Idea Mercury and Gemini add-on improvements

[C3PO]

Interesting Fact: Under the FAI rules for spaceflight, a pilot must ride all the way to landing inside of the spacecraft in order for the flight to be official. On Vostok 1, Yuri Gagarin was ejected from his capsule after reentering Earth's atmosphere and landed seperate from his spacecraft. All Vostok flights ended in this manner. This fact makes U.S. astronaut Alan Shepard the first person to complete an official space flight.

And Pluto isn't a planet.

 

[tblaxland]

This fact makes U.S. astronaut Alan Shepard the first person to complete an official space flight.

I am fairly certain you would not have found Alan Shepard splitting such hairs :dry:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy0-CfFI4fw"]YouTube - Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepard (first American in space)[/ame]

 

[Lunar_Lander]

The fact contributed to the flaw in many "Kid's" Space Books, in which it is said that the Vostok cosmonauts had the choice of either landing with the capsule or ejecting, and that Gagarin had decided to stick with the capsule.

All for the sake to have the safe landing and the world record of the first spaceflight (IIRC, there is a discussion of this in the books by Chertok).

 

[Jekka]

Hi !

This thread is too long now and I wouldn't be able to read each messages, but it seems that some of you are building a new gemini addon, or is it just improvement of the present version ? And is this project abndonned ?

I'm from the frech community, on Dansteph forum, and with another orbinaut, we are making a new gemini too, for more than one year... With entire new meshes and new dll. It doesn't flight right now because of our own job, but models are done.

http://orbiter.dansteph.com/forum/read.php?f=5&i=13596&t=13596&page=7

It seems that it will be 2 new gemini addons.

 

[Star Voyager]

True the thread hasn't been updated, but the author may still be improving it. Your Gemini looks very nice! You plan to have an Agena, too?

 

[Saturn V]

This is a supplement to the existing Gemini 4.5 add-on and no, it isn't abandoned.

 

[Jekka]

Ok ! So it's a Gemini 4.5 update in fact. The different stuffs look good !

Well, I don't know if we will create agena too, but it would be nice. In fact, I'm just the 3d builder, not the instigator of the project, who is MartySpaceLines. He makes dll too, but he's a little bit busy this time.

We don't have any release date for the moment.

And be sure that we don't look for competition with your addon !

In fact, Marty is working on a new type of dll for spacecrafts and wanted to apply it to a real spacecraft. And like you, we thaught that gemini needed an update... He asked for help and I began to model the spacecraft.

 

[Saturn V]

I'm still pleased with the Gemini 4.5 add-on. I just felt a few updates (the already released EVA upgrade) and a few items that weren't addressed in the original add-on (animated pads [14 & 19], Agena/ATDA launches and recovery operations) would add a little polish to an already excellent add-on.

I'm aiming to release it all in one package so you'd only need the Gemini 4.5 add-on and this one to have a pretty decent Gemini experience, but as I'm moving through the project, I keep finding little details that I try to address. For example, right now, I'm trying to work out an accurate recovery for Gemini 8. The destroyer is done, but I need to sort out pulling the destroyer alongside the spacecraft since they were not recovered by helicopter. Still trying to decide on whether to include the aircraft that deployed the divers leaving Okinawa...

 

[Lanzfeld]

Any more progress Saturn V? You got me re-reading all my Gemini books!

 

[Saturn V]

Not recently. Took a much needed break from it, but gearing up for the home stretch (final details on Pad 19 including animations, reconfiguring the Atlas/Agena, etc).

Turned out to be far more involved than I was planning on getting...

---------- Post added 11-08-09 at 05:16 PM ---------- Previous post was 11-07-09 at 08:15 PM ----------

Began working on this project again this morning...still a fair bit to accomplish.

Just a heads up...I will NOT be updating this for the next version of Orbiter (which appears to be nearing release ).

 

[n72.75]

Maby we should just start from scratch.

 

[Saturn V]

Maby we should just start from scratch.

Be my guest.

I'm finishing this one. I won't bother with the "new" Orbiter till it's out 9 months to a year anyway (never have).

