"From the Earth to The Moon" an AMSO 1.17 Apollo 11 Full Mission Tutorial Using IMFD

polaris149Tiberius

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Negative

To Ryan: Negative

This is a tutorial and the title of this forum is Tutorials and Help.
This tutorial was posted as is until I enlisted some help for a part of the tutorial's process. It's really not under alot of development accept that area and it is a tutorial and is NOT an add-on.
Its located here so that if a newcommer comes to these forums and is searching for a tutorial for IMFD to fly A11 (AMSO), they will find it here.
Thanks for you suggestion though.


To Tex:

I am not the only person who is helping with this. Thank you for the complement but I cant take full credit for this tutorial. Its a joint endevor. All readers should be sure to recognize the help of pete.dakota. Also Jarmo (yes the writer of IMFD) has helped us get some facts straight in a seperate thread located HERE.

He is also listed in the special thanks section of this tutorial.

To pete, I am working on the TLI accuracy and how to change its current process in AMSO because as you know when the AMSO A11 Saturn -IVB ends its EOI (Earth Orbit Insertion), it comes to a 187.5k X 188.3k orbit -usually with an Inc of 9.00* and a LAN of 353.10*

With the fuel I have left (usually above 70.2%) and wth the knowledge that I still need to make a TLI (Trans Lunar Injection) burn that is a significant useage of fuel, I have been working on a orbit adjustment down to the historical 100.4 by 98.9 n mi which translates to 185.940 km x 183.162 km an inclination of 32.521°, a period (T) of 88.18 minutes (5290.8s), and a velocity of 25,567.8 ft/sec = 7.79306544km/s.
The apogee and perigee were based upon a spherical Earth with a radius of 3,443.934 n mi (5.556 km).

Does anyone know why the Apollo by the numbers document shows such a huge difference in inclination from AMSO's nominal orbit from the AP?


If I can get my orbit to resemble this actual historical orbit, I will begin the ADVANCED section of "Part 1 -From the Earth to The Moon a Historical AMSO Flight Using IMFD"


This information was gotten from Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference (SP-4029) for Apollo 11 flight and converted BY ME from n mi and ft/s to km and km/s in order to get my TLI to be on time without using too much fuel that will keep me from completing my TLI.

Normally if I dont adjust my orbit I set my IMFD for a TLI to occur as close to the historical TLI as possible but I choose the PeA for the moon to be 110km instead of the 150km as it shows to do in the scenarios in the AMSO scenario folder called:

"Apollo 11 step 5"
A few minutes before TLI (Trans-Lunar Injection).
IMFD instrument is all set for the TLI burn. You just have to activate auto-burn IMFD function.
Real flight plan: 16th July at 16:16 UT.

I usually only need 1 MCC to get to this final PeA for the moon.
The reason for the 110km X 110km orbit for the moon is because this is the nominal orbit for the AP when selecting "parking orbit circularization" for AMSO.
If I reach the moon at this altitude its one step I dont have to do when Im there at the moon and all I have to do is undock and base align when the LM ascent is ready to rendezvous like you do. This also saves me a little on fuel because as you know the earlier the burn to a PeA the cheaper it is in fuel.

Does this help pete?


And last but not least To ALL:
Thanks in advance to anyone else who can offer any further help to this tutorial and how it should read or how the processes should be done etc.
 
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pete.dakota

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Remaining fuel in the SIVB has never been an issue for me. Do you find yourself short on fuel for the TLI burn?

I have noticed that, after planning the TLI burn in IMFD, that there is a change of plane during the burn, the SIVB has a pitch of around +10 degrees. At least that's what I've seen.

I don't really know how accurately AMSO's launch AP can be changed. But, I'm not sure if a few kilometres difference in LEO is too much to worry about. Especially for a tutorial. It's probably best to leave AMSO as it is alone, and just have this tutorial explain the mission using AMSO as it currently is.

Can you explain how you program your IMFD for the TLI burn? I'm actually running a mission now and taking down some numbers. I'll let you later on what I get.
 

polaris149Tiberius

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"Apollo 11, Houston. You are good at one minute"

"Apollo 11, Houston. You are good at one minute"


I have noticed that, after planning the TLI burn in IMFD, that there is a change of plane during the burn, the SIVB has a pitch of around +10 degrees. At least that's what I've seen.

