Sending rocket to specific inclintation

[kiwiak]

Any tips on sending my rocket on specific inclintaton? What to do to get 45', polar, equatorial etc

I dont mean changing inclintation while on orbit alredy!

[TheCanadianVendingMachine]

Launch, north, south, east, etc.

[Soda Popinski]

Instead of aiming East (90 on the Nav ball), aim 0/360 for North, 45 for North East. I'd suggest clicking on the "Surface" to get it to "Orbit" so Kerbin's rotation doesn't throw you off.

You can even pre-rotate the craft in the VAB, so you can still just hit D.

[longhornchris]

Just to add one more note. From the space center you can launch to any inclination because its at the equator. When taking off from any other location the minimum inclination is the latitude of your launch site. Keep that in mind when trying to takeoff from other planets.

[Frederf]

Welcome to the joys of vector addition!

For the most part you simply burn a heading which matches your desired inclination. East is 0, West is 180, North is 90. There is a correction angle you need because you're already moving eastward on the launch pad. I use this site as a simple tool but you could do it with paper and pencil if you like. http://www.mathsisfun.com/algebra/vector-calculator.html If I type in 174.5 length vector pointing right (eastward, aka 0° in math land) and add 2300 length vector pointing up (north, aka 90 in math land) then I get a resultant vector of 2306.6 at ~86°. Remember that that's 86 degrees counter clockwise from math-zero which is 4 degrees clockwise from navigation-zero (aka north).

So if you aimed heading N from the launchpad at KSC you'd miss to the east (right) by 4-5° and end up in an 86 degree inclination orbit. The quick answer is to aim west (left) of north by that same margin to cancel this effect. More exactly you should adjust your traveling vector so the resultant ends up in the direction and length you want. I used 174.5 because that's the surface rotation at equator and 2300 because that's about horizontal orbital speed added to get 70x70.

Now if you want to change the RAAN which is where the ascending node is, then it comes down to timing. If you're burning northerly and want RAAN at 0 then you take off at midnight (solar antipode) delaying up to six hours if you want a RAAN between 0 and 360 proportionally. If you are burning southward then the ascending node is on the opposite side from launch so everything's shifted 180 degrees.

[thereaverofdarkness]

Make a nav waypoint and use the blue teal marks (north and south on the planet if you are in an equatorial orbit). As you move those, you'll notice your orbital plane tilts, but it also adds energy to your orbit. Once you have enough tilt, you want to use the green marks to remove excess orbital energy. This will also change the tilt. It takes a bit of adjustment to get it tilted how you want it. Practice on a large orbit so you have time to setup the waypoint. Once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy.