Contents

Orbital Mechanics ................................................................................................................................... 2

SOI ....................................................................................................................................................... 2
Conics .................................................................................................................................................. 2
Example 1 – How much Δν is required to move a satellite from low Kerbin orbit of 80km altitude
(green) to Geostationary Orbit (red). ............................................................................................. 4
Example 2 - How long will the transfer take? ................................................................................. 7
Hohmann transfers and double impulse maneuvers ......................................................................... 7
Bi-elliptical Transfer ............................................................................................................................ 9
Patched Conics .................................................................................................................................... 9
Hyperbolics ....................................................................................................................................... 13
Example 3 – Calculate the Δν to get from Kerbin to Duna ........................................................... 16
Orbital Inclination ............................................................................................................................. 23
Ballistic Trajectory ............................................................................................................................. 24
Phase Angles and Launch Windows.................................................................................................. 25
Example 4 – find the Phase angle for a trip from Kerbin to Duna ................................................ 25
Example 5 - What’s the phase angle to get to the Mun ............................................................... 26
Ejection angle .................................................................................................................................... 27
Example - for our tip from Kerbin to Duna ie Example 3, what is our ejection angle .................. 30
Orbital Mechanics
Calculating how an object moves in space under the effect of multiple gravitational bodies is very
difficult, some say impossible and that’s not even factoring in General Relativistic effects.
So we simplify our multi-body problem into multiple two body problems specifically you, your space
craft orbiting a far more massive body such as a moon, planet or star.

SOI
Each massive body gravitationally dominates the local region of space around it, a region commonly
called the Spheres of Influence (SOI).
The boundary of the SOI is where the gravitational forces between one body, say a planet and
another even larger body, a star, balance. Inside the sphere the planets gravity dominates, outside
of that sphere the suns gravity dominates and so we have moon spheres inside planetary spheres
which are in turn inside a stars spheres of influence.
This is the important bit, while inside one objects SOI we ignore the effects of all other stellar bodies
in the universe other than the primary body and your space ship.
If you want to read more on SOI try
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphere_of_influence_%28astrodynamics%29

In KSP the SOI for every star, planet and moon is listed on the KSP wiki
http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Category:Celestials

Conics
As stated above we simplify our multi-body problem into multiple two body problems; It’s what KSP
does.
Inside each SOI we will orbit the primary body, usually in an ellipse; but depending on your velocity it
could be one of the other conic trajectories, circle, ellipse, parabola and hyperbola.
The reason there called conics is because they represent different geometric slices through a cone.
Figure 1 - conic sections

Now to dispel one of Hollywood’s greatest myths, an object in space does not fall back to earth, it
orbits the earth and will continue to orbit the earth ; ignoring solar wind, atmospheric drag etc
without power forever. The Moon has been orbiting the Earth for a few billion years so far. So if the
Starship Enterprise in orbit around the earth suddenly lost power it wouldn’t just start to plummet
into the ground.

So where in an elliptical orbit around Kerbin where Kerbin, represented as a blue circle acts as one of
the ellipses foci. As we move further away from Kerbin our speed decreases
The Apoapsis represents the point in out orbit furthest from Kerbin, it is where we have the lowest
velocity.
The Periapsis represents the point of the orbit closest to Kerbin, it is where we have the highest
velocity.
The Apoapsis and Periapsis are directly opposite one another and the distance between them is the
major axis,

half of this is the semi-major axis ‘a’ remember this as you are going to be using it
everywhere.
(There is also the semi-minor axis ‘b’ where for an ellipse x2/a 2 + y2/b2 = 1 and a 2-
b2 = focus 2) (x=a cos ɵ –f, y=b sin(ɵ if you want to plot it)

Our Speed anywhere on our ellipse may be calculated from the Vis-viva equation – see below
And the orbital period T, the time it takes for one complete revolution is given by Keplers Third Law
of planetary motion.
With these two equations you can plot a coarse anywhere in the solar/kerbin system but more on
that later.
Figure 2 - elliptical motion

For most orbital manoeuvres all we care about is finding the speed at either the Apoapsis or
Periapsis and how much we need to modify it to get the trajectory we want. These modifications in
speed is the Δν people talk about when they talk about space travel.

Δν is just mathematical jargon for change in velocity. The Delta symbol ‘Δ’ is used in mathematical
notation the represent a change in something and in this case its velocity ‘ν’ because were lazy and

don’t want to write Δvelocity all the time.

