Go Learn In Space (Educational Fun With Orbiter - Pipex

Go Learn In Space
(Educational Fun with Orbiter)
by Bruce Irving
bruceirvingmusic@pobox.com
http://flyingsinger.blogspot.com
December 15, 2005
Picture from Orbiter: International Space Station
above the Northeastern United States

Contents
� What is Orbiter?
� What does Orbiter offer? (a visual tour with pictures from Orbiter 2005)
� How it all works (Orbiter demo)
� Conclusions
� For teachers: Demo notes and educational possibilities

What is Orbiter?
�Orbiter is a free space flight simulator, a
game-like program with 3D graphics that
makes you a “virtual astronaut” in the
cockpit of a simulated spacecraft
�Unlike most “space games” for PC’s or
game consoles, Orbiter is based on real
science, so spacecraft behave the way
they really do in space
�It’s fun to learn to change your orbit,
launch into orbit from Earth, land on the
Moon, dock with a space station, and
much more

What does Orbiter offer?
(A Visual Tour)
Note: Several of the following pictures include optional add-on
features that are not part of the basic Orbiter installation, but
are available as free downloads for installation in Orbiter

The beauty of the Home Planet…

and the vastness of space.

The mystique of the Moon…

and the magic of Mars.
(Proposed “Mars Direct” habitation module approaching Mars)

The “been there, done that…”
(Lunar Module in 1969, from
NASSP/Apollo add-on for Orbiter)

the old hat…
(Deploying the Hubble Space Telescope with the Shuttle “robot arm”)

and the next big thing.
(CEV - proposed Crew Exploration Vehicle docked at ISS)

New places to fly…
(in Mars orbit, 54 km from Phobos, one of Mars’ two moons)

and new places to drive.
(Rover-driver’s view at Vallis Dao, a valley on Mars)

Things to learn…

and things to burn (sorry).

The Serene…

and the Serenity.

And a lot of other cool stuff!
(A hypothetical space elevator on a future terra-formed “Green Mars”)

How it all works
(Live Orbiter demo, if available)

Fixing Up a Bad Orbit
� If someone is available who can run Orbiter, they can show you
a brief (15-20 minute) demonstration of how it all works
� The demo is based on the steps shown in chapter 2 (“Smack!”)
of Go Play In Space (free tutorial e-book for Orbiter)
– Two Earth orbiting spacecraft have just docked nose to
nose, but the low point of their orbit is too low
– To fix up the orbit requires a few steps: “Kill” their axial
rotation, undock, point both craft in the orbital direction, wait
for apoapsis (high point of orbit), and fire main engines of
each spacecraft to raise the low point to a safe 200 km or
so above the surface (and make the orbit almost circular)
– Orbiter lets you switch between different spacecraft and
speed up or slow down time, so slow motion can be used to
give enough time to do these steps for both spacecraft
– The following few slides (figures from the book) help to
illustrate key points of the demo

Smack! (Docked and Rotating)

Orbit Problem for “Smack!”

Orbit Terminology

Thrusters – Rotation vs. Translation

THE END

For Teachers:
Demo Notes and Educational Ideas

Orbiter Overview
� Orbiter is a free real-time space flight simulation for Windows PCs,
developed by Dr. Martin Schweiger* as an educational and
recreational application for orbital mechanics simulation.
� Includes modelling of atmospheric flight (launch and re-entry),
sub-orbital, orbital and interplanetary missions (rendezvous,
docking, transfer, slingshot, etc.)
� Based on Newtonian mechanics, rigid body model of rotation,
basic (static) atmospheric flight model.
� Planet positions from public perturbation solutions. Time
integration of state vectors or osculating elements.
� Written in C++, using DirectX for 3-D rendering. Public
programming interface for development of external module plugins
(includes COM interface and Software Development Kit).
� With an increasingly versatile API, development focus is beginning
to shift from the Orbiter core to 3 rd party add-ons.
� And oh yes…
* University College London - thanks to Dr. Schweiger for this slide (and for Orbiter!)

Orbiter Demo Notes
� If you don’t have an Orbiter user available to give a
demonstration, it should take about 2 hours to read chapters
1 and 2 of Go Play In Space (free tutorial e-book for Orbiter,
see Resources slide at the end), download and install
Orbiter, and practice the detailed steps given in chapter 2
� Note that you don’t need a joystick to use Orbiter – most
maneuvers use the keypad of a standard PC keyboard
� Summary of the situation and steps:
– Two Earth orbiting spacecraft have just docked, but the
low point of their orbit is too low
– Stop their axial rotation, undock, orient both craft in the
“prograde” direction, wait for apoapsis (high point of
orbit), fire main engines of each spacecraft to raise the
low point above 200 km from the surface
– This demo is visually interesting, well documented,
pretty easy to explain, and takes only 15-20 minutes
– The slides shown earlier (figures from the book) help to
illustrate key points of the demo

