading anything other than 90º.

[Person012345]

Try to keep your altitude steady when you hit the apoapsis by angling your ship slightly up until you gain a decent amount of lateral speed, and also simply attain orbit as fast as possible (it helps if your orbital stage has a high power to weight ratio). That should help the elliptical problem.

[Rickenbacker]

Orbiting the equator is as easy as launching to the east, and only burning prograde or retrograde (with or against the direction of travel). That way you'll stay on the equator. Then circularize the orbit by burning at apoapsis or periapsis (to lower or raise the other side of the orbit). It's not too hard to get an orbit that's circular to within +/- 1000m or less, with careful burns.

This is all available elsewhere, but...

To raise your periapsis, burn prograde (with the direction of travel, yellow circle on the navball) at apoapsis. Hover your mouse over the periapsis icon in map mode, to see when it's where you want it.

To lower your apoapsis, burn retrograde (against the direction of travel, crossed out yellow circle) at periapsis. Same procedure as above. Repeat until the orbit is circular enough for you.

Edited September 25, 2012 by Rickenbacker