Kerbal Madness

[Flachzang]

Incoming!!

[Flachzang]

Redirection Missunderstanding:

Okay, so after I docked the first ship to the asteroid to close its orbit around Kerbin, I decided to bring another ship up there to refuel the first one and to rescue the crew.

 

The asteroid's orbit:

 

After some clicking around, I managed to rendezvous and to dock:

 

But Kerbal Hadsen decided to stay there and to try something out.

 

This is how it ended:

[EnigmaGrey]

And here I was hoping the planet would explode.

[Guest]

I think my Kerbal was a bit tispy this go around . . . but at least it made for a pretty shot as I slowly accelerated towards the ground. D'aw, look how happy that little guy is.

 

This looks darn nice, it's like a descending Hindu God I saw on TV once.

 

Also, got half a mind to make it into a wallpaper ;D

[Keepbro]

Ahh Kerbal Space program - mankinds answer to why we should and shouldn't have a civilian led space program.

 

Reasons for - Asteroid capture, space stations, visiting new planets, boldly going where no kerbal has gone before

 

Reasons Against - Batshit crazy designs seemingly made simply to cause megadeath fatalities (thank god there are no cities on Kerbin and kerbals live underground), Asteroid capture and redirection to earth (seriously Flachzangs video there with him accelerating an asteroid into earth like he did would be like Hiroshima x5). The sheer cost and craziness of the plans put in place (some of the plans would cost the worlds GDP). But really its more the megadeath fatalities.

[EnigmaGrey]

But think of the military applications:

[Flachzang]

Let's see if I can take this thing to the KSC with the grappling hook from KAS

[Flachzang]

Unfortunately, you can't attach the hook to the asteroid

[EnigmaGrey]

You'll just have to roll it then.

[Kirrus]

Or fly it...

[EnigmaGrey]

How can you fly what you cannot connect?

Construct a bull dozer!

[uberevan]

Does anyone have advice on how to get to pretty much any celestial body other than the Mun or Minimus?  I've been to both several times with ease but can't seem to get much further due to docking fails.  Also, I don't want to use mods because I'd rather do it myself

[Flachzang]

Your opinion of mods is a little biased. They do have nothing to do with the proportion of the player's influence on the game or the required skills you need. Apart from MechJeb. But that's pretty much the only big mod you can consider a true autopilot. In fact, mods usually make the game more complex and therefore often even more difficult. But I guess if you're new to the game, it's probably best to stick to vanilla for the time you got used to the game. I did it the same way when I noobed through the Kerbol system.

 

Okay, let's leave that aside. Interplanetary transfers!

 

Your first destination should either be Duna or Eve. They're closest to Kerbin and their orbits have pretty much the same inclination, so they're the easiest planets to go to.

 

First and most important, you have to know when to begin your transfer. The planets have to be aligned correctly. This is your time window and phase angle. For example, if you want to go to Duna, you should begin your transfer when Duna is 44.36° ahead of Kerbin (angle of Kerbin - Kerbol - Duna). Duna has to be ahead, because Duna's orbit is further away from Kerbol than Kerbin's. On the other side, going to Eve, which is closer to Kerbol, requires a transfer when Eve is -54.13° behind Kerbin. Of course, you can transfer at other times, too, but you need least deltaV when transfering at these times. How do you know this stuff? Well, you can trial and error, calculate it yourself or use websites such as the kspwiki or http://ksp.olex.biz/ or mods like protractor. Protractor only delivers numbers for you. Nothing more.

 

Next thing is to know at which point to escape your orbit around Kerbin. This is the ejection angle. In case of transfering to Duna, the ejection angle is 150.91° (angle of Kerbin's prograde vector - Kerbin - ship). I really suggest to check http://ksp.olex.biz/ to see what I mean. Just mess around with maneuver nodes in the map window when the planets are aligned. Place a node, zoom out and look what happens when you go for the prograde. Try to create the closest interception possible. When you have one, perform your burn and adjust your interception on the way to your destination. The earlier you adjust your interception during your transfer, the less deltaV you'll need. But you can adjust it more precise when your closer. Use atomic engines because they're most efficient.

