Hi

[250ninjaR]

Hi,

Im new to orbiter, and damn confused by it, i can get it up but not down (inuendo intended) ;P

I take off, but when i try to re enter it just wont loose altitude, ive got some advice form someone on YT, but am still yet to try it.

but yeah, ive been using FS2002 since it came out, im 18 and am obsessed with anything thats loud and fly's.

Cheers,
Andy

 

[Stevodoran]

welcome if your new to orbiter it will take some time to figure out

 

[Wishbone]

What is your orbit's altitude? If you press "]" the craft will orient retrograde, and by firing the main engine ("+" on Numpad) you'll be able to lower your orbit's lower point (PeA on Orbit multifunctional display) to -25 km (for a Space Shuttle or deltaglider) or 40 km (for a Soyuz capsule) and do the reentry in half an hour...

 

[PhantomCruiser]

With conventional craft the saying goes "Take-offs are optional, landings are mandatory". But with spaceflight, that's not always the case. What craft are you flying? The stock DG can be problematic, but Oceanic has a great tutorial using the DGIV, and is easily used with the XR series also.

http://orbiter-forum.com/showthread.php?t=8425

I'd also recommend you check out the tutorial page, and download "Go Play In Space". Since you've got lots of flightsim experiance, your leaning curve will probably be a bit shallower than some whove jumped right into spaceflight, but as you've noticed, things work quite differently.

Welcome to the forum, and Happy Orbiting!

 

[Quick_Nick]

My guess is that maybe you're trying to burn downward (?) when you should be burning retrograde to deorbit.

 

[IronRain]

 

[JonnyBGoode]

My guess is that maybe you're trying to burn downward (?) when you should be burning retrograde to deorbit.

I was thinking this. Sci-Fi (like Aliens or Starship Troopers for example) shows spaceships always burning in the direction of their flight path, even when they want to enter the atmosphere; real spaceflight is quite different.

 

[Lucy]

to Orbiter-Forum! :hello:

I'd advise you to Go play in space - manual written for people new to Orbiter which is the standard read for anyone baffled by the whole thing. It's where I started and probably where the majority of the rest of us here did too. Better than watching an autopilot do something and attempting to mimic it, that book will explain why you do the things you do, to get the science behind it into your head so you can confidently do it by yourself - and when you do for the first time you'll wind up with a tremendous feeling of accomplishment you don't get when the autopilot flies you down.

Good luck, and happy Orbiting! See you in space!

 

[250ninjaR]

Thanks for all the input guys.

what i was doing, was what i think you were saying not to do.
I was literally just pointing the nose down and using the main two engines on the back to go down, do thats not right then?

I know this is probably a very obvious or stupid quiestion but what does 'Retrograde burn' mean? i've searched everywhere cant cant find anything!

Ill have a look at the 'Go play in space' tutorial.
Rgs,
andy

 

[garyw]

I know this is probably a very obvious or stupid quiestion but what does 'Retrograde burn' mean? i've searched everywhere cant cant find anything!

Welcome to the forum!

A retograde burn is one where you burn opposite to the direction of travel which will lower your altitude.

Go Play in Space is a good guide to follow for new and experienced orbiter players - I use it myself quite a bit.

 

[Wishbone]

Prograde - nose first. Retrograde - a** first. In case you wondered, ** stands for "main engine".

 

[250ninjaR]

aha, cheers.

I had a look at another manual and it summed up what all the KILL ROT, RETRGRD, PROGRD, NML+/- means.

so i used RETRGRD, or ']' as someone above said, then i just leave that to do its work and go a** first to slow down? Whilst i am flying backward, do i use the main engines at all or just the little jets in the back/side/nose? what are they called the small jets for fine movements.

Its all going good, i was trying to dock with the ISS... that'll have to wait a few months before i attempt that...

 

[fireballs619]

Those small jets are called translation thrusters, and are used for, well, translation. I strongly suggest going through Go Play in Space, as the first few chapters have answers to all the questions you have asked so far.

 

[Lucy]

The point of flying retrograde is so that your main engines are pointing backwards. Using those will apply thrust in the direction opposite to the way you're travelling, adding delta-v in the opposite direction, with the net result that you slow down, which reduces your orbit.

 

[Izack]

aha, cheers.

I had a look at another manual and it summed up what all the KILL ROT, RETRGRD, PROGRD, NML+/- means.

so i used RETRGRD, or ']' as someone above said, then i just leave that to do its work and go a** first to slow down? Whilst i am flying backward, do i use the main engines at all or just the little jets in the back/side/nose? what are they called the small jets for fine movements.

Its all going good, i was trying to dock with the ISS... that'll have to wait a few months before i attempt that...

You must use your main engines for any significant manoeuvre (launch, deorbit, plane-change, etc.). Remember, there's no drag in space either, so you won't slow down unless you apply the force yourself (by burning your engines.)

The system of small thrusters on the ship is called the Reaction Control System (RCS.)

to Orbiter-Forum!

 

[IgnoreThisBarrel]

Welcome to orbiter! It takes a while to figure out (I only figured out just today that MMU's have translation mode <.<). But once you figure out Orbiter, it's really fun.

 

[statickid]

yes you have to slow down to speed up! it's all very intuitive :thumbup:

Here's my two cents:

to get into orbit you have to go really fast, and to get out of orbit...you have to slow down! pretty simple eh? another way to do it is to fire your retro engines, if your vessel has some, the frying tiger and delta gliders have them, some others too, but you might have to "turn them on" in the cockpit with a ship before you try to engage them

 

[250ninjaR]

Ahh thanks for all the comment.
Unfortionatly im at college today, so itll have to wait untill im home.
I understand from yesterday that de-orbiting is a fairly slow process, the speed dropping very slowly and height dropping even slow.
i think i was doing it right.
i guess ill just have to practice loads, everything is SO much different from conventional flight sims.

 

[garyw]

Ahh thanks for all the comment.
I understand from yesterday that de-orbiting is a fairly slow process, the speed dropping very slowly and height dropping even slow.

Not quite. I have a mission that will do a direct re-entry, the speed will be around 11km/s second. We will go through the atmosphere like the hot knife through butter. :lol:

My DG entries and landings are a much slower affair. I fire the engines over Australia, drop the alt to around 60km then control the descent via pitch and roll following Aerobrake MFD's guidance.

Hopefully I land on the runway at wideawake. Average entry interface-to-landing time is one hour 4 minutes.

The fastest point of flight is always that initial dive from orbit into the atmosphere, this is the same in real life - the shuttle hits Mach 28 during it's initial decent from orbit.