ProjectShuttle FDO MFD

indy91

One small update. I haven't had much time working on the MFD, but I am making some progress working on the Launch Window/Launch Targeting Processor. It consists of those two parts, a launch window calculation which calculates the liftoff time based on in-plane or phase angle and then a launch targeting part which calculates a more precise, zero yaw steering preferred liftoff time and also launch targeting parameters (inclination and descending node angle).

I have various, incomplete sources on this processor, which make the work interesting and challenging. There definitely is a direct heritage from Gemini (launching to intercept another Gemini spacecraft or an Agena) to the planned, but never flown AS-207/208 mission (two Saturn IBs launching a CSM and LM respectively, flying an Apollo 9 kind of mission) to Skylab and then to Shuttle. Other than the OMP the LWP/LTP will probably not end up working just like the real thing, as it was at the end of the Shuttle program. There are some numbers you would have to generate externally (the descending node angle for a specific inclination and time into launch window) and I don't fully understand how that would be used anyway. After all the documentation I have, other than the FDO Console Handbook, are all from 1980 or earlier. But it will still be very close to what the FDOs used on launch day to generate the exact launch window and targeting parameters.

While SSU doesn't do any second stage yaw steering yet it should probably be possible to intercept a specific orbit by using the right inclination and a biased launch time. The launch time is calculated with an analytical bias anyway, the Console Handbook uses the input value of 5m40s before the in-plane time. And for a set of specific inclination, launch weight and insertion parameters the necessary time bias should be fairly constant, it will just need a bunch of trial and error. My initial tests suggest that the 5m40s value needs to be changed by about 20 seconds. One LTP output is a post-MPS dump state vector, which can be used in the OMP to check if the orbital plane is right and any NPC maneuver in the rendezvous plan is near zero. That is especially relevant for the non-spherical gravity.

Parallel to this I'll implement this processor for NASSP as well and will try to fly a Skylab rendezvous profile with it. The simulated LVDC can do insertion into a specific orbital plane very well.

Donamy

Donator
Beta Tester
Found this, in case you're interested.

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indy91

Ok, the initial version of the Launch Window Processor is almost ready. Here is the workflow to use it, which may still change a bit, also based on feedback. I'm not very talented in making MFDs user friendly. :lol:

New button in the main menu:

There are several inputs screens for the LWP, although most of the values will not have to be changed every time you use the LWP:

-TGT is the target vehicle, whose state vector is used as an input to the LWP.
-LS can be used to input a specific launch pad (39A or 39B currently), so that the coordinates are automatically loaded. Default is LC-39A.
-LAT can be used to overwrite the launchpad latitude (if you want to launch to the HST you might have to bias the latitude southwards in order to get the LWP to calculate a solution).
-LNG to overwrite the launchpad longitude.
-YS is the maximum yaw steering the Shuttle can do for the ascent to orbit. Not really relevant for SSU right now and it should probably always stay 14°
-PFA is the powered flight arc from launch to insertion. All the values on the right side of this screen are used in an analytical calculation of the Shuttle ascent. This is all the LWP can do, so updated values would need to be supplied for ascents that are very different from a usual one. But it's not super critical to have these values exactly right.
-PFT is the powered flight time from liftoff to insertion. Not MECO I guess, more the decay of all thrust or so.
-RAD is the insertion radius in feet. Might be a bit of an awkward unit to use for SSU, but that's what the FDO Handbook showed in a screenshot of the LWP inputs.
-VEL is the insertion velocity. This and FPA below will need to be adjusted for the specific mission, because it's very different from e.g. a mission to the ISS vs. to the HST.
-FPA is the flight path angle at insertion. All of the values on this page are usual values for a mission to the ISS, I think.

The next page has some rarely changed values. By the way, if you didn't know, pressing MNU will show descriptions of all buttons:

-DTE is the delta time from MECO to ET separation. Probably always 12 seconds.
-DVE is the DV vector of the ET separation maneuver. the DVX component should be either 0 ft/s (no +X translation maneuver or ET photo pitch maneuver) or 5 ft/s (to account for the +X translation maneuver). For DVZ I have seen 4 or 5 ft/s, not sure which value is closer to accurate. This will be the translation maneuver that is done automatically to get away from the ET. +5 ft/s if the attitude is heads down or -5 ft/s if the attitude is heads up.
-DTM is the delta time from MECO to the MPS dump; just like the ET sep maneuver this assumes an impulsive burn. The delta time is probably fairly constant.
-DVM is the DV of the MPS dump. The FDO Console Handbook has numbers that are averages from flight data:
-DELNO is the descending node bias that is used to account for differential nodal precession. This should always be 0 with non-spherical gravity disabled. There currently is no way yet to let the LWP calculate the value automatically, so it has to be done by trial and error. Calculate a LWP solution, then run the OMP with the state vector from LWP output and check the size of the NPC maneuver. A very rough estimate for this is phase angle at liftoff divided by 500. So for a phase angle of 300° it will be roughly 0.6° DELNO. This only applies to a FD3 rendezvous, for FD4 it will be more, for FD2 it will be less.
-OPT is the optimal, zero yaw steering delta time from the in-plane time. Launching at exactly the time when the target vehicles orbit is over the launchpad is not optimal because by the time you have left the atmosphere, a few minutes later, the orbit is already far away from the launchpad. This is an empirical derived number depending on time it takes to ascent to orbit etc. The FDO Handbook has -5:40, but I've tested it a couple times and for SSU the best value is -5:23. This will only be exactly for 51.6° inclination and a specific Shuttle weight and insertion conditions but it should be quite close in all cases.
-DTO is the delta time for the opening of the launch window. Launch window to the ISS is usually 10 minutes long, so DTO and DTC are -5 minutes and + 5 minutes. SSU can't do any yaw steering and this is only really used for the calculation of the phase angle right now. Just for information purposes.
-DTC is the delta time of the launch window closing.
-PHA and WRA are two rather unintuitive flags used by the LWP and currently it will only be used in the phase angle calculation. For example, this will decide if a phase angle is 30° or 390°. Here is the numbers that are used for this, as per the FDO Handbook:

And here the output page:

The only button is CLC, to perform the calculation. This will populate the numbers on this page and also save a post MPS dump state vector for the OMP to use. Additionally it will overwrite the current launch time in the MFD. On the executive page you can see that the chaser vehicle is now showing "LWP Output":

The only numbers that are currently relevant for SSU are the optimum launch time and the inclination (IMECO) that are displayed on the LWP output page. I guess you will have to write down the numbers and then adjust the inclination in the mission file and the LaunchMJD in the scenario file. I could also add an export button so that all the insertion parameters and the launch MJD are saved in a file where you can copy them over to the mission and scenario files.

So this is how the LWP is going to work initially. There are many features which are currently not implemented or don't have a button yet: insertion at a specific phase angle instead of in-plane, calculating the descending node angle and with that an orbital plane vector for the Shuttle to target. And ascending/descending node launches, which would be relevant for a launch at VAFB. Any initial feedback on the user interface part?

