OHM Titan Dragonfly 240306

[BrianJ]

BrianJ submitted a new addon:

Titan Dragonfly - Rotorcraft lander, EDL capsule, launch and post-launch scenarios.

View attachment 37134
NASA's mission to explore Titan.

Includes Titan Dragonfly rotorcraft lander and its EDL Capsule/Cruise Stage.
Launch scenarios for Falcon9+Star48BV or FalconHeavy, post-launch scenarios.
TransX MFD planning included. Compatible with OrbiterSound.

Launch scenarios require:
Falcon9 for Orbiter2016...

Read more about this addon...

 

[francisdrake]

That's an interesting concept! I hope this lander will built in reality and fly to Titan.
The rotorcraft dropping out of the aeroshell and landing autonomously is an absolute stunning sight!

 

[BrianJ]

I just saw some discussion on NSF that they might use an expendable FalconHeavy+Star48 to go direct to Titan, launching July 2028 - ZOOM! Must give it a try.

 

[BrianJ]

I just had a try at going direct to Saturn on the FalconHeavy - turns out you can do it with the FalconHeavy fully recoverable + Star48BV, launch date 02 July 2028, using IMFD for planning. 655kg propellant left in the Falcon upper stage.
Maybe my guess of 1600kg all-up mass for TitanDragonfly launch is on the light side? I based it off numbers I could find for MSL capsule, etc.

 

[Gargantua2024]

This is the planned flight path of Dragonfly as of 2023 (launch date is outdated of course, but overall nothing significant has changed)

A single Earth gravity assist flyby is enough for the spacecraft to fly directly to Titan (iirc it won't enter orbit around Saturn first)

 

[BrianJ]

This is the planned flight path of Dragonfly as of 2023 (launch date is outdated of course, but overall nothing significant has changed)

If so, they can go with an expendable Falcon9+Star48. I see the post on NSF estimates launch mass to be 100kg less than mine, so maybe I'm not too far off on my guess. I must see how it fares on a Vulcan or AtlasV, also.

 

[barrygolden]

How do younget the same scenery to show up that is in your screen shot ?

 

[BrianJ]

How do younget the same scenery to show up that is in your screen shot ?

I'm using default Orbiter graphics and the Titan Hi-Res package (inc. the Titan.cfg) here:

Orbiter - Textures

orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk

 

[barrygolden]

do I add all of these

 

[BrianJ]

do I add all of these

For the orange sky you probably just need the Titan.cfg and Cloud.tree. Give em a try.

 

[barrygolden]

this what I see

 

[BrianJ]

Use default Orbiter graphics.

 

[gattispilot]

Nice. you should do the same for the mars copter.
I made a mesh and rover. But flying it is a pain.

I did notice a typo. rororcraft versus rotorcraft
The Titan Dragonfly lander is an eight engine rororcraft.

 

[barrygolden]

Ok how do I do that

 

[gattispilot]

Ok how do I do that

Do what?

I see the code so might redo the Mars copter

 

[barrygolden]

add the surface features to the scn and control the copter

 

[gattispilot]

Did you run it in default graphics.

I was able to get it to take off and fly. Not sure about the landing skids though

 

[Gargantua2024]

I must see how it fares on a Vulcan or AtlasV, also.

Vulcan Centaur (and possibly New Glenn) would be Dragonfly's only alternative launch vehicle as Atlas V is set to be retired soon (plus all remaining Atlas V rockets have been reserved)

 

[francisdrake]

Vulcan Centaur (and possibly New Glenn) would be Dragonfly's only alternative launch vehicle

The company Impulse Space has announced to develop the Helios kick-stage. This will be a pretty powerful Methane / LOX stage, designed to lift heavy satellites to geostationary orbit and beyond.

I combined it with a VulcanCentaur VC6L and could push the Dragonfly to an orbital velocity of 14 km/s!
Not bad, but still needs a gravity assist to reach Saturn.

B.t.w. I triggered the reentry flames during ascent. They only extinguished after stage separation.

 

[BrianJ]

The company Impulse Space has announced to develop the Helios kick-stage. This will be a pretty powerful Methane / LOX stage, designed to lift heavy satellites to geostationary orbit and beyond.

I combined it with a VulcanCentaur VC6L and could push the Dragonfly to an orbital velocity of 14 km/s!
Not bad, but still needs a gravity assist to reach Saturn.

B.t.w. I triggered the reentry flames during ascent. They only extinguished after stage separation.

Ah! Very nice. I was wondering how the VC6L would perform.
I did give it one try but was distracted by the same bug you mention - reentry particle stream during ascent.
The custom reentry stream should only be activated once the EDL_Capsule is jettisoned(for this very reason), so not sure what is happening there.
Cheers,
Brian