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Altitude calculations
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Fyer:
Hello,
I'm new to Orbiter and I am finding it the most challenging and entertaining simulation I have ever
played. Just one simple question that will help me solve all others; is there a way to use an MFD
to calculate the amount of thrust and how long to use it to reach a particular altitude, say 360 kms
and maintain it? I keep trying to get to the same altitude as the ISS spacestation after calculating
my launch window, but I keep overshooting it and cannot easily reduce my altitude as I am well
above the atmosphere by then.
icebrain:
Well, what you could do is shoot for a lower altitude, say around 220km or so. That gives you
plenty of room to maneuver around in and set up a rendezvous. During your ascent try to keep
your vspeed from going above 900-1100 m/s. As you get closer to your desired altitude, try to
bring the vspeed down until you hit your target altitude and then just hold it at zero (which will
require a gradual pitch down) until you have a nice orbit.
This technique doesn't work so well when your launcher has a relatively low thrust (the
acceleration by the throttle indicator is less than 15 or so) unless you have a lot of thrust.
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