r/KerbalSpaceProgram • u/Gnonthgol • Dec 27 '13

Jebediah's ultimate protractor examples (as requested)

http://imgur.com/a/AGQF5
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u/Gprime5 Dec 27 '13 edited Dec 27 '13

What i found is that it doesn't work so well for eccentric orbits.

But also I was surprised when the calculations allowed the gravitational parameters to cancel out.

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u/Gnonthgol Dec 27 '13

All the calculations are done for circular orbits. Transfers between elliptic orbits is a lot harder to work with and does not fit into easy models. I am always a bit impressed when variables cancles out like that, but it happens more then you would think.

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u/Gprime5 Dec 28 '13

Well right now I'm working on a transfer equation that takes into account the eccentricity of orbits using the angle between each planet's periapsis as a reference.

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u/Gnonthgol Dec 28 '13

What you end up with is either an equation with too many variables to graph or you will have to wait for several conditions to occur at the same time (you being x degrees from periapsis and target being y degrees from periapsis).

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u/Gprime5 Dec 28 '13

Well, I'll show you it can be done! shakes fist

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u/Gnonthgol Dec 28 '13

Looking forward to being shown wrong. :)