I am loving SR2 so far- for an early release I have enjoyed it immensely and can't wait to see it grow.

I am not new to avionics but rockets are out of my wheelhouse. I have made it through all of the in-game missions except for Satellite Rendezvous- to be honest, I have been mainly guessing and trial\erroring my way through the other missions and getting lucky I suppose. There has to be an easier way to do this mission other than waiting until the satellite looks to be in a good position, throwing my rocket at it and hoping I can get the orbit to match. The bigger question is that I have no idea how to interpret the data from a target\approach, what the planned burn gizmo even is, delta-v, etc... it's all new to me! If anyone can help, please share!

Thanks-

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    Instantenous orbit data such as inclination, right ascention, altitude, eccentricity, apogee, perigee, delta-V etc. must be typeable (exact values) for a planned burn just before that planned burn to equilaze two crafts' orbits easily and more precisely in this simulation. As I know, it is being done in that way in modern real spacecrafts, even it was like this 40 years ago probably. They are not doing it in a way that you are trying to equilaze two orbits by hand on filght computer with a planned burn manuerving tool like in this game. Human's reaction speed and precision is not sufficient for that kind of events. Either the planned burn mechanism must be more precise (better zoom and map navigation characteristics to make a planned burn) or it is better to make those exact values typable (e.g. Inclination : 48.02 degrees) in the flight menu in map view for the craft to dock as if you are typing it to a real spacecraft's flight computer. Then the craft's command chip will adjust burning direction according to entered values. This method is not a fully autonomious flight actually because you are not writing a complete algorithm for this or for the whole flight (Just vehicle's internal control algorithm which is RCS will do its job according to typed values). In that way, it will take much less time to make their orbits same and reduce the distance between them less than 200 meters. And it will be easier to make final docking procedures by using RCS nozzles manually. I would prefer this game's producers to add this ability to this simulation as soon as possible. Otherwise, rendezvous and docking is really really hard and it is taking too much time. Regards.

    +1 3.9 years ago
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    112 eonn44

    @lordverminaard. That's great to hear. Once you get the hang of rendezvous, venturing further into space will be no more difficult. If precision is a big factor, Wikipedia has a good article on calculating the proper phase angle from when you are already in space to rendezvous. link here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbit_phasing. the article isn't specific to rendezvous, but everything mentioned in the article has an application in orbital rendezvous. don't be intimidated by the math in the article, it's just plugging in the proper variables in the equations (I did a whole presentation on the topic of orbital rendezvous when I was in high school by going into the math, and a few people understood it, so I know it can be understood by people with at least high school education). happy flying.

    +2 6.0 years ago
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    @eonn44 @retnuh973 Thanks so much for the replies, I watched a lot of Scott's videos, and even though I never played KSP before, a lot of the same stuff applies here. After getting a better understanding of the procedure, and learning how the burn gizmo works, I was able to try again and dock the first time pretty easily! The game still didn't give me a completed level but I know I did it, haha. Thanks again, I feel like I am getting the hang of it now. I am going to go back and do some of the missions over again and instead of guessing I should be able to do it a little more precisely.

    6.0 years ago
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    112 eonn44

    From my current limited knowledge in space logistics, the most "efficient" way of planning a rendezvous is to a satellite is by waiting until your target is in a good position, and there are ways of determining this optimal position for a given target, but I don't know how at the moment. But, because it's the most efficient means does not mean it's the only way. I typically wait until my target is around 15 to 20 from vertical until I launch when the target is in roughly a100 km orbit, and design my spacecraft with extra fuel on board to compensate for any extra delta-v I have to expend to rendezvous my orbit. For a more complete guide on how to rendezvous, I recommend Scott Manley's "Orbital Rendezvous And Docking Tutorial" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHkY3FusJIQ. In this video, he details how to "catch up," or "slow down" relative to your target for getting a close rendezvous.
    On your other question (about the burn gizmo, delta-v, etc), the burn gizmo is a tool that allows you to plan and execute burns. The green pull things ( I have no idea what they would actually be called) are to used to change your velocity prograde and retrograde (in your planned burn, they add, or subtract velocity to your orbit). The red ones are for changing your inclination (the angle your orbit rises/ falls relative to the equator). The blue ones change your velocity in the normal (outward) or anti-normal (inward) direction (these are very useful to use, but I don't have enough room to detail what this means. for more information these, you will have to consult YouTube or Wikipedia for that). Delta-v is the more scientific of saying the maximum speed that your spacecraft can propel you to or the required change in velocity needed to perform a maneuver. It depends on the situation which one you use, but it's pretty obvious most of the time which one it's referring to.
    Other terms you might want to know: (I listed these just in case you don't know them, and not to insult your intelligence, I simply listed these here because I have no idea if you know these critical terms for orbital mechanics):
    apoapsis: highest point in your orbit
    periapsis: lowest point in your orbit
    right ascension *(aka, longitude of the ascending node): the angle from a reference direction (typically the vernal point. )
    *argument of periapsis:
    the angle that you orbit's periapsis is measured when measured from the ascending node (note that this is not relative to the equato

    +1 6.0 years ago
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    @lordverminaard I am new to docking as well, but I did figure out how to dock my own crafts and even managed to link up a few things in space from separate launches. I'd try to explain it, but I learned from Scott Manley with him using KSP (Far inferior to Simple Rockets 2). Here's a link to the video. It has two parts, but I'm only linking the first one. The second should be easy to find. Obviously you can't follow everything exactly, but the concept behind it is the same. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St515zjUZHY

    +2 6.0 years ago
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    Update- I managed to dock with the satellite, I ran out of RCS but still managed to get lucky and use quick bursts of the pixie. Even though I docked successfully it still didn't give me a mission complete. oh well! I'd still like some pointers though on how to navigate and plan flights better! :)

    6.0 years ago

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