This is because the Apollo 11 launch gets you into a similar Inclination to that of the moon by the 2nd orbit, but doesnt do it perfectly. The inclination of an orbit is basically its plane with respect to the axis of direction (Google "Inclination Wiki" or click HERE).

If the moon's Inclination is 5.08* and a LAN of 353.10* (dont ask me what LAN is but I know its important), then the Off-Axis setting in the IMFD Course program will correct your Inc to that of the Moon's when your doing your burn to TLI.

When you use the IMFD to set a course to the moon in the LMFD and use the RMFD set to map to narrow down your arrival time and PeA, you are most likely using the Off-Set Proceedure which is detailed in one of the steps of the Simple Freereturn tutorial 30.8.2007 located at Jarmo's sight -the AMSO site located here AMSO

The offset proceedure makes IMFD do the burn to end up at the moon at the desired PeA and corse correction for your Inc to end up matching the plane of moon with respect to the earth's axis of rotation (its equator).


I don't really know how accurately AMSO's launch AP can be changed. But, I'm not sure if a few kilometres difference in LEO is too much to worry about. Especially for a tutorial. It's probably best to leave AMSO as it is alone, and just have this tutorial explain the mission using AMSO as it currently is.


I wasnt proposing to change the AP for AMSO. What I propose for historical accuracy (just a test I havent done yet) to adjust the orbit after the AP inserts you into an earth orbit. This can be an orbit plane align with the Moon's and/or an orbit change in perigee and apogee to match that of the historical mission and this would only be given in the ADVANCED part of the tutorial for historical buffs who are also advanced orbinaughts.

I will have Part 1 Liftoff proceedure show the basic AMSO flight as the basis for the regular part of the tutorial so we are thinking of the same thing here I think. Just the difference is I want to add an advanced [part for an advanced historical section which I may not even include in this thread.

Can you explain how you program your IMFD for the TLI burn? I'm actually running a mission now and taking down some numbers. I'll let you later on what I get.

What you speak of is comming up next. Which I can put a priority on so you can help me further with the entire tutorial if you want beginning from liftoff to splashdown. I will stop testing the TEI for Base Alignment to post this for you. I wont take no for an answer lol.

Ill try and get it out today or tomorrow so you and I can be on the same page for earth orbit for now. This is most likely a very good idea so testing and data can be the same for both of us.

Thanks for the idea.

pete.dakota, Houston. You are good at one minute!!
 

pete.dakota

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This is because the Apollo 11 launch gets you into a similar Inclination to that of the moon by the 2nd orbit, but doesnt do it perfectly. The inclination of an orbit is basically its plane with respect to the axis of direction (Google "Inclination Wiki" or click HERE).

I understand about orbit inclination, I was just thinking out loud about AMSO's autopilot putting the stack into an inclination that wasn't very efficient, as I find myself always correcting the plane during the TLI burn. AMSO won't necessarily try and match your inc to the Moon's. Apollo 8's flight was very much an off-plane transfer.

When you use the IMFD to set a course to the moon in the LMFD and use the RMFD set to map to narrow down your arrival time and PeA, you are most likely using the Off-Set Proceedure which is detailed in one of the steps of the Simple Freereturn tutorial 30.8.2007 located at Jarmo's sight -the AMSO site located here AMSO

I always use the offset mode to plan my TLI burn. I try and get all three values as accurate as possible (inclination angle to tranquility at 0.00, PEa at the moon, 90km or so, and the arrival GET close to that of the historical time). Doing this means I make my plane change during the TLI burn, so I don't have to do it in an MCC, saving fuel for the SPS.

I wasnt proposing to change the AP just to adjust the orbit after the AP inserts you into an earth orbit. This can be an orbit plane align with the Moon's and/or an orbit change in perigee and apogee to match that of the historical mission and this would only be given in the ADVANCED part of the tutorial for historical buffs who are also advanced orbinaughts.

Realistically the SVIB engine only re-ignited once, for the TLI burn, I think that's all it was designed to do. I think we should say to let the launch AP place the stack into whatever orbit it does, and then just leave it. The SVIB stack only spends around 1 1/2 orbits around the Earth, I don't think it's that important to make the orbit around the Earth accurate to the kilometre. Realistically the Apollo flight controllers wouldn't know exactly what kind of an orbit the SVIB stack into until a while after SECO, only then would they calculate the values for the TEI burn and send them up to the crew.

What you speak of is comming up next. Which I can put a priority on so you can help me further with the entire tutorial if you want beginning from liftoff to splashdown. I will stop testing the TEI for Base Alignment to post this for you. I wont take no for an answer lol.

I'm getting an idea of some good values to put into IMFD for the TEI burn. Using these numbers I've only had to make two small MCCs (less than 5 seconds burn) to get into an accurate moon approach.

I'm busy with family stuff from tomorrow until Monday, so I won't be able to test anything until then.

I will tease you, though and say that earlier today I did an Apollo flight from Launch to LOI, and the LOI burn was only 4 seconds behind the actual historic time, and it placed the CSM/LM into an orbit around the moon that was only a few hundred meters out from that of the actual Apollo 11 mission. :)
 

Andy44

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I think one of the problems you guys are running into is the fact that Orbiter doesn't model the Moon's nonspherical properties. The real Moon has a rather severe non-spherical nature due to the "masscons" and tidal locking with the Earth stretching it nose to tail. I am fairly cetain that after a few hours in lunar orbit, Mike Collins would have been in a different orbit than his AMSO counterpart is. Something to think about.
 

pete.dakota

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I think one of the problems you guys are running into is the fact that Orbiter doesn't model the Moon's nonspherical properties. The real Moon has a rather severe non-spherical nature due to the "masscons" and tidal locking with the Earth stretching it nose to tail. I am fairly cetain that after a few hours in lunar orbit, Mike Collins would have been in a different orbit than his AMSO counterpart is. Something to think about.

This is something I've thought about, and why I've said that, after LOI, it's almost impossible to follow the historical timeline exactly.
 

ryan

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Hey im just curious, dont you have to get approval of the add-on developr before you put there add-on in your tutiroul, in this case ACsoft is the developr. Did you get permission to make this.
 

polaris149Tiberius

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10-4 that

10-4 that

No I dont think anyone needs permission to write a tutorial on how you use thier tool or addon.

I give thanks to them for thier addon at the bottom of the tutorial. There are many many tutorials on how to use Orbiter, AMSO, and IMFD all over the net. -only if I claim that mine is the "Official Tutorial" then I'd get in trouble. Only AMSO and IMFD can put out Official Tutorials. Mine is just a how to document its not THE how to document so there is no danger. I can mention an add-on's name as many times as I want in any publication anywhere on the internet or on paperback as long as I dont try and say its my addon. lol. Good question though keep em comming but more about the physics involved not the legallities.
 

polaris149Tiberius

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Mission name Apollo 11

Mission name Apollo 11

Here are the stats on our mission:
(thanks to Wikipedia)

Service Module
SM-107

Command Module
CM-107
callsign Columbia
mass 30,320 kg

Lunar Module
LM-5
callsign Eagle
mass 16,448 kg

Crew size
3

Booster
Saturn V SA-506

Launch date
July 16, 1969
13:32:00 UTC

Lunar landing
July 20, 1969 20:17:40 UTC
Sea of Tranquility
0° 40' 26.69" N 23° 28' 22.69" E
(based on the IAU Mean Earth Polar Axis

Lunar EVA duration
2 h 31 m 40 s

Lunar surface time
21 h 36 m 20 s

Lunar sample mass
21.55 kg (47.5 lb)

Number of lunar orbits
30

Time in lunar orbit
59 h 30 m 25.79 s

Landing
July 24, 1969
16:50:35 UTC
18px-Erioll_world.svg.png
13°19′N 169°9′W

Mission duration
8 d 03 h 18 m 35 s

Thes are a few facts that may not be needed to fly the tutorial but are some fun facts about Apollo 11 that we may look at as I have just finished my 3rd test of 3 different starts from the AS-506 Apollo 11 lift off scenario in the AMSO scenario folder.

All three missions started from scratch and were done according to my fligt plan which places you in the same location on the earth at a similar time to the actual spashdown and gets near the historical location but not quite. I land at Pos:149.11* W, 8.56* N to around 155.16*W, 8.62* N
The third landing was around 151.56* W, 9.12* N as you can see in this picture below made in Google Maps

Here is a hosted image on Image Shack



(Click me Im a link image)


[IMG=http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/2051/googlemap0010vj2om9.th.jpg]

My flight landings compared to the historical location in Google Maps ©2008 Google


18px-Erioll_world.svg.png
13.316667,-169.15 -Apollo 11 Historical vs. AMSO -0010

18px-Erioll_world.svg.png
13.316667,-169.15 -Apollo 11 Historical vs. AMSO -0020

18px-Erioll_world.svg.png
13.316667,-169.15 -Apollo 11 Historical vs. AMSO -0030


As you can see Im way off from the historical landing site but all three of my landings occur in a similar location which allows me to somewhat predict whre the final resting locaiton of the CM will be if my tutorial is followed.

This is all I wanted and now I shall publish all parts of the mission I have done to land at this location at a GET of 193:15:00 or around that time. If all steps in my tutorial are followed then one can reasonably predict a landing in this part of the earth.

I got alot of work to do now so I better get on it.
Cheers!
 
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polaris149Tiberius

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11 Houston, You are GO for TLI!!

11 Houston, You are GO for TLI!!


Flight, Capcom. I have updated the tutorial which can be found at the beginning of this thread for anyone who needs help with Apollo 11 AMSO using IMFD. Feel free to test it and check if it works for you.

Thanks to all who helped me compile this information and post it here on the best forums for Orbiter.

God Speed Orbinaughts!!
 

jarmonik

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That's very nice tutorial. I was little confused about steps 24 and 25. Isn't this allready done in steps 7, 8 and 9.
 

polaris149Tiberius

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Thanks guys!

Thanks guys!

Yes jarmonik your right must have missed that one. Ill ammend it. Thanks. Thats what this post is for. To collaborate for a good tutorial for beginners and advanced orbinaughts.

Appreciate the help.
 

pete.dakota

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Good to see you got this together, polaris. I was beginning to wonder if you were still pursuing it or not. :)
 

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thanks alot im learning a load from this
 

James.Denholm

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Unfortunatley, silly young me can't get past step 32, and I don't understand any of section F. I increase the rad (which I have to press MOD to get to from Off-Axis/Realtime, am I supposed to do that?), I decrease the rad, it does nothing to the PeA in the Map view of the right MFD. Polaris, could you help out a potential fried egg in knees?
 

polaris149Tiberius

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Hope this works for you

Hey James,
Here are some things that could be the reason you arent seeing the PeA go up when you increase the Rad:
1. Make sure you have the two IMFDs shared as in the section that has this instruction:
Step 12. Share the two IMFDs by pressing "PG" then entering "0" for the ID of the LMFD-IMFD
2. Make sure that you have the RMFD map showing the Plan results for the flight plan your making in the LMFD by following this step:
Step 19. Press "PG" then "Plan" and "Soi" and "Int" then "Find"
3. Make sure that your increasing the Rad by an amount that will show a change in the PeA by increasing the step in the LMFD by x10 or x100.
4. Also make sure that your giving the map enough time to calculate your change in the LMFD. It can take a bit of time to show the results from the changes your makeing.
5. Make sure that the RMFD's Mod button has been pressed to show the the correct view which should show the PeA increase. Im not sure what the view is called but you can tinker around with the different Mod views in the RMFD to see which view it is.
If any of these things help let me know in this thread and if none of these things dont work to help definately let me know in this thread and Ill try and figure out why its happening.
Good luck.
 

Buzz Lovell

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Thanks very much for this tutorial. However I can't get beyond Step 5 (!) As soon as I set the AB Throttle Down to 0 my Main Enginer goes to 100%. Any ideas as to what I might be doing wrong?
Many thanks!!!
 
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