Search Ares V

Thanks, Istochnikov. I'm working on the booster recovery sequence for the Ares V now. I expect the addon to be released by March 1st.
BTW, how did you like the latest beta? Any suggestions?
 
Here's the next beta: View attachment 4256

I've noticed that in this beta the fairings don't cover the payload all the way. Has anyone else noticed this problem in other betas?

The Ares V autopilot is the only thing left to do. Since it's a multistage2 rocket it needs a guidance file for this. If anyone's willing to help me with this it would be greatly appreciated. I have lots of trouble with guidance files and I can never seem to get them right.
 
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I'm painstakingly slow at learning to write guidance files. I've not had time to study/learn recently, otherwise I'd love to contribute.
Very shiny add-on BTW. Looks good so far.:thumbup:
 
Hi Columbia42.

Love your Ares V launcher. Works like a charm, looks slick and mean, and is fun to fly with that much power under your seat. After a bit of practice, I can consistantly park the EDS/Altair stack in a 200km x 200km orbit, with 47.6% fuel remaining on EDS for TLI.

I did have a bit of a problem with the Ares 1 used for the Lunar Launch scenario. I kept getting a CTD at random times after reaching orbit, both prior to jettisoning Ares' second stage and afterwards. Either way, the log showed the same thing; namely, a small list of missing textures and meshes. (Sorry, didn't print it off before I corrected the issues.)

All of them are associated with the recommended Ares 1/Orion stack, which I know isn't your design but francisdrake's, so I hope he sees this as well. But since this stack is used in you scenario, I figured you'd also like to know.

My install is clean, with just the add-ons required to run your scenarios. Always seems to be the best way to play with betas as it makes it so much easier to troubleshoot!

Anyhow, instead of tying up this thread with a small laundry list of admittedly minor issues, I'm typing them up in a nice, convenient document. Let me know if you'd like me to either email it to you here, or simply post an attachment it later on.

Until then, keep up the good work! Can't wait for the alpha release on this bad boy!
 
Thanks for the comments, Cymrych. First of all, I have also gotten the EDS to orbit with similar amounts of fuel but I still think it would be more realistic to have an autopilot.

As for the Ares I addon, I fixed the lunar mission scenario. BTW, when you had the CTD with the Ares I, were you using my lunar mission scenario or a scenario that comes with the Ares I addon?

As for the "luandry list of problems," you can just post that here.
 
You can use PEG... AFAIR, there is an MFD which implements PEG, that should work pretty reliable for the upper stage.
 
Columbia42-

Yeah, I was using your Lunar mission scenario. Just the dual launch one; I haven't gotten around to trying the Orion/Altair one yet.

I agree, an autpilot would be handy. I'm pretty certain I am losing some dV with a manual ascent. It may not be much, but on a lunar mission, where every m/s of dV counts, a more optimized ascent program certainly couldn't hurt. Think I'll try Urumpe's suggestion, see how it works.

The laundry list ain't big, and its all minor stuff. Also, it may not be terribly relevant, if you've modified some stuff to your beta since the last update. But here it is:
 

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Columbia42-

Well, I can't do much for an autopilot, but I can give you the next best thing: a valid pitch program for the core stage burn, utilizing Altlev's new Universal Autopilot mfd. It's a bit of a hamfisted approach, but I can hit the first stage flight markers (SRB sep, shroud sep, MECO) per NASA publications within about +/- 0.1 km error in altitude.

Only thing is that I was using flight performance estimates from August '08, which had a 329 second MECO. As a result, I reached the 240.8km circular parking orbit at 28.5 inc with approximately 62.2% fuel left in the EDS.

Istochnikov's data was from October '08, and has slightly different flight markers, most relevantly, a MECO of 303.1 seconds at about 7km lower than in my trials. Obviously, the loss of 26 seconds of core stage burn will increase the fuel consumption in EDS, so my numbers, I expect, will drop down to about 50% again. We shall see.

So, back to the drawing board, lol. Once I get the pitch program to put the core stage right down the pipe as currently defined, I'll post my scenario for you to try.

EDIT: An after thought: I may tinker a smidge with your configs for the core and EDS in order to relegate the unused fuel mass as part of the background mass of the vehicle itself. This way, the initial and burnout masses, and the total fuel consumed, will remain accurate, and it'll allow the fuel gauge inside the ship to read 0.0 at MECO. Seems easier than trying to shut her down by hand, and knowing me, if the needle shows anything in the tanks at all, I'll keep going til its gone!
 
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Thanks for taking a look at the configs, Cymrych.

---------- Post added 03-18-10 at 12:04 PM ---------- Previous post was 03-17-10 at 09:20 PM ----------

I can't find Universal Autopilot anywhere. Could you post a link to it?
 
There's no place to download it on that thread.
BTW, If anyone has experience writing guidance files for multistage 2 addons, they could do that for this Ares V. Unfortunately, I have no skills in that area.
 
I'm still learning, but I'll give it a go. I guess I could also use it for practice. I'd assume the lastest beta (20100307) is still good?
 
OK, I'll give it a try. I'll try to get to a stable orbit, with a minimal Rinc. I'll more than likely have to work on this in the morning. I'll get back with you as soon as I can.
 
I managed to cobble some things together for you (mostly last night). Once I get started on something I tend to either finish it, or just say *-it.
It being late I couldn't cuss like I wanted, so I just toughed it out.

I've got two for you, on is (for the most part) based on the shuttle guidance file that comes with multistage. I figured it should work right? NOT! :beathead:. This'd be the baseline.

After much gritting of teeth, I came up with an alternative profile that for the most part exits the guidance program leaving the EDS at approx. 182Km altitude, an ApA of 203 (ish), an ApT of 97 seconds with an Ecc around 0.46.

What this means to me is that as soon as you have control of the EDS, burn like hell and pitch up to about 30-35 degrees. After fiddling around I managed to get the EDS to a stable 199Km orbit with a minimal Ecc. Fuel remaining was just over 50%. Replays varied slightly but were normally close. Give it a go and tell me what you think.
 

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