NASSP Apollo 8 T+25:30 - Now what am I doing wrong?

[Wedge313]

Hello. I think this may have to do with my slow computer, but in case it's something else I'll ask. So all is going well at T+18:00, the PTC has started and there's not much going on until T+25:00 or so. I've tried to use time acceleration here, but I've had the simulation crash anytime I go more than 10x , even while staring at the forward hatch (I described this along with the orbiter.log file on the software section hoping to learn what's causing the crash). But as I approach the T+26:00 point, any time accel (even 2x) has been causing me to get a Master Alarm along with PROG and RESTART lights on the DSKY. To try to avoid this I stopped the PTC early at T+25:00 and did a P52, and then moving forward at 2x I've been able to get up to the point where I'm about to perform MCC2. But I'm trying to figure out what's causing the AGC to drop out like that after a long period in P00. Is this a problem with the computer I'm running Orbiter on, or have I configured the spacecraft incorrectly to cause this? And, in the "real world", what would I do if I woke up to a siren, flashing red light and a dead computer? Is there an Emergency Procedures checklist I'm overlooking? Thank you.

 

[indy91]

What is the program alarm you are getting? You can check with V05 N09. Maybe it's something fixable. But it might also just be your computer performance that is causing the problem. I really want to try and make a version of NASSP for Orbiter 2010, performance was so much better there...

In the real CSM they had a Malfunction Procedures checklist, but I think we don't even have one complete example of this. But it's the same pages as the AOH Volume 2 has, so get this document: https://www.ibiblio.org/apollo/Documents/AOH_A16_VOL2_Part_2.pdf and look on PDF page 303 for onboard debugging of any restart and page 304 for various program alarms. That's what the astronauts could have used, aside from asking mission control of course.

 

[Wedge313]

I tried V05 N09, but it just displayed zeros. I'm fairly sure it's the laptop causing these issues, its performance has me longing for my old Commodore 64. I just wondered if there was something I may have configured incorrectly that caused the dropout after hours of PTC drifting. Anyway, trudging along at 1x speed it looks like I'm ready for my first MCC, so let's see how this goes. BTW I'm still blown away by this program. I've always been fascinated with the Apollo program, and I'm loving every minute I spend working with this simulation. I spent my career working in FTDs and simulators, and I would imagine drumming up the code for an Apollo sim would be much more complicated than simulating a 767 (and the computers running the Level D full flight simulators took up a whole room. My Dell doesn't stand a chance.) Thanks again for your help.

 

[indy91]

When you get a program alarm and press clear to make the light go away then it also clears the registers that store the alarm code. So next time you get the program alarm do the V05 N09, read the alarm codes and then you can clear the program alarm light away.

Great that you are enjoying it despite the performance issues. NASSP is certainly CPU heavy, not only are we running up to three emulators (2x AGC and AGS) but all other systems are also simulated in great detail. Add to that that we are using an outdated 2D panel system that can't utilize the GPU much and you get into trouble without a decent CPU. Our work-in-progress virtual cockpits for CSM and LM can shift a lot of the burden from the CPU to the GPU, which helps me with a decent graphics card and only an ok-ish CPU, but that won't help you much with your laptop.