Mod Idea...

[Apophis775]

It's just an idea I had but...

There are many of us that don't have the time or understanding to learn all the rocket-science related things. For example, I have a base understanding of orbital physics, but I work a fairly demanding job, and don't have much time to be able to learn and do all the calculations myself.

So, I'm suggesting a "Launch Window Calculator and Mission Planner", which will help you build your rocket and plan the mission. For example, you tell it you want to deliver your Stage-0 Payload to a Space Station. It tells you how much Delta- V you need for the rocket, and adjusts it as you build the rocket. Then, when your getting ready to launch, it will tell you a range of the best time to launch to intercept the object.

Something that can say "Oh, you need to get X about to a 100km orbit? Well, you need this much Delta-V time or it won't happen".

[Faark]

Launch windows are only important for interplanetary travel. Yes, you might have to use external tools for that, though Kerbal Alarm Clock or MechJeb will kind give you this information as well. To get to a space station you can circularize at a low orbit and later use a Hoffman transfer. Delta-V? Hm, aren't you trying to build rockets with much delta-v anyway? At least that is how i started, especially as long as i wasn't very much aware of orbital mechanics^^

I'm pretty sure squad will improve their tutorial a lot to make the game more friendly for new users. Also while it takes away a lot of fun, using MechJeb & its maneuver planer can teach you a lot without reinventing the wheel. So what would be the advantage over just using MechJeb / what does MechJeb miss?

Edited September 29, 2013 by Faark

[Apophis775]

What is MechJeb?

From what I understand isn't it some automatic thing?

[Van Disaster]

It has some automatic pilot components, it also has a ton of information screens and enhancements to the game tools, like a maneuver node plotter & editor with some generation of common actions like circularizing. You don't have to use the parts you don't want to, I just use odd bits for routine things and reducing keyboard use & use the info screens a lot. Don't believe the hype.

DV is static ( for stock aerodynamics anyway ), one of the deltaV charts would work perfectly for that. Might be nice to integrate it with one of the engineer plugins, I guess.

[Apophis775]

How difficult is it to use?

[Eric S]

Not very hard if you either follow a cookbook-like recipe, or have an understanding of what you're trying to do with it. Assuming your craft is fairly normal, you could use the Ascent Guidance part to get your ship into orbit, at which point you'd target another planet and use the maneuver planner to transfer to that planet. For most targets, you might need to adjust your inclination to match the target at this point, I'm not sure if MJ2 handles that automatically. Upon arrival at the other planet, you would use the maneuver planner to set your periapsis, then set your apoapsis. And you're in orbit of another planet, assuming MJ2 didn't get squirrelly on you. Sometimes MJ2 does the wrong thing, and in those cases, it really helps to know what is supposed to be happening so that you know when to abort an execution.

Depending on which you catch onto faster, piloting or navigating, you can also set MJ2 up to create the maneuver nodes that will execute those maneuvers (except landing and takeoff, those aren't done through maneuver nodes for the most part) and then execute them by hand, or set up the maneuver nodes yourself and let MJ2 execute them. I'd recommend continuing to push on learning both, you'll get a better feeling of accomplishment out of it that way. Eventually you may get bored with one or the other, at which time you can go back to letting MJ2 handle that.

[Tigrou]

If you only need launch windows and dV, look at Protractor, a far less "intrusive" mod.

[Van Disaster]

There are things I would always do by hand anyway, like transfer burns out of SoI which I do in one go rather than hopping out to solar SoI first. Having watched someone using the docking AP I'm never going to bother with that, and I tried the landing one once and it put me into a hill 18km away so I'll carry on landing by hand...

Alarm clock has a transfer window section which is possibly the most useful of all; that way you'll never forget & overrun a window.

[pizzaoverhead]

Kerbal Engineer Redux is a great information tool. It shows you the delta V and thrust-to-weight ratio during construction and various craft parameters during flight.

[HeadHunter67]

I can see the need for one thing mentioned: I'd like a better way of knowing just how much delta-V I'd need to deliver a craft or payload to a given orbit. You can't really get that from MJ or KER. When someone says "will deliver x tons to LKO" that's kind of ambiguous as to the altitude.

I'd like to be able to design a lifter that has just enough dV to deliver its given payload to a specific altitude, with a little extra in case of momentary sub-optimal piloting, and a bit to deorbit the lifter. Bringing up more fuel than I'll ever need means the lifter is heavier and more complicated than it needs to be.

[Apophis775]

Yea, I'm trying to plan a rescue mission to the mun because my lander ran out of fuel, but everything is so heavy... I'm on week 2 on the problem now, with maybe a dozen or so attempts which resulted in not enough fuel for a safe landing and return, so a diversion back to Kerbal.

I was hoping for a mod where I could do something like "Get to X KM orbit around Kerbal, Transfer to Mun, X Orbit on Mun, Land at X, Achieve X orbit around Mun, Transfer to Kerbol, Re-entry" and get an estimate if i have enough fuel for the whole mission or need to make changes to the rocket.

[Beowolf]

I just use this chart for figuring required delta-v:

http://i.imgur.com/NKZhU57.png

And then either MechJeb or Engineer will show you info in the VAB to help you build your booster to the desired specs.

[Apophis775]

Thanks, I'll use that next time. I actually just rescued them as many rockets as I could fit onto my previous rocket...

[Kerbart]

Keep in mind that all those dV calculations are nice but they assume optimal maneuvering. You might want to add a safety factor into the fuel you're carrying along.

[Apophis775]

That chart was super useful, helped me make my first interplanetary probe mission

[Galane]

Check out this http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/46569-WEB-Online-engine-cluster-calculator