Flight Question please help with launching the space shuttle

[Mr Martian]

this is a very stupid question, i know, but im a total noob at the space shuttle, and i was wondering how to activate the automated launch... cos i cant see anything about it in the atlantis documentation...

 

[cipher169]

I would recommend that you download Thornton's excellent ISS v3.2. You need to download shuttlefleet, but all the links are in the documentation for it. The launches for these shuttles are automatic, and you can even turn them off if you want to I just don't know how off the top of my head.

[ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3737"]Download ISS v3.2 here[/ame].

 

[orbitingpluto]

The default shuttle doesn't have an autopilot. You can use the Lua scripting to launch the shuttle however. Look in your scenario folder for the "2010 Editon" folder, then to a folder called "Scripts". Read "Description.txt" and "Space Shuttle launch.scn" to find out how, then start up Orbiter and make sure the modules the "Description.txt" told you to activate are activated, after that start up the "Space Shuttle launch.scn". Type the commands you were instructed to do in the .scn file in the lua console or the lua MFD(your preference) and watch the shuttle fly!

Or, go to simviation and get the Shuttle Fleet, like cipher169 recommended. Which you don't have to get Thornton's ISS to use. The link is here, go to page two to get the Shuttle Fleet package. This shuttle can fly itself after setting up some lines in .scn. The documentation is excellent at telling you which, so I won't muddle your mind by telling you what my shoddy memory remembers.

Taking a third option(because a captain always takes a third option), use the simviation link I gave you, stay on the first page and find the Buran. Use this link [ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=1036"]here[/ame], and you'll find a Energia to pair the Buran with. The Energia uses handy dialog boxes to communicate to the rocket where you want it to go; very user friendly. And using the payload manager built in to the Energia, you can quickly attach the Buran with another dialog box. If you happen to not read the Energia's manual, let me tell you that it will deposit you on a suborbital trajectory on purpose(regardless of how you set the autopilot, if I remember rightly), so don't start freaking out, and just use the Buran calmly and thoughtfully to finalize the orbital insertion. After all, you meant to do that in the first place right?

 

[worir1]

I got an easyer way no offence to above
go do the moduals tab on the launch pad and activate the lua MFD
go to the senario and enter into the lua MFD run('atlantis/launch')
Type exactly that
next type into the MFD how high you want by typing alt=.....
Example is alt=300e3 for 300km
then type in launch()
Then off you go
it will get you into orbit. personaly i think launching manualy is more fun because you cant do much during launch and you cant use time warp much either
hope this helped.

 

[blixel]

I typed this up for myself a while back. Maybe it will be useful to you.

To launch the space shuttle automatically, you need to have the LuaMFD
module enabled. From the Orbiter Launchpad, select Modules and click
the checkbox next to LuaMFD under the MFD modes section.

Pick an Atlantis scenario and launch orbiter. The new MFD is listed as
Terminal MFD, not as Lua MFD. Start Terminal MFD and use the following:

If you just want to see the shuttle launch itself, you can just do this:

1. <INP> run('atlantis/launch') <enter>
2. <INP> launch() <enter>

That will launch the shuttle into orbit using a heading of 90 degrees
and an apoapsis of 300 kilometers. That's a perfectly reasonable set
of orbital parameters if you just want to get into orbit automatically.

If you want to get into orbit automatically and then "play around"
once you're there, you will want to disable the automatic OMS-2 burn.
So use this instead:

1. <INP> run('atlantis/launch') <enter>
2. <INP> do_oms2=false <enter>
3. <INP> launch() <enter>

That will launch the shuttle into orbit using the defaults, and the
script will exit as soon as the OMS-1 burn is done. (At which point
you can take control and play around.) You will know when the script is
done by looking at the upper right corner of the MFD. While the script
is running, it says "busy"

You can interact with the MFD's while the script is running. You can
bring up Orbit MFD and look at it, Map MFD and look at that, Surface
MFD, and so on. You can still control the shuttle while the script
is running, but you'll basically be "fighting" against the script if
you do.

When the OMS-1 burn is done, your Periapsis will probably be too low
for a stable orbit, but you'll have at least 30 to 60 minutes of real
time to play around before the shuttle reaches Periapsis. (You can
EASILY bring up the Periapsis by fast forwarding time to the apaoapsis,
then clicking the PRO GRD autopilot button, and applying some main
engine thrust to bring the Periapsis UP to a healthy altitude. Watch
the ApT variable to know when you are getting close to apoapsis. ApT
means something like Apoapsis Time (or Time until Apoapsis))

If you want to control the launch parameters (perhaps because you want
to rendezvous with the ISS), you can use the following:

1. <INP> run('atlantis/launch') <enter>
2. <INP> orbit_alt=220e3 <enter>
3. <INP> azimuth=43*RAD <enter>
4. <INP> do_oms1=false <enter>
5. <INP> do_oms2=false <enter>
6. <INP> launch() <enter>

If you want a different Orbit Altitude, you can change 220e3 to whatever
you need. (220e3 means 220000. (e3 is scientific notation. 1e3 = 1000))

The azimuth is the heading. If you want to rendezvous with the ISS,
you will probably want a heading of about 43 degrees. (You can use
Launch MFD to determine the best launch heading for rendezvousing with
the ISS.)

The OMS-1 burn is done after reaching orbital velocity, and separating
from the ET. This burn brings the shuttle up to your target Orbital
Altitude. (Which isn't always necessary. A lot of times, you will reach
Orbital Altitude as part of the main launch sequence. If you listen
to a NASA launch sequence, you'll often hear "OMS-1 is not required."
shortly after MECO and ET separation.)

If needed, the OMS-1 burn is done immediately after reaching orbital
velocity, so (unlike the OMS-2 burn), you don't have to wait a long
time for the OMS-1 burn to start. So leaving it enabled is not a big
deal, but if you'd rather control that burn manually, you can set it to
false.

If rendezvousing with the ISS, I think it's best to set oms1 to false
also. When the script does the OMS-1 burn, it yaws the Shuttle to the
heading specified by the azimuth variable before doing the burn. (I
don't really understand why it would do that.) But in any event, because
it does that, it messes up your plane alignment.

The OMS-2 burn is the orbit circularization burn that is done at
periapsis. This is simple to do manually, so we disable it. If you
don't disable it, then you have to let the launch continue to play out
at 1x all the way until the OMS-2 burn is complete. (It will take
about 45 minutes to reach periapsis after the launch is complete. That's
a long time to sit and wait. If you use time acceleration with the
script enabled, the OMS-2 burn will screw up.)​

If you want to learn to launch manually, try these videos. (Pardon my voice. I have a ton of lung/throat/breathing related health problems.)

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta5-oflWWdQ"]Orbiter 2010 - Beginner Guide - Launching the Space Shuttle - Part 3 - YouTube[/ame]