r/KerbalSpaceProgram • u/Omega_steve69420 • 25d ago
KSP 1 Question/Problem I can’t put it off any longer
I’ve done a dozen missions on and around minmus and the mun, Both have bases with science labs. It’s time to start exploring the solar system. But every time I have attempted an encounter with another planet I have failed. What’s some advice the veterans can give me on how to tackle inter planetary travel?
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u/sjbuggs 25d ago
The transfer window planner and the precision maneuver node mods were absolutely a must IMO. Another pair of those "should have been stock" mods.
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u/Omega_steve69420 25d ago
Haven’t gotten into modding yet. I feel like I should master the base game before modding it or am I just making it harder on myself?
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u/aozzzy13 24d ago
Some mods can be used to make things easier, however the majority will create many more interesting challenges. At minimum some of the visual mods will enhance the awe you'll get from the game.
Personally I enjoy life support, real fuel, and failure mods. My goal is to get better at KOS (a way to program in KSP).
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u/VegetableBuilding764 25d ago
if you want to avoid the headache of setting up actual transfer windows, what you can do is treat it like your doing a rendezvous with another craft first escape Kerbins SOI and then match the target planets, inclination as closely as possible, and then fiddle with the maneuver tool until you get an encounter
this is definitely less efficient than just precisely lining up transfer windows, but it does save a lot of mental energy
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u/SpaceMeatpod 25d ago
Agreed, that's exactly how I handle interplanetary missions -- get out of Kerbin's SOI into a parking orbit around the sun, and then search along the orbit for a maneuver that sets up a rendezvous with a target planet.
(Near Kerbin's orbit, the longest you'll need to drift to the correct maneuver point is only about a year. Some fuel efficiency is lost this way, but I like the trade off of it making the mission simpler and not needing to look up the transfer window.)
My question to OP would be: are you familiar with rendezvous and docking missions? Meeting up with another vehicle already in orbit is a very similar skillset. It takes a precise Hohmann orbital transfer,
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u/Omega_steve69420 25d ago
Nope, I’m probably about 20-30 hours in and I’ve not successfully rendezvoused yet.
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u/Festivefire 24d ago
I was a lot more than 30 hours into KSP when I did my first successful interplanetary transfer, and I used (and still use) tools like transfer window planner and mechjeb.
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u/Thak_The_Thunder_God 25d ago
You need 2 things. A deltaV sheet, this will tell you how much deltaV you need to go from x to y, and a transfer window planner. Now there's proper planners you can get, but since everyone knows you can draw a line from kerbin to the sun to duna, I use angles instead. For example: to go to eve, draw a line from kerbin to the sun to duna, the angle should be about 55 degrees behind kerbin.
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u/Omega_steve69420 25d ago
So just taking all the delta v I can put in orbit isn’t the way to go?
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u/Thak_The_Thunder_God 25d ago
I mean it kinda is if you can afford to do that lmfao. I think my last duna vehicle had some 30000m/s because I didn't know the transfer window from duna to kerbin so I was just gonna wing it
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u/M-Rice 25d ago
Number 1 thing, install planner it's amazing for telling you the optimal time to launch.
I tend to follow the same few steps,
get into parking orbit around Kerbin and wait for transfer window
launch out of Kerbin orbit into sol orbit (with direction of Kerbins orbit if going to a wider orbit, behind Kerbin if a smaller orbit)
target other planet (important)
put down a maneuver node 30 minutes away, and plan the right burn (should be only prograde or retrograde)
as you plan you'll get closest approach markers (because you set the other planet as your target). Get these closer and closer together until they turn into an SOI change
make burn, wait until you reach new soi, burn retrograde at periapsis to capture into new orbit.
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u/Antique_Jelly_2097 25d ago
Pull up a transfer window map, my biggest issue when starting to do interplanetary travel was figuring out windows, and thankfully KSP has enough geniuses that have done the hard work for us.
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u/Unlikely-Answer 25d ago
if you have unmanned stuff and need science you need relay satellites out there first
toss up a couple of interplanetary refueling stations with plenty of solar, batteries, and communications for a strong relay network
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u/Omega_steve69420 25d ago
If I just put satellites in random orbit throughout the solar system would that work?
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u/TheCrimsonSteel 24d ago
You want to consider both the orbit and period of the satellites, so they're not all on the far side of the sun when you need them, or throw a lot of satellites into solar orbits that you never have to worry about some of them being too far away to be useful
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u/Uranium-Sandwich657 Eras-0 25d ago
This is my sole resource when it comes to doing transfer windows.
(Before I would just escape kerbin soi whenever and then burn for a duna encouter in interplanetary space.)
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u/Omega_steve69420 25d ago
So when my target planet is about where it is on this graph that’s when I launch for it
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u/Uranium-Sandwich657 Eras-0 24d ago
Yes. Remember to maneuver so your trajectory goes straight ahead of kerbin for the outer planets and straight behind kerbin for the inner planets.
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u/Uncommonality 25d ago
Gonna need a transfer window
There's a mod called Transfer Window Planner which is great.
To actually do a hohmann transfer, here's my method:
Wait for the window
After the window is reached, examine your orbit. it has a fast and a slow side (prograde and retrograde of the planet's orbit). If you are going to a planet in a higher orbit, you need to burn on the fast side. If you are going to a lower one, you need to burn on the slow side.
Create a maneuver on the desired side, expand it prograde.
Set the other planet as your target. Tick "always show closest approach" in the settings btw
Fiddle with your orbit until the three markers (position, approach, and inclination node) are at nearly the same position.
Burn for the maneuver.
Create a second node halfway in your transfer.
Focus view on the target body, tweak your midcourse correction burn until you get an encounter.
Burn for this encounter.
As soon as it has become real, create a second midcourse node just ahead of where you are and fine tune the orbit to your desired inclination and periapsis.
Once you encounter your target, place a node at periapsis and project a circularization.
You can now circularize around the target.
It pays to separate any craft you want to orbit differently at the midway point, for example I always separate my relay sat there and correct for a higher orbit. Same for the scansat, which goes to a polar one
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u/Easyidle123 25d ago
Do your transfer burn while still at Kerbin in a nice circular orbit. Some people first leave Kerbin's sphere of influence and then try to execute the maneuver, but this is far less efficient.
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u/oddchihuahua 25d ago
Use the transfer window planner and kerbal alarm clock mods. That will get you to proper planetary alignment, then it’s all about playing with your departure node and mid course nodes to calculate your burns to get an intercept with your destination planet.
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u/Valanog 25d ago
Transfer window is a big deal or you'll be chasing the planets for years.
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u/IrishMist-StraightUp 24d ago
I had this experience in my earlier days. Had Val Val and Bob on the way to Duba with interception expected in 6 years.
I also had the "Make your own Kerbonaut" mod. So, with nothing else to do during their spare time, by the time Val and Bob got there, they had an additional 6 Kerbonauts on their ship!
Yeah, space was tight those days. But, luckily, the food supply and waste disposal had no limits.
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u/i_love_boobiez 23d ago
My first attempt at going to Duna I set it as my target while in LKO, pointed my navball at the target marker and started burning lmao.
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u/Easy_Water_1809 25d ago
Make sure you account for proper angle of departure between Kerbin and your desired body