#ALL KERBAL SPACE PROGRAM CONTROLS HOW TO#
#ALL KERBAL SPACE PROGRAM CONTROLS WINDOWS#

In the example, I had to time warp about a quarter of an orbit and drag the maneuver node up to my craft to get a good intersect. If your input gets it closer, great, if not, take it back out.

Just watch the intersect distance displayed. This may include click, hold, and dragging your maneuver node forward or backward along your orbit, or adding pro/retro/normal/radial inputs. Now that you have an intersect marker and distance displayed, you can fiddle with your maneuver node to try to get your intercept as close as possible. An intersect marker will appear somewhere opposite your orbit, bringing up Intersect 1 and maybe Intersect 2 info in the control indicator. Apply just enough prograde to bring your apoapsis up to the same average altitude of Station 1, in the example, about 100km. Once you have matched inclination with Station 1, set up a maneuver node behind Orbiter 1. Mousing over the AN or DN symbols on your orbit will show how far off in degrees your orbit differs from your target. In this case, you will have to either burn anti-normal at the ascending node, or normal at the descending node in order to match inclinations. If your launch was not perfectly 90 degrees, for either Orbiter 1 or Station 1, your orbit may be in a different inclination than your target. If your target was behind you, you would want a higher orbit, allowing your target to catch up with your craft. Lower orbits are faster than higher orbits, thus Orbiter 1 is now catching up with Station 1.

Orbiter 1 is in a 90k circular orbit, while Station 1 is in a 100k orbit. The navball shows that Orbiter 1 is still approaching its circularizing maneuver after launch.

#ALL KERBAL SPACE PROGRAM CONTROLS WINDOWS#

It should display two windows showing relative distance for Intersect 1 and Intersect 2. Note the controls indicator in the lower left corner of the above screenshot. Once your orbit is stable, or whenever you find time, make sure you have clicked on your target in the map screen and selected 'Set as Target', and that your controls indicator is displaying the intersect info by clicking on the third tab. I like to set up a maneuver node for this, but it’s not entirely necessary. Your target will pass overhead as you launch, putting you just behind it when you circularize.Īssuming Station 1 is at a 100k orbit, aim for an apoapsis around 90k, and circularize your orbit when you get there. I like to launch when my target is just crossing the western shore of the peninsula KSC is on. You must also keep in mind how the center of mass will change as fuel empties with this particular craft it’s small enough it doesn’t become an issue.

Either way, remember that it is critical that any RCS controls on your intercept craft be balanced around the center of mass.īring up the center of mass graphic in the VAB, and either place one set of RCS controls right on it, or two sets an equal distance from center of mass. The guide will reference Orbiter 1 as the intercept craft and Station 1 as the target insert your own craft as needed. You are welcome to subscribe to and use the craft linked above, or you may have ships in orbit already in your game you want to dock with. For your first successful rendezvous, this guide will target Station 1 in a +/- 100km circular orbit around Kerbin’s equator, while launching Orbiter 1 from KSC. The first step to docking, is, of course, getting close enough to do so.

#ALL KERBAL SPACE PROGRAM CONTROLS HOW TO#

This guide will assume the reader knows how to reach a circular orbit around Kerbin, and is familiar with concepts and terms such as prograde/retrograde, knowledge of Navball markings, etc.īelow are links to the simple orbiter and station used throughout this guide. This guide will show one of the most basic rendezvous and docking situations, but will hopefully teach skills the reader can build upon to eventually accomplish any number of rendezvous and docking procedures. Learning to rendezvous and dock opens up many new areas of gameplay – Kerbal rescue contracts, in-space refueling, and 2 part landing missions (Apollo-style), to name just a handful. I’m not introducing anything new in this guide that can’t already be found in the Steam guides section, but hey, where one perfectly good guide may not click with someone, maybe the next one they read will. It is an oft-repeated question on the forums, and both new players and veterans alike can find these maneuvers challenging to pull off. This guide is for anyone who has a decent understanding of how to play, yet still has trouble with rendezvous and docking maneuvers. This guide will show you how to perform a successful rendezvous and docking with targets in orbit of Kerbin.

All kerbal space program controls