Space Shuttle Ultra 1.25 Revision B development

[DaveS]

Done. The glare doesn't really have a direction though, so I'm not sure how much this will help. The lights themselves are animated and should be pointing at the shuttle.

Thanks. Now i see that the shuttle is lit up by the xenons. BTW, would it be possible to add GOX vent arm controls to the SSUPad dialog? Like separate controls for the actual vent arm and the vent hood?

 

[SiameseCat]

That can be done. BTW, are any of the shuttle dialogs still being used? If not we may as well get rid of them.

 

[DaveS]

That can be done. BTW, are any of the shuttle dialogs still being used? If not we may as well get rid of them.

Well, I for one don't use them.

---------- Post added at 01:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:38 AM ----------

Also, something that should be added to the pad vessel is manual raising/lowering of the GH2 vent line. While at lift-off it is retracted by gravity, it is raised/lowered during pad ops by an air hoist attached on the Intertank Access Arm.

For a demonstration, please see this video:

 

[Urwumpe]

Just watch a nice TV documentary about the SRB refurbishment and stacking ops in the VAB... very interesting. Most of the stuff is too tiny for us to show, but still interesting.

Like pressing high pressure foam into holes on the segments for 35 days... did you know that they do that?

 

[DaveS]

Just watch a nice TV documentary about the SRB refurbishment and stacking ops in the VAB... very interesting. Most of the stuff is too tiny for us to show, but still interesting.

Like pressing high pressure foam into holes on the segments for 35 days... did you know that they do that?

I did not know that. Very interesting. Was this something done at the factory after the propellant fill into the segments or actually in the VAB?

It must have been something that they did back 80's as the way SRB stacking was done through the 90's and today, they wouldn't have the time before the next segment was mated.

 

[Thundersnook]

Just watch a nice TV documentary about the SRB refurbishment and stacking ops in the VAB... very interesting. Most of the stuff is too tiny for us to show, but still interesting.

Like pressing high pressure foam into holes on the segments for 35 days... did you know that they do that?

Ha! You've watched it too then! Just opened a thread about this, because tomorrow it's going to be broadcasted again^^ Greetings!

 

[Urwumpe]

I did not know that. Very interesting. Was this something done at the factory after the propellant fill into the segments or actually in the VAB?

Factory, after installation of electronic harnesses and other equipment.

One part that they did show nice in the documentary had been the post-splashdown inspection of the SRBs in the KSC port, in a carrier that slowly rotated the whole SRB. The separated nozzle extension was also very visible in it, as tattered rim at the aft end.

 

[DaveS]

Just checking to get a status update the on VAB. Is it complete enough to get some preview screenshots?

 

[Urwumpe]

Just checking to get a status update the on VAB. Is it complete enough to get some preview screenshots?

Only slowly getting ahead, I have sorted some code out, but most of my time so far gets lost in the recent snow fall here...or better, moving the snow from A to B, in the hope that it does not melt so quickly that it floods C....

 

[Donamy]

move it to point D, the bathtub. Great for keeping the beer cold.

 

[Urwumpe]

move it to point D, the bathtub. Great for keeping the beer cold.

I need the hot bathtub after hauling the snow to B, for getting back into the thermal box for nominal operations. :lol: Humans are not made for being cold-soaked.

 

[jevans]

I was looking over the CRT code and I can't seem to work this one out: there's a lot of code commented out to do with the OPS specific displays, leaving just the OMS,SPI and HYD displays, but the MNVR display still shows up, despite appearing to be commented out.:hmm: Is work actively being done on the CRT code, or is it waiting for the GPC code to catch up?

 

[Urwumpe]

I was looking over the CRT code and I can't seem to work this one out: there's a lot of code commented out to do with the OPS specific displays, leaving just the OMS,SPI and HYD displays, but the MNVR display still shows up, despite appearing to be commented out.:hmm: Is work actively being done on the CRT code, or is it waiting for the GPC code to catch up?

The GPC code is currently waiting for me to have more time, I have currently two approaches there, that are both using the same interface to the Shuttle (MDMs and Shuttlebus system), but rely on different concepts.

