Why Do You like Orbiter?

[Atom]

We have a thread on this, it's all about the human eye and perception. Look at the previous posts.

[Simonpro]

and about the atmospheric effects, if anyone will actually listen properly :p
only thing thats' too small is Atlantis's fuel capacity, but that isnt an orbiter issue, iyswim

[ControlledForce]

yeah but the moon is the same size in atmospher or out

[Simonpro]

Orbiter is all about spaceflight. It never claimed to simulate the effects of perspective and atmospheric diffraction etc

[Krytom]

[understatement]That would be slightly difficult to code.[/understatement]

[Simonpro]

nah, the diffraction effect wouldnt be too hard to code at all. perspective might be, but then again that should be a
human thing anyway - not quite sure why we dont experience it in orbiter when we do with other things...

[Krytom]

Despite the fact that Orbiter is 3D, the image is still on a flat screen (the size depends on one's monitor). Believe it or
not human eyes have a zoom feature. When you look at the real moon your eyes automatically focus and change
your field of view. However, you're eyes do not need to zoom in on things on a screen because everything is at the
same distance, no matter how good your graphics card or monitor is.

[freespace2dotcom]

Are you implying that we can zoom in some 1000X or so in order to enlarge the moon in our eyes!?

[Krytom]

Not by that much. You can't really notice the zoom when you look at things because you've been doing it all your life.
It isn't like a zoom on a camera for example. It's more complicated and less effective. But it is suficient enough to
make the moon seem bigger. Try looking at the wold zoomed out without concentrating your gaze on anything in
particular. I can do it and it works.

[ControlledForce]

human eyes zoom in?lol,maybe focusing in but not zoom in,then again if you hold your eyeball by the nerve ending and stretch
the eyelens you might get it to zoom in,I'll have to try that one of these days.

[Atom]

They do have a zoom. It's where you move your head closer to the object.

[Stuart]

Well I'm very new to all this. I think my interest in Orbiter comes from an interest in space. I got a 4.5 inch reflector 10
months ago & began paying attention to what I saw in the skies after I moved from south east England to north Wales where the
night sky is clearer. Then I got Celestia, http://www.shatters.net/celestia/, which I'm sure you all know about, which is
beautiful. Then I wished you could control spacecraft in it too. Then I found this.

I agree with DocHoliday especially as to what he likes. I wish I understood the physics though - I was useless at physics at
school & now I really need all the instruments to help me in Orbiter. But I love the precision & the sense of achievement you
get from Orbiter, and the sense of having really great toys and a great view! And the sense of... how can I put it... good -
this is about construction, not destruction, and learning, high ideals in a selfish world.

Anyway, I've been showing Celestia to demonstrate principles of astronomy to kids at a local secondary school science club.
And last time I went there I showed them Orbiter & they went mad! SO on my next visit we're taking DGIII to ISS, and as you
said NASSAC, it'll probably really show how difficult this all was for the pioneers. But they'll love it I'm sure! Their eyes
popped out when they saw DG docked to ISS.

I always wanted to be a pilot when I was a kid, & of course, if you wanted to be a pilot, you really wanted to be an astronaut!

And this community is excellent. I've never enjoyed an online community as much. I love you guys!:cry

[DocHoliday]

stop it, you're making us misty

[Stuart]

Ha ha! <sniff> sorry dudes!

[NASSAC]

Thanks Stuart for your contribution. I think of Orbiter as more a tool for teaching than a just a game. However,
Orbiter makes it possible for us to learn and play at the same time.

As to the discussson about the size of the moon, our perspective is realtive. Have you noticed how big the real moon
looks when it is close to the the earth and then how small it looks just hours later when it reaches its zenith? The
moon appears bigger because we see it relative to the skyline with buildings or trees. I n Orbiter there is no
perspective. In the vastness of space it appears smaller because space around it is really big. To prove this just take
you thumb and hold it at arms length and cover the moon with your tumb when it is low on the horizon, then do the
same thing when it reaches zenith and you will see it is really the same size in relationship to your thumb even
though it appears to be smaller. The moon may look too small in orbiter at times but when you get there, in Orbiter,
its scale is what it needs to be and for me this is the way it should be.

John of NASSAC

[Ranger]

My turn

Well, let's see now. I was interested in space flight from about the age of, 10, maybe? Ever since I got that little
shuttle Endeavour toy when I watched it in the TV .
But it started perking when I was at secondary school in my physics lesson, on the topic of space. Needless to say I
excelled in it, and when I realised this was something I liked and enjoyed, I persued it further, watching the TV,
reading the newspapers (I didn't have the internet then :P ) for anything that might be related with space flight.

