Reaching Duna

[Spaps]

So, I wanted to go to Duna today. And I heard that I have to wait until they are properly aligned. How should they be aligned? And what's the amount of fuel I need to have? Basically, what do I have to do, because I tried to get there like 3 times and I always waited years for the intersection and it never happened.

Edited October 23, 2013 by Spaps

[kurja]

So, I wanted to go to Duna today. And I heard that I have to wait until they are properly aligned. How should they be aligned? And what's the amount of fuel I need to have? Basically, what do I have to do, because I tried to get there like 3 times and I always waited years for the intersection and it never happened.

see these: http://ksp.olex.biz/ or try the Protractor mod, and see this

Edited October 23, 2013 by kurja

[Spaps]

Okay. Thank you I'm sure it will help.

[Boonestorm]

You do not have to necessarily wait for the perfect alignment; this is mostly for saving fuel. The easiest way (though not the most cost-efficient) is to

get into an orbit around kerbol:

1. do a 90 deg. launch, then burn prograde at the dark side of Kerbin (in the direction Kerbin is moving). This should bring you into an orbit around Kerbol with an apoapsis that is slightly higher than Kerbins Orbit.

2. Correct your inclination (mark Duna as target and burn at the ascending or descending node).

3. Experiment with navigation nodes at different points of your orbit, and try to get an encounter (does not have to be very near, just make sure you get the intercept).

4. Correct your course when you have covered approx. half the distance to aim for a lower periapsis (experiment with all 6 markers on the nav node here, you can learn a lot). Klicking on that appears when you bring up the navigation node will keep it from disappearing, this is great for fine-tuning your approach.

5. If you are going to land, aim for a very low periapsis, and bring some chutes. The atmosphere is not very thick, but chutes can help you save fuel.

If you want to read some more / launch directly from Kerbin orbit to be more fuel efficient, try this tutorial:

http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Tutorial:How_to_get_to_Duna