DaveS

Space Shuttle Ultra Project co-developer
Donator
Beta Tester
I think I have discovered a short-coming of Shuttle FDO MFD. I've been trying to set up a HST rendezvous using STS-109 as the example mission. The problem I have encountered is that no matter what I do, for some reason it wants to use the Ti burn to raise the perigee instead of the dedicated NH burn for the purpose.

This is a table of the STS-109 rendezvous burns taken from the official STS-109 post-mission report. The format is burn designation, type of burn, TIG, delta V and resultant orbit (apogee/perigee n.mi)

Code:
STS-109 rendezvous burns

OMS-2, dual engine OMS, 000:00:43:57, 134.0, 310.4x105.2
NC-1A, ROMS, 000:05:21:47, 10.3, 310.6x110.9
NC-2, -X RCS, 000:17:50:50, 4.5, 310.4x112.2
NH, dual engine OMS, 001:16:45:28, 326.6, 312.2x302.9
NC-4, multi-axis RCS, 001:17:47:01, 4.8 309.3x302.4
NCC, multi-axis RCS, 001:18:38:57, 1.3, 309.2x302.3
Ti, LOMS, 001:19:39:03, 8.4, 303.5x313.5

So the question is: is there any way to tell the OMP to use the NH burn for the perigee raising rather than the Ti burn?

indy91

Do you have a pre OMS-2 scenario where I can try and replicate the planning with the MFD?

DaveS

Space Shuttle Ultra Project co-developer
Donator
Beta Tester
Do you have a pre OMS-2 scenario where I can try and replicate the planning with the MFD?
Here you go:

Code:
BEGIN_DESC
Current scenario state

Contains the latest simulation state.
END_DESC

BEGIN_ENVIRONMENT
System Sol
Date MJD 52334.4835785689
Context SSU
Help CurrentState_img
END_ENVIRONMENT

BEGIN_FOCUS
Ship Columbia
END_FOCUS

BEGIN_CAMERA
TARGET Columbia
MODE Extern
POS 4.055608 30.135680 22.652159
TRACKMODE GlobalFrame
FOV 50.00
END_CAMERA

