Getting to the mun without maneuver nodes

[hasty6]

I want to know how to get to the mun without using maneuver nodes. A small paragraph tutorial would be helpful.

I am asking this question because for some reason i hate using maneuver nodes. I have no idea why but i hate using them and i hate it when i see a youtuber using maneuver nodes to get into a simple orbit i get really angry with for some reason?

I am interested to see if anyone hates maneuver nodes as well.

hasty6

[BudgetHedgehog]

When the Mun appears on the horizon from LKO, start your burn.

Also, I suggest unbunching your knickers and letting other people play however they want

[Random Tank]

Maneuver nodes are only there to help you, and they are optional, and only just give information; they aren't some silly autopilot, you still fly the ship!

I just stick my ship in a normal LKO, then make my apoapsis ~70 degrees ahead of the moons current position; encounter every time! I regularly don't use nodes for Mun or Minmus transfer as I... well... forget about them.

Did you have a bad run in with a maneuver node or something? Did one steal your car or something?

[FREEFALL1984]

Why the hate, maneuver nodes are brilliant, they make life so much easier, I dread to imagine how you're going to perform fine tuning on interplanetary transfers without them, I can see a lot of F9 spam in your future

[RocketPilot573]

When in LKO, for whatever reason, burning when the Mun or Minmus comes over the horizon will get you there.

[KingMatthew]

The best way I found it to get to the mun was to go to about a 100Km orbit. (Make sure you go to the right at launch) When you are in a stable orbit, as soon as the mun comes over the horizon, then you burn! This is how I always get there.

[vetrox]

Get into a circular orbit.

Goto map view.

Position the map so the Mun is at 12 O'clock.

Start burning when your ship is at 3 O'clock until you get an encounter.

Done.

[tjsnh]

I've done this a few times, mostly out of laziness.

Launch and get into a stable equatorial kerbin orbit as usual, doesn't need to be super circular orbit.

Fly to periapsis, point towards prograde, hit M to look at the zoomed-out view, and burn until your flight path intersects with the mun's orbit.

Fast-forward time (F5 quicksave every few orbits) until your oblong kerbin orbit intersects the mun and your flight path turns purple/green..

It may take a while, but it will happen eventually. If you zip by too quickly and explode, just push F9 to reload your last quicksave.

This is probably the least efficient method, but it's almost noob-proof, and I'll confess that I've used it with unmanned probes more than a few times out of laziness. (I go do other things while probe is orbiting the sun trying to intersect whicheverplanet, and I just check on it now and then)

Edited April 24, 2014 by tjsnh

[FREEFALL1984]

I've done this a few times, mostly out of laziness.

Launch and get into a stable equatorial kerbin orbit as usual, doesn't need to be super circular orbit.

Fly to periapsis, point towards prograde, hit M to look at the zoomed-out view, and burn until your flight path intersects with the mun's orbit.

Fast-forward time (F5 quicksave every few orbits) until your oblong kerbin orbit intersects the mun and your flight path turns purple/green..

It may take a while, but it will happen eventually. If you zip by too quickly and explode, just push F9 to reload your last quicksave.

This is probably the least efficient method, but it's almost noob-proof, and I'll confess that I've used it with unmanned probes more than a few times out of laziness. (I go do other things while probe is orbiting the sun trying to intersect whicheverplanet, and I just check on it now and then)

If your orbit is in phase with that of the moon, it could take a lot longer than a long time. it might never happen. in fact if its exactly in phase it could take thousands of years to get an incounter lol

[tjsnh]

If your orbit is in phase with that of the moon, it could take a lot longer than a long time. it might never happen. in fact if its exactly in phase it could take thousands of years to get an incounter lol

I've rarely had it take that long, but I usually glance at the relative positions after an orbit or three, and if the craft/body aren't moving relative to each other, just burn a little to change the shape of the orbit.

Again, ezmode, not efficientmode. ;-)

[Redshift OTF]

Good luck trying to get to Moho without manouvre nodes.

[Pecan]

...your oblong kerbin orbit ...

I think you mean 'oval' - oblongs are square-ish!

[Vanamonde]

My walkthrough doesn't use maneuver nodes because it was written before they were invented.

[EuSouONumero345]

Good luck trying to get to Moho without manouvre nodes.

I did that back when there was no maneuver nodes Of course there were quicksaves, and I used them a lot.

[regex]

I am interested to see if anyone hates maneuver nodes as well.

I, too, hate proper planning tools.

[Redshift OTF]

I did that back when there was no maneuver nodes Of course there were quicksaves, and I used them a lot.

OK, you don't need luck, you're obviously l33t

Seriously I don't know how people would manage without nodes.

[GoatRider]

There's a tutorial built into the game that shows you how to do a hohman transfer to the mun, without using maneuver nodes.

[madmat]

Mechjeb- ascent guidance-11000km. Go make cuppa. No nodes and a cuppa to boot,,woohoo

[xcorps]

I am interested to see if anyone hates maneuver nodes as well.

hasty6

I too hate maneuver nodes. I let Mechjeb plot them.

I also hate pointing at maneuver nodes. I let Mechjeb aim the ship.

I hate making the burns as well. I let Mechjeb do it.

Most of the time I hate launching. I let Mechjeb do it.

[FREEFALL1984]

Mechjeb- ascent guidance-11000km. Go make cuppa. No nodes and a cuppa to boot,,woohoo

I imagine you time your launches though otherwise you'll spend a long long time following the mun around kerbin

[Seret]

I am interested to see if anyone hates maneuver nodes as well.

That's probably going to be a very small club.

Way back in the days of yore there were no maneuver nodes. You used to fly totally by the seat of your pants. It wasn't better.

[madmat]

I imagine you time your launches though otherwise you'll spend a long long time following the mun around kerbin

Usually just a small retro burn when I return (for intercept). Mechjeb is my friend. Also been playing since before Manoeuvre nodes and MJ. Just need my caffeine fix. Now if only MJ could make coffee, Hmmm

[Buzzed Aldrin]

Getting to and landing on the moon with no maneuver nodes and no landing legs was a real challenge Back In The Day .

[NichG]

I like maneuver nodes... but I'll admit, I also like thinking about how one might navigate by dead reckoning without any sort of trajectory prediction, and whether there are rules of thumb one can use to figure things out. So I've managed to get to the Mun without looking at map mode at all before (using about 8km/sec of delta-v from launch due to messing it up quite a bit). Roughly speaking, what it looks like is that the Mun starts a bit ahead of you, then falls back (you're going around your orbit faster than it is at that point), and then appears to 'catch up' from behind as you reach apoapsis. I've tried to use this idea for interplanetary trips, but even if you wait for a launch window and keep track of how much delta-v you use up to get the burns close, the accuracy needed is a bit too large to pull it off with a single shot. Instead I think the best bet is the 'get the apoapsis right, keep periapsis a bit tighter in, and wait to catch up' method - of course this means several decades of going around Kerbin. I tried unsuccessfully with Duna, but Jool is probably easier since it has a huge SOI.