Project Orion MPCV

IronRain

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Just a few more photo ops. Thanks to francisdrake for tips of re-entry with Orion MPCV on Re-entering with Orion thread. Why does Orion re-enter the atmosphere twice, instead of once?

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skip_reentry"]Skip reentry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

Skip reentry is a reentry technique involving one or more successive "skips" off the atmosphere to achieve greater entry range or to slow the spacecraft before final entry, which helps to dissipate the huge amount of heat that is usually generated on faster descents. The range modulation made possible by skip entry allows a spacecraft to reach a wider landing area, or to reach a designated landing point from a wider range of possible entry times, which is especially important in abort situations. Like aerocapture, skip reentry requires precise guidance. An overly shallow entry angle will result in the spacecraft retaining too much of its velocity, possibly escaping into space permanently if this is more than escape velocity. An overly steep entry, on the other hand, results in more intense heating and stress that could exceed the design limits of the spacecraft, potentially destroying it.
 

Urwumpe

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This double reentry procedure seems to be the exact same as in the Apollo missions. You have a very informative video on that topic at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW5ozq4Tqew

Apollo had been designed for a skip re-entry, but in the end, they decided to use just a gliding re-entry without leaving the atmosphere - the film is a bit outdated at that point already. But the software for skip re-entry still existed during the lunar missions, it was just never activated.
 

francisdrake

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picture.php

Better water

Thanks for all the interest! Sorry, updates may be a little slow in the next weeks due to other work to do.

Above is a picure of a better water texture (not so much like a swimming pool). I will probably include the water mesh & texture, but keep it separate. It will only be activated if a scenario keyword is given.

For the reentry: When returing from LEO I aim for a perigee altitude of ~40 km. This results in a gentle reentry with max 3.5 g. No skipping.

When returning from the moon I aim for 0 km altitude. I try to avoid skipping out of the atmosphere by rolling the ship sideways or heads up when it is on the upward leg. Interesting to hear about the Apollo procedure, did not know that.
 

N_Molson

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Skip reentry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I know for sure that the Soviet lunar plans included that manoeuver. It was done by the Zond spacecraft, though 1 went ballistic (without disintegrating !). In that case it was a matter of inclination - that was the only way to land the crew in Soviet-controlled territory, if launched from Baikonur and coming back from the Moon.
 

Astro SG Wise

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What will be on your new version? May I recommend color change of the heat sheild to a tiled tan-ish brown?

One of my favorite pics...
picture.php
 

francisdrake

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Right now the Orion is not UMMU compatible. It is intended to become UMMU compatible in the future. Actually the old Orion CEV was UMMU compatible, but the current UMMU version uses the modern VESSEL3-type, which gives me problems. It may require to rewrite parts of the code.

Regarding the heat shield:

14367147027_8ef88dee5b_k.jpg

Quote:
The Orion crew module for Exploration Flight Test 1 — set for launch Dec. 4 — is seen before attachment to its service module. The heat shield is covered in a reflective silver tape that protects it from the extreme cold temperatures of space. Credit: NASA
Unquote

For the time given I will keep the heat shield silver. It sounds reasonable to protect the heat shield during long exposure times in space with a reflective foil. A burnt heat shield during and after reentry may be a future feature.
 

orbitingpluto

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Will there be an EFT add on as well

Quoting francisdrake from much earlier:

I am aware that the upcoming EFT-1 flight would be nice in Orbiter. But no, it is as PhantomCruiser says: I go for the operational MPCV as a key element for further solar system exploration.

This addon isn't focused on EFT-1, though you can certainly use it for that. The previously provided black tile texture still works, and making a scenario with the Orion atop a Delta 4 Heavy is simple enough to do. If it's beyond your abilities though, I'm willing to make one for you, though you'll have to specify which Delta 4 addon you'd prefer. Just keep in mind that if you want francisdrake to spend time making this addon better, you ought to be a wee more tolerant of the fact that he wants to develop it towards areas different than just recreating EFT-1.
 

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Quoting francisdrake from much earlier:



This addon isn't focused on EFT-1, though you can certainly use it for that. The previously provided black tile texture still works, and making a scenario with the Orion atop a Delta 4 Heavy is simple enough to do. If it's beyond your abilities though, I'm willing to make one for you, though you'll have to specify which Delta 4 addon you'd prefer. Just keep in mind that if you want francisdrake to spend time making this addon better, you ought to be a wee more tolerant of the fact that he wants to develop it towards areas different than just recreating EFT-1.

