How Do You Plot An Intercept To An Eccentric Eliptical Orbit Asteroid

[NeoMorph]

I was just messing with the Asteroid mod and Hyperedit and then wondered if there was a way to plot an intercept in KSP or maybe use an external program like http://ksp.olex.biz/

For example, this is what I was thinking of trying to do an intercept with... It would be like an intercept with a comet.

The way would be to meet up as it is coming from the sun back out to Duna orbit, not the other way around I think, as it would be slowing down and not accelerating down the solar gravity well. I'm not up on how to calculate the intercept and would love it if someone could help me out.

[Mr Shifty]

The way would be to meet up as it is coming from the sun back out to Duna orbit, not the other way around I think, as it would be slowing down and not accelerating down the solar gravity well. I'm not up on how to calculate the intercept and would love it if someone could help me out.

The comet's sun-relative velocity should be the same whether it's heading outbound or inbound. It depends only on the semi-major axis of the orbit, the mass of the primary body (i.e. the sun), and its current distance from the primary. In other words, the velocity profile is symmetric about the major axis of the orbit. If you have some coding chops you could add the comet's orbital info to alexmun's Launch Window Planner and have it compute intercept info.

[Caelib]

You could install MechJeb and calculate the intercept using the Maneuver Planner to see how it's done.

[Brotoro]

I would get into an orbit around Kerbol that would put me 180 degrees away from the asteroid's apoapsis at the right time to make a Hohmann transfer out to that apoapsis point that arrives at the same time as the asteroid reaches that point...then burn to slow up and match orbits.

I'd need to know the size of the orbit and where the asteroid is along it's orbit (and where Kerbin is in its orbit)... and then some fiddling with Kepler's laws should give the answers needed for the size and timing of the initial phasing orbit.

[PakledHostage]

You could install MechJeb and calculate the intercept using the Maneuver Planner to see how it's done.

I think NeoMorph is looking for help in how to actually calculate the intercept, rather than learning how to mimic MechJeb. He’s been around here for long enough to master the basics.

In (partial) answer to the question: There's a related thread in the How To section titled "How does one execute and calculate Delta V for non optimal planetary transfers". Calculating the direct transfer from Kerbin to intercept the asteroid in question is going to require the same math as is discussed in that thread.