BEGIN_MFD Left
TYPE User
MODE CRT
END_MFD

BEGIN_MFD Right
TYPE User
MODE CRT
END_MFD

BEGIN_MFD 3
TYPE User
MODE CRT
END_MFD

BEGIN_MFD 4
TYPE User
MODE CRT
END_MFD

BEGIN_MFD 5
TYPE User
MODE CRT
END_MFD

BEGIN_MFD 6
TYPE User
MODE CRT
END_MFD

BEGIN_MFD 7
TYPE User
MODE CRT
END_MFD

BEGIN_MFD 9
TYPE User
MODE CRT
END_MFD

BEGIN_MFD 10
TYPE User
MODE CRT
END_MFD

BEGIN_VC
END_VC

BEGIN_SHIPS
Columbia:SpaceShuttleUltra
STATUS Orbiting Earth
RPOS 2235056.461 4587882.915 -4116334.722
RVEL 7410.4166 -2557.7706 770.1088
AROT 142.147 -61.417 -105.388
VROT 0.0070 0.0037 -0.0046
AFCMODE 7
PRPLEVEL 0:0.940169 1:0.813537 2:0.812416 3:0.811776 4:1.000000 5:1.000000 6:0.963352 9:0.020000 10:1.000000 11:1.000000 12:1.000000 13:0.006136 14:0.046714 15:1.000000 16:1.000000 17:1.000000
NAVFREQ 0 0
MISSION STS-109
CONFIGURATION 3
VC_POS 0
SBTC 0.00 0.00
OPS 105
PLB_CAM 0.0000 -90.0000 0.0000 90.0000 0.0000 -90.0000 0.0000 90.0000
@SUBSYSTEM HeEng_C
PRESS 1807.390461
VALVES 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;HeEng_C
@SUBSYSTEM HeEng_L
PRESS 1857.141613
VALVES 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;HeEng_L
@SUBSYSTEM HeEng_R
PRESS 1807.769058
VALVES 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;HeEng_R
@SUBSYSTEM HePneu
PRESS 611.111440
VALVES 1.000000 1.000000 1.000000
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;HePneu
@SUBSYSTEM MPS
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;MPS
@SUBSYSTEM MPS_C
SSME config 5
VIE config 2
DCU_chA config 0
DCU_chB config 0
CIE_chA config 2
CIE_chB config 1
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;MPS_C
@SUBSYSTEM MPS_L
SSME config 5
VIE config 2
DCU_chA config 0
DCU_chB config 0
CIE_chA config 2
CIE_chB config 1
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;MPS_L
@SUBSYSTEM MPS_R
SSME config 5
VIE config 2
DCU_chA config 0
DCU_chB config 0
CIE_chA config 2
CIE_chB config 1
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;MPS_R
@SUBSYSTEM FMC1
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;FMC1
@SUBSYSTEM FMC2
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;FMC2
@SUBSYSTEM FMC3
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;FMC3
@SUBSYSTEM MMC1
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;MMC1
@SUBSYSTEM MMC2
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;MMC2
@SUBSYSTEM MMC3
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;MMC3
@SUBSYSTEM MMC4
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;MMC4
@SUBSYSTEM AMC1
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;AMC1
@SUBSYSTEM AMC2
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;AMC2
@SUBSYSTEM AMC3
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;AMC3
@SUBSYSTEM EIU1
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;EIU1
@SUBSYSTEM EIU2
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;EIU2
@SUBSYSTEM EIU3
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;EIU3
@SUBSYSTEM MTU
MET_RUNNING 1
MET0 859.168104
MET1 859.168104
MET2 859.168104
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;MTU
@SUBSYSTEM IDP1
IDP1 SPEC 65535
IDP1 DISP 65535
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;IDP1
@SUBSYSTEM IDP2
IDP2 SPEC 65535
IDP2 DISP 18
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;IDP2
@SUBSYSTEM IDP3
IDP3 SPEC 65535
IDP3 DISP 18
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;IDP3
@SUBSYSTEM IDP4
IDP4 SPEC 65535
IDP4 DISP 65535
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;IDP4
@SUBSYSTEM IMU1
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;IMU1
@SUBSYSTEM IMU2
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;IMU2
@SUBSYSTEM IMU3
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;IMU3
@SUBSYSTEM SimpleGPCSystem
OVHD 1
IGS 1
IGI 1
RWID 1
RWID0 0
LSID 1
SB_SEL 1
AEROJET_FCS_PITCH 1
AEROJET_FCS_ROLL 1
AEROJET_FCS_SB 1
AEROJET_FCS_BF 1
RETRACT_BF 0
WOWLON 0
FLATTURN 0
ROLLOUT 0
GSENBL 0
HUD_WOWLON 0
HUD_ROLLOUT 0
PMODE 1
FMODE 1
IPHASE 1
TG_END 0
ISLECT 0
DLRDOT 0.000000
MEP 0
YSGN 0.000000
RF 0.000000
PSHA 0.000000
RTURN 0.000000
XHAC 0.000000
@BEGINSOFTWARE MPS_Dump
@ENDSOFTWARE
@BEGINSOFTWARE OrbitDAP
TGT_ID 2
BODY_VECT 1
ROLL 0.000000
PITCH 0.000000
YAW 0.000000
P_ANGLE 0.000000
Y_ANGLE 0.000000
OM_ANGLE -1.000000
DAP_MODE 0 0
ROT_MODE 0 0 0
TRANS_MODE 0 0 0
CONTROL_MODE 0
@ENDSOFTWARE
@BEGINSOFTWARE StateVectorSoftware
T0_POS -2033689.072059 3050597.070292 -5210426.695635
@ENDSOFTWARE
@BEGINSOFTWARE OMSBurnSoftware
OMS 0
PEG7 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
Trim 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
BURN_ATT 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
WT 220780.171153
TIG 0 0 0 0.0
TV_ROLL 180
MNVR 0 0 0
@ENDSOFTWARE
@BEGINSOFTWARE LandingSite
@ENDSOFTWARE
@BEGINSOFTWARE IO_Control
@ENDSOFTWARE
@BEGINSOFTWARE ATVC_SOP
CONFIG 2
@ENDSOFTWARE
@BEGINSOFTWARE GeneralDisplays
@ENDSOFTWARE
@BEGINSOFTWARE RHC_RM
@ENDSOFTWARE
@BEGINSOFTWARE THC_RM
@ENDSOFTWARE
@BEGINSOFTWARE RHC_SOP
@ENDSOFTWARE
@BEGINSOFTWARE THC_SOP
@ENDSOFTWARE
@BEGINSOFTWARE OMS_TVC_Command_SOP
LEFT_PITCH 0.000000
LEFT_YAW 0.000000
RIGHT_PITCH 0.000000
RIGHT_YAW 0.000000
@ENDSOFTWARE
@BEGINSOFTWARE OMS_TVC_Feedback_SOP
@ENDSOFTWARE
@BEGINSOFTWARE DedicatedDisplay_SOP
@ENDSOFTWARE
@BEGINSOFTWARE Aero_Act_SOP
@ENDSOFTWARE
@BEGINSOFTWARE DAPLightsDriver
@ENDSOFTWARE
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;SimpleGPCSystem
@SUBSYSTEM SimpleMDM_FF1
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;SimpleMDM_FF1
@SUBSYSTEM SimpleMDM_FF2
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;SimpleMDM_FF2
LEFT_AIRDATAPROBE 1 3 0.000000
RIGHT_AIRDATAPROBE 1 3 0.000000
@SUBSYSTEM ETUmbDoors
ET_DOORS 0.000000 0.000000
ET_DOOR_LATCHES 1.000000 1.000000 1.000000
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;ETUmbDoors
@SUBSYSTEM -YStarTrackerDoorMotor
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;-YStarTrackerDoorMotor
@SUBSYSTEM -ZStarTrackerDoorMotor
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;-ZStarTrackerDoorMotor
@SUBSYSTEM ACBusSystem
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;ACBusSystem
@SUBSYSTEM INVERTER1
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;INVERTER1
@SUBSYSTEM INVERTER2
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;INVERTER2
@SUBSYSTEM INVERTER3
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;INVERTER3
@SUBSYSTEM GCIL
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;GCIL
@SUBSYSTEM ATVC
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;ATVC
@SUBSYSTEM MEC1
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;MEC1
@SUBSYSTEM MEC2
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;MEC2
@SUBSYSTEM RA1
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;RA1
@SUBSYSTEM RA2
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;RA2
DOOR_PORT 0 0.0000
DOOR_STBD 0 0.0000
DOORLATCH0 0 0.0000
DOORLATCH1 0 0.0000
DOORLATCH2 0 0.0000
DOORLATCH3 0 0.0000
DOORLATCH4 0 0.0000
DOORLATCH5 0 0.0000
DOORLATCH6 0 0.0000
DOORLATCH7 0 0.0000
KUBAND 0 0.0000
@SUBSYSTEM LandingGear
ARM 0
DOWN 0
NLG 0.000000
LMG 0.000000
RMG 0.000000
NOWOW_NLG 1
NOWOW_LMG 1
NOWOW_RMG 1
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;LandingGear
@SUBSYSTEM AeroSurfaces
ELEVON_LOB 0.000000
ELEVON_LIB 0.000000
ELEVON_RIB 0.000000
ELEVON_ROB 0.000000
RUDDER 0.000000
SPEEDBRAKE 0.000000
BODYFLAP 0.000000
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;AeroSurfaces
@SUBSYSTEM OMS_LEFT
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;OMS_LEFT
@SUBSYSTEM OMS_RIGHT
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;OMS_RIGHT
@SUBSYSTEM OMS_TVC_LEFT
PITCH 0.000000
YAW 0.000000
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;OMS_TVC_LEFT
@SUBSYSTEM OMS_TVC_RIGHT
PITCH 0.000000
YAW 0.000000
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;OMS_TVC_RIGHT
@SUBSYSTEM DDU1
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;DDU1
@SUBSYSTEM DDU2
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;DDU2
@SUBSYSTEM DDU3
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;DDU3
@SUBSYSTEM HUD1
DECLUTTER 0
GEAR 0 0.000000
CSS 0 0.000000
MLSNV 0 0.000000
B/F 0 0.000000
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;HUD1
@SUBSYSTEM HUD2
DECLUTTER 0
GEAR 0 0.000000
CSS 0 0.000000
MLSNV 0 0.000000
B/F 0 0.000000
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;HUD2
@SUBSYSTEM LeftRHC
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;LeftRHC
@SUBSYSTEM RightRHC
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;RightRHC
@SUBSYSTEM AftRHC
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;AftRHC
@SUBSYSTEM LeftTHC
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;LeftTHC
@SUBSYSTEM AftTHC
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;AftTHC
@SUBSYSTEM LeftRPTA
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;LeftRPTA
@SUBSYSTEM RightRPTA
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;RightRPTA
@SUBSYSTEM LeftSBTC
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;LeftSBTC
@SUBSYSTEM RightSBTC
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;RightSBTC
@SUBSYSTEM APU1
APU1_State 0
APU1_FuelPress 0.000000
APU1_HydPress 0.000000
APU1_Speed 0.000000
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;APU1
@SUBSYSTEM APU2
APU2_State 0
APU2_FuelPress 0.000000
APU2_HydPress 0.000000
APU2_Speed 0.000000
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;APU2
@SUBSYSTEM APU3
APU3_State 0
APU3_FuelPress 0.000000
APU3_HydPress 0.000000
APU3_Speed 0.000000
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;APU3
@SUBSYSTEM WSB1
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;WSB1
@SUBSYSTEM WSB2
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;WSB2
@SUBSYSTEM WSB3
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;WSB3
@SUBSYSTEM LATCH0
LATCH_STATE1 1 1.0000
LATCH_STATE2 1 1.0000
LATCH_STATE3 1 1.0000
LATCH_STATE4 1 1.0000
LATCH_STATE5 1 1.0000
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;LATCH0
@SUBSYSTEM LATCH1
LATCH_STATE1 1 1.0000
