How to hop from one biome to another

[Kesa]

I'm doing biome hoppers for Mun and Minmus and I wanted to know (but am to lazy to do the math) : at which angle should I throttle to travel a given distance the most efficiently?

(1) If you assume the planet is flat with constant gravity, you will go further by accelerating at 45°.

(2) If you go for orbit, you want to burn horizontally as soon as possible (0°)

(3) If you want to go to an other biome, I expect there is an optimal angle between 0° and 45°, depending on how far you want to travel.

Some reasonable assumptions :

- instant burn, since we're on low gravity

- moon is perfectly spheric

- gravity might be constant (but I'm not sure it helps, since I expect someone using ellipse)

Edited December 15, 2014 by Kesa
Answered!

[zekes]

rover might be easer, if you can get going fast

[Kesa]

rover might be easer, if you can get going fast

Actually, I once made a big plane looking craft that had anything to make mid game science (including processing lab) that rolled on Minmus from biome to biomes on C7 gear bay and propelled by LVN. It safely could go up to 50m/s.

Oh, and quicksaving/loading was great.

[Claw]

Someone did a bunch of math on this very thing, in this very subforum. Unfortunately I can't remember how long ago. Maybe 4-6 months?...It might take some digging.

Sorry I can't remember where, but maybe this post will jog someone's memory.

Cheers,

~Claw

[Mandelbrot]

Here's some orbital mechanics for you: http://hopsblog-hop.blogspot.com/2014/06/travel-on-airless-worlds.html\

Short answer, 180 degrees, minus distance you want travel in degrees, divided by 4. So for half-way around an airless body, burn at 180 - 90 / 4 = 22.5 degree angle until your orbit intersects the spot you want, then halfway turn around and repeat, with some wiggle room of course.

[Kesa]

Here's some orbital mechanics for you: http://hopsblog-hop.blogspot.com/2014/06/travel-on-airless-worlds.html\

Short answer, 180 degrees, minus distance you want travel in degrees, divided by 4. So for half-way around an airless body, burn at 180 - 90 / 4 = 22.5 degree angle until your orbit intersects the spot you want, then halfway turn around and repeat, with some wiggle room of course.

Very helpful and comprehensive, thanks alot!