Update IMFD full manual version 2.0

[markl316]

Hello to all. I hope over the past 8 or so months, everybody has been able to use IMFD. It's time for an update, however. IMFD full manual version 2.0, cowritten by me and Tommy, will be released sometime in mid-May hopefully. Some changes:

New Playbacks:
Earth to Titan: slingshot around jupiter, deadstick aerocapture/aerobrake and landing on PreludeII Titan. This will be done in the stock DG, and it will arrive to Titan with 34% fuel remaining!!!!!!
Simple slingshot tutorial: for those who don't want to sit around watching that long Earth to Titan flight, this will walk you through slingshot setup, from before Jupiter encounter to after slingshot. It will assume you can complete a basic interplanetary flight already.
Earth--Moon--Earth free return.
There will be offsetting the target procedures in one of these playbacks. And more will be written in the offsetting the target section in the manual.

The manual will now have its images in .png format. So the file will be bigger, but the images will be brighter/more clear.

Also, rewording of sentences in the manual will be done, because I'm sure there are some grammar mistakes and some sentences that are not clear.

The purpose of this thread is so people can suggest more things to add to the IMFD full manual. If you have a suggestion, please feel free to ask for it, and it will very likely be implemented.

 

[garyw]

Many thanks for this. I've been using the current manual to understand some of the options and abilities of IMFD so a very 2 will be very much appreciated.

 

[Tommy]

I should add that for the slingshot section, I'll be discussing how to "eyeball" a suitable E-J-S slingshot window using IMFD's Map, or (easier) Map3DMFD, and some tips for converting a flight planned in TransX (but not how to set up TransX) into a usable plan for IMFD.

Also will be a tutorial on Delta Velocity program (off plane transfer from ISS to Moon).

The part I'm most excited about is the Canaveral to Titan trip, which introduces some advanced concepts that allow reasonably accurate corrections to be made much sooner and more efficiently. For example, in this flight, after the initial ejection and plane change enroute Jupiter, ALL remaining burns (MCC's, Slingshot, Titan intercept, etc,) total just under 15 seconds burntime - less than the normal method can use just getting to Jupiter approach! The two techniques used for this can be applied to just about any interplanetary flight, not just slingshots.

I'll point out (before someone asks) that the Titan aerocapture used is possible with a DGIV or XR series vessel (actually easier than with a stock DG).

 

[Interceptor]

Can you please add A trip from Brighton beach base on the Moon to a space station in orbit around the Earth such as ISS and, Mir ,also a trip from Earth to a space station in orbit around the moon?Thanks

 

[Tommy]

Can you please add A trip from Brighton beach base on the Moon to a space station in orbit around the Earth such as ISS and, Mir ,also a trip from Earth to a space station in orbit around the moon?Thanks

I'll look into this, but I don't know if I can get this done in the time frame we want. My apologies, but this could easily delay the release by a week or two, or even more. Making the actual flight recordings isn't that time consuming, but annotating them takes far longer than flying them.

Keep in mind that so far we've tried to keep things at a "simple, yet effective" level that can be applied to many situations, rather than a specific "here's how you do this particular flight". The "Advanced Concepts" tutorial I'm working on is an exception, it values efficiency more than simplicity, and is much more complex than the first version.

Both the tutorials you've requested involve the same principles, and doing both would be repetitive. Our goal (or at least my goal) is to teach you the basic principles that can be applied to a wide range of circumstances. While I've made a real effort to reduce spaceflight to a repeatable process (taking a cue from modern manufacturing processes) without needing any external math, it isn't really possible to cover every situation - some effort on the user's part is expected to figure out specifics. A "paint by the numbers" approach isn't really practical if we want to release this tutorial any time this year, covering every possible situation. I'll do my best, but I'd rather teach you how to get to the Moon with an inclination you choose rather than teach you how to get to a particular station orbiting the Moon. In other words, the focus is on general practices, rather than specifics. One of the real joys of Orbiter (for me at least) is figuring out how to apply general theories to an actual scenario.