Now up unto this point I have been talking about speed and not velocity; velocity is just a speed in a
certain direction, a vector.

Example 1 – How much Δν is required to move a satellite from low Kerbin orbit of 80km
altitude (green) to Geostationary Orbit (red).
Figure 3 - Hohman Transfer to Geostationary orbit

Low Kerbin Orbit (LKO) altitude of 80km equates to an orbital radius of 680km (680,000m) since the
equatorial radius of Kerbin is only 600,000m. (from the wiki ) (Earth’s equatorial radius is 6,371km)
http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Kerbin
I should probably mention that Korbin’s atmosphere stops at 70km altitude hence 80km for Low
Kerbin Orbit

Geosynchronous orbit is a circular orbit whose period is exactly 1 day, 1 sidereal day, the time taken
for the planet to rotate 360 degrees in relation to the stars.
Not to be confused with a solar day which is the time it takes for the Sun to appear in the same
position of the sky. They differ because the planet is also in orbit around the star.
When most people talk about days there talking about Solar Days, ie 365.25 Solar days per year
If one was to look up at an object in geosynchronous orbit it would appear to be in the same spot of
sky all the time. We put communication satellites into geosynchronous orbit because they appear to
hold a fixed position, we can point our satellite antennas at them without having to use tracking
mechanisms.
From the KSP Wiki 1 Sidereal Day is 21,549.425s

From Kepler’s 3rd law For a circle r = a

side note on the Standard gravitational parameter µ
μ of a celestial body is the product of the gravitational constant G and the mass M of the body, it is
unique for every body in the solar / kerbin system, don’t mix them up and make sure your working in
the correct units, usually meters and seconds.
When dealing with such huge numbers don’t get too fixated on decimal places
refer to figure 1, given that we now know the radius for the starting and finishing orbits we can

calculate the semi-major axis a of our ellipse

ae = (a1 +a2) /2 = (680,000 + 3,463,334)/2 = 2,071,667 m

Now using the vis-visa eqn we can calculate the velocity at the Apoapsis and Periapsis for both the
circular orbits and the elliptical orbits

Periapsis
r = 680,000m
a = 2,071,667m
ve = 2,946.6 m/s
vc = 2,278.9 m/s
Δν1 = ve – vc = 667.7m/s
ie we have to accelerate to prograde by 667.7m/s to transition from our circular orbit to obtain an
elliptical orbit which will take us to geostationary

Apoapsis
r = 3,463,334m
a = 2,071,667m
ve = 578.5 m/s
vc = 1009.8 m/s
Δν2 = vc - ve = 431.3m/s
Ie we have to accelerate to prograde by 431.3m/s to transition from our elliptical transfer orbit to
obtain a circular orbit at geostationary
Δνtotal = Δν1 + Δν2 = 1,098.9 m/s

Just as a note, if you were returning from Geostationary orbit to 80-km LKO and weren’t performing
aero-braking the Δν would be exactly the same except that you will be burning to retrograde.

Example 2 - How long will the transfer take?

We have already calculated a for our ellipse, just plug it into Keplers third law to get our orbital
period; our transfer time is half a period.

T = 9,970s
Transfer time is 9,970/2 = 4,985s 1hr, 23m, 5s

Caution: this only works because we are splitting our elliptical orbit in two along the semi-major axis,
if you were to split it any other way things become far more complicated.
Refer to Keplers second law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler's_laws_of_planetary_motion
A line segment joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time.
That’s a whole lot of calculus I don’t want to go near.

--------

Hohmann transfers and double impulse maneuvers

This type of manoeuvre is called a Hohmann transfer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohmann_transfer_orbit
It is one of the most energy efficient ways of moving around in space, it is definitely the easiest to
calculate and execute since all of your manoeuvring occurs at the Apoapsis or Periapsis. It is what
most KSP player do.
In the game you don’t have to calculate anything, just orient your craft to prograde or retrograde
and burn until your ellipse grows to where you want to go, then follow the ellipse to the next burn.

