Escape from Kerbin
When the launch window opened, Duna Express lifted off towards the Red Planet.
Trying to be as close to the center of the launch window as possible, the spacecraft waited a couple orbits and then fired the interplanetary booster stage's engine.
Applying a total delta-v of about 1000 m/s, the maneuver turned Duna Express into the first Kerbal-made object to achieve Kerbin escape velocity.
The spacecraft was now in a 71-day interplanetary trajectory which would encounter Duna, passing within 17,500 km at closest approach. Of course, the trajectory would be improved midcourse.
And so, three days after its departure, the Duna Express spacecraft escaped from Kerbin's gravitational sphere of influence.
The spacecraft continued on its long journey to the Red Planet.
Halfway to Duna, the initial interplanetary trajectory was fine-tuned to bring the closest Duna approach to about 1,000 km — this would take Duna Express inside the orbit of Ike.
Thirty days later, Duna was finally within telescope range.
It was time to prepare for the most difficult orbital maneuver ever attempted.
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