OHM Constellation Program

[OrbitHangar]

Author: 4th rock

This add-on simulates the Ares I, V, Orion CEV and Altair Lander early versions, as intended on the original NASA Constellation Program.

The Orion CEV is implemented as a custom .dll vessel, compatible with UCGO (1 cargo slot) and UMMU (4 person crew). There is also an ejectable LSP package, and a “SIM bay” with a deployable palette and a VC.
The CEV is capable of water or hard landings. As such, I’ve included my basic Edwards and White Sands bases + tiles.

A custom solar system is used, so there shouldn’t be any major compatibility problems with other add-ons.

The Altair lander comes in different versions (LEO tester/tug, cargo lander, crewed version). The crewed version can carry 4 UMMUs and one UCGO cargo, and has lights, animated landings legs, VC, etc.

A landing area at Malpert, near the lunar south is recreated in detail. The Ares rockets are also original meshes, implemented using Velcro.

The “Altair UMMU” by gattispilot is included, since it matches the Constellation Program design. It comes in two versions (Commander, Astronaut).
For convenience, Spotlight2 is included on this release.

Check the docs, for required addons and info on usage.

(Updated for better situations and to have astronauts on Orion's VC)



DOWNLOAD

 

[4throck]

Adding to the info on Orbit Hangar.

Required add-ons:
• Canadarm2v3 ([ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=6610"]Canadarm2v3[/ame])
• LC-39A ([ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=2787"]LC-39 High Detail ver9[/ame])
• Velcro rockets v1.11 ([ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3388"]Velcro Rockets v1.11[/ame])
• UCGO Com Station ([ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=6767"]UCGO Com Station[/ame] )
• UCGO 3.0 + UMmu 3.0 - 2014 edition
(http://orbiter.dansteph.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=7c32c7f018dd7109a69b6
3e70ff63ce0&page=download)


This add-on in fact replaces my previous Orion CEV and Altair cargo.

The entire feel of the add-on is a bit arcade by design, so it outperforms the original hardware specs.
No point in complaining that Ares 1 is able to orbit the CEV into a stable orbit, that veclro AP sucks, etc. If you want that, enjoy other Constellation add-ons. :thumbup:


Also, I'm not an expert in piloting or trajectories, so the scenarios are only indicative. Shown fuel reserves, dates, reentry trajectory is NOT precise.

If someone with better piloting and planing skills wishes to contribute to more detailed scenarios, I'd be glad to do an update featuring them.


Enjoy!

(I've updated the original upload to fix some issues texture paths. To avoid confusion, all scenarios are now in a "Constellation Program" folder.
Please delete the previous "Constellation" folder from you Orbiter install to avoid confusion).

 

[Kyle]

Thank you, 4th Rock. A full, proper Constellation addon is an awesome addition.

It's a shame Constellation was so badly mishandled. I remember seeing a Constellation manifest with the first manned Orion flight sometime in early 2015, I'll try to see if I can dig it up and make some more detailed scenarios.

 

[richfororbit]

Hmm, interesting.

I've gone more accustomed to using the authentic historical Module from Application Apollo just in orbit of the Earth.

As for the point on politics, that is what happens when an Administration doesn't believe in doing what it states. Nothing good can happen with no passion and or poor planning.

 

[4throck]

Noticed that some surface meshes have wrong texture patch, re-uploading the add-on to fix it.
To avoid confusion, all scenarios are now in a "Constellation Program" folder.
Please delete the previous "Constellation" folder from you Orbiter install to avoid confusion).

@Kyle
Those scenarios are welcome.
In creating your own take a look at how I put mine together. Altair and Orion have states, so make sure that you have the right text strings in place.

 

[richfororbit]

I tried the Constellation scenarios, only a few works for me. But I'm not bothered about launching. So this Altair lander is the first illustrated version unlike the final one.

As well there is also detail, I assumed this was just a bare bones setup. Very well detailed.

Obviously it wasn't a final interior detail?

When I had used Mr Drake's landing module I never succeeded in landing manually, the orbit just never broke it kept changing altitude.

 

[4throck]

See above post


This is the early version yes. Other add-ons simulate newer proposals.
There are no detailed cockpit mock-ups for this version, just some illustrations.

 

[richfororbit]

The lander itself has 30 fuel, quite a bit considering the other files I tried in the past.

When I made an attempt I almost got there, I was at 50 plus velocity and 1,000KM altitude, what do you think I need to do to try and get it close enough to 100KM and 10 velocity.

