Any way to configure Leonov?

[Clavius0712]

Hi,

I have been playing around with the "Leonov" vessel (2001 add-on) and whilst I greatly admire all the animations the actual performance parameters of the vessel seem way too high. I was able to get to Jupiter from Earth in only about 3 months and didn't even need to use the aero-braking bags it deploys so beautifully because I had plenty of fuel left to perform a normal engine-brake orbital insertion.

Is there a way to configure the Leonov so its performance parameters are more like they were in the film and book?

 

[MajorTom]

Hi Clavius,

I've been meaning to play with World of 2001, available at the Hangar for download, but apparently the Leonov is not included with it.

Where did you download it from? I've checked 4-5 other sites and haven't located it yet.

MT

 

[sputnik]

Well, you needed enough fuel to get BACK. Did you in fact leave that much?

Leonov is hard-coded by DBartles. There's no easy way to change the parameters. Set the starting fuel below 1.0, maybe.

 

[Clavius0712]

Hi Clavius,

I've been meaning to play with World of 2001, available at the Hangar for download, but apparently the Leonov is not included with it.

Where did you download it from? I've checked 4-5 other sites and haven't located it yet.

MT

Leonov is in an add-on called "2001 / 2010 Space Odyssey Vessels" and is available from the Orbiter-Hanger.

The Leonov itself is very well animated. You can stop and start the rotation of the crew section; deploy and eject the "transfer rings"; deploy and eject the aero-braking inflatable bags; and operate the jaws of the docking clamp used to dock with Discovery. It just seems a pity to me it's not configurable for realistic voyages.

In the book I think the trip to Jupiter took almost a year, as the crew went into hybernation and Dr. Floyd was woken up a month early to be told of a Chinese expedition to Jupiter. I can't remember how long the film said it was supposed to have taken. However in the film they used the aero-braking bags to reduce fuel consumption, and if I remember correctly they ended up having to use Discovery's engines to help them back to Earth, so I can only assume fuel was less than plentiful.

In comparison, If you set IMFD for a trip time of 10+ months in Orbiter, you will barely use a tenth of your fuel, and can easily insert into Jupiter's orbit with engines alone and still have plenty of fuel left. Either the engines are too powerful or the fuel supply too generous, in my opinion. I suppose this was deliberate so you could go to Saturn, Neptune or whatever if you wanted to, but it seems unrealistic to me.