launch to the moon during the day (RSS)

[kspbutitscursed]

Hello,

 

I was wondering what is the best timing for a launch to the moon during the daylight hours from KSC

 

thanks,

KBIC

Edited April 8 by kspbutitscursed

[Aelfhe1m]

Are you planning to do a direct launch or launch to orbit in correct plane followed by TLI burn? Stock physics or Principia?

I much prefer to go to orbit first and usually delay my first Moon missions until I have the necessary tech. Then the correct time to launch is when the ascending/descending node of the Moon's orbit is close to the Cape (shown in MechJeb (if you have manoeuvre nodes unlocked) by the relative target inclination being at a minimum (~ 0.7° from memory). What time of day this occurs at will depend on the time of year, but since there are two launch windows spaced 12 hours apart (one at the AN and one at DN), most of the year there will be one of them during daylight hours.

For direct ascent, you also need to factor in the journey time to the Moon based on the ΔV of your rocket.

For advance planning you can also use the mod : https://github.com/KSP-RO/LunarTransferPlanner  (it is a recommended mod when installing RP-1 express)

[kspbutitscursed]

1 minute ago, Aelfhe1m said:

Are you planning to do a direct launch or launch to orbit in correct plane followed by TLI burn? Stock physics or Principia?

I much prefer to go to orbit first and usually delay my first Moon missions until I have the necessary tech. Then the correct time to launch is when the ascending/descending node of the Moon's orbit is close to the Cape (shown in MechJeb (if you have manoeuvre nodes unlocked) by the relative target inclination being at a minimum (~ 0.7° from memory). What time of day this occurs at will depend on the time of year, but since there are two launch windows spaced 12 hours apart (one at the AN and one at DN), most of the year there will be one of them during daylight hours.

For direct ascent, you also need to factor in the journey time to the Moon based on the ΔV of your rocket.

For advance planning you can also use the mod : https://github.com/KSP-RO/LunarTransferPlanner  (it is a recommended mod when installing RP-1 express)

i am planning on doing a Artemis SLS style of launch so boost to a eccentric orbit of 1800 by 50 perigee raise burn followed by a TLI at perigee. 

[Aelfhe1m]

2 minutes ago, kspbutitscursed said:

i am planning on doing a Artemis SLS style of launch so boost to a eccentric orbit of 1800 by 50 perigee raise burn followed by a TLI at perigee. 

Never tried this myself, but off the top of my head, the positioning of the perigee point (and hence timing of launch) will be dependent on the burn time of the initial boost phase. If you are recreating the Artemis SLS launcher then it might be worth looking at the real world launch date/time and trying to match that lunar phase angle as closely as possible since NASA will have done all the hard maths already. You might also be able to track down documentation of alternate launch windows they had planned.

For a more practical approach you could start with a test satellite in the plane of the Moon in a circular orbit at the planned periapsis height then plot a manoeuvre to raise the apoapsis to 1800 followed by a TLI at perigee and then adjust them until you get a suitable Moon encounter. That should then let you plan your actual launch time to hit 1800 km apogee at the correct time for the perigee TLI.