General Question A few questions about interplanetary flights

[szpw]

Hi,

I've been trying to get to other planets, but I've been having an issue that I've been wondering about.

I've been trying to get to Mars, but I'm not very good at making a "perfect" orbit, and I ended up with an orbit that has an inclination of 2.60 degrees, and Mars has 1.85. Will I still be able to get to Mars with that inclination, or is it too far? I'm pretty new to this.

My next question is regarding how to get to Venus and Mercury from Earth. How would I go from a solar orbit from around Earth altitude to one at a lower altitude?

Thanks

 

[insanity]

Welcome to the forums!

I'd suggest starting with Go Play in Space. It is the ultimate tutorial on Orbiter for a beginner. When you build up some proficiency with the Orbiter toolset, you can ask better/more specific questions about the aspects of spaceflight.

To answer your current question, going to Mars is different than, say, transferring to the moon. The basic idea is still the same (you aim to meet the planet along its orbital path), but there are key differences. For one, you have a limited transfer window to fly to Mars. Another is that your relative position to the planet is determined by a body other than Earth (the Sun). It's not worth worrying about your relative inclination to Mars in an Earth-centric sense. You are going to be launching into a parking orbit for the ejection burn that could have very different inclinations.

 

[Tommy]

While it is possible to go from one planet to another with just the "Stock" MFD's, it's very difficult. It's also not very efficient. You will want either Trans-X or IMFD - links to both can be found here:
http://www.orbiter-forum.com/addons.php

The following tutorial is dated, but it explains the basic mechanics of an interplanetary transfer better than anything else I've seen:

[ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3403"]Tutorial: Concepts for Interplanetary MFD 4.2.1[/ame]