 

When you're in the Sphere of Influence (SOI) of Duna or Eve, use their atmosphere to aerobreak and to create an orbit around the body. This means, you put your periapsis to an altitude where the atmosphere decelerates your ship just enough to close the orbit but not that much that it gets caught and crashes onto the planet. There is no exact number for that. It depends on your ship, the atmosphere and gravity, your speed and so on. I really recommend to hit F5 before doing that.

 

Good Luck!

[Dr Gonzo]

-Snip-

 

Some really good tips there Flachzang, especially since the Geordie Space Program is now trying (and failing) to achieve interplanetary travel. Thanks for the advice! Will try putting this in to practice this afternoon.

[uberevan]

The timing isn't the problem, although that does help, it's the fact that I can't seem to get into space with enough fuel.  I've had like 2 stages of fuel left and I can only get back into Duna's orbit and then I run out of fuel...my brother managed a probe there though, and he sent back some data before crashing it mercilessly into one of Duna's...dunes...

[Kajin]

I need to get back into Kerbal.

[Kirrus]

The timing isn't the problem, although that does help, it's the fact that I can't seem to get into space with enough fuel.  I've had like 2 stages of fuel left and I can only get back into Duna's orbit and then I run out of fuel...my brother managed a probe there though, and he sent back some data before crashing it mercilessly into one of Duna's...dunes...

 

Build a space station in kerbal orbit, and possibly one in duna orbit. Fill the space stations to the brim with fuel, and refuel your inerplanetary ship in KO

[uberevan]

 

The timing isn't the problem, although that does help, it's the fact that I can't seem to get into space with enough fuel.  I've had like 2 stages of fuel left and I can only get back into Duna's orbit and then I run out of fuel...my brother managed a probe there though, and he sent back some data before crashing it mercilessly into one of Duna's...dunes...

 

Build a space station in kerbal orbit, and possibly one in duna orbit. Fill the space stations to the brim with fuel, and refuel your inerplanetary ship in KO

 

Ok, lemme learn how to dock real fast lol

My space station slowly get closer and their orbits are almost the same, one slightly faster and catching up.  Then inexplicably it falls behind for no reason I can see...This game makes me rage....AND THEN I COME BACK FOR MORE

[deprav]

I've been touching myself watching videos of KSP on youtube.

I don't have any money to spend on video games lately tho, but it sure is at the top of my list of games to buy.

[Flachzang]

Ok, lemme learn how to dock real fast lol

 

 

My space station slowly get closer and their orbits are almost the same, one slightly faster and catching up.  Then inexplicably it falls behind for no reason I can see...This game makes me rage....AND THEN I COME BACK FOR MORE

 

There are countless videos and guides about that on the interwebs. Did you also check the tutorials ingame? They wanted to update them, including a docking tutorial in the upcoming patches. Don't know if it's in this version already though.

 

In general, what you do is:

 

1. Launch a ship equipped with RCS(!) and take it into similar orbit (same size, direction, inclination, eccentricity...) as the ship you want to dock with. Target the other ship in the map window.

 

2. Place a node and mess around with it to create the closest interception possible with the least required deltaV.

 

This can be a pain and might take some time. It becomes easier and faster the more experienced you are with it. Sometimes it's better to time warp a while to have a new initial situation. This way, it might be easier to create an interception. Your interception itself should be under 10km ideally. The closer, the better.

 

3. Perform your maneuver and delete the node.

 

If you didn't perform it precise enough and your interception distance is worse after the burn, create a new node or perform a very tiny burn in one direction (e.g. prograde) while watching the interception distance in the map window. If the distance becomes even bigger, then perform a very tiny burn in the opposit direction (e.g. retrograde) as long as the distance becomes closer. You can toggle to sensitive controls with capslock to perform more accurate burns and maneuvers or use your RCS. During this whole process, autosave everytime you got closer.

 

4. Kill your relative velocity to your target at the exact point of interception.

 

This is the tricky part, so let's do it step by step, k?

Above your navball you can see your relative velocities. You can toggle through those relative velocities by right clicking on it. There is for example, your relative velocity to your orbit, to the surface or to your target. Make sure it shows your relative velocity to your target. This is when it shows "Target xxxxx.xx m/s" above your navball. The navball is then in target mode.

 

When this number is 0m/s, your excactly as fast as your target and therefore the distance to your target will not change. So you want this to happen exactly at the point of your closest interception to maintain the distance. If it becomes 0 before this event in time, the interception might never take place. If it becomes 0 after this event in time, you will overshoot your target.