Changing your orbit is most efficient when done at Apoapsis or Periapsis but you don’t have to do it
then……
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_mechanics
 Figure 4 - A Hohmann transfer from a low circular orbit to a higher circular orbit

If you’re prepared to spend extra fuel you can reduce your travel time

Figure 5 - Generic two impulse transfer

Note: How all our transfers are part of an ellipse

If you really wanted to calculate it you could use the vis-viva eqn to calculate your speed at any
2
portion of the ellipse, then use the geometric identity x / 2 + y2/b2 = 1 to work out the
a
component vectors at that point and do the same for you transfer ellipse yada yada
And calculate your Δν’s that way, but I am for sure not doing it now.
https://books.google.com.au/books?id=2U9Z8k0TlTYC&pg=PA349&lpg=PA349&dq=orbital+mechani
cs+ion+engines&source=bl&ots=CEUWJKnECp&sig=wLe7n6v-3mqUpzVahae-
yP6KuQ4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjZwbG70dTJAhVDk5QKHaXbDuMQ6AEITDAI#v=onepage&q=o
rbital%20mechanics%20ion%20engines&f=false
Chapter 6, section 6.6
Bi-elliptical Transfer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bi-elliptic_transfer
There is one other maneuver you should be aware of, the Bi-elliptical Transfer, in certain situations,
require less delta-v than a Hohmann transfer maneuver.
It is easy enough to work out as its just two hohmann tranfers one after another but boy does it take
a long time to perform.

Figure 6 = Bielliptical transfer

Patched Conics
Inside each SOI we will orbit the primary body, usually in an ellipse; but depending on your velocity it
could be one of the other conic trajectories, circle, ellipse, parabola and hyperbola.
What happens when we want to go to stuff outside of Kerbins SOI, you know like other planets and
such?

Say we want to go to Duna.

1) First you have to leave Kerbins SOI on a hyperbolic trajectory
2) This puts us into the Star Kerbols SOI where if we have done our sums right we will travel
along an elliptical orbit which will intercept Dunas SOI
3) Once within Dunas SOI we will swing past Duna on a hyperbolic trajectory. If were planning
on staying there we will need to slow down somewhat in order to be captured and remain in
Dunas SOI.
So we have transitioned into three different SOIs and in each SOI essentially doing a different conic
trajectory, our entire trip is essentially a patchwork of different conic sections ie Patched conics
It’s an approximation. It’s a very good approximation of a very difficult mult-body problem.
Our task is to ensure that as we transition from one SOI to another we are doing the right speed and
direction such that we get to where we want to go.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patched_conic_approximation

Figure 7 - Kerbin to Duna

Computationally start with our heliocentric (that’s Greek for Sun Cantered) transfer around the Star
Kerbol. We know that we are going to be travelling in an elliptical orbit because our orbital velocity is
well below Kerbols escape velocity
Just like a Hohmann transfer we want one end of our ellipse, the periapsis to rest on Kerbins orbit
and the Apopsis of the ellipse to rest on Dunas orbit. Well that for an energy efficient elliptical
transfer, once again there is nothing stopping you going for a quicker, less fuel efficient double
impulse transfer but for computational ease were going to stick with a Hohmann style transfer.
Technically this is a heliocentric transfer because there are masses at one or more of it ends but
hopefully you will understand me more when I say Hohmann transfer.
Just like a Hohmann transfer we can calculate the elliptical velocities at Periapsis and Apoapsis.
These will be the velocities we will require when we depart Kerbins SOI or enter Dunas SOI. As for
direction we will be departing along Kerbins prograde ie the direction Kerbin is orbiting around the
Star.
If we were going to an inner planet we would depart along Kerbins retrograde because we are trying
to reduce our orbital velocity around the star Kerbol
Knowing the velocity required and the direction we need to be going as we leave Kerbins SOI allows
us to calculate the velocity at the hyperbolics Periapsis, this is the point closest to Kerbin. This
velocity is commonly known as the “Ejection Velocity”
Our first Δν impulse will be the difference between out ejection velocity and our orbital velocity,
everything after this point will be unpowered trajectories until we need to break at the other end
around Duna, and that will be our second Δν impulse.

Now this leads to a couple of choices, do we travel along Kerbins orbital plane and do a minor
correction to transition to Dunas orbital plane or do we shoot off at some slightly odd angle slightly
offset from our orbital plane in order to hit Duna ballistic.
The first requires a slight trajectory correction part way through our manoeuvre; the second requires
a slight vector change at departure which can incur an additional small Δν expenditure at either
end.

