Flight Question IMFD questions

[Ark]

I have a few questions about IMFD, I haven't been able to find any tutorials to help with this:

-How can I use it to adjust my approach orbit to come in at the right inclination to continue on to a moon transfer? (example: How to approach Saturn in the same inclination as Titan)

-Does it have a function to preform an orbit insert that will intersect a moon?

-Does it have an aerobrake function for an orbit insertion and moon interception?

I've been orbiting for a couple of years now and just recently decided to start learning IMFD. It's got a lot of cool stuff that Trans-x doesn't have, but I'd like to get these questions answered so I can travel more efficiently. I just used it for a Saturn voyage, and while it got me within a reasonable distance of the planet, I had to brute-force the realignment and transfer to Titan, and I would have run out of fuel long before getting there if I didn't cheat with the scenario editor. I tried a second time and attempted to use Aerobrake MFD for the insertion, but apparently the MFD didn't calculate properly or something, because I crashed and burned.

 

[insanity]

1- I'm fairly certain that you can manually adjust your planet approach so that you end up in the inclination and altitude of your choice on insertion. This would probally require checking the align planes mfd with the ref on Saturn and the tgt titan. Run the planet approach program auto-burn when it's set up and then run the orbit insert program to get into a parking orbit around saturn and complete a target-intercept plan.

2- I have always gone approach-insert-re-enter, but I think an aerocapture could be set up manually in the planet approach. I know that you can do direct descents into notamosphereic conditions without insertion. There's a tutorial somewhere about how to land on Brighton without insertion using IMFD.

 

[Tommy]

Setting up an Aerocapture in IMFD is pretty similar to setting one up in TransX. Either way, you have to have the PeA at the correct altitude for the vessel/planet combo. For Earth, this tends to be around 70k and for Mars around 40k (assuming an inverted re-entry in a DG style vessel). If you'll be doing a direct re-entry to a base, you need to time your arrival correctly (diffficult for Mars with it's slow rotation), and use BaseApproach, set to re-entry. Set your REA around 1 degree, set EI to about 80k (for earth), and increase your Ant up to at least 90 degrees (I find around 150 works well usually). HInt should be roughly equal to PeT. If you can't re-enter direct, set Base Approach for Orbit insert, and set Num to the number of FULL orbits you plan to make before landing. AerobrakeMFD isn't always usefull during an inverted re-entry, just watch OrbitMFD to determine when to end the Aerocapture and rise above the atmo.

If you're interested, the Home Direct tutorial shows how to perform a TEI and direct re-entry from the moon using IMFD and AerobrakeMFD. Requires the XR-2:

[ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3660"]Home Direct[/ame]

To insert into a moons plane, use OrbitMFD to find the target's Inc and Lan. You can use Planet Approach to set the Inc, but I usually do it manually using IMFD's Map function and linear RCS shortly after entering the planets SOI. To adjust the LAN, you'll need to adjust the arrival time. You'll have to determine when to arrive to achieve the correct LAN yourself, and that's difficult. IMFD's Map will show you the Latitude and current Longitude of your Pe (doesn't account for planetary rotation, so Longitude will change over time). If you dont see the Lat and Long, hit the MOD button. That, and you Inc will allow you to figure out what your LAN would be if the planet didn't rotate. Knowing the planets rotational period will allow you to know when you should arrive. On targets with little or no rotation, not all planes will be available at insert. Keep in mind that if you are using a winged craft such as a DG, you can make a significant plane change during the aerocapture. It will likely be easier to adjust your Inc than your LAN (especially if your Pe is at a low latitude), so timing is critical. It may be easier to use Base Approach and set the target Lat to zero (this will make predicting the LAN easier, but make presetting the Inc impossible) and using the aerocapture phase to adjust the Inc.

 

[ar81]

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

 

[dc3dreamer]

Planet approach. Set it up as early as possible, way outside the destination's SOI. Set the orbit altitude and inclination, then burn. Now wait till you get closer and burn again. Then once again inside the SOI. Now you can use Orbit Insert. It's automatic.

http://solo.dc3.com/orbiter/video/EuropaToCallisto/