Looking for interplanetary help.

[Jollyroger6969]

Hi guys! I was wondering if anyone out there had some advice for a rookie at long space flights.

I've made Duna and Eve.. Jool once by shear luck.

This is what I use.

Edited December 17, 2013 by Jollyroger6969
answered

[Vanamonde]

What kind of advice are you looking for? Ship design, or flight planning?

Just guessing from the pic, you could probably make Dres with that, but I don't think it has the delta-V for farther destinations.

[Specialist290]

I could probably give you a little more specific guidance on the matter if you were a little more specific on what you're asking for. In the meantime, however, there are a number of quality tutorials and other resources on interplanetary travel in the Drawing Board, which is conveniently linked through my signature. Hope it helps

[Jollyroger6969]

Both mate. All I know is I want an angle that looks like 45 degrees from myself and the target before i try to make a burn. Figured that out watching Mechjeb xD

Ship designs are a massive plus.. Ideas though.. Not files I'd like to build them myself.

Yeah Vana I have seen yours and saved a few of the photos for reference. I'm building a ship that resembles what you have in your ship design post. In fact my first docking attempts were inspired from it...

Edited December 13, 2013 by Specialist290
Merging sequential posts.

[Vanamonde]

It's a burden being a role model. I try to stay humble about it.

[capi3101]

45 degrees isn't what you always want (that's specifically for Duna, and even then there's a slight difference)...

If you're heading to a destination closer to Kerbol, plan your ejection burn some time around local sunrise, and vice versa. Other than that, treat it like golf -you make a long drive to get as close as you can when you tee-off, you make one or more smaller drives to correct and get closer to the hole, and then put to get it there. Same principle: make a long burn to get as close to the target as you can manage, make one or two correction burns en route to lower that further, then make any final corrections once you've arrived at the target's SOI (if you can manage it though, you want to get to your desired periapsis while still a fair ways off - you'll save delta-V in the long run).

That's interplanetary flight planning in a nutshell. As far as design goes, it becomes a question of where you want to go and what you want to do when you get there.

Let's start with the ship you've got - what is its mass prior to leaving Kerbin and can you give me the number/size of all the fuel tanks aboard? Also, what kind of propulsion do you have on each stage (I'm assuming nukes but that's not 100% clear from the pic). Is that an asparagus-staged or serial-staged payload? I'm trying to gauge the actual delta-V of the ship you've got already.

[Dogface]

Interactive illustrated interplanetary guide and calculator for KSP

http://ksp.olex.biz/

On interplanetary kerbaled missions I use large radius fuel tanks and nuclear engines. Also, you seen to have parachutes and a separator for Kerbin re-entry. I save the weight and dock with my space station on return.

Edited December 13, 2013 by Dogface

[bptrav]

On interplanetary kerbaled missions I use large radius fuel tanks and nuclear engines.

Yep that's what I do as well, and I try to drop empty tanks/weight as I go along. The nuclear engines are just so much more efficient in the vacuum of space. They will nearly double your delta-v in most cases, even if their TWR isn't great. If you have both nuclear and non-nuclear engines on your craft you can also shut down your non-nuclear engines which will greatly increase your delta-v.

I also try to make use of docking ports so that I can leave some fuel tanks in orbit while I land on the planet/moon, then rendezvous back with them for the return trip.