Once we get to the other end there are quite a few options open to us
1. Decelerate a lot and go into circular capture around Duna at some radius.
2. Decelerate a bit less and go into an elliptical capture around Duna. The largest possible
ellipse has an Apoapsis which just stops shy of Dunas SOI, this is called a “Marginal Capture”
3. Decelerate go into an elliptical orbit which we circularize at some radius.
4. Since Duna has an atmosphere you can aero brake and decelerate in Dunas atmosphere and
land
5. Or aero brake somewhat and go into orbit around Duna
Aero braking can save you a lot of that fuel you were going to use decelerating and hence reduce or
eliminate your Δν requirement at your destination. Just don’t burn up by accident.
As a general rule it is usually more efficient to decelerate as close to the planet as possible.
Figure 8 - going into a circular capture around Duna at 5,000km

Going to the Mun

Going to the Mun doesn’t require us to leave Kerbins SOI but it does require us to enter the Muns
SOI and remember once inside some ones SOI you treat everything as a two body problem in this
case just you and the Mun.
1) Getting to the Mun is easy, just plot an elliptical trajectory which takes us to Mun orbit. Just
arrainge things so that the Mun is actually there when you get to Apoapsis.
2) Once you enter the Mun’s SOI you will accelerate towards the Mun on a hyperbolic
trajectory. I don’t know if I would call it good or bad luck if you were too accurate and that
trajectory passed thru the Mun itself.

Once again computationally we calculate the velocity of our kyperbolic periapsis given that we know
our velocity as we entered the Muns SOI.
Our first Δν impulse is that required to change our LKO into an elliptical one that reaches Mun orbit

and the second Δν impulse is orbital deceleration so that we are captured by the Mun. Aerobraking
is out of the question since the Mun has no atmosphere. Actually I think the Mun has lots of
atmosphere, craters, arches, the occasional monolith or crashed flying saucer.
Figure 9 - a trip to the Mun

Hyperbolics
A circle, your rocket orbits at a constant speed. Vc
An ellipse, your rocket ship loses speed the further it gets away from the planet and eventually
comes back to perform an orbit.
A parabola, your rocket ship loses speed the further it gets away from the planet but it never
returns. Its velocity at infinity is zero. The velocity at Periapsis is known as your ‘Escape velocity’.
A hyperbola, your rocket ship loses speed the further it gets away from the planet but it never
returns. Its velocity at infinity is some speed greater than zero. This speed is known as the

‘Hyperbolic excess velocity’ ν∞

If your entering or exiting a SOI you probably going to be travelling on a hyperbolic trajectory.
Your velocity at Periapsis (the closest point of your orbit to the planet) is lowest for a circle and as it
increases your orbit becomes more elliptical, then parabolic and finally hyperbolic.
Your velocity for any given radius ‘r’ is given by the Vis-Viva equation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vis-viva_equation
For r = SOI we can use the Vis-viva equation to solve fo a directly and once you know that you can
calculate the velocity at periapsis ie our Ejection Velocity.
Once you know your ejection velocity it’s a simple matter of determining the Δν impulse required
to send you to out of Kerbins SOI and all the way to Dunas SOI

Example 3 – Calculate the Δν to get from Kerbin to Duna

From the KSP wiki

a Kerbin = 13 599 840 256 m (circular)

a Duna = 20 726 155 264 m (slightly elliptical) for greater accuracy you will need to calculate Dunas
exact radius for the transfer window you plan to use.
The semi-major axis of our transfer ellipse = ( a Kerbin + a Duna) /2 = 17,162,997,760 m
Using the vis-viva equation we can calculate the orbital velocity for both Kerbin and Duna as well at
the transfer ellipses velocity at Apoapsis and Periapsis
Since we are inside Kerbols SOI the Standard gravitational parameter µKerbol =
1.1723328×1018 m3/s2

VKerbin = sqrt(1.1723328×1018 / 13,599,840,256) = 9,284.50 m/s

VDuna = sqrt(1.1723328×1018 / 20,726,155,264) = 7,520.84 m/s

VPeriapsis = sqrt(1.1723328×1018 * (2/13,599,840,256 - 1/17,162,997,760)) = 10,202.85 m/s

VApoapsis = sqrt(1.1723328×1018 * (2/20,726,155,264 - 1/17,162,997,760)) = 6,694.78 m/s

Kerbin SOI: Since were already orbiting Kerbol at 9,284.50 m/s and we need to be doing 10,202.85
m/s to transfer to Duna then the velocity we need to exit Kerbins SOI is (10,202.85 - 9,284.50) =
918.35 m/s
Duna SOI: Likewise the velocity we enter Dunas SOI is (7,520.84 - 6,694.78) = 826.05 m/s