Oh, I know this, I'm just surprised that there hasn't been one created yet. I'm not too keen on using the scenario editor, it could be added in after the major stuff is done using the existing Delta IV addon?
 

orbitingpluto

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Oh, I know this, I'm just surprised that there hasn't been one created yet. I'm not too keen on using the scenario editor, it could be added in after the major stuff is done using the existing Delta IV addon?

I'm guessing your not familiar with the kind of scenario editing I'm talking about: what I'm on about is opening up the .scn files with notepad editing them directly. The Scenario Editor is a bit different and also somewhat limited compared to what can be done with a directly.

Anyway, I would guess there isn't much left to do regarding a EFT-1 addon: francisdrake's Orion is available along with an back tile texture; there's two Delta 4 addons to choose from([ame="http://orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3462"]Velcro[/ame] or [ame="http://orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=5556"]virii2k's[/ame]), and if one is using the Velcro Delta 4 and wanted a launch facility, there's [ame="http://orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=1306"]Kev's LC 37[/ame]. There might be some mesh work needed, to have the fairings and other hardware connecting the Orion to the Delta 4, but that's just visual stuff.

So long as your specific on which Delta 4 Heavy addon you wish to use, I could put together the scenario for you. Just ask.
 

Zach121k

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I'm guessing your not familiar with the kind of scenario editing I'm talking about: what I'm on about is opening up the .scn files with notepad editing them directly. The Scenario Editor is a bit different and also somewhat limited compared to what can be done with a directly.

Anyway, I would guess there isn't much left to do regarding a EFT-1 addon: francisdrake's Orion is available along with an back tile texture; there's two Delta 4 addons to choose from(Velcro or virii2k's), and if one is using the Velcro Delta 4 and wanted a launch facility, there's Kev's LC 37. There might be some mesh work needed, to have the fairings and other hardware connecting the Orion to the Delta 4, but that's just visual stuff.

So long as your specific on which Delta 4 Heavy addon you wish to use, I could put together the scenario for you. Just ask.

That would be amazing, actually I am familiar with that sort, I'm just not used to it. I'm just now getting back into Orbiter after a year or so. Let me check my setup. I'll also need the right Orion file.

I use Delta IV 3.0 by Virii2k.
 

orbitingpluto

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Since I knew an older version had EFT-1 scenarios, I poked around my hard drive before trying to make a new one. The scenario below is from the 03 version, but it works with the latest(07). All credit to francisdrake, as all I did was keep the old version and copy it out of there. There's the Velcro version posted below the viiri2k's Delta, which I also copied.

Code:
BEGIN_DESC
Orion-MPCV on Delta IV Launch Vehicles 3.0 by Tom Harrington

 A = Autopilot

 J = Jettison stages

 F = Jets fairing

 K = work satilite's solar panels 

 M = Mobile Service Tower / Config menu


*****  CUSTOM PAYLOAD  *****

 
 PAYLOAD      sets payloads CFG file location

 MESH         sets payload mesh 

 Z_OFFSET     sets the offset for the payload

 PLDWEIGHT    weight of payload

 Fairing_attached  1 = true / 0 = false (used to launch the dg)

 Disable_Base_Animation  Set to 1 if not using SLC6 or LC37.
  
END_DESC

BEGIN_ENVIRONMENT
  System Sol
  Date MJD 55940.5418242556
END_ENVIRONMENT

BEGIN_FOCUS
  Ship Delta4
END_FOCUS

BEGIN_CAMERA
  TARGET Delta4
  MODE Extern
  POS 26.71 0.08 -95.82
  TRACKMODE TargetRelative
  FOV 45.08
END_CAMERA