One is a pure C++ implementation with HAL/S data type and run-time concept wrappers, that currently the most complete version. The other is a emulation of the AP/101S based on System/360 and HAL/S information, which is currently just a small pdcurses based program here, with only a dozen out of 254 instructions actually implemented.

I think I have also forgotten to finish "guesstimating" the IDP, since I had not been able to reverse engineer all format control words of the DEU from the ALT Software Specifications. Mostly static stuff like lines.

So much to do and so little time. :facepalm:

 

[jevans]

So basically the CRT module is waiting for other systems first? Could stuff like the orbit ADI ball display be implemented anyway now?

 

[Urwumpe]

So basically the CRT module is waiting for other systems first? Could stuff like the orbit ADI ball display be implemented anyway now?

Yes. I think Poscik already re-implemented the SPI display, since these displays are rendered by the MDU independent of the IDP, it shouldn't be hard to implement them in reasonable time. There is just a tiny challenge in the fact, that the ADI ball is just part of a more complex display format, which can be configured by the GPCs depending on flight situation.

If you plan to contribute, we could be much faster.

 

[SiameseCat]

The GPC displays are drawn (I think) by the IDP at the moment. CRT MFD passes the HDC to the IDP, which does the drawing. The other displays (OMS/MPS, APU/HYD and SPI) are drawn directly by CRT MFD at the moment.

 

[Urwumpe]

Here is a first preview of the inside of the VAB. Only a minimal performance impact here (the 12 FPS come mostly from the KSC surface textures), and it doesn't really look too bad. There is some room left for adding details IMHO, if we are careful and squeeze the maximum out of every triangle.

 

[jevans]

Well, unless anyone has any objections or is already actively developing them, I will see what I can do with regards to the CRT displays. It would be nice to be able to start moving away from the Orbiter MFD's to the shuttle ones. I still can't see where the OPS/SPEC displays are being drawn, the IDP seems to just be handling input.

I'll go and have a good read through of the code.

---------- Post added at 08:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:52 AM ----------

Oh, I see. It's in the MDU code.:facepalm:

I'll re-read the SCOM and see how the ADI and basic nav displays fit in.

---------- Post added at 07:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:49 AM ----------

Well, I've made some changes to the MFD, defining the MEDS menu structure to receive the remaining displays, but one things bugging me:

Looking through the SCOM and other published documentation( DPS dictionary etc.) there is the main menu, the DPS screen menu(GPC displays), the SUBSYSTEM menu currently implemented( OMS/SPI etc.) and then there's the flight instrumentation menu, containing two versions of the PFD: the on-orbit ADI ball, and the full-fat combined ADI/HSI display. That's what every single piece of documentation I can find says.

However, on multiple pictures such as http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-101/hires/s99_01418.jpg
the displays are clearly visible to be split into two displays: separate HSI and ADI ball displays, as well as the combined screen. This appears to go in a menu titled 'Ascent/Entry Flight Instrumentation.' I can find no reference to this menu or display set in any documents.:hmm:

Were the displays modified again after the installation of MEDS to consolidate the displays and simplify the structure by getting rid of the split displays? Can anyone enlighten me? Which one should I program in?

 

[Urwumpe]

All - if you read the DPS dictionary carefully, you can find a table and list of conditions, in which situation which item is displayed in which style.

 

[jevans]

I don't think this is to do with those tables - that just seems to detail which bits of the display disappear/reappear on the combined display. The one's I'm looking at seem to be completely different displays( and they're not DPS displays either.)

There seems to be some sort of upgrade to the avionics beyond MEDS that was planned before the announcement that the shuttle would be retired:

http://human-factors.arc.nasa.gov/publications/Hayashi_HFES2005.pdf

If you look at page 5 of that pdf, it compares MEDS with the planned upgrades, implying that what is currently in the shuttle is the top set of displays( labeled M1/M2 on the page) But in the SCOM it details the bottom display, labeled C2, as the current software.

Was this part of the upgrade( and this only) implemented anyway? Which one do we want programmed?