What to do while waiting for launch windows?

[peachoftree]

In the past whenever I have gone interplanetary I would just warp ahead to the transfer window ignoring everything else. I don't like the feel of halting my space program for 200+ days to wait for one mission. Just imagine if nasa had said "well, were just not going to do anything for the entire year of 1995 while we wait to launch cassini to Saturn). But the dilemma for me is that I don't know what to do while waiting for these transfer windows. any suggestions?

[SlimeCrusher]

Send more missions maybe, some small ones are the best, for example, sending a lander to the Mun or Minmus, or simply put a geostationary satellite into orbit. Or maybe experiment with SSTOs if you haven't already, make a family of SSTOs for small, medium and big payloads.

Or forget about reality and send a lander to each planet... with a delay of 1 day for each launch...

[MarvinKitFox]

Simple.

Don't let launch windows determine *what* missions you are sending, merely *when*.

When Eve window is open, launch to eve.

When jool window is open, launch to Jool and its brood.

Yes, this means you may have a handful of ships in motion at the same time. use Kerbal alarm clock to ensure you don't miss any important events.

(the FUN part comes when, just as you finish your braking burn for a landing on Tylo, to have KAC remind you that your MoHo encounter is about to happen and that you have an Eve aerobraking due in 3 minutes!

[Laie]

But the dilemma for me is that I don't know what to do while waiting for these transfer windows. any suggestions?

Well, one question is whether you even want to do something else in the mean time. I tend to get sucked up in a mission and hate it when KAC tells me that I have to look into other things, NOW.

(the FUN part comes when, just as you finish your braking burn for a landing on Tylo, to have KAC remind you that your MoHo encounter is about to happen and that you have an Eve aerobraking due in 3 minutes!

And then there's that. I don't know if I just had bad luck or if there's some kind of harmonics involved, but things like that kept happeneing a lot.

[Wanderfound]

Also keep in mind: the launch window is when it's easiest to go interplanetary, but it's not compulsory to wait for them. Most of the other times, you can still get there, you just need a bit more ÃŽâ€V. A lot of the time, it isn't even very much more.

See http://alexmoon.github.io/ksp/

[Red Iron Crown]

See http://alexmoon.github.io/ksp/

Why alt-tab to a web page when you can get delicious pork chops right in game? Transfer Window Planner, same solver as used on Alexmoon's site, apparently works in RSS and other planetary systems, too.

[O-Doc]

But the dilemma for me is that I don't know what to do while waiting for these transfer windows. any suggestions?

The proven strategy is to spend that time and energy lobbying the government for more funds.

Seriously though, there's only so much to do in the game. Just set your game of fast forward and join the forum discussion on your laptop while you wait.

[ratchet freak]

sometimes you just have to timewarp, if you never go over 10x you will never be able to explore jool before the next version

[AlexinTokyo]

Contracts.

Get a 'Rescue [RNDNAME] Kerman from Kerbin orbit' contract and see how many part testing contracts you can graft on to the mission. Lather, rinse, repeat.

For extra credit, try to make the mission as reusable/recoverable as Kerbally possible.

Alternatively, use the time to build up your Kerbin-system infrastructure of science and refueling stations and surface research bases.

Or you can go anomaly hunting.

[SRV Ron]

The inbetween time is good for doing contracts, exploring Mun and Minmus for all its science, and refining the fleet of ships that will be used for exploration when those windows become available.

[Wanderfound]

Why alt-tab to a web page when you can get delicious pork chops right in game? Transfer Window Planner, same solver as used on Alexmoon's site, apparently works in RSS and other planetary systems, too.

Ooh, shiny.

Now if I could just convince Sarbian to add a "no, don't wait for the next window, take me now" option to the interplanetary transfer function on Mechjeb Manoeuvre Planner.

[KerikBalm]

Well, I'm having the same problem... I keep hauling uncrewed 100+ ton ships to orbit, and then having them sit there.

Then I haul up another one... dock it with the first, and it... sits there.

I was starting to amss an armada of ships in LKO, all waiting for transfer windows...

(easy funds + SSTO launcher capable of hauling 100 tons = all my missions intend to leave orbiting labs and fuel depots above the target worlds - well, not so much Eve, not much point in an orbiting fuel depot if I can't also make a reusable lander, and there's no SSTO from eve, so....)

Then I started sending out asteroid redirect missions, so far just two. Sure, if I wanted to simply rendevous, then again, I'd be waiting for windows, but I want to add new moons to kerbin, and that's a lot easier if I get to them early and nudge their PE into the upper atmosphere.

I also launched some speedy ion probes to Eve, Duna, and Moho, completely ignoring transfer windows. I'm contemplating speeding up their trajectories even more, so that I can have science data from the target before I ferry a crew up to one of the waiting interplanetary ships.

[Alshain]

When I start a new game now it ends up being a race the Duna launch window. You have 58 days from the start of a new game to get enough science to build a Duna ship and 3 days after that you need a Jool ship, 1 day later, Eeloo. It's kind of an exciting rush. So far I've succeeded at Duna but I'm still trying to hit Jool and Eeloo.

[KerikBalm]

Meh, I find it easy to get enough science, particularly with contracts now.... an orbiting lab+ fuel depot + 1 reusable lander = 1 mission to minmus, 1 mission to mun = unlocked tech tree.

For me, its just a matter of getting the grav detector so I don't need to land at the same places over again

[Kryxal]

For that matter, if you're fast you can launch a probe to Eve bare days after starting ... you're off-window but it's not TOO bad and you'll get transmitted science before the Duna window comes.