Need help please with re-orbiting

[MagicRik]

Hi guys

Im new to the game and love it, but its slowly making me want to kill myself. it seems like i hit one mile stone and then a mountain falls on me. I got to geosync orbit but was on the wrong side of the world and read all i have to do is go up to say 3000km let the planet catch up and come back down. easy as. Im using mechjeb. I just found that button that makes you orbit faster. But for the life of me i cant get back to 2870km.

I know to some this might seem like a really stupid question but after 3 restart and 4 days im losing the will to live.

So how do i re-orbit???

Thanks Rick

[trekkie5249]

Not entirely sure I understand your question. Are you trying to just get in to orbit, or is there any other reason you want to go up to 3 million meters?

[EtherDragon]

So, let's say you are in a circular orbit at 2870km. Your Periapsis and Apoapsis are very similar (but still defined points). These two terms you want to bleach into your memory - Periapsis, lowest point in your orbit - Apoapsis, highest point in your orbit. These two points entirely define your orbital characteristics - how long it takes to complete an orbit, how eccentric it is, etc.

Now - you found you're parked on the wrong side of the planet in a geostationary orbit. Bummer - but it's not the end of the world (or your mission). As you already found out, you can change your orbital period (to let the planet "catch up") by burning prograde to increase your orbit to 3000km. Here is the magic trick (it's actually just physics, but to many of us - it looks a lot like magic)...

Whenever you are at your Periapsis - you can change your Apoapsis. Conversely, whenever you are at your Apoapsis you can change your Periapsis. So - say you now have an eccentric orbit with Pe = 2870km and Ap = 3000km, first identify what you want to do... If you guessed "decrease the Apoapsis to 2870" you are correct!

How do you decrease the Apoapsis? If you guessed "burn at the Periapsis" you are mostly there. The best place to bring down your Apoapsis is at the Periapsis - to decrease orbital height for a point, you thrust RETROGRADE. So... point backwards, at the Periapsis, and give a little thrust - you will be able to see your Apoapsis come down - when the Ap and Pe are very close STOP, you're done!

Good luck!

[MagicRik]

Thanks EtherDragon ill give it a go.