LATCH_STATE2 1 1.0000
LATCH_STATE3 1 1.0000
LATCH_STATE4 1 1.0000
LATCH_STATE5 1 1.0000
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;LATCH1
@SUBSYSTEM LATCH2
LATCH_STATE1 1 1.0000
LATCH_STATE2 1 1.0000
LATCH_STATE3 1 1.0000
LATCH_STATE4 1 1.0000
LATCH_STATE5 1 1.0000
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;LATCH2
@SUBSYSTEM PRSD
LV011 1.000000
LV021 1.000000
LV031 1.000000
LV041 1.000000
LV013 1.000000
LV023 1.000000
LV024 1.000000
LV033 1.000000
LV043 1.000000
LV044 1.000000
LV012 1.000000
LV022 1.000000
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;PRSD
@SUBSYSTEM VideoControlUnit
CAMERA_POWER 0 0 0 0 0
OUTPUT 0
INPUTS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;VideoControlUnit
@SUBSYSTEM ACA1
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;ACA1
@SUBSYSTEM ACA2
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;ACA2
@SUBSYSTEM ACA3
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;ACA3
@SUBSYSTEM ACA4
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;ACA4
@SUBSYSTEM ACA5
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;ACA5
@SUBSYSTEM RMS
ARM_STATUS 0.500000 0.013600 0.014688 0.500000 0.500000 0.500000
SHOULDER_BRACE 1.000000
GRAPPLE 1 1.0000
RIGIDIZE 1 1.0000
EXTEND 1 1.0000
RMS_ELBOW_CAM 0.0000 0.0000
RMS_ROLLOUT 0 0.0000
RMS_LATCHES 0 0.0000
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;RMS
@SUBSYSTEM InternalAirlock
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;InternalAirlock
@SUBSYSTEM DeployedAssembly
ALPHA 124.300000
BETA -27.500000
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;DeployedAssembly
@SUBSYSTEM ElectronicsAssembly1
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;ElectronicsAssembly1
@SUBSYSTEM ElectronicsAssembly2
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;ElectronicsAssembly2
@SUBSYSTEM DragChute
@ENDSUBSYSTEM        ;DragChute
@PANEL F2
"Drag Chute ARM Cover" [0]
"Drag Chute DPY Cover" [0]
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL F3
"Drag Chute ARM Cover" [0]
"Drag Chute DPY Cover" [0]
"Drag Chute JETT Cover" [0]
"HUD Power CDR" OFF
"HUD Power PLT" OFF
"CDR TRIM RHC/PNL" INHIBIT
"CDR TRIM PANEL" ON
"PLT TRIM RHC/PNL" INHIBIT
"PLT TRIM PANEL" ON
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL F4
"Drag Chute JETT Cover" [0]
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL F6
@OBJECT "CDR1"
DISPLAY 3
BRIGHTNESS 0.800000
@ENDOBJECT
@OBJECT "CDR2"
DISPLAY 1
BRIGHTNESS 0.800000
@ENDOBJECT
"Cdr Flt Cntlr Pwr" OFF
"Landing Gear ARM Cover" [0]
"Landing Gear DN Cover" [0]
"HUD Mode" NORM
"HUD Brightness" [2]
"HUD Bright" AUTO
"RDR ALTM" 1
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL F7
@OBJECT "CRT1"
DISPLAY 0
BRIGHTNESS 0.800000
@ENDOBJECT
@OBJECT "CRT2"
DISPLAY 0
BRIGHTNESS 0.800000
@ENDOBJECT
@OBJECT "CRT3"
DISPLAY 0
BRIGHTNESS 0.800000
@ENDOBJECT
@OBJECT "MFD1"
DISPLAY 4
BRIGHTNESS 0.800000
@ENDOBJECT
@OBJECT "MFD2"
DISPLAY 3
BRIGHTNESS 0.800000
@ENDOBJECT
"Event Time" 358 0.598849 1 1
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL F8
@OBJECT "PLT1"
DISPLAY 1
BRIGHTNESS 0.800000
@ENDOBJECT
@OBJECT "PLT2"
DISPLAY 4
BRIGHTNESS 0.800000
@ENDOBJECT
"Plt Flt Cntlr Pwr" OFF
"Landing Gear ARM Cover" [0]
"Landing Gear DN Cover" [0]
"HUD Mode" NORM
"HUD Brightness" [2]
"HUD Bright" AUTO
"RDR ALTM" 2
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL L1
"Fire Suppression Av Bay 1 Disch Agent Cover" [0]
"Fire Suppression Av Bay 2 Disch Agent Cover" [0]
"Fire Suppression Av Bay 3 Disch Agent Cover" [0]
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL L2
"AntiSkid" ON
"Nose Wheel Steering" 1
"Entry Mode" AUTO
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL C2
"IDP/CRT 1 Power" ON
"IDP/CRT 2 Power" ON
"IDP/CRT 3 Power" ON
"IDP/CRT 1 Maj Func" GNC
"IDP/CRT 2 Maj Func" GNC
"IDP/CRT 3 Maj Func" GNC
"Left CRT Sel" 1
"Right CRT Sel" 2
"Event Timer Mode" Down
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL C3
"LOMS Arm" OFF
"ROMS Arm" OFF
"BFC CRT Display" ON
"BFC CRT Select" 3+1
"MAIN ENGINE LIMIT SHUT DN" AUTO
"SSME Left S/D PB Cover" [0]
"SSME Ctr S/D PB Cover" [0]
"SSME Right S/D PB Cover" [0]
"SRB Separation" AUTO
"SRB Separation PB Cover" [0]
"ET Separation" AUTO
"ET Separation PB Cover" [0]
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL R2
"Boiler1 N2 Supply" OFF
"Boiler2 N2 Supply" OFF
"Boiler3 N2 Supply" OFF
"Boiler1 Power" OFF
"Boiler2 Power" OFF
"Boiler3 Power" OFF
"Boiler1 Cntlr/Htr" A
"Boiler2 Cntlr/Htr" A
"Boiler3 Cntlr/Htr" A
"APU1 Operate" OFF
"APU2 Operate" OFF
"APU3 Operate" OFF
"Hyd Main Pump Press 1" NORM
"Hyd Main Pump Press 2" NORM
"Hyd Main Pump Press 3" NORM
"APU1 Cntlr Pwr" OFF
"APU2 Cntlr Pwr" OFF
"APU3 Cntlr Pwr" OFF
"APU1 Fuel Tank Valve" CLOSE
"APU2 Fuel Tank Valve" CLOSE
"APU3 Fuel Tank Valve" CLOSE
"ET Umb Centerline Latch" STOW
"ET Umb Left Door" OFF
"ET Umb Left Door Latch" OFF
"ET Umb Right Door" OFF
"ET Umb Right Door Latch" OFF
"MPS Pwr Left AC2" [0]
"MPS Pwr Ctr AC1" [0]
"MPS Pwr Right AC3" [0]
"MPS Pwr Left AC3" [0]
"MPS Pwr Ctr AC2" [0]
"MPS Pwr Right AC1" [0]
"MPS He Isol A Left" GPC
"MPS He Isol A Ctr" GPC
"MPS He Isol A Right" GPC
"MPS He Isol B Left" GPC
"MPS He Isol B Ctr" GPC
"MPS He Isol B Right" GPC
"MPS PRPLT Dump Sequence" GPC
"MPS PRPLT Backup LH2 vlv" GPC
"Pneu L Eng He XOVR" GPC
"Pneu He Isol" GPC
"He Interconnect Left" GPC
"He Interconnect Ctr" GPC
"He Interconnect Right" GPC
"LH2 Ullage Press" AUTO
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL R1
"Ess Bus Source MN B/C" ON
"Ess Bus Source MN C/A" ON
"Ess Bus Source MN A/B" ON
"Ess Bus Source FC 1" ON
"Ess Bus Source FC 2" ON
"Ess Bus Source FC 3" ON
"AC Bus Snsr 1" MONITOR
"AC Bus Snsr 2" MONITOR
"AC Bus Snsr 3" MONITOR
"O2 TK1 Heaters A" AUTO
"O2 TK1 Heaters B" OFF
"O2 TK2 Heaters A" AUTO
"O2 TK2 Heaters B" OFF
"O2 TK3 Heaters A" OFF
"O2 TK3 Heaters B" OFF
"H2 TK1 Heaters A" AUTO
"H2 TK1 Heaters B" OFF
"H2 TK2 Heaters A" AUTO
"H2 TK2 Heaters B" OFF
"H2 TK3 Heaters A" OFF
"H2 TK3 Heaters B" OFF
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL O1
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL O2
"Cryo O2 Htr Assy Temp" TK 1 1
"Cryo Press Qty" TK1
"Fuel Cell Stack Temp" 1
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL O3
"RCS/OMS/PRESS" RCS He X10
"RCS/OMS PRPLT QTY" OMS FUEL
"Mission Timer" MET
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL O6
"L GLRSHLD FLOOD" VAR
"S TRK DR CNTL SYS1 Cover" [0]
"S TRK DR CNTL SYS2 Cover" [0]
"S TRK DR CNTL SYS1" OFF
"S TRK DR CNTL SYS2" OFF
"Annunciator Bus Select ACA 1" MN A
"Annunciator Bus Select ACA 2/3" MN B
"MDM_PL1" ON
"MDM_PL2" ON
"MDM_PL3" ON
"MDM_FA1" ON
"MDM_FA2" ON
"MDM_FA3" ON
"MDM_FA4" ON
"MDM_FF1" ON
"MDM_FF2" ON
"MDM_FF3" ON
"MDM_FF4" ON
"GPC_POWER_1_COVER" [0]
"GPC_POWER_2_COVER" [0]
"GPC_POWER_3_COVER" [0]
"GPC_POWER_4_COVER" [0]
"GPC_POWER_5_COVER" [0]
"GPC POWER 1" ON
"GPC POWER 2" ON
"GPC POWER 3" ON
"GPC POWER 4" ON
"GPC POWER 5" ON
"GPC_OUTPUT_1_COVER" [0]
"GPC_OUTPUT_2_COVER" [0]
"GPC_OUTPUT_3_COVER" [0]
"GPC_OUTPUT_4_COVER" [0]
"GPC_OUTPUT_5_COVER" [0]
"GPC OUTPUT 1" NORMAL
"GPC OUTPUT 2" NORMAL
"GPC OUTPUT 3" NORMAL
"GPC OUTPUT 4" NORMAL
"GPC OUTPUT 5" BACKUP
"IPL SOURCE" OFF
"GPC MODE 1" RUN
"GPC MODE 2" RUN
"GPC MODE 3" RUN
"GPC MODE 4" RUN
"GPC MODE 5" RUN
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL O8
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL O14
"BRAKES MN A" ON
"DDU LEFT MN A" CLOSED
"DDU AFT MN A" CLOSED
"NOSE WHEEL STEERING MN A" CLOSED
"L OMS ENG VLV" ON
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL O15
"BRAKES MN B" ON
"NOSE WHEEL STEERING MN B" CLOSED
"DDU LEFT MN B" CLOSED
"DDU RIGHT MN B" CLOSED
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL O16
"BRAKES MN C" ON
"DDU RIGHT MN C" CLOSED
"DDU AFT MN C" CLOSED
"R OMS ENG VLV" ON
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL O17
"EIU L-C" ON
"EIU C-R" ON
"EIU R-L" ON
"MEC 1 Power" ON
"MEC 2 Power" ON
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL A1U
"SLEW RATE" SLOW
"CONTROL" COMMAND
"STEERING MODE" MAN SLEW
"POWER" OFF
"MODE" RDR PASSIVE
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL AftMDU
@OBJECT "AFD1"
DISPLAY 0
BRIGHTNESS 0.800000
@ENDOBJECT
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL A2
"DIGI DIS SELECT" EL/AZ
"X-PNTR SCALE" X10
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL A4
"Mission Timer" MET
"Event Time" 0 0.000000 0 1
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL A6U
"SENSE" -Z
"Aft Flt Cntlr Pwr" OFF
"Payload Retention Logic Power Sys 1" OFF
"Payload Retention Logic Power Sys 2" OFF
"Annunciator Bus Select" OFF
"Event Timer Mode" UP
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL A7U
"CAMERA_RATE" LOW
"PLBD FLOOD FWD STBD" OFF
"PLBD FLOOD FWD PORT" OFF
"PLBD FLOOD MID STBD" OFF
"PLBD FLOOD MID PORT" OFF
"PLBD FLOOD AFT STBD" OFF
"PLBD FLOOD AFT PORT" OFF
"PLBD FWD BHD" OFF
"PLBD DOCKING" OFF
"RMS SPOTLIGHT PORT" OFF
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL A8
"Port MPM Deploy Cover" [0]
"Stbd MPM Deploy Cover" [0]
"Port RMS Latches" OFF
"Stbd MPM Latches" OFF
"Port MPM Deploy" OFF
"Stbd MPM Deploy" OFF
"EE Mode" OFF
"RMS SELECT" OFF
"Parameter" PORT_TEMP
"Joint" CRIT_TEMP
"RMS Mode" TEST
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL R11
@OBJECT "CRT4"
DISPLAY 0
BRIGHTNESS 0.800000
@ENDOBJECT
"IDP/CRT 4 Power" ON
"IDP/CRT 4 Maj Func" SM
@ENDPANEL
@PANEL R13L
"PL Bay Door SYS 1" DISABLE
"PL Bay Door SYS 2" DISABLE
"PL Bay Mech PWR SYS 1" OFF
"PL Bay Mech PWR SYS 2" OFF
"PL Bay Door" STOP
"Latch Control SYS A" OFF
"Latch Control SYS B" OFF
"KU Antenna Direct Stow" OFF
"KU Antenna" GND
@ENDPANEL
END
ET:SSU_SLWT
STATUS Orbiting Earth
RPOS 2234588.771 4587446.984 -4115876.380
RVEL 7408.2391 -2559.3004 771.6668
AROT 152.486 -46.399 -113.187
VROT 0.3731 -0.6000 -0.0465
AFCMODE 7
PRPLEVEL 0:0.020816
END
HST:HST
STATUS Orbiting Earth
RPOS 6500725.395 1208753.585 -2125911.352
RVEL 2467.4109 -5771.8659 4248.6556
AROT -1.682 -21.554 0.320
AFCMODE 7
NAVFREQ 0 0
END
END_SHIPS

