It does much more than that, such as tell you the weight of your spacecraft and how much delta-V you have, but if you don't want the autopilot and just the vessel information, Kerbal Engineer is just the ticket.Īs for the amount of delta-V you need to get to other planets, the KSP wiki has a handy reference list on the page for Kerbin. Some people consider it cheating, but they're the types that enjoy flying everything. If you don't mind using mods, MechJeb is a great autopilot that will fly your launches and spacecraft for you. Personally I've never watched his tutorial vids, but his Interstellar Quest and some others are great. Certainly simplifies spaceflight.Ī good many people enjoy Scott Manley's videos on YouTube. In all seriousness, the navball is your friend here, and really all you have to do is match the inclination of your target and then burn until you're caught by the gravity of wherever you want to go-as KSP does not use n-body physics, but rather patched conics. The LV-N is usually what people use for interplanetary missions, as it has a high Isp and acceptable TWR. However, its TWR (thrust to weight ratio) is pathetic and you'll be tearing your hair out at hour-long burns. That same probe has a high Isp, and therefore a huge change in velocity. An ion probe and a huge transport may have the same delta-V, but an inordinately different amount of fuel.

Fuel: the amount of fuel is irrelevant-the delta-V is all that matters.

Kerbal space program space plane design