I forgot to mention, I've also been obsessive with normal flight all my life

Then in 1999 I got the internet, and I started viewing websites, looking back at old STS mission, old projects, Gemini
and the like. In 2001, at the age of 13 I discovered Orbiter. At first, and looking back at it now, I was probably a little
too young to grasp how to use it properly. But still I used it, even if only to send the Deltaglider into incredibly comical
fast spins for the entertainment of me and a few mates :top.

At 17, now I've grasped how to use it properly, I use it daily if I can, and I'm loving every minute of it. I've been
playing it for four years now, and I still haven't used it to it's full potential I feel. Even now, looking back at all the
previous versions, we can see how far orbiter has come forward, with the addition of the VC on the 2005 edition,
which is beautiful, and brings a whole new feeling of realism, it's worth playing just too see the new addons and
what new features will come forth with new additions!
Ever since I was little I'd dreamed of going up into the big black (What little boy hasn't? ) And I doubt that will
happen in my lifetime, but Orbiter takes me closer than I could probably ever get, and even further than that.

I was in the Air Training Corps for 3 years, pursuing my normal flight joys, and now in the RAF, I go back as staff to
that same squadron, sometimes with my laptop. When I don't do anything, I usually play Orbiter, and the Cadets are
highly interested in what I do on it, even one night leading to me playing on it projected on the wall while I used
Endeavour to the ISS

I just hope Orbiter can do for so many others what it's done for me, and may we be ever grateful to that amazing
Doctor who created this priceless piece of software.

Cheers, Adam.

[Atom]

What Squadron did you attend and what are you joining the RAF as? I'm a Cadet at 2409 squadron, the best
squadron.

[Ranger]

1237 sqn, From Trent wing.

[Atom]

Herts and Bucks wing here.

[NASSAC]

Thanks Ranger for your story. It appears from reading so many different stories that Orbiter satisfies that "fly" gene
that is within some of us. Some have gone on to fly in the real world while others have continued to pursue the
dream through the challenging simulations of Orbiter. The fact that Orbiter is a challenge is the very reason why
there is a feeling of real accomplishment when one docks or achieves orbit for the first time. And with Orbiter there is
the challenge of not just doing it again but doing it better or differently the next time. Along the way your are
learning something about the real physics of the cosmos and space flight.
I would like to share with you all a true story about a conversation that I had with a High school teacher and school
administrator who held a degree in Physics. On the way back from a school trip to the Franklin Institute in
Philadelphia we got into a discussion about the moon. In the conversation I mentioned how the moon doesn't rotate
on it's axis relative to the earth. Both disagreed with me an insisted that the moon does rotate. I told them both that
it was locked faced to the earth and that the same side of the moon always faces the earth. When I was asked why I
was so sure I was right about the moon I said, "I know because I was there". They both looked at me and
said, "sure you were." Of course what I meant was, I  was there in Orbiter, which accurately represents the phases
of the moon in its orbit around the sun with the earth. I told them that I could prove to them they were wrong, first
by simply picking up any science book on astronomy or secondly by showing it to them in Orbiter. What made it so
memorable for me was the fact that both of them were completely convinced I was wrong and they were right. After
all they were the educators and I was just this amateur astronomer and space nut that likes top fly in a simulator.
Well, they have both come to me and admitted they were wrong, and I was right. I said of course I was right, as I
told you "I was there". Experience is a great teacher and that is what Orbiter can do for those that want to invest
some time with Orbiter, it can help you to learn through an experience.


John from NASSAC

[freespace2dotcom]

Well, honestly, perhaps some more context with "I was there" would have made your story a bit more believeable to
the educators in the first place.

I kinda wish I was there to see their faces when they told you that they were wrong. that would easily have been a
kodak moment.

[NASSAC]

Hello Freespace,  

Yes, but it was the absurd, "I was there" statement that made it fun for me. I explained to them of course that it was
in Orbiter that I was making reference too, but then they expressed a reservation about the accuracy of the physics
of Orbiter. It took a text book to bring them around to the truth about the moon. And it wasn't like they thought I
was just some kind of an educated space nut.  I am educated and I am not a space nut. I am very serious about both
education and science. The truth is they both have respect for the knowledge I do possess. What made it so funny is
they thought they finally caught me in a fact of science error.  During the discussion, I knew I was right from a
scientific point of fact and because I had verified this fact in Orbiter. Thus the statement, "I was there".  

John
NASSAC Director

[NASSAC]

Come on, don't just read the post, tell us why you like orbiter.

John

[freespace2dotcom]

Hmm....

I like Orbiter... because..... um....



I like Orbiter because I like simulations about anything and everything.

I like simulations because I have a vast imagination, and playing such things lets me imagine myself actually doing
something, whether its losing billions on the stock market, nuking some poor country that thinks it can stand in my
way, or burning up at 10000 degrees (Fahrenheit) while doing a "straight down" on earth.

[NASSAC]

Ok, you have convinced me from your many post that you have a vast imagination and Orbiter allows you to
experience what you imagine.