And this is the mission file:
Code:
Name=STS-109
Description=Space Shuttle mission STS-109, launched on Columbia to the HST on 2002/03/01.
Orbiter=Columbia
OrbiterTexture=Columbia_8thmod
ET=SLWT
SRM=RSRM
LaunchSite=KSC
MLP=2
T0=52334.4736342593
TargetInc=28.500000
TargetLAN=0.000000
MECOAlt=109268.000000
MECOVel=7965.122082
MECOFPA=1.362804
OMSAssistEnable=FALSE
OMSAssistDuration=59.000000
MaxSSMEThrust=104.5
ThrottleDown=792.000
ThrottleUp=1304.000
UseRMS=TRUE
UseKUBand=TRUE
UseSTBDMPM=FALSE
UseODS=FALSE
UseExtAL=FALSE
UseTAA=FALSE
AftTAA=FALSE
HasDragChute=TRUE
HasPLBLiner=TRUE
Bridgerails=3,4,6,7,10,11
SILTS=TRUE
LogSSMEData=FALSE
UseCISS=FALSE
CISS_GPrime=FALSE
UseASE_IUS=FALSE
ASE_IUS_AftLocation=FALSE
InternalPRSDTankSets=5
HasEDOKit=TRUE
EDOPallets=0
HasOMSKit=FALSE