Tips for the Demo
� The Launchpad is the dialog box where you set Orbiter
parameters and choose and launch scenarios
� The Smack! scenario is in the Delta-Glider folder on the
Scenario tab of the Launchpad
� Most digital projectors handle 1024 x 768*, so set this full
screen resolution (and 32 bit color if possible) on the Video
tab of the Launchpad dialog box
� Use R and T to slow down and speed up time, and
Control-P to pause
� Use F1 to switch between internal and external views (updown
arrows to slide the control panel down-up), use F3 to
display a list of spacecraft for switching ships
� It’s not essential to slow down time to allow doing everything
for the two spacecraft at nearly the same time as the book
suggests (it just looks cool to see them moving close together
“in synch”), so if you find it easier to do or explain, just stay at
normal time, boost one spacecraft to the higher orbit, then do
the other one separately (or just skip it)
* 800x600 works too, but requires arrow-key scrolling to see all the instrument panel buttons

Educational Ideas:
General Notes
� Orbiter is very “deep” with many possible things to learn,
but it can be used for simpler (but still cool and instructive)
things without a long learning curve – the first 34 pages of
Go Play In Space provide a lot of fascinating and fun
capability with detailed step by step scripts)
� Grade levels for Orbiter
– Orbiter is a fairly complex real-time simulator, so its best
use will depend on grade level
– Up to grade 6, it is probably best as a teacher’s
“dynamic audio-visual” demo tool to show general
things like how rockets work, what orbits are, what the
planets look like, and how they move
– From grade 7, most students can probably learn to
operate Orbiter and do simple or complex experiments
with it
– High school and college students can use it as a virtual
lab for physics and flight experiments (both space and
atmospheric flight)

� Science
Educational Ideas:
Orbiter Connects With…
– Physics: Motion, relative motion, acceleration, forces,
rotation, translation, gravitation, orbits, orbital
mechanics
– Astronomy: Planets, moons, planetary motion (planets
both rotate and orbit the Sun, and most have one or
more orbiting moons), atmospheres and their effects,
sunrise/sunset, eclipses
� Technology
– Spacecraft, rockets, thrusters, orbital maneuvers,
atmospheric flight, space stations, launch/takeoff, reentry/landing,
rendezvous/dock, deploy satellites
– Flight instruments, properties of orbits, airspeed vs.
ground speed vs. orbital speed, navigation, planning of
interplanetary flights

Educational Ideas:
And also…
� Geography and Earth Sciences (view the Earth and other
planets from space, identification of surface features of
Earth, Moon, Mars – surface and sky object labels can be
selectively turned on or off)
� History of technology (rocketry from Robert Goddard to the
Space Shuttle, piloted and unmanned space probes)
� Investigation of proposed future spacecraft and missions,
and future/alternate propulsion systems (aircraft-launched
spacecraft, ion engines, solar sails, electromagnetic mass
drivers, space planes, SSTO [single stage to orbit],
recoverable boosters, space elevators, etc.*)
� Add-on development (Orbiter users can develop spacecraft,
space stations, surface bases, and planetary surfaces – this
involves 3D modeling, graphic arts, and programming for
those who want these challenges, though most will just make
use of the many available spacecraft, etc.).
* Add-ons for most of these examples already exist

Educational Ideas:
Uses of Orbiter
� Interactive and dynamic space flight and astronomy demo
tool for teachers
� Virtual physics and space flight lab for students of general
science and physics
� Space exploration and flight technology “virtual laboratory”
for advanced students and space hobbyists (and
professionals)
– Create experiments and measure results
– Use it to generate (static or dynamic) graphics for
projects involving the Solar System
– Simulate actual space missions to explain and
understand them better
– Use it for science fair projects involving space and/or
atmospheric flight

Educational Ideas:
Some Advantages of Orbiter
� Astronaut’s “first person” perspective and 3D graphics
encourage student interest
– “You are there” sensation of being in the cockpit and
controlling the spacecraft
– Sense of accomplishment when you achieve orbit, land
on Moon, dock with ISS, or reach Mars
– Science learning is implicit and intuitive – experiment
with conditions, launch methods, trajectories, etc. and
quickly see the results
� Dynamic visualization – accelerate time up to 100,000x to
visualize the rotation (including cloud movement) and
orbital motion of planets, moons, and spacecraft
� Sound effects and even music (MP3 player included with
Orbiter Sound 3.0, free add-on)
� No weapons or violence

Educational Ideas:
Conclusions
� Orbiter is a space flight simulator with accurate physics,
beautiful 3D graphics, and a first-person, astronaut’s
perspective
� Basic capabilities and a wide-range of community
supported add-ons make Orbiter a versatile tool for
accurately simulating many aspects of space flight
� Educational applications of Orbiter include demos and
student “lab” activities to enrich classes in physics,
astronomy, technology, geography, and more.
� Orbiter is completely free!

Resources (All Free)
� Orbiter main web site (many links):
www.orbitersim.com
� Introductory tutorial (Go Play In Space):
www.orbiter.migman.com or
www.aovi93.dsl.pipex.com/play_in_space.htm
� Main Orbiter add-on site:
www.orbithangar.com
� Orbiter Discussion Forum:
http://orbit.m6.net/v2/boardtalk.asp
� Great general space flight introduction (JPL’s Basics of
Space Flight, interactive web site):
http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/basics/