I already have a job & regard this as a hobby. Makes no difference to me if folks use the stuff I post to OH or not. I do and ultimately, that's why I do these things.

 

[4throck]

As long as you are happy and having fun, please share your work, no matter whatever version you are working for.

I've also resumed texturing on the Gemini panels to give them some extra detail and some scale - things like small bevels, screws, etc - lot's of work but coming along fine.

Closer to completion are updated textures for the Titan rocket, in line with my previous Atlas and Redstone repaints. The issue here is getting the colors right.


Here's the first stage:

The interstage:

And the second stage:

 

[Saturn V]

The blockhouse at LC19...

Still W.I.P. Final details to be added then on to the other support structures and gantry animations.

 

[4throck]

Nice model :thumbup: !

I've released on OH part of my long overdue Gemini repaint, covering the Titan rocket, and control panels. When your updates come out, I think that the Gemini program will look fantastic on the overall.

 

[Lunar_Lander]

Hey SaturnV and 4throck: Your work is really cool, and it would be great if there would be people to form a team like the guys who make NASSP. Then you would make the graphics, someone else would make the systems, and so on, and the result would be the best Mercury/Gemini addon ever !

 

[Saturn V]

That wouldn't be a bad idea and I'd certainly welcome the additional help. The drawback to the idea is that development is the result of someone putting their ideas into motion. Which generally means that each individual involved has their own vision of how things should be...which may not be shared by everyone else involved.

Coordination also has to be considered. Some of us already work to deadlines due to our jobs or school which have to be your main priority.

And frankly, though I had put out requests for assistance on this project, not all, but most of the responses turned out to be dead-ends. The notable exceptions were Donamy's assistance with some animations, 4throck's excellent texture work (which he graciously allowed to be used and released with the EVA upgrade), and kino_astroboy's cfg & ini files for the agena launch.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the work I've puit into this, but it has turned out to be a far larger project, encompassing a much greater scope than I anticipated.

For example, I started updating the pads I'd been using for several years and felt they were largely done, so I moved on to the recovery operations (The actual flight operations of the Gemini add-on were fine as they were). But when I went back to look over the pads again several months later, I found many areas that still needed work...which is where I'm at now.

Slow going indeed, but the end result will hopefully be worth the wait.

 

[4throck]

The idea of a team is good, but let's keep is simple .

We already coordinate work, in the sense that a common framework of the same files and formats is used. Anyone interested can "join" by simply improving upon the previous work and sharing the result. There's no need for schedules, priorities, bureaucracy, leaders, whatever.
A lot has been done this way and both Mercury and Gemini have progressed. For my part, it's been a lot of fun and I don't want to spoil that by turning a hobbie into a part time job, unless someone pays me to do it...:thumbup:

If someone else is interested in contributing, they can do it already, for example regarding documentation. The Gemini / Mercury add-ons have a complex installation for an Orbiter newbie, given all the updates available. A detailed document uploaded to OH covering all the required add-ons might be useful.

Bottom line, it all depends on participation, and the number of people willing to work in time consuming free projects are traditionally small !

 

[Lunar_Lander]

Yes, the personal thing is something that I also know very well. If I knew how to program, I would like it very much to make a systems simulation of the Mercury and Gemini, only that I probably don't have the time to do it at the moment, because of university (sadly). I still hope though that I'll learn programming one day, and that I then can integrate the systems into the capsules !

Btw, I really wonder how the NASSP team did it. All the research and making of the 2D and 3D panels, they look like many, many afternoon and night hours spent. It really shows that time factor you two mentioned.

And yes, coordination really is important, especially if there could be two people working on different parts which might interfere with each other if not done correctly.

 

[Saturn V]

Btw, I really wonder how the NASSP team did it. All the research and making of the 2D and 3D panels, they look like many, many afternoon and night hours spent. It really shows that time factor you two mentioned.

Keep in mind the last stable version released was in '05 or '06.

I'm not knocking NASSP and I've enjoyed it quite a bit, but a visit to the Meadville forums is a reasonable illustration of the old addage that "Too many cooks spoil the soup."