BEGIN_HUD
  TYPE Surface
END_HUD

BEGIN_MFD Left
  TYPE Orbit
  PROJ Ship
  FRAME Ecliptic
  REF Earth
END_MFD

BEGIN_MFD Right
  TYPE Surface
  SPDMODE 1
END_MFD

BEGIN_SHIPS
ISS:ProjectAlpha_ISS
  STATUS Orbiting Earth
  RPOS -5789696.57 -2862840.65 1930010.38
  RVEL -3676.254 6648.831 -1164.163
  AROT 30.00 0.00 50.00
  AFCMODE 7
  IDS 0:588 100 1:586 100 2:584 100 3:582 100 4:580 100
  NAVFREQ 0 0
  XPDR 466
END
Delta4:delta4/Delta4
  STATUS Landed Earth
  POS -80.5646000 28.5314000
  HEADING 30.00
  AFCMODE 7
  PRPLEVEL 0:1.000000
  NAVFREQ 0 0
  PAYLOAD Orion-MPCV/Orion-MPCV
  MESH Orion-MPCV/orion-lasfair
  Z_OFFSET 1.79
  CONFIG 0.000
  PLDWEIGHT 24500
  Fairing_attached 0
  missiontime 0.000000
END
LC37:delta4/lpad
  STATUS Landed Earth
  POS -80.5646000 28.5314000
  HEADING 210.00
  AFCMODE 7
  PRPLEVEL 0:1.000000
  THLEVEL 1:1.000000
END
END_SHIPS

Code:
BEGIN_DESC
Orion MPCV on the Delta IV Heavy Velcro EELV.
END_DESC

BEGIN_ENVIRONMENT
  System Sol
  Date MJD 59602.629167
END_ENVIRONMENT

BEGIN_FOCUS
  Ship DeltaCBC
END_FOCUS

BEGIN_CAMERA
  TARGET DeltaCBC
  MODE Extern
  POS 9.73 -0.51 -123.30
  TRACKMODE TargetRelative
  FOV 50.00
END_CAMERA

BEGIN_HUD
  TYPE Surface
END_HUD

BEGIN_MFD Left
  TYPE Surface
END_MFD

BEGIN_MFD Right
  TYPE Orbit
  PROJ Ship
  REF Earth
END_MFD

BEGIN_SHIPS
Orion:Orion-MPCV\Orion-MPCV
  STATUS Landed Earth
  POS -80.5771995 28.5619578
  HEADING 10.00
  PRPLEVEL 0:1.000
  MODE 10
END
DeltaStg2:Velcro/D4Stg2_5m
  STATUS Landed Earth
  BASE Cape Canaveral:6
  HEADING 270.00
  TGT_HEADING 095.0
  FUEL 1.000
  CONFIGURATION 0
  SCREENHEIGHT 250.0
;  PITCHMULTIPLE 0.25
  CAMERA 0 0 20.0
  SERIESBURN 0 Orion 0.0 0.0 -2.5  0.0 1.0 0.0
END
DeltaCBC:Velcro/CBC
  STATUS Landed Earth
  BASE Cape Canaveral:6
  HEADING 270.00
  TGT_HEADING 095.0
  FUEL 1.000
  CONFIGURATION 0
  MaxMainThrust = 1888270.35            ; Throttle setting at 57% throughout
  SCREENHEIGHT 225.0
  MINPITCH 10.0
  CAMERA 0 0 50.0
  SERIESBURN 0 DeltaStg2 0.0 0.0 1.2  0.0 1.0 0.0
  PAYLOAD Int Velcro/Parts/Int_CBC_5m Velcro/Parts/Int_CBC_5m 0 0 0 0.1 0 0.0 1.0
END
Dummy1:Velcro/DeltaIVDummyBoost            ; Simulates the high-throttle portion from ignition to t+60
  STATUS Landed Earth
  BASE Cape Canaveral:6
  HEADING 0.00
  TGT_HEADING 095.0
  FUEL 1.000
  CONFIGURATION 0
  PRIMEBOOSTER 0
  CENTERTHRUST 1
  BOOSTERBURN 1 DeltaCBC 0.75 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -1.0 0.0 
END
Dummy2:Velcro/DeltaIVDummyBoost            ; Simulates the throttle-up at T+251 sec.
  STATUS Landed Earth
  BASE Cape Canaveral:6
  HEADING 0.00
  TGT_HEADING 095.0
  FUEL 1.000
  CONFIGURATION 0
  PRIMEBOOSTER 0
  CENTERTHRUST 1
  DELAYSTART 251.0
  BOOSTERBURN 1 DeltaCBC 0.01 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -1.0 0.0 
END
LRB1:Velcro/CBC_LRB_L
  STATUS Landed Earth
  BASE Cape Canaveral:6
  HEADING 0.00
  TGT_HEADING 095.0
  FUEL 1.000
  CONFIGURATION 0
  PRIMEBOOSTER 0
  CENTERTHRUST 1
  PARALLELBURN 1 DeltaCBC 1.5 0.0 1.0  1.0 0.0 0.0 
END
LRB2:Velcro/CBC_LRB_R
  STATUS Landed Earth
  BASE Cape Canaveral:6
  HEADING 0.00
  TGT_HEADING 095.0
  FUEL 1.000
  CONFIGURATION 0
  PRIMEBOOSTER 0
  CENTERTHRUST 1
  PARALLELBURN 1 DeltaCBC -1.5 0.0 1.0  -1.0 0.0 0.0 
END
END_SHIPS

