Pithecanthropu
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From reading Orbiter.doc, I gathered that the purpose of Linear Mode is to allow you to apply small amounts of thrust from the RCS engines linearly, which you would want to do in close range maneuvers such as docking. Clearly the main engines are far too powerful for this purpose. Also, presumably, Linear Mode is supposed to be useful for small orbital adjustments such as raising or lowering the apoapsis by a few kilometers, or zeroing out a few percent of eccentricity. IIRC the RCS system in the Gemini spacecraft was actually called the "Orbital Maneuvering System".
But when I try to use the RCS in Linear Mode, I notice that my spacecraft still yaws or pitches. For example, when trying to align my orbit with that of a fueling station, I was at the ascending node of the intersection, so I positioned my ship to antinormal. I set to Linear Mode and fired the forward thrusters (Keypad 6). The relative inclination of the orbits did diminish appreciably. However, for some reason I must have swung around to retrograde, because my PeA dropped 30k, from about 232 to 190. This is using a Saturn I Single Stage To Orbit add on (SASSTO).
Is there something I need to do, when using Linear Mode, to maintain my current attitude?
But when I try to use the RCS in Linear Mode, I notice that my spacecraft still yaws or pitches. For example, when trying to align my orbit with that of a fueling station, I was at the ascending node of the intersection, so I positioned my ship to antinormal. I set to Linear Mode and fired the forward thrusters (Keypad 6). The relative inclination of the orbits did diminish appreciably. However, for some reason I must have swung around to retrograde, because my PeA dropped 30k, from about 232 to 190. This is using a Saturn I Single Stage To Orbit add on (SASSTO).
Is there something I need to do, when using Linear Mode, to maintain my current attitude?