Unable to raise Periapsis

[Thrillhouse]

I'm trying to get my first Kerbal in Orbit, I've already put a sattelite into orbit, and am able to go through all the phases alright.

But when I try to burn prodrade at Apoapsis my Periapsis refuses to rise.

Is it because I need a more powerful Engine? I'm using an LV-909 at that stage

Any help is much appreciated

[haleisback]

i've been trying for around 7 hours to get something into orbit............... i believe i need much more power

[[m00] insane_eon]

When inserting into orbit, you need an engine powerful enough to get your periapsis out of the planet before you hit the atmosphere, or at least before you hit the dense part of the atmosphere. This can be a LOT of thrust for a heavy payload.
You might be able to do it with what you've got, but a simple prograde burn won't do - you'll need to burn radially as well if you're falling too quickly to try and keep your vertical velocity small as you increase your transverse velocity.
Unfortunately the gravity up to 100km is still pretty close to what it is at the ground, so for success of this (rather emergency) strategy you'll need a TWR of greater than 1.
Once you're safely in orbit, though, the LV909 is usually fine for most of the things you'll do there.

[Melfice]

Try using the maneuver nodes next time. Put the node right on the Ap and raise the Pe up to your desired altitude. Now, take note of the numbers next to the navball. It'll tell you the time until you reach the node and the time you need to burn to raise your Pe up.

When the "Time to Node" and "Burn Time" are equal, burn at full throttle in the direction of the blue marker on your navball. This should then raise your Pe exactly as you want it.

The LV-909 is a bit of a weak engine, but for small ships or satellites, it should be strong enough, though it still may take some time (and possibly quite a bit of fuel!).

[Saïbaïman]

u need a 220+ engine power engine to put on orbit standard medium ship and more depending on your weight

[Thrillhouse]

Thanks for the responses guys. I successfully launched the 1st manned node of my Kerbalnational Space Station.

Quick question though....will my Kerbals survive up there indefinitely or will I need to resupply them to keep them from starving?

[Melfice]

Currently, Kerbals survive on solar radiation. ;) That's to say, don't worry. They'll survive without problem.

[bpivk]

Originally posted by Loafcake:

will I need to resupply them to keep them from starving?

You need to feed them with cookies. Find the part under utility.

Just remember that they mustn't eat after midnight. Wait... Umm sorry wrong movie. :P