Leaving Kerbin

Find a for r = SOI ie 84,159,286m

µKerbin = 3.5316000×1012 m3/s2
Vr = 918.35 m/s

a= -4,650,267.67 m

We will assume we are departing Kerbin from low Kerbin orbit (LKO), say 80km altitude
Kerbin’s equatorial radius is 600km, hence or departure orbit has a radius of 680km (680,000 m)
µKerbin = 3.5316000×1012 m3/s2
Our circular orbital velocity around Kerbin: vc = sqrt(µ/r) = sqrt(3.5316000×1012 / 680,000) = 2,278.9
m/s ( I can confirm this easily enough in KSP)

Now that we know a using the vis-viva eqn calculate the Ejection Velocity at 80km altitude
Vr = sqrt (3.5316000×1012 (2/680,000 + 1/4,650,267.67 )) = 3,338.64 m/s
Since were already orbiting kerbin at 2,278.9 m/s the Δν for our first impulse is

Δν1 = vr – vc = 3338.64 - 2,278.9 = 1,059.71 m/s

A quick check here from OLEX’s website http://ksp.olex.biz/ , he calculates 1055m/s.

There is no real way of ascertaining who is more accurate or what assumptions Olex has made or
how many decimal places he is working with but the values are so close that it makes little
difference especially when dealing with such huge numbers as µ

Arrival at Duna
According to the KSP wiki Dunas atmosphere is only 50km high hence if we go for a 60km circular
capture around Duna
Dunas equatorial radius is 320km hence r = 380km (380,000 m)
µDuna = 3.0136321×1011 m3/s2
Hence vc = sqrt(3.0136321×1011 / 380,000) = 890.5 m/s
Now using the vis-viva eqn we can calculate our hyperbolic parameter a given that our velocity is
826.05 m/s as we enter Dunas SOI 47,921,949 m
µDuna = 3.0136321×1011 m3/s2

a = -449,942.67
Our velocity at Periapsis r = 380,000 m
Vr = sqrt (3.0136321×1011 (2/380,000 + 1/449,942.67)) = 1,501.97m/s

Since circular velocity is 890.5 m/s so we only have to change our velocity by 1,501.97m/s - 890.5
m/s = 611.4 m/s

ie Δν2 = 611.4 m/s

olex calculates 612.61m/s; close enough for government work

The total Δν required to go from Kerbin to Duna would be 1,059.7

m/s + 611.4 m/s = 1,671.1 m/s
Plus whatever Δν requirement we would need for orbital inclination changes

Marginal Capture at Duna

Rather than going into a circular capture at Duna how much Δν do we need for a marginal elliptical
capture
This is an ellipse where Periapsis is just above Dunas atmosphere and its Apoapsis just below Dunas
SOI; and bigger then it would never come back to Duna
From the KSP wiki Dunas SOI is 47,921,949 m, we shall set our Apoapsis to 10km short of this ie
47,911,949 m
Our marginal capture ellipse
Periapsis = 380,000 m
Apoapsis = 47,911,949 m

a ellipse = (47,911,949 + 380,000)/2 = 24,150,974.5 m

µDuna = 3.0136321×1011 m3/s2
from the Vis-viva eqn the orbital speed at Periapsis = sqrt(3.0136321×1011 *(2/380,000 –
1/24,150,974.5)) = 1,254.4 m/s

In order to obtain a marginal capture we need to reduce our velocity by 1,501.97 – 1,254.4 = 247.57
m/s
ie Δν2 = 247.6 m/s

since all other elliptical captures with a Periapsis at 60km altitude lie somewhere between these
two extremes one can think our Δν2 lies somewhere between these to values
Δν2 = 247.6 m/s to 615.6 m/s
This assumes we are not performing aero-breaking

Some in game pics

Figure 10 - Departure from Kerbin

Figure 11 - Elliptical transfer to Duna

We are intercepting Duna early, oops I am early by 28 days, the optimal time to depart is day 230
Figure 12 - Just outside Dunas SOI
Figure 13 - Capture at Duna

Orbital Inclination
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_inclination
Most objects, planets, moons, in a solar system tend to orbit on the same plane about the Sun. This
is why when you look up into the sky it appears that all the planet follow the same path through the
sky, the ecliptic.
There are minor variations in orbital planes, for example Mars has an inclination 1.85 degrees. In KSP
Duna is inclined 0.6 degrees.
Calculating the Δν required to change from one plane to another
For small inclination changes Δν = 2V sin(ɵ/2) where V is the elliptical velocity where the
orbital planes meet.