indy91

Code:
LAUNCHDATE0 2002
LAUNCHDATE1 60
LAUNCHDATE2 11
LAUNCHDATE3 22
LAUNCHDATE4 2
SHUTTLE Columbia
TARGET HST
NONSPHERICAL 0
START_MCT
OMS-2 6 8 1800.000000 APO 1.000000 HD 105.000000 NSEC 0.000000 NSEC 0.000000
NC-1 11 6 3.000000 NSEC 0.000000 NSEC 0.000000 NSEC 0.000000 NSEC 0.000000
NC-2 5 6 8.000000 DVLV 3.000000 DVLV 0.000000 DVLV 0.000000 NSEC 0.000000
NC-3 5 6 6.000000 DVLV 3.000000 DVLV 0.000000 DVLV 0.000000 NSEC 0.000000
NH 13 6 9.000000 NSEC 0.000000 NSEC 0.000000 NSEC 0.000000 NSEC 0.000000
NC-4 11 6 0.500000 DR -40.000000 NITI -28.000000 NSEC 0.000000 NSEC 0.000000
TI 18 6 1.000000 DR -8.000000 DH 0.200000 NSEC 0.000000 NSEC 0.000000
MC-4 20 4 4614.000000 CXYZ -0.148100 CXYZ 0.000000 CXYZ 0.296200 NSEC 0.000000
END_MCT

Here is what I came up with as the initial plan. Just by looking at normal maneuver plans and the time difference between maneuvers. All empirical. With height adjustment maneuvers you have to be mindful about where the maneuver is located, especially with such an elliptical orbit. And also where the height constraint is located, e.g. you wouldn't be able to change the height exactly 1 orbit later. A bit special about this rendezvous is that the NH maneuver is not located at perigee but apogee, in most cases for Shuttle rendezvous it was near perigee I think.

There is a few things I don't like about this plan, mainly that NC-1 is deboosting you into a lower orbit. But I do think the plan is essentially correct, the GETs look very close to the mission report. Might be the initial scenario that is a little bit off in phasing. I guess you could not make the OMS-2 burn raise the perigee to 105NM but some lower value instead, then NC-1 will become a prograde burn. NC-2 is a little off in time in this plan, but I think that is the maneuver they used to rotate the orbit a little bit to get rid of the TI DVZ component. And I did use a DT from TI to MC4 that is probably only valid for lower orbits, that should be a bit higher. I just used the standard value from one of the FDO Handbook rendezvous plans.

STS

Well-known member
Any chance of releasing a compiled version for Orbiter 2010 P1?

Or instructions on how to compile it myself for that Orbiter version?

Best regards.

Donator

thermocalc

Active member
Hi Indy, Hi Urwume, and others...

Not sure if this treat is still “alive” but I will dear to ask anyway.

I know SSU development was halted, but I managed to get the version 3285 up and running and I also downloaded the “Shuttle FDO MFD” from Indy, not sure if I got the last version of SSU (before the “halt”) but the “shuttle FDOMFD-dll” is dated 16-April-2019 as well as the pdf file made by Indy.

I would like to re-use the Shuttle or get used to it a little bit again.

I already managed thanks to Tutorials to at least enter into orbit, made the OMS-2 burn, change planes, stay there for a while and re-enter;
I didn’t dare to make missions or rendezvous for the time being, even because at this stage I don’t know which missions are flyable as I got many CTD when trying to load some scenarios. I was focusing only on STS-1 to learn the "flow" of events.

Anyway, back to my questions, I was interested to know more about the FDO MFD;
in particular if it is possible to calculate the OMS-2 burn (to generate burn PADs) by using it; and later on try to changes orbits…it seems to me that it is possible, even if there are no rendezvous involved (I saw in the pdf an example of rendezvous calculations including the OMS-2 but it is not clear if I can calculate it without using a specific scenario designed for making a rendezvous...).

Basically, instead of “eye ball” all DVs and TIGs I was wondering if FDO MFD can help to generate correct burn PAD...(like P30 in NASSP so to speak)

Another issue is about rendezvous itself:
if I want to lift off to dock to the ISS (says in a scenario which has already the shuttle and the ISS in it before lift off) can I go through all the procedures using the FDO MFD? Basically, can I just lift off and dock following real checklists and do calculations with FDO MFD (as we would do for an Apollo mission without MCC automatic PAD generated, so to speak) or SSU was not so “advanced” yet, so that “ad hoc” scenarios were supposed to be generated / created by the users in specific moment or specific GET times in order to accomplish the rendezvous by using FDO MFD? or better said: to use FDO MFD do I need to know how to generate / create a specific scenario? or can it be used with "any" scenario?

unrelated questions: as I saw many of you are still involved with others shuttles projects...if SSU is halted, which is currently a shuttle project "similar" to SSU in spirit??? or there is none at the moment? (I guess "Shuttle Vessel" by GLS should be one of this possible project, but not sure).

