atmospheric model for more realistic LEO operation

[HiPotOk1978]

I am wondering if anyone has bothered to create more realistic atmospheric data for the Earth where the atmosphere does not just dissipate after a certain altitude. Is the lack of atmosphere after a certain altitude a limitation to orbiter or was it designed like this on purpose to deal with time acceleration

 

[RisingFury]

I am wondering if anyone has bothered to create more realistic atmospheric data for the Earth where the atmosphere does not just dissipate after a certain altitude. Is the lack of atmosphere after a certain altitude a limitation to orbiter or was it designed like this on purpose to deal with time acceleration

You mean above 200 km? The cutoff is deliberate.

I heard Orbiter would have problems dealing with the small numbers representing drag forces. Besides, at that height, I hardly think the usual gas equations still apply... gas starts behaving more like single particles then a continuous matter...


Making a more complex atmospheric model is somewhat difficult, especially because it's hard to make a function to describe atmospheric density over altitude. it relies on a lot of factors, such as pressure, temperature, solar activity,...

 

[Urwumpe]

I heard Orbiter would have problems dealing with the small numbers representing drag forces. Besides, at that height, I hardly think the usual gas equations still apply... gas starts behaving more like single particles then a continuous matter...

You can solve this by using a special lift-function, but which add-on does have a lift-function for huge reynolds-numbers?

 

[-Pv-]

I always wondered bout this cutoff also. One moment the hull temp is zero degrees and the next moment 200 + degrees.
-Pv-

 

[DarkWanderer]

I've ran into one of the NASA models time ago (NRLMSISE-00). Though it's only applicable for Earth, one may try to implement it in Orbiter.