New to orbiter 2016.

HierisLars

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Hey guys, I'm new to orbiter and quite like it so far! I have played a lot of kerbal space program before so I have a basic understanding of orbital mechanics and stuff. I will post my progress from time to time because I need 10 posts to be eligible to enter the discord server.

If you guys have any tips for a beginner like me, please tell me!
 

N_Molson

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Welcome to the forums ! :hailprobe:

If you come from KSP the very different thing is that in Orbiter like in real life orbits tend to "decay" because of tidal forces. Orbiter simulates the gravitational interaction between multiple gravity sources, like Sun-Earth-Moon. Also the atmospheric model is more accurate than in KSP, and atmosphere expands much farther. So the ISS orbiting at 400km of altitude will require a re-boost from time to time, like in real life.

Also overall the Orbiter philosophy is to focus on orbital mechanics, and let the add-on devs focus on the vessel modules engineering stuff. Stuff like NASSP (Apollo) will show you how far things can be pushed, they even emulated the flight computers which is quite crazy !
 

Arvil

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Read the manuals, visit the orbiter wiki (https://www.orbiterwiki.org/wiki/Main_Page), search here, and ask many questions. We’re here to help. Start with the basic delta glider, better learning curve before tackling more difficult stuff. Wikipedia is a good source for orbital mechanic basics and the like. Most of all enjoy. If you crash your craft, don’t worry, most of us crash more than we succeed, at least I do.
 

Arvil

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Oh, yeah, forgot. There’s a bunch of really good stuff on YouTube. Just put Orbiter in the search bar. If a picture is worth a thousand words, videos are worth millions.
 

4throck

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I have played a lot of kerbal space program before so I have a basic understanding of orbital mechanics and stuff.
The basic concepts are similar, but Orbiter requires you to be much more precise.
Less margin for playing around. So almost no manual flying, you rely on autopilots for most of the tasks.
 

HierisLars

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The basic concepts are similar, but Orbiter requires you to be much more precise.
Less margin for playing around. So almost no manual flying, you rely on autopilots for most of the tasks.
I tried to search for some kind of auto-pilot in game or addon, but I couldn't find anything.
 

Arvil

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Starting with the basics, the Delta Glider and DG-S have the AAP on the left side of the panel, and you can turn on the LUA MFD in the Modules and use it during flight. Check them out in the Orbiter manual in Orbiter\docs. After some experience, there are many add-one you’ll find helpful. We can list some URLs shortly, I don’t have them handy at the moment.
 

HierisLars

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Starting with the basics, the Delta Glider and DG-S have the AAP on the left side of the panel, and you can turn on the LUA MFD in the Modules and use it during flight. Check them out in the Orbiter manual in Orbiter\docs. After some experience, there are many add-one you’ll find helpful. We can list some URLs shortly, I don’t have them handy at the moment.
With AAP on the delta glider, do you mean the prograde, retrograde, etc. autopilot? Because I know how to use that, but I never heard of the LUA MFD. Could you tell me what it does?
 

Arvil

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1. In the Delta Glider, over on the left, next to the main throttle, it's marked 'AAP'. You can set an altitude, speed, and heading to hold, press the button, and it urns green to hold that parameter. I have it flying at 100 meters at 140 meters per second at a heading of 090° in this screenshot.

1615550309153.png

2. On either MFD, click SEL, look for terminal MFD, select that. If you don't see it, click SEL again. Once it's open, you can type in commands to do the same things as the AAP and other things. I don't use it much. Its operation is in the Orbiter manual.
 

Arvil

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The AAP is for atmospheric flying, like an airplane. Once you're ready for orbiting, you can just nose up to about 40° or so, full throttle, bring up Orbit MFD and you'll see what your orbit looks like. Select PRJ until Prj in the upper right of the screen says SHP, Select DST, The third and fourth items on the left list should say PeA and ApA, that's your Periapsis and Aposis. Once your ApA is about 200 km or more, start nosing to level until you PeA is close to the same. You're in orbit. Keep reading the manuals, and Orbiter Wiki here: https://www.orbiterwiki.org/. You'll learn a lot more than I can tell ya here.
 

WingC3

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While I guess it's not relevant for the DG since it has no damage model, one of the key things I learned that wasn't obvious for the XR Series craft, is that your mass REALLY matters. The lighter you are, the easier it is to decelerate during re-entry and the lesser the heating of the craft. If you're over a certain weight, you either need to be VERY careful to stay up high until you're slow enough or you almost certainly burn up.
 
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