To use, copy the scenario you want out of the code tags into Notepad, and save it as a .scn file in your Orbiter\Scenarios folder. Don't forget the black tile texture, and remember to thank francisdrake- it's his Orion, texture, and scenarios, and the most I've done so far is make them convenient to find.
 

francisdrake

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Need help on MFD in virtual cockpit

I am stuck. The MFD's do not show up in the VC. I made simple rectangles facing the pilot. They load as blank rectangles with default material.

Attributed the mesh index and mesh group to the MFDs, registered them with oapiVCRegisterMFD. Now they show up as black rectangles, but no MFD is drawn. Anybody got an idea why this could be?
 

simcosmos

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I am stuck. The MFD's do not show up in the VC. I made simple rectangles facing the pilot. They load as blank rectangles with default material.

Attributed the mesh index and mesh group to the MFDs, registered them with oapiVCRegisterMFD. Now they show up as black rectangles, but no MFD is drawn. Anybody got an idea why this could be?

Hi Franz,

I was planning to write about this sooner (when reading previous posts where you have mentioned the black MFD's problem) but I was not able yet to hunt some of my development notes... So, what follows next may not be helpful, but here it goes!

I think that have experienced a similar issue, although this was with a spacecraft3.dll vessel. Everything was correctly coded but the MFDs were not showing up...

... And now this is the part that I do not remember: I think that the problem was either related with some video definitions of the graphics card (Mobile Intel(R) 945 Express Chipset on Windows XP SP3) and/or was solved (or came back again) after installing a certain (?) version of Visual C++ routines and/or was also dependent of Orbiter version...

Yes, I know, not really helpful... I will try to hunt for those missing 'simcosmos' development notes or do a few new tests with some files (both from me and you and both on the EeePC and on the main computer = with a dedicated NVIDIA graphics card) to see if we narrow this down to reach any specific conclusion.


EDIT

Ok, did a number of quick tests, with:
- Orbiter's default Deltaglider
- one virtual cockpit of my own that had in the archives and powered by Vinka's spacecraft3.dll.
- OrionMPCV (07)

Results:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ship's VC MFD-2006P1 (EeePC)--2010P1 (EeePC)--2006P1 (Main)--2010P1 (Main)
Delta-glider---------White------------OK------------OK--------------OK----
Spacecraft3.dll-------DDS------------OK------------OK--------------OK----
OrionMPCV 07------ White-----------Black------(not tested)--------Black---
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes:
DDS = no active MFDs although still showing a default texture inside the MFD rectangle : as noted below, the MFD needs to be mapped (the texture does not strictly need to be present but I leave a dummy one anyway, so that the MFD displays 'something' in case of a graphical glitch, etc)

So, at least in my development cases, this seems to be something related with Orbiter version (vs interaction with graphics settings? or installed C++ libraries?, more tests needed).


Franz, in your case, it may be better to do as DaveS / C3PO suggested: when possible, please verify / apply a dummy texture to the MFD rectangles and confirm if you are seeing (or not) that texture when inside the VC. Then we can run a series of additional tests to hunt for other possible causes that may prevent active MFD from being seen ;)

Cheers,
António Maia
 
Last edited:

DaveS

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I am stuck. The MFD's do not show up in the VC. I made simple rectangles facing the pilot. They load as blank rectangles with default material.

Attributed the mesh index and mesh group to the MFDs, registered them with oapiVCRegisterMFD. Now they show up as black rectangles, but no MFD is drawn. Anybody got an idea why this could be?
Shot in the dark here, but have you texture mapped it? Orbiter makes use of the texture mapping of an object to draw the MFDs in a VC. So you need to map a dummy texture to the MFD object which Orbiter can use.
 

C3PO

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I was trying to remember how I got it to work, but it's been a few years. I made a dummy texture that I applied in Gmax, and then changed the name of the texture in the mesh file. I couldn't find the old map so I whipped up a simple one that should work.
512x512 bmp
 
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