Pre-Flight Planing

[SpaceSphere]

I'm a huge fan of the maneuver node system, it makes orbital rendezvous and interplanetary transfers that would otherwise be prohibitively difficult a piece of cake! However, it is only available after you've launched, meaning you have to design and launch your rocket before you can use it to figure out the optimal flightpath. I propose adding a special 'astrodynamics' facility to the space center, which gives you access to the solar system map (similar to the tracking station), but where you would be able to add a special "launch node" by clicking on a space center icon or specifying coordinates on any planet. The launch node would allow you to specify the orbit a hypothetical spacecraft would initially launch into, and would estimate the required delta-v (and thrust/weight ratio, etc.). It would then be possible to add maneuver nodes to this starting orbit and plan a whole mission. Time warp should be available, but since this is a 'simulation' it won't effect the 'real' universe time, and it will be possible to scrub both forward and backward, allowing players to identify launch windows and useful planetary alignments ahead of time. In addition to enabling the planning of more complex missions that require precisely timed launches to take advantage of planetary alignments, it will allow players to know the delta-v requirements of these complex flights up front, before they've designed their spacecraft. Beyond just helping advanced players efficiently execute more complicated missions, this will greatly aid beginners, who don't already know the approximate delta-v need to reach the Mün, or when the launch windows between Kerbin and Duna are, and it builds on already established systems, so I think it would be a very logical addition to KSP.

[Captain Sierra]

Seconded. That is a level of complexity which I may never need as the game sits now but if such system were provided, I would absolutely use it. It would be even better if something like this would come with a stock equivalent of kerbal alarm clock. You could use preplanning to mark out all your major phase angle intervals and set up the alarm system (or even have those intervals precoded into the preplanner).

[dlrk]

I'd love this.

[Supernovy]

I'm fairly certain that something like this is planned for a future update, as mentioned in the Official Planned Features List. The entry there is not verified, so I can't be completely sure that it is planned.

Either way, I think this is a good idea. But how complicated do you want it to be? Could it support Apollo-style target orbit rendezvous missions? Or Kerbin orbit rendezvous for that matter? How will it account for planets moving as the craft coasts between burns?

I suggest having a little ship icon that the player could interact with to set docking, undocking, and rendezvous nodes. It may be hard to estimate the time to rendezvous though, unless the player is able to select how long they think it will take.