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Hi all,
as all of you know I'm finishing also the new multistage for the new fantastic orbiter Beta.
I will use the very same concept used for 2010, so no big difference is planned.
Anyway, just to discuss, Orbiter Beta actually allows now for a big different approach if desired: the possibility to have multiple stages docked one to the other, since now docking is allowed also on ground.
I am wondering, and would like to know your point of view, what, for a multistage launcher, are the advantages of this approach and what could be the downside.
As a very first thought I can think of
Advantages:
- more realism in general since the single stages or elements composing a launcher will work by themselves as in reality
- more smooth staging visuals since the jettisoned stage is not created anymore at the instant of staging, but is already there, it's just detached (this was achievable also with attachments, as velcro did)
- easier coding for physical parameters, since each stage can be coded by itself and then by docking orbiter will calculate the rest (thrust composition, weight composition etc)
Downsides:
- the main downside that I see is that all the parameters that relies on "vehicle" performance will have to be changed taken into consideration the stack vehicle and not just the vehicle. This means to get the handles and the interfaces of all the docked vehicles, get their parameters, calculate the stack parameters and use them.
- So coding guidance and control might become more difficult, surely for a "general" multistage module
- the dock must be deleted when a stage is jettisoned otherwise we will have a mess of docking ports on our vehicles.
What do you guys think?
Again, I'm not changing the concept of multistage for now, it's just a question to discuss and see your point of view
Fred
as all of you know I'm finishing also the new multistage for the new fantastic orbiter Beta.
I will use the very same concept used for 2010, so no big difference is planned.
Anyway, just to discuss, Orbiter Beta actually allows now for a big different approach if desired: the possibility to have multiple stages docked one to the other, since now docking is allowed also on ground.
I am wondering, and would like to know your point of view, what, for a multistage launcher, are the advantages of this approach and what could be the downside.
As a very first thought I can think of
Advantages:
- more realism in general since the single stages or elements composing a launcher will work by themselves as in reality
- more smooth staging visuals since the jettisoned stage is not created anymore at the instant of staging, but is already there, it's just detached (this was achievable also with attachments, as velcro did)
- easier coding for physical parameters, since each stage can be coded by itself and then by docking orbiter will calculate the rest (thrust composition, weight composition etc)
Downsides:
- the main downside that I see is that all the parameters that relies on "vehicle" performance will have to be changed taken into consideration the stack vehicle and not just the vehicle. This means to get the handles and the interfaces of all the docked vehicles, get their parameters, calculate the stack parameters and use them.
- So coding guidance and control might become more difficult, surely for a "general" multistage module
- the dock must be deleted when a stage is jettisoned otherwise we will have a mess of docking ports on our vehicles.
What do you guys think?
Again, I'm not changing the concept of multistage for now, it's just a question to discuss and see your point of view
Fred
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