KSP Stock : Docking Difficulty Absurdtastic?

[Spricigo]

Docking eluding new player since 2013 2012*

There is not much else to do than trying until the insight you need to figure out what to do. See how your vessel react to your control inputs and you will figure it out eventually.

A good tutorial may also help. that is one I like:

 

 

 

*when it was introduced

[Zeiss Ikon]

On 10/16/2013 at 1:55 PM, Kosmo-not said:

Use the navball to help guide you in. Docking is easy!

There are also a couple tricks you can apply earlier in the process (though if you do an excellent job of setting up your intercept as @Kosmo-not demonstrated, you may not need this).  When you're  tens of kilometers from target and have closing velocity up to tens of meters per seconds, but your velocity vector isn't quite aligned with the target, you can use the nav ball to determine the direction you need to burn to correct your closing vector -- and then use the main engines for these relatively large burns to save your monopropellant.

You need to remember that when your velocity display is in target mode, the prograde marker is your "toward target" velocity vector (and retrograde, of course, is "away from target" velocity vector).  You also have the pink markers, indicating actual direction to and away from target.  If the yellow prograde and pink "to target" markers are aligned, you're closing directly; if not, you're going to pass by at some distance.  You can only fly these when you're close enough that orbital mechanics have little effect, but tens of kilometers is about right in LKO.

The technique, as I learned it (from Scott Manley, IIRC) is to offset your heading from the "to target" marker, opposite direction from the prograde marker if you want to burn toward the target and improve your close approach, or offset your heading from the retrograde marker opposite the "from target" marker make a braking burn while also correcting your approach.  Try it in flight, it's very easy to do once you have the idea.

[Laie]

On 12/14/2017 at 12:53 AM, Spricigo said:

Docking eluding new player since 2013 2012*

I was totally amazed to see that Kosmo-not has returned. And Kashua, too!

Now I'm feeling old.

[eddiew]

On 16/12/2017 at 11:34 AM, Laie said:

I was totally amazed to see that Kosmo-not has returned. And Kashua, too!

Now I'm feeling old.

Old KSPers never quit, they just take breaks.