Have strange issues with Mechjeb 2 regarding orbiting another planet

[Baythan]

As far as the auto-circularization of Kerbin, I assume you mean from launch, I think that might be possible with some of the advanced features, but the amount of tweaking needed for each individual rocket is a bit higher than the minimal effort needed to just do it without autopilot (in my opinion). There are a number of ascent tutorials out there, and different ideas about when to do what, but I'll give you a simple rundown of how I reach orbit for 99% of my missions.

Reaching a Circular Orbit Around Kerbin

Step 1: Proper rocket construction and mission planning. Yes, this is always step 1. Most sources agree that the Delta-V needed to reach LKO (Low Kerbin Orbit, ~80 km altitude) is somewhere around 4,500m/s. Because I don't like to leave launch stages in orbit, I design my rockets launch stage(s) to have about 3,800-4,000m/s and let the rest of the orbital burn be done by my orbital maneuver stage. I find ~4,500m/s to be enough to get any orbit I want between 80-100 km, and I always give myself extra Delta-V in the later stages for corrective burns.

Step 2: Launch. Use MechJeb to lock yourself on a 90° heading with 90° inclination and if you don't want to roll at launch, 90° roll (or turn your rocket 90° in the VAB, I don't know why you BUILD [with the camera]facing East but LAUNCH facing North). Yes, I have used MechJeb before so I know it can do this. Also, auto-staging and letting mechjeb limit throttle to keep you below terminal velocity help. I like to reduce the auto-staging delay to about 0.1s with 0.5s gap, or whatever they call those two settings.

Step 3: Depending on rocket speed, begin turning towards 90° at either 200m/s vertical speed OR 10 km altitude, whichever happens first. Immediately after launch change the Mechjeb inclination to 75° BUT DO NOT ACTIVATE until you reach this step. As you climb higher, slowly lower the inclination by 5-10° at a time. Keep your Apoapsis on screen in a mechjeb window somewhere, and when it hits that orbital height of 80-100(whatever you want), turn off your engines and proceed to the next step.

Step 4: Tell Mechjeb to do a circularization burn at Apoapsis and execute the node, then wait for it to do that.

I believe the auto-ascent planner or whatever that function is can to Step 3 for you, but I never unlocked it in my Career mode, so I don't know how to use it. I also like doing the launch myself because it's fun. Once you get enough practice at it, you might try a launch or two without activating Mechjeb at all. Just use its info windows to get the readings you need, and lock SAS as you do the launch.

[GoatRider]

I believe the auto-ascent planner or whatever that function is can to Step 3 for you, but I never unlocked it in my Career mode, so I don't know how to use it.

The ascent guidance does that. It does the gravity turn for you, a lot smoother than you can do by hand. There's a box to enter the final altitude, and it will burn until your apoapsis reaches that, then coast to a circularization burn there. You can also set it to auto-stage, so you can just click launch, hit staging manually to start the engines and release the clamps, then come back in 5 minutes and you're in orbit.

[Baythan]

The ascent guidance does that. It does the gravity turn for you, a lot smoother than you can do by hand. There's a box to enter the final altitude, and it will burn until your apoapsis reaches that, then coast to a circularization burn there. You can also set it to auto-stage, so you can just click launch, hit staging manually to start the engines and release the clamps, then come back in 5 minutes and you're in orbit.

Nice, but it sounds so boring! At this point in my career as a Kerbonaut, my highest failure chance is at launch. If I skip that part the only explosions I'll see are when I crash something on purpose.

Edit: I was also guessing that the more often we throw out legible instructions on how to do things manually, the more people will learn to enjoy the game. I understand the usefulness of MechJeb, but if too many people rely on it to do all the flying, are they really playing the game? Not saying it's wrong, not at all, there is NO wrong way to play KSP(except pirated, please, these guys deserve the money for what they've done). I just found myself getting bored by letting MJ do all the work, so I got rid of it to see what I could do with just Kerbal Engineer telling me what my ÃŽâ€v is.

Edited April 29, 2014 by Baythan

[Red Iron Crown]

Nice, but it sounds so boring! At this point in my career as a Kerbonaut, my highest failure chance is at launch. If I skip that part the only explosions I'll see are when I crash something on purpose.

If you enjoy it, stick with doing it manually. If you get bored with repetitive launches, it's there for you.

[GoatRider]

Nice, but it sounds so boring! At this point in my career as a Kerbonaut, my highest failure chance is at launch. If I skip that part the only explosions I'll see are when I crash something on purpose.

I'm not saying you should use ascent guidance every time! I do it manually a lot myself. I have to when I start a new career and haven't unlocked it yet. But it gets pretty boring to manually steer the same old ascent path over and over again, when you can automate getting to the interesting part.

[galaxy366]

Thanks for the great support guys! I'm able to go to other planets without any strange issues now . I'll mark this as answered!

[Baythan]

Glad we could all be of help.

[EdFred]

The other thing you can do with MechJeb is use the Maneuver Node editor. When MechJeb plans an encounter it puts you into the center of the planet. Pull up the node editor, and reduce the dV by 0.1 at a time (for prograde orbit), and you can get your periapsis to be above the surface. Sometimes it's still off after entering the SOI, but it's definite dV saved.