Deepstar makes real time trip to Mars.

[Ark]

But it does provide better perspective of the vast scales and time required for interplanetary travel.

I think some of the "Mars Direct" and "Constellation" guys might change their minds if they had to sit thru a real-time Orbiter trip to Mars confined to a small RV/Caravan.

A trip to Mars takes six months stuck in a little tin can.

In the words of Bill Envall: "I appreciate that."

 

[Keatah]

I have a WinXP machine that I can run for months and months on end, it doesn't crash or leak memory or slowdown or do strange Orbiter-Crashing stuff.

Recently I've been doing all sorts of Jovian system mining operations and the like.

 

[TMac3000]

This just in, Deepstar has made it to Mars in real time. The ship left Earth at 2:23 AM 7/7/2009 in real time or Fri Jun 19, 11:43 2020 in sim time. And made it to Mars today at 6:08 PM 2/4/2010 or Dec 31 3:01 2020.

It was a long journey and I spent the 7 months building a lunar space station as stuff like that.

I've been planning something like this for a long time but haven't gotten down to it yet; my target is Mercury because it's closer, being a 3-4 month trip rather than 6-7 months.

I would do it like this: shut the computer down at the end of the day like I always do, and even close orbiter when I am not using it. When I want to check up on my ship (will be a Shuttle-A named "ALICE"), I go into Orbiter, bring up the scenario editor, click "Date" and then click "Now" to update. I can always conduct plenty of LEO missions in a DG-IV while ALICE makes her way to Mercury, and even run a few lunar hops in a separate Shuttle-A known as BETTY.

My biggest fear is being at school or in bed or something when a major course correction comes due.

 

[astrosammy]

Cool, must be an amazing feeling.
As we are shortly after Mars opposition, I think I'll do a Mars For Less/Mars Direct flight in RT now. (Under the assumption that the ERV has already landed on Mars)

 

[C3PO]

My biggest fear is being at school or in bed or something when a major course correction comes due.

That's when mission planning becomes important.

 

[destinos]

I have done three trips to mars now real time and back.

Wouldn't that be like 9 years...?

 

[n72.75]

Wouldn't that be like 9 years...?

It depends on how fast you go.