Never mind landing at the South Pole. Nice terrain by the way.

 

[4throck]

I'm using NASA's specs with the most optimistic numbers.
You get as much fuel as possible, with as little mass as possible.

In theory you can do the lunar mission, but I guess that careful setup and flying is needed.

I'm not a great pilot and doing TLI's are not my thing. I just provided the best situations I could create, most by flying it myself.

But I guess that you need to do it more carefully, using IMFD of LunarTransferMFD.
That's why I asked above for some input regarding better Constellation 10 scenarios.

On my end I'm looking into some NASA planning PDFs, trying to see what sort of orbits they planned to use.

 

[richfororbit]

Well I tumbled last friday three times, as for yesterday afternoon, the craft swirled around, but firmly touched done loudly. I did better.

It's a careful balancing act of throttle the engine 204 or above or below when approaching 6KM or below or a bit more than 6KM. Trying to get well below 1KM and slow enough to about 10 velocity.

What I notice is that once the craft is slow enough then the whole orientation of the direction changes, once that happens, I did a Horizontal level and just experiment with firing that engine and orientating at different angles. Ofcourse the key to success in landing is careful and slow movements.

This module is easier concerning fuel, in comparison to the authentic spider or using the actual Apollo scenarios I failed on that entirely.

 

[barrygolden]

It was eye opening to see Sally Ride and her charts show just how funded Constellation was. Its easy to see it had no chance of flying and yet no one at NASA stood up and said this won't work. I guess they wanted to keep their jobs and lie to us.Congress failed with their part to fund it as they said they would. I wonder if a chart were shown with this new SLS program what it would show ? I think we would see the same thing as was the case with " Freedom ". I think a chart for a billion dollar rocket and three mission would be pretty bad.

Thanks 4th rock for doing this and keep manned exploration alive.

 

[Astro SG Wise]

Sweet ACES suits! Can't wait to use them!

 

[richfororbit]

Hmm I was thinking since this Illustrated module has 30 propellant, and the Lunar Module of the past has 8.00

Would any of that actually be realistic?

Like with the STS in Orbiter it is 21

 

[4throck]

Altair is much larger than Apollo, heavier and caries more fuel.
Those numbers come from the specs of the version modeled. For example, here:
http://s1244.photobucket.com/user/duckgilchrist/media/altair%20lander/landerbaseline_zps218001af.png.html

 

[richfororbit]

I have seen that image last year or so.

I'd of thought the module would have, since innovation would of changed for a design for a new lander. The historical module is terrible in shape, but it was what it was for the time.

How ever for that module, the ascent engine is still a toxic killer! :rofl: One has to run when that gets out! We'll never know what the exterior would of been constructed from, the material, in comparison to the first lander.

 

[stealthstar]

Help! Mine only downloads as a notepad file & no way to extract it to orbiter. I'm used to extracting zipped files to orbiter. Any ideas on how to fix this problem? I'm using windows 7 & chrome as my browser. Addons I usually download are in a compressed zip folder with a way to extract it to orbiter.

Really want your constellation addon. Been looking for a good constelation addon for some time.

 

[richfororbit]

Does it not download as a zip and place the files in yourself?

 

[4throck]

Help! Mine only downloads as a notepad file & no way to extract it to orbiter.

The file is a RAR. It's the same as ZIP for all purposes, but some programs don't recognize it.

You can use Winrar to extract it.

 

[4throck]

Some update on scenarios, after reading some NASA docs and doing tests ;-)

The EDS stage would perform some burns to get the stack into a 185x1806 orbit, ideal for TLI.
LOI is performed by Altair, to an initial 100x10000 orbit. 3 burns will circularize the orbit.
I found that the optimal lunar orbit for PDI and ascent is ~80km.
NASA states 100km but Altair runs out of fuel trying to reach Orion at that altitude.

Ground track is crucial. Orion must pass over the landing site within meters. Kilometers won't do.
I guess this is due to polar location.

So there will be an update with corrected situations for this.

 

[stealthstar]

The file is a RAR. It's the same as ZIP for all purposes, but some programs don't recognize it.

You can use Winrar to extract it.

I just got WinRAR today. Care to teach me how to use it to convert constellation to orbiter with it?

---------- Post added at 04:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:25 AM ----------

I just got WinRAR today. Care to teach me how to use it to convert constellation to orbiter with it?

Never mind just figured it out. Thanks. :thumbup: