Simultaneous transfers

[0x7be]

Hello.

Currently I'am planning a mission to Eve. I have to deliver rather big payload (~100 tons dry) consisting of multiple items (sattelites, manned ship, kethane drillship, fuel tanker etc).

I have option of putting them into one construct, but for sake of realism I want to send them as separate flights.

So, I have specific problem: I need to run 2-3 sumultaneous flight going from Kerbin to Eve.

Can you give me some advices how to do it properly, or indicate some possible problems?

Plus one specific question: do non-focused vessels perform SOI transitions?

[SZDarkhack]

It is very possible to do simultaneous transfers, i've done it multiple times. As far as i know SOI transitions are performed normally. As long as you do the transfer burns close together, they will all arrive relatively close together as well (although the difference will expand to a few days, which is great because you will have plenty of time to aerobrake and set each vessel up).

I would suggest installing Kerbal Alarm Clock, you can schedule maneuvers for your flights and it will alert you (and restore the maneuver) when the vessel comes close to it, even if it's not focused.

[Brotoro]

Unattended ships will cross SOI boundaries, yes. The only problem is that ships can sometimes alter their courses when they cross SOI boundaries under time warp (especially high time warps), so I always like to focus on each ship as it crosses into a SOI so I can sneak them across the border at 1x speed.

Kerbal Alarm clock has been very helpful to me during multiple transfers when they are going on in multiple places at once...not as vital when all your ships are going to the same place and nothing else needs attention. You can spread out your launches over a couple days to help prevent having to handle everything at once.

[sturmstiger]

Just launch all of them to LKO before the transfer window, and do the transfer burn one by one when the window opens. Usually if you do the transfer burn within a couple of days from the optimal time, your may spend a just few tens of m/s of extra deltaV compared to the theoretical minimal deltaV transfer. Also they may arrive a few days apart which is often a good thing.

[SZDarkhack]

The only problem is that ships can sometimes alter their courses when they cross SOI boundaries under time warp (especially high time warps)

That is absolutely true, crossing a SoI boundary at 100000x warp can be so bad that it ejects you from the solar system (around Jool for instance), so make sure you pay attention to that (or have KAC slow down the warp for you).

[0x7be]

Thanks for you posts.

About alarm clocks : I've never used it before. Does it automaticly suggest alarms based on my crafts upcoming events, or I have to schedule them manually?

Edited July 4, 2013 by 0x7be

[SZDarkhack]

About alarm clocks : I've never used it before. It automaticly suggests alarms bases on my crafts upcoming events, or I have to schedule them manually?

If you have an upcoming SoI change or maneuver node, it will default to that. However, you can also select things manually, such as transfer windows, apoapsis/periapsis/nodes, pretty much anything you'll ever need (and if you want some other random place, stick a dummy maneuver node there and schedule that). You can also configure how long before the point of interest you should be notified (default = 1min, you should change that for long maneuvers, for instance). When you're notified you're given a button to focus on the ship of interest as well (which also restores its maneuver nodes).

[0x7be]

If you have an upcoming SoI change or maneuver node, it will default to that. However, you can also select things manually, such as transfer windows, apoapsis/periapsis/nodes, pretty much anything you'll ever need (and if you want some other random place, stick a dummy maneuver node there and schedule that). You can also configure how long before the point of interest you should be notified (default = 1min, you should change that for long maneuvers, for instance). When you're notified you're given a button to focus on the ship of interest as well (which also restores its maneuver nodes).

Sounds really cool.

I'll give it a try today after work

[Pulstar]

Yes, the Kerbal Alarm Clock is amazing. It allowed me to juggle between a land and return mission to Gilly, 6 launches to Duna and 7 (or 8?) to Laythe at the same time. Also it saves and restores maneuver node data which allows for much simpler and less time-consuming flight planning as you don't need to recreate those even if you exit the game and not play it for days.

Really, this is pretty much the one utility mod the features of which IMO have to be integrated into the stock game. Well it and procedural wings.