Timing launches

[Fish in a Barrel]

I assume there's a way to speed up time in the spaceport since I see references to timing your launches. I can't figure out how to do that. I've got a ship ready to go to Duna, but the planetary alignment is all wrong. Help!

To date, my only inter-planetary mission was pure luck. I was just playing with a large booster design and I accidentally hit escape velocity while toying around in orbit. It just so happened that my trajectory took me reasonably close to Duna, and I managed to get it into orbit. Unfortunately, I don't have enough gas to get back. The ship I've built should be able to refuel my stranded Kerbalnauts and get everyone back home.

[astropapi1]

I don't know if this is what you're talking about (and it's probably not), but you can timewarp while sitting on the launchpad.

[Diggydug]

Why not first get into orbit around Kerbin and then speed up time until Duna is in the right spot?

Also, as astropapi1 said, you can speed up time on the launch pad.

[Fish in a Barrel]

Awesome! That worked! I knew I had to be overlooking something obvious. I didn't expect it to let me to get up to 100,000x when it won't let you warp that high in low orbit. I was trying to warp in the tracking station.

Thanks!

[rflrob]

@Diggydug, I think the reason not to speed up in orbit is that your maximum warp rate is limited by altitude, except if you're on the launch pad. From orbit, it could conceivably take a while (in real time) for Duna to come into the right angle.

[GoDores]

It can be convenient to build a little rover including any mods like Protractor that you use to calculate launch trajectories and then drive it a few km away from the launchpad. You can switch to it and warp at high speed to your launch window, then launch your ship. This is really handy if you have a big or unstable design that likes to take itself apart on the launchpad under warp.

[Specialist290]

Alternately, if you're willing to use mods, Kerbal Alarm Clock lets you set alarms that will kill time warp when you approach a certain launch window. You can even customize how far away from the window opening that you want to set the alarm, if you want to give yourself plenty of leeway to get into the right orbit.