Greetings from a new user
Hello Orbiter fans.
I am Dali Sadhana. I used to be a software engineer up until ~12 years ago when my brain broke. Now I am retired, disabled, and shooting a lot of pictures and writing (I have to stick to hobbies that cost almost nothing as I am on a limited, fixed income).
I have played in Orbiter a few times in the last few years, for several months at a time. I am good enough on my own to complete all the missions that come with the Delta Glider IV. I welcome help in interplanetary navigation. I used to use the IMFD a lot, but it has been a year or so and I have forgotten much. I think that I never really understood it, I just knew how to get close enough that I could adjust with mid-course corrections.
I am writing a "book" (for about ten years now) with the working title of "Sam's World." This "book" starts around 2033 and is about the first manned asteroid mining mission. I intend to be accurate (though not precise) regarding orbital and navigation details. My primary reason for learning Orbiter is to be capable of writing in this realm while retaining credibility with detail minded readers.
<SF rant>
Much of the "Science Fiction" that I am exposed to uses physics that are counter to our modern understanding and have technologies that seem to exist just so that the protagonist can discover that "if they can just reverse the polarity of the..." that they can solve their dilemma {story jargon-"Deus Ex Machina"}. While I have great respect for these genres (Space Opera -{Star Trek, Star Wars, Firefly} Astounding Artifact -{Ringworld, 2001|2010|2051|3001}) I do not want to write in them. I much prefer when I can enjoy a story without the mental double-takes from being presented with something flatly impossible. I prefer to write in "Hard Science Fiction" or my preferred term "Scientific Speculative Fiction." My book(s) should inspire future engineers, not just be entertaining to the layperson.
</SF rant>
As spaceflight is extremely risk-averse, technologies are about 20 years old before they are used in space hardware (with notable exceptions). Therefore, in my book I will only use technologies for which we already have laboratory examples today. All the physics must be accurate (though not necessarily precise). All the engineering must be practical and plausible. (I have several more "books" planned in the series, with progressively loosening requirements.)
When I say "book" I don't mean a paper thing with linear prose. I mean a series of audio podcasts (~18 episodes) for the main dramatic thread and a series of referenced web pages with all the details that spaceflight fans would like to have.
My general request; Please contact me publicly or privately if you:
* Are available to teach an old dog some new MFDs.
* Might want to collaborate in supporting character development (maybe even perform a voice).
* Might want to collaborate on engineering details of spacecraft appropriate for a mining mission.
* Might be available for fact checking of scientific/technical details.
* Might help me make/find a ship with the performance characteristics of Sam's flotilla of electric continuous low thrust tugs with payloads.
Dali.