If there is a real demand, I'll put together individual tutorials covering specific missions such as these, and release them separately. Keep in mind that I have the inconvenience of a real life that limits the time I can spend doing this, so please be patient.

I'll be putting in over 60 hours of time just doing the tutorials already planned - partly figuring out how to do these things in the first place, and mostly figuring out how to make it understandable (and repeatable) to other Orbinauts. I'd rather spend the time expanding the tutorial on Map program, which is the lest understood, but by far most powerful, feature of IMFD, than doing another "mission specific" tutorial.

If I do my job right, you'll be able to figure out how to do anything you want without "handholding" you through it. I'm not saying that will be easy, but there is a reason they call it Rocket Science!

 

[Interceptor]

Thank you for the answer Tommy,I don"t mean a full blown video tutorial on both,of these procedures,but the steps used to do this with IMFD,such as flying directly to the stations instead of orbiting the planet, or Moon, first ,and then from there flying to the stations.

 

[Tommy]

Some of the proceedures for that will be covered, to some extent, in the sections on Target Intercept's offset feature and on Delta Velocity program. Keep in mind that Map program can target ANY body, even vessels, even if they are orbiting a different reference body. I'll be covering how to use it's "Plan" and "Intercept Mode" to target a body other than Target Intercept (ie, TI targets Saturn, Map target's Titan.) The same basic principles would apply for intercepting stations, but it's much harder since stations are smaller and tend to moving so much quicker than than moons.

At any rate, expect to spend a lot of time tweaking the numbers - and pay attention to the RVel shown in Map to ensure you can break reasonably quickly - and you'll have to guess at how much to lead a target so that you end up with null RVel without under or overshooting too much.

 

[Interceptor]

Thanks Tommy, looking foward to this.

 

[Tommy]

Just a quick progress update.

The Slingshot section has been corrected for errors and expanded. A more concise flight recording focuses on the only part of the flight that's different - setting up secondary transfers using Target Intercept and Slingshot. The expanded manual section gives tips on planning a slingshot, something IMFD is not well suited to.

The section on Target Offsetting in Target Intercept is corrected, and covered in more detail. Included annotated flight recording details setting up a free return lunar trajectory using Target Offsetting.

Hypothetic Delta-V gets covered much better, and includes an annotated recording of a trip from ISS to Brighton Beach using Hypothetic Delta-V to make an off-plane transfer and tune the base approach.

Lastly, Advanced Concepts includes a detailed manual section and annotated flight recording of a trip from Cape Canaveral to Titan (at the PreludeII base if you have it installed). Utilizing the lessons learned in Slingshot, Target Offsetting, and Hypothetic Delta-V, we use only about 30 seconds of fuel after ejection from Earth, including the plane change enroute to Jupiter. We arrive at Titan for aerocapture and unpowered atmospheric landing with 34.5% fuel remaining.

Wheelstop at Titan:



I apologize for the delays in getting this done, but rest assured that Mark and I are still hard at work, and nearing completion.

Tommy

 

[kevlvm]

Bumping and checking on how progress is well...progressing!?

 

[Tommy]

Work is still progressing. I should have the last of my contributions done this weekend. It will likely take Mark a few days to integrate that into the manual, and I don't know what else he's adding or what his status is, but I'm sure he's working on it when he can.

I'm sorry that this is taking so long, but the first time we tried to keep to the deadline and the result was an incomplete manual that contained some serious errors. This time we'd rather be late and get it done right!

Thank you for your interest, and your patience will be rewarded!

 

[garyw]

I'm sorry that this is taking so long, but the first time we tried to keep to the deadline and the result was an incomplete manual that contained some serious errors. This time we'd rather be late and get it done right!

No apology needed. It's ready when it's ready. The version 1 manual has already taught me a lot about IMFD.