Thanks to let me know something.

indy91

I know SSU development was halted, but I managed to get the version 3285 up and running and I also downloaded the “Shuttle FDO MFD” from Indy, not sure if I got the last version of SSU (before the “halt”) but the “shuttle FDOMFD-dll” is dated 16-April-2019 as well as the pdf file made by Indy.

That is the most recent version for Orbiter 2016. I did a build for Orbiter 2010 a few months later, but it is identical other than being build against the Orbiter 2010 API. So no code differences.

Anyway, back to my questions, I was interested to know more about the FDO MFD;
in particular if it is possible to calculate the OMS-2 burn (to generate burn PADs) by using it; and later on try to changes orbits…it seems to me that it is possible, even if there are no rendezvous involved (I saw in the pdf an example of rendezvous calculations including the OMS-2 but it is not clear if I can calculate it without using a specific scenario designed for making a rendezvous...).

Basically, instead of “eye ball” all DVs and TIGs I was wondering if FDO MFD can help to generate correct burn PAD...(like P30 in NASSP so to speak)

It can! I just tried it, one problem is that if no target is selected the maneuver calculation will cause a CTD, even if no rendezvous maneuvers are done. I should probably fix that. But it can be prevent by just setting the Shuttle itself as the target.

So if I understand the STS-1 OMS-2 correctly it was a circularization burn at apogee. For that you can simply add this maneuver:

Type CIRC, Name OMS-2
Threshold: T, 0:0:20:0 (just has to be some time before you reach apogee)
Secondaries: APO 1 (that makes it find the time of ignition at apogee).

In this way I could make it calculate everything up to the Maneuver PAD.

Another issue is about rendezvous itself:
if I want to lift off to dock to the ISS (says in a scenario which has already the shuttle and the ISS in it before lift off) can I go through all the procedures using the FDO MFD? Basically, can I just lift off and dock following real checklists and do calculations with FDO MFD (as we would do for an Apollo mission without MCC automatic PAD generated, so to speak) or SSU was not so “advanced” yet, so that “ad hoc” scenarios were supposed to be generated / created by the users in specific moment or specific GET times in order to accomplish the rendezvous by using FDO MFD? or better said: to use FDO MFD do I need to know how to generate / create a specific scenario? or can it be used with "any" scenario?

Yes, I have done it with a few missions. One problem with SSU always was that it can not insert the Shuttle into a specific orbital plane, setting up for rendezvous. Only in-plane orbital insertion. So that means either the phasing relative to the target can be off, or you will need a pretty big plane change maneuver. I wouldn't say it can be done with any scenario as not all were properly set up, but if the launch scenario has a realistic state vector of the target you can get there.

unrelated questions: as I saw many of you are still involved with others shuttles projects...if SSU is halted, which is currently a shuttle project "similar" to SSU in spirit??? or there is none at the moment? (I guess "Shuttle Vessel" by GLS should be one of this possible project, but not sure).

I can not answer that properly, but the MFD will in theory work with any Shuttle project. It doesn't need SSU specifically. Of course it does need a Shuttle that can perform burns with the data on a Maneuver PAD, I don't know which projects can do that.

thermocalc

Active member
Hi Indy,

Thanks for the hints.

I tried now to launch from the default scenario “Launch test” arriving into orbit.

I set up the EXE page with the lift off time and set Atlantis as TARGET (photo 1);
you see I am at about 15min MET and the TTA is approx. 30min ahead, so I wanted to set a circularization burn at Apogee (as you suggested).

I added the CIRC OMS-2 mnvr and I tried to enter a TIG time, by entering “T 0:0:30:0” upon clicking ENTER on my keyboard nothing happened (see photo 2);
I tried the syntax as in your pdf manual, “T 000:00:30:00.000” but still upon clicking ENTER the string doesn't go into the MFD (see photo 3).

Even if I try to enter “APO 1” in SEC tab upon clicking ENTER the string doesn’t go in (but this might be as I didn’t enter the “THR” string first so it could make sense…)

Am I doing something stupidly wrong? Syntax is wrong?
Or do I have maybe some issues with my Orbiter or Plugin installation? I am using “Orbiter_ng.exe” to run the scenario....

as I may have further questions about it, do you mind if I keep posting in this threat or to avoid "mixing" your development work with "users questions" do you prefer me to open a separate post?
Thanks to let me know

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• PHOTO 2.JPG
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• PHOTO 3.JPG
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• PHOTO 4.JPG
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indy91

You need to tell it for which maneuver you are adding the constraint, even if there is only one maneuver being planned. So it's not "APO 1" it should be "1 APO 1". That's what the description on the input box means with "Man".

This thread is fine, I don't expect there to be much development work in the near future anyway, so it might as well be used for questions.

thermocalc

Active member
Hi Indy,

I tried some orbital adjustments mnvrs (OMS-2, 3 and 4) and some EXDV burns … so I think I got the point for “single vehicle burns” -> at least for what I am interested: circularize, change HA and HP and see the effects on HA x HP of different DVs…but along the way I have few general questions.

1) I saw that when in “MTT page” I need always to pick up the “SLOT configuration 2” (I am using both OMS) with TVR=180, as it seems that I cannot change it to 000 (by ITEM 5) while in MM105 (for OMS-2) or MM202 for later orbits adjustments maneuvers. Just want to confirm from you if what I am doing is correct and if this was a known SSU bug/issue never solved?

2) In OPS 201 I tried to play with different “tracking” (item 19) or “rotation” (item 20) options, but they don’t work…I can do only an auto maneuver to any desired R-P-Y angle (by item 18) … even if I don’t change anything, letting the default TRK TGT ID = 2 (item 8) and BODY VECTRO = 1 (item 14), upon entering a START TIME and doing item 19 when the time comes beside seeing the “ ASTERISC * ” shifting from FUT to CUR column the shuttle doesn’t maneuver to point the +X axis towards the center of the EARTH….(I am in DAP - AUTO) ... so not sure how much of this page options were really functional…if you know please let me know.

3) Thinking a bit ahead now, I would like to try some “Dual vehicles maneuvers”, so I guess if the scenario I am using has already the ISS inside I could use it to experiment with it, am I right? Initially I would like just to see how the different maneuver options works, without any specific target in mind (I mean NO RENDEZVOUS for the time being, so even if the starting scenario as the shutle and the iss not properly aligned it should no matter...right?); for example I would like initially to try to do a ALIGN PLANE maneuver using your tool (without caring if I will burn huge propellant); NPC should do that isn’t it?

4) I don’t understand the meaning of the “LOAD” and “SAVE” options in the “Executive Menu” … or at least I understood the following (please correct me if I am wrong): IF you want to fly a rendezvous (as you explained in section 5 of your pdf) you need to set up many different maneuvers and instead of typing all of them every time you could write them only once, save them to a file “by SAVE option”, and later on reload them (“by LOAD option”) to modify some parameters for later missions …. So the “SAVE” “LOAD” is not referring to the “orbiter scenario itself” (like when you make "SAVE" with the scenario editor or quicksave so to speak) rather the “set of maneuvers entered into the FDO MFD”. Am I right? But if so, where these “files” are stored in the orbiter SSU folder trees ?

