hi all :)

[Revolpathon]

hey

i'm new to both orbiter and this forum.

i've been fiddling around with orbiter for about a month now and was finally able to make my first take-off and dock with the ISS today (took me 2.5 hrs) (i have not used any autopilot) with the autopilot (take off and docking) i can do it in about 30 to 45 minute's. (but auto pilots teach you nothing, so i don't use em all that much)

i did use up 75 percent of my main fuel though (standard dgIV settings) and about 10 percent of RCS (which i think is good enough)

i combined Tex's video tutorial with the dg to ISS checklist posted in the tutorial section.

anyhow i hope to be able to learn allot more about orbiter, my next goal is the moon, but before that i wanna get take off and docking to be under 1 hour simulation time.

lol reading that back i sound chaotic, anyhow still excited about finally being able to do a manual dock.

greetings all from a new self claimed orbinaut

 

[TSPenguin]

to the forum!

Congratulations on your docking. Once you do it a few times it will seem minuscule. Going there fast is a challenge though.

Happy Orbiting

 

[Woo482]

to Orbiter-Forum ! Congratulations on your docking, they can be really hard for people new to Orbiter.

 

[eveningsky339]

 

[vonneuman]

Congratulation on your docking. I finally completed my first one too. Although I still have to use the docking auto pilot to dock the thing.

 

[TSPenguin]

As I usaly do, let me recommend Orbital Operations.

 

[Revolpathon]

http://www.stillmixtup.com/CC2ISS/CC2ISs.html

use that tutorial (the plane alignment and the docking is truly detailed)
i basicly used the first part from the dg4 to iss tutorial that tex made and did the final approach with the tutorial i just posted the link to

before when i just used tex's tutorial i got to the iss fine but i thought that the translation thrusters were the small weak bursts of the main engine's and the retro engine's

but after reading the other tut i smacked my head on my desk when i figured out that translation thrusters are linear thrusters

to make docking easy i use a gamepad with 2 analog joysticks, i can work extremely precise with it. my 2nd dock (i started on the final approach tut, went to do some backflips and picked the top most docking port to dock) i did with an approach spead of 0.1 m/s like the shuttle's do.

the learning curve is steep, but i can dock now without the need to use the tuts, now to get the shortcuts done (i saw a replay of a launch to dock at iss in 1020 seconds, prettty damn quick and the approach was sick.)

edit: orbital operations is new for me, looks interesting, i'll give it a good read over in the morning

 

[Tex]

Hi there, welcome to Orbiter-Forum! I'm glad to see my tutorial helped you out.

 

[agentgonzo]

Welcome! Don't give your shoes to anyone. They'll just steal them. People in here are mean.

 

[the.punk]

Hello and to the forum. Nice that you managed the docking.

 

[n122vu]

and congratulations on docking! Good luck on your first trip to the moon!

Hail !

 

[Revolpathon]

i'll attempt the moon trip tomorrow, now that i have some time on my hands i'll perfect my liftoff and dock with ISS and MIR first. i'll predict failure on my first moon trip though

 

[PhantomCruiser]

I've lost count of how many times I went from KSC to ISS, ISS to MIR, MIR to KSC following the Orbiter documentation. If you haven't yet downloaded "Go PLay In Space", you should do it, it's a great guidebook.
One of the chapters offers a play-by-play of the stock DG to the moon playback. My first lunar trip missed by miles (parsecs maybe?), and it really helped me to "see" it first.
I was very happy when I made it from KSC (and then later WideAwake) to Brighton Beach, so happy that I didn't even notice my shoes were missing...
Happy Orbiting!

 

[Revolpathon]

lol what's with the missing shoes comments?
is it just a hint to the fact that astronauts don't wear shoes when they're in space?

as for go play in space, i've skimmed through it several time's but i've set myself a challenge i want to meet first.

launching 2 dgIV's (i don't like the normal dg 3) into space simultanously (scenario ksc to iss, launch heading 43 degrees) then dock them and fly to iss with one ship powered down then when i'm close to the iss getting relative speed to 0 and dock both dg's to iss.

so far i managed to dock both of them together, but somehow orbiter (or my pc) really doesn't like the 2 craft playing together since i get numerous ctd's (only plugins loaded are scenario editor and sound) i'll make a seperate topic about this since this is a welcome topic though

on a side note, i maneged a /\ formation take off of 5 dgIV into orbit, launched nearly simultaniously, that looks pretty cool (with the hover take off)