Genesis Mission

[BrianJ]

NASA's ill fated "Genesis" mission to collect samples of the solar wind while orbiting the Sun->Earth L1 point. More info here:
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/masterCatalog.do?sc=2001-034A

It's been in the pipeline for a while - "Genesis" now available at www.avsim.com

Add-on includes:
Genesis spacecraft, AS350 recovery helicopter, GenesisMFD, flight notes, scenarios, etc.

Features:
Genesis SRC - automatic parachute deployment with 1% probability of failure.

AS350 - various autopilot options for easy flight and SRC parafoil interception.

GenesisMFD - graphic record of your trajectory around L1 point, also gives numerical info about position and velocity of L1 point, etc.

Extra requirements:
Launch scenario requires "Delta II Missions v.2" ( www.avsim.com )
Jarmonik's IMFD - essential for navigation


I really thought this was going to be an impossible mission to complete - but if you get the launch right and you know how to use IMFD "Map" display, it's really not so hard May be of interest to anyone who has wondered how Lagrange Point "halo" orbits work.

A tip 'o the hat to Mission_cdr for suggesting this (many moons ago!)
....and to Mustard, Jekka & Momo for their textures that I always use....
and a huge "MERCI!" to the chopper-meister Brainstorm for the AS350 (the most complex part of the add-on!)

Cheers!
Brian

 

[Scrooge McDuck]

Wonderfull addon! First thing I have to say is that the AS350 (even on itself a nice addition to Orbiter) flies great, good sounds too.
[Edit] I've just managed to grab the Genesis out of the air with the hook, and bring it safely to the ground. Nice experience to do something like this in Orbiter! [/Edit]

regards,
mcduck

 

[Missioncmdr]

Fantastic add-on. The model of the Genesis spacecraft looks great. The recovery with the helicopter is also a lot of fun. Now, I just need to work on my skills on flying to and from LaGrange points.

 

[ryan]

Why did you say it was ill fated? It succesfully brought back some samples.

 

[BrianJ]

[Edit] I've just managed to grab the Genesis out of the air with the hook, and bring it safely to the ground. Nice experience to do something like this in Orbiter! [/Edit]

Thanks McDuck. Yup, Brainstorm really did a great job on the AS350

Now, I just need to work on my skills on flying to and from LaGrange points.

Well, I still can't figure a way to actually plan how to go to a Lagrange Point in Orbiter - I tried making a "marker moon" that would be at the L1 position at one moment in time(as a target), but neither IMFD or TransX gave me a remotely sensible launch solution. For Genesis, I just followed the NASA launch schedule as closely as possible. But using GenesisMFD, I think it shouldn't be too much of a problem for a DeltaGlider to get to L1 once you're in the right general area.

Why did you say it was ill fated? It succesfully brought back some samples.

Very true. A lot of useful science has been extracted from it.

Regards,
Brian

 

[Missioncmdr]

I got one question. Is there some way to "force" a parachute failure? Not that I approve of destroying expensive spacecraft, but I was thinking there should be an option to end the mission as it really happened.

 

[BrianJ]

I got one question. Is there some way to "force" a parachute failure? Not that I approve of destroying expensive spacecraft, but I was thinking there should be an option to end the mission as it really happened.

:lol: You want to see it go splat? Once the SRC has been jettisoned, exit the sim and edit the (current state).scn, find the Genesis_SRC vessel entry and change the line CONFIGURATION to
CONFIGURATION 3 1

 

[ryan]

Hey guys, i was flying the helicoptor that comes with Genisis and it's a bit tempermental, maybe a little more control could be put into this, if your doing a next version.