Discussion Developing my first satellite

[Pipcard]

(former title: "I want to start learning how to develop spacecraft3 vessels")

Where can I start? All the coding tutorials I've seen are for C++ or spacecraft2.

I'm going to learn meshing and texturing from other places.

 

[Luke Skywalker]

[ame="http://orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3640"]Tutorial: Spacecraft3.dll advanced concepts[/ame]

This?

Or this?
[ame="http://orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=2747"]Tutorial: How to use Spacecraft.dll (Lesson 1)[/ame]
[ame="http://orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=2748"]Tutorial: How to use Spacecraft.dll parameters (Le[/ame]

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Ar81 has at least two tutorials on the 'Hangar that are pretty good.

Also you may want to take a look at some of Greg Burch's craft (executive spaceplane as an example). His stuff is pretty much the gold standard of SC3's capabilities.

 

[Pipcard]

Ar81 has at least two tutorials on the 'Hangar that are pretty good.

Yes, but what's the difference between spacecraft, spacecraft2, and spacecraft3?

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Just a different module.

SC3 is just an updates SC2, etc... SC3 is the latest rev. vinka made all of them. As small as they are I don't think having them all in Orbiter would cause problems.

They are "supposed" to be downward compatable, I had read otherwise, but don't know from my own experiance. In the documentation it lists several commands/parameters that are obsolete.

 

[4throck]

Those tutorials will get you started. But begin with something simple in order to learn your way around the configuration files, folders, etc...

And please remember that spacecraft.dll is designed to manage a single spacecraft. Two vessels will be two separate spacecraft.dll vessels. Each will have it's own config files and name.

Also, launch situations might require the use of stage.dll, for example.

So to start stick with something simple: no animations or something very simple (like an extending antenna), few RCS engines, a single main engine, no reentry or landing.
Basically an orbiting satellite or an early lunar fly-by probe would do.

What do you have in mind?

 

[Pipcard]

A hexagonal miniature satellite with two hexagonal solar panels that fold out, that can fit in an XR2 cargo slot.

But first I want to make just the detail-less hexagonal prism and be able to put it in Orbiter.

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Easily done. PM me for details if you need assistance.

 

[Pipcard]

The satellite will be 1 m high (minus solar panels) and 2 m in diameter. I want the satellite to have RCS so it can make attitude corrections on its own. I'm trying to find an RCS thruster that is small enough for the job (no main thrusters). Like how [redacted]

Or maybe I can make the engines/RCS assemblies up. They will use N2O4/MMH. But now the problem is figuring how much thrust it produces (depends on the size of the engine).

edit: Is the MR-50 (hydrazine) okay?

---------- Post added at 05:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:37 PM ----------

Oh, and this is the basic design:

(I'm using both Anim8or and Wings3D to make this.)

 

[PhantomCruiser]

I'm not a rocket dude, but it'd probably be OK to use those. They were used in Viking lander (but ganged in groups). At any rate, probably about the right size and power for an RCS thruster.
The picture I saw had a bell mouth of about 3 centimeters (?) thrust was around 8 lbs (38. something Newtons)

Here is one also, but there is not a lot of data...http://www.jetaerospace.org/Thruster/Pulse_Combustion/
or if you want some sci-fi looking thruster http://www.jetaerospace.org/Thruster/Hall/

edit- - correction on the Newtons. The formula I have is pound force=Newtons * 0.2248, so 8 lbs thrust would be 35.587 N. If any of the way smarter dudes than me can let me know if I'm right on (or way off) I'd appreciate it :thumbup:

 

[Pipcard]

I think the MR-50 will be good.

This will be a multipurpose satellite. (mostly science and tech demonstration)

---------- Post added at 09:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:37 PM ----------

You know what, scratch that.

My first satellite will be very simple: a Cubesat.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Excellent thruster choice. Extremely reliable, and well proven. Works for any sattelite, even cubesats. you would need, :hmm:, a minimum of 12 thrusters, two on each side, arranged in alignment with the pair on the opposite face.

 

[Pipcard]

Excellent thruster choice. Extremely reliable, and well proven. Works for any sattelite, even cubesats. you would need, :hmm:, a minimum of 12 thrusters, two on each side, arranged in alignment with the pair on the opposite face.

Cubesats don't have thrusters (none that I know of). And the MR-50s are too large for the 0.1x0.1x0.1 meter cubes. I think a simple antenna animation would suffice.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Ah. True. How about the MR-508, again from Aerojet Redmond? looks like a solid bet for a tiny satellite. If not, just use a CMG-stlye attitude control system.

 

[Pipcard]

Ah. True. How about the MR-508, again from Aerojet Redmond? looks like a solid bet for a tiny satellite. If not, just use a CMG-stlye attitude control system.

Check out the size (0.24 m). If it's bigger than 0.1 m, it's too big for the Cubesat.

Is it possible to simulate CMGs (no thrust, just a gyroscopic effect) with Spacecraft3?

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Why .1m x .1m x .1m? why not 1.3m x 1.3m x 1.3m? you've got a model for that: UCGO crate. You can fit 4 of those per DGIV, 6 per XR2.

 

[Pipcard]

Why .1m x .1m x .1m? why not 1.3m x 1.3m x 1.3m? you've got a model for that: UCGO crate. You can fit 4 of those per DGIV, 6 per XR2.

0.1m x 0.1m x 0.1m is the official size of a Cubesat. But you have a good idea. I might do just that.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

You also can pack more solar panels on, more control systems and sensors inside, etc. It's much better design. Cubesats are an interesting concept, but hard to make practical.

 

[Pipcard]

You also can pack more solar panels on, more control systems and sensors inside, etc. It's much better design. Cubesats are an interesting concept, but hard to make practical.

Are CMGs fine for a 1.3 m x 1.3 m x 1.3 m cube? Can they even be done in Spacecraft3? I don't think there's an RCS small enough.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Are CMGs fine for a 1.3 m x 1.3 m x 1.3 m cube? Can they even be done in Spacecraft3? I don't think there's an RCS small enough.

Not a real CMG. Something akin to one should be fine. IIRC, LDEF didn't even have one of those. It used gravity gradient and a fluid coupler with a viscous fluid in it to stabilize it. I have no idea how you would do that in SC3. The tiny RCS, however, should be no problem. just scale back the size of the force.