5) Maybe related to my question above, if I load your “STS-126 - FDO MFD Test” scenario I got always a CTD (see my orbiter log file). I guess I miss some addons or files…can you tell me from the log file which ones I need to run it (to make rendezvous practice). And again, what file name should I enter into the EXECUTIVE page to load the STS-126 rendezvous scenario you mention in the example in section 5 of the pdf ?

Thanks a lot for your help.

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• Orbiter.zip
1.8 KB · Views: 32

indy91

1) I saw that when in “MTT page” I need always to pick up the “SLOT configuration 2” (I am using both OMS) with TVR=180, as it seems that I cannot change it to 000 (by ITEM 5) while in MM105 (for OMS-2) or MM202 for later orbits adjustments maneuvers. Just want to confirm from you if what I am doing is correct and if this was a known SSU bug/issue never solved?

Someone from the (former) SSU team can probably answer this better, I can't really remember. I actually played around with the code for this and I might have implemented roll angle of 0 just in my local copy, but it never got to a stage where I would have called it good to be integrated into SSU.

2) In OPS 201 I tried to play with different “tracking” (item 19) or “rotation” (item 20) options, but they don’t work…I can do only an auto maneuver to any desired R-P-Y angle (by item 18) … even if I don’t change anything, letting the default TRK TGT ID = 2 (item 8) and BODY VECTRO = 1 (item 14), upon entering a START TIME and doing item 19 when the time comes beside seeing the “ ASTERISC * ” shifting from FUT to CUR column the shuttle doesn’t maneuver to point the +X axis towards the center of the EARTH….(I am in DAP - AUTO) ... so not sure how much of this page options were really functional…if you know please let me know.

I only remember that very little of this works in SSU sadly.

3) Thinking a bit ahead now, I would like to try some “Dual vehicles maneuvers”, so I guess if the scenario I am using has already the ISS inside I could use it to experiment with it, am I right? Initially I would like just to see how the different maneuver options works, without any specific target in mind (I mean NO RENDEZVOUS for the time being, so even if the starting scenario as the shutle and the iss not properly aligned it should no matter...right?); for example I would like initially to try to do a ALIGN PLANE maneuver using your tool (without caring if I will burn huge propellant); NPC should do that isn’t it?

Yeah it needs maneuver type NPC and some threshold time and as secondary constraints it probably needs CN = 1 so that it finds the right point to perform the plane change maneuver and WEDG = 0 so that it actually gets it into the same orbital plane as the target. Just read the manual, at this point the manual remembers more about the MFD than me.

4) I don’t understand the meaning of the “LOAD” and “SAVE” options in the “Executive Menu” … or at least I understood the following (please correct me if I am wrong): IF you want to fly a rendezvous (as you explained in section 5 of your pdf) you need to set up many different maneuvers and instead of typing all of them every time you could write them only once, save them to a file “by SAVE option”, and later on reload them (“by LOAD option”) to modify some parameters for later missions …. So the “SAVE” “LOAD” is not referring to the “orbiter scenario itself” (like when you make "SAVE" with the scenario editor or quicksave so to speak) rather the “set of maneuvers entered into the FDO MFD”. Am I right? But if so, where these “files” are stored in the orbiter SSU folder trees ?

Yes, SSU has no 2D panel and if you open MFDs in the External MFD it doesn't actually save anything in scenarios. That's why I added the saving/loading option to the MFD in this way. The files are in Config\MFD\ShuttleFDOMFD. It's also a good way to have a mission plan build that you can already load and don't need to work on that before OMS-2.

5) Maybe related to my question above, if I load your “STS-126 - FDO MFD Test” scenario I got always a CTD (see my orbiter log file). I guess I miss some addons or files…can you tell me from the log file which ones I need to run it (to make rendezvous practice). And again, what file name should I enter into the EXECUTIVE page to load the STS-126 rendezvous scenario you mention in the example in section 5 of the pdf ?

Thanks a lot for your help.

You seem to be missing the vessel class SSU_LC39. That is very weird, I thought that was an integral part of SSU. Maybe you are using an older version of SSU? No idea.

For file names, I was usually doing something like STS-126-1 for the initial plan (before OMS-2) and then after OMS-2 occured I deleted that maneuver from the plan and saved it as STS-126-2.

thermocalc

Active member
ok Indy thanks a lot for the clarifications...will be back with more specific questions to your MFD in case....

indy91

Inspired by the recent release of Space Shuttle Vessel, I've been flying a bit more Shuttle than Apollo spacecraft these days and I made an update to the MFD:

-Change coordinate system used in the MFD to a true equator, Greenwich median (TEG) system. This is the kind of change where you shouldn't notice anything being different, but internally a lot of things have changed. Makes some things easier to handle for me, but could always lead to new bugs.
-A few minor OMP and LWP tweaks
-But mainly I have implemented the Deorbit Opportunities Processor. In reality the display looked like this:

This display can calculate times when the Shuttle comes close to a landing site, within a certain crossrange, and lists a few data points about that deorbit opportunity, including time of ignition, landing time, lighting at the landing site etc.

What this is not is the full deorbit maneuver processor that generates a precise time of ignition and PEG-4D targets. The deorbit opportunities table is useful to find the orbit on which a deorbit to a specific site can be done. The deorbit time of ignition is calculated as a very simple curve fit from the more precisely calculated time of closest approach. Time from closest approach to time of ignition is really just a simple quadratic function as a function of Shuttle altitude. This is how it looks in the MFD:

I have done a successful deorbit burn at the times calculated by this tool, using this list of generic deorbit targets:

I believe these result in a fairly steep reentry, perigee of about 10-20NM. So probably steeper than most actual missions, but it gets the job done.

And lastly, I have not and I will not implement anything in the MFD that makes it specific to any addon, SSU or SSV or whatever. Anything that can make use of the Maneuver PAD data will work with the MFD. The deorbit opportunities is even simpler, just give it a liftoff date and time and you can calculate deorbit opportunities for any vehicle that has a range from reentry to landing like a Space Shuttle.

Here are the release files, enjoy:

GLS

Well-known member
Orbiter Contributor
Thanks @indy91 !!!!
Did 2 deorbit and entries: for the first one I decided to choose one opportunity with too much crossrange for the guidance I-Loads, and watched the landing site far to my left as I flew past it . For the second try bumped the vehicle to a high orbit and came back from there, and it all seemed correct!
The only "issue" I noticed was the first opportunities in the list had TIG in the past and landing in the future. I can't remember if I started the search before the current time (and both TIG and landing would be inside the time range), of a few minutes after current time (TIG is out of the range but landing time is in). Anyway, it makes some sense that the search time range is respected, independently of some or all of it being in the past, but maybe it the TIGs in the past could be indicated with gray text or an asterisk somewhere.

BTW, to use the tables above, one find the line with the current orbital altitude, and uses those C1, C2 and Theta parameters to feed the PEG 4 items, with the HT parameter being always 65.8 NM.

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