Ballistic Trajectory

Of course you don’t have to don’t have to perform a mid-course correction if you travel to your
destination via a ballistic trajectory.
This required two inclination changes, one at your origin and one at your destination. You can use
the above formula to calculate the Δν for each the inclination change but the actual trajectory is so
dependent on the exact planetary positions there is no general solution so I will skip this bit all
together.
Phase Angles and Launch Windows
For a minimum energy transfer one must leave Kerbin on a specific date, otherwise when you get to
Duna orbit, Duna won’t be there.
Phase angle is the angle between source and destination planet relative to the star at the time of
launch.
For a Hohman style transfer we are travelling literally from one side of the solar system to the other.
Our destination is 180 degrees from our launch position.

We can use Kepler’s 3rd law of planetary motion to calculate the orbital period of the transfer orbit
as well as well as our planets.
Calculating the phase angle is fairly straightforward.
If your transfer takes X days then we just roll back the destination positions of all the planets X days
to find their starting position.

Example 4 – find the Phase angle for a trip from Kerbin to Duna
µKerbol = 1.1723328×1018 m3/s2
a Kerbin = 13 599 840 256 m (circular)
a Duna = 20 726 155 264 m (slightly elliptical)
a Transfer = 17,162,997,760 m

TKerbin = 9,203,545 s (426.1 days)

TDuna = 17,315,400 s (801.6 days)
TEllipse = 13,048,005.44 s TTransfer = TEllipse/2 = 6,524,002.72 s (302.0 days)

So what fraction of a Duna orbit is 302 days?

302 days / 801.6 days * 360 degrees = 135.6 degrees
Phase angle is 180 – 135.6 degrees = 44.36 degrees

OLEX http://ksp.olex.biz/ says 44.36 degrees 8-)

Now there is a degree of error in this calculation since it is based on the regular motion around a
circular orbit and Duna’s orbit isn’t perfectly circular.

The eccentricity for a perfect circle is 0

The eccentricity for Duna is 0.05 so the error is pretty trivial, in practicality you have about ± 5 day
window of launch opportunity.

Example 5 - What’s the phase angle to get to the Mun

I am not even sure phase angle is the correct term for this kind of transfer but ehh you know what I
mean.
µKerbin = 3.5316000×1012 m3/s2
a mun = 12,000,000 m (circular)
a transfer ellipse = (a periapsis + a apoapsis)/2 = (680,000 + 12,000,000)/2 = 6,340,000 m

T mun = 138,984 s (38.6 hours)

T transfer ellipse = 53,374 s TTransfer = TEllipse/2 = 26,686.89 s (7.4 hrs)
In the 7.4 hrs it takes to get to mun orbit, the mun will have moved how far in its orbit?
7.4 hrs / 38.6 hrs * 360 gegrees = 69.1 degrees

Ejection angle
KSP is really nice as it shows you departure trajectories but without such niceties how does one
calculate where in our orbit to perform our first burn “Ejection Burn” for interplanetary travel?
In essence how does one calculate ones ejection angle η?
From the above picture η = 180 - ɵ
For a hyperbolic a < 0 but for the following trigometric identities we are just using its magnitude ie
|a |

Tan(ɵ) = b/a

ɵ = ATan(b/a )
or

Cos(ɵ) = a /f

ɵ = ACos(a /f)
= ACos(a /(a + rc)) rc is the radius of our initial circular orbit
Example - for our tip from Kerbin to Duna ie Example 3, what is our ejection angle

In example 3 we have already calculated the semi-major axis of our departure hyperbola from Kerbin
as
a= -4,650,267.67 m

rc = 80km altitude ie 680,000 m

ɵ = ACos(a/f) = ACos(4,650,267.67 /( 4,650,267.67 + 680000))
= ACos(0.8724)
= 29.26 degrees
η = 180 - ɵ = 150.74 degrees

Olex http://ksp.olex.biz/ says 151.28 Degrees

f = 5,330,267.67 m
b = sqrt(f2-a2) = 2,605,141.845 m

--------------------------------

http://ksp.olex.biz/
https://alexmoon.github.io/ksp/

http://www.braeunig.us/space/orbmech.htm

cheers
MAD