 

When you toggle through your relative velocities, you'll notice that also the markers on your navball itself (prograde, retrograde...) will change to new positions. Because those markers also show your relative vectors to either your orbit, surface or target. Your relative prograde vector of your orbit is different than the one from your target. That's why it's important that you're in target mode of your navball.

 

So now, in order to kill your relative velocity to your target and to decrease the number above your navball to 0m/s, you have to point to your retrograde vector in target mode of your navball and burn in this direction. But as I said, you have to do it at your closest distance to your target.

 

Let's do an example:

Your closest interception is 5.8km and this event in time will be in 24min. Your relative velocity shows 321.65m/s. Time warp to 5min before the interception. Your relative velocity now shows 244.89m/s. Point retrograde in target mode of your navball and burn to let's say 200.00m/s to see and estimate how much time you will need approximately to bring it to 0m/s. Check your interception in map window. Time warp a little further if you can kill your velocity fast enough, because you don't want to change your speed too early as it changes the distance to your target at your closest interception. In our case, the interception distance has changed from 5.8km to 6.1km. You have to kill your speed as late as possible but you don't want to overshoot the target, too. The perfect burn is a suicide burn, reaching 0m/s at your interception distance of 5.8km. Well, now its 6.1m/s ^^

 

5. Further decrease the distance.

 

You should be 6.1km away from your target now and your relative velocity to your target should be 0m/s. You'll notice that the distance stays pretty much the same. In order to further decrease the distance, you have to burn right to your target. This is the new round pink marker on your navball in target mode. It shows the position of the ship you want to dock with. Increase your relative velocity to your target to about 20m/s by burning to the direction of this round pink marker. The distance should become smaller now and your prograde vector should be right on this round pink marker. Hold your prograde vector on this marker. Use your RCS for that. It changes because the target is moving. So you might need to adjust your prograde vector back onto that pink marker. Before you crash into your target, kill your relative velocity again at 50-100m distance to 0m/s by burning retrograde in target mode.

 

6. Freaking dock.

 

Right click on your docking port and click "Control from here". Right click the target's docking port and click "Set as target". Change to docking mode, align your ships and dock with RCS. The docking mode itself has to modes: One to rotate your ship and one to "fly" left, right, straight and so on. Rotate your ship so that you really move to the left when you press A or up when you press shift (watch where the thrust of your RCS goes to) This way, it should be easier for you to control your ship.

 

That's pretty much all you can say about this part. Autosave! A helpful tip for this action is to switch to the other ship and turn it into the direction of the ship that wants to dock, so that you only have to "fly" straight forward to the docking port when you switch back. Don't dock when your faster than 5m/s. If the ships wont align correctly when you're right on top of that docking port, turn off SAS. Autosave! Good Luck!

 

[uberevan]

At it's closest it get to 2000 meters away at the intersect on the other side of Kerban

I'm not sure where to go from here because their speeds are close but one I'm trying to connect to is a few hundred meters above.  Otherwise I'm good but it seems like I can't get close enough.  Fuel also isn't a problem for me at the moment, so I don't need to worry about that.

[Flachzang]

 

...but one I'm trying to connect to is a few hundred meters above. ...

This one, I dont understand.

 

Your intersect looks close enough. Just time warp to ~1min before this intersect on the other side of Kerbin and slowly decrease your relative velocity to 0m/s during this 1min by burning retrograde (green marker) so that you don't overshoot it. Then burn in direction of the round pink marker to further decrease the distance.

 

...Okay, only for you, I did this quick video:

From 00:00 to 02:00 Creating and Performing Node

Then I time warped to intersect.

From 02:45 to 04:20 I killed my relative velocity

Then I burned to the round pink marker, to the target to further decrease distance

Because it was on the dark side of Kerbin, I decided to warp to the daylight side of Kerbin for you to see better. (np )

The rest is just docking. With swapping vehicles to point at each other.

[EnigmaGrey]

Xeon-kite.

[uberevan]

Thanks Flachzang!  I've gotten within the hundreds feet multiple times now but I don't act fast enough and before I know it the intersect has passed though I've gotten very close many times.

I'll tell you when I get there lol

[EnigmaGrey]

Uh, batteries?



Definitely batteries.



Woo. If only engines still existed . . .

The original ion sled: