Editing GPIS 4: Fly Me To The Moon

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== Acknowledgement ==
 
== Acknowledgement ==
This material was originally contributed by Bruce Irving from the 2nd edition of ''Go Play In Space'' (this chapter was written by Andy McSorley). Refer to the page's View History tab to see subsequent changes.
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This material was originally contributed by Bruce Irving from the 2nd edition of ''Go Play In Space'' (this chapter was written by Andy McSorley). Refer to the page's View History tab to see subsequent changes.
 
 
'''IMPORTANT NOTE:''' This chapter is under revision from the 2006 version of Orbiter (''Go Play In Space'', 2nd edition). Although the "DG to the moon" scenario in Orbiter 2016 is similar to the "Lunar transfer" scenario in Orbiter 2006, dates and many details are different, so this chapter will not properly track with the 2016 version's recorded tutorial flight playback until revisions are complete.
 
  
 
== Fly Me To The Moon ==
 
== Fly Me To The Moon ==
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== Launch Window Waiting ==
 
== Launch Window Waiting ==
  
Welcome back to Earth and to your fast-track Delta Glider training – third lesson and you’re flying to the Moon! Not bad. Time for some more action. So the very first thing you’ll have to do is... wait a while. For the launch window, that is. A launch window is the date and time (or range of dates and time) during which a particular flight is feasible or favorable in terms of the position of the target, length of time required, the required and available fuel, and sometimes other factors, such as the desire for daylight at the starting point or destination. With the DG, you actually have a lot of available energy or delta-V (see [[GPIS 10: I Was Just Wondering|chapter 10, “I Was Just Wondering...”]] for a discussion of delta-V), so you could really ignore some of these things – launch pretty much when you like and use extra fuel to make up for it. But this time you will fly a simple and reasonably fuel-efficient trip to low Earth orbit and then on to the Moon (though the four day flight won’t be especially fast). The Transfer MFD will only work if you and the target share the same orbital plane. That’s what you’ll have to take care of first, making sure your orbit is aligned with the Moon’s orbit.
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Welcome back to Earth and to your fast-track Delta Glider training – third lesson and you’re flying to the Moon! Not bad. Time for some more action. So the very first thing you’ll have to do is... wait a while. For the launch window, that is. A launch window is the date and time (or range of dates and time) during which a particular flight is feasible or favorable in terms of the position of the target, length of time required, the required and available fuel, and sometimes other factors, such as the desire for daylight at the starting point or destination. With the DG, you actually have a lot of available energy or delta-V (see [[GPIS_9|chapter 9, “I Was Just Wondering...”]] for a discussion of delta-V), so you could really ignore some of these things – launch pretty much when you like and use extra fuel to make up for it. But this time you will fly a simple and reasonably fuel-efficient trip to low Earth orbit and then on to the Moon (though the fourdayflightwon’tbeespeciallyfast). TheTransferMFDwillonlyworkifyouandthetargetsharethe same orbital plane. That’s what you’ll have to take care of first, making sure your orbit is aligned with the Moon’s orbit.
  
'''Want to Skip the Details for Now?''' If you’d rather just get set up and flying and learn the details of the alignment issues later, skip for now to where it says “[[#OK|OK, time to fly]]” and follow those directions.
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'''Want to Skip the Details for Now?''' If you’d rather just get set up and flying and learn the details of the alignment issues later, skip for now to where it says “OK, time to fly” and follow those directions.
  
 
'''Orbital Alignment''' – The big issue for the launch window is orbital alignment, and you will be looking at it with the Align MFD. If the orbital inclination of the target (the Moon in this case) and the inclination of your brief LEO “parking orbit” are very different, you will have to use a lot of fuel to get aligned for the transfer orbit. You could do that in the DG, but ships like the Space Shuttle don’t have this option when they launch (say) for the ISS – they have to launch to an orbit that is well aligned with the orbit of the target, or they won’t have enough delta-V to rendezvous and dock with it (of course the Shuttle has nowhere near the delta-V needed to go to the Moon – it’s purely a LEO machine).
 
'''Orbital Alignment''' – The big issue for the launch window is orbital alignment, and you will be looking at it with the Align MFD. If the orbital inclination of the target (the Moon in this case) and the inclination of your brief LEO “parking orbit” are very different, you will have to use a lot of fuel to get aligned for the transfer orbit. You could do that in the DG, but ships like the Space Shuttle don’t have this option when they launch (say) for the ISS – they have to launch to an orbit that is well aligned with the orbit of the target, or they won’t have enough delta-V to rendezvous and dock with it (of course the Shuttle has nowhere near the delta-V needed to go to the Moon – it’s purely a LEO machine).
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Another way to look at this is to measure both orbits from the ecliptic (ECL) instead of the equator (EQU). The Align MFD does this, and you can set the Orbit MFD to do it too with the ['''FRM'''] button.
 
Another way to look at this is to measure both orbits from the ecliptic (ECL) instead of the equator (EQU). The Align MFD does this, and you can set the Orbit MFD to do it too with the ['''FRM'''] button.
  
 
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'''OK, time to fly.''' The instructions and MFD information should make things a bit more clear.
'''<div id="OK"></div>OK, time to fly.''' The instructions and MFD information should make things a bit more clear.
 
  
 
{| class="wikitable"
 
{| class="wikitable"
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|style="text-align:right" width="33%" |[[GPIS_5:_Dancing_In_The_Dark|Chapter 5: Dancing In The Dark]]
 
|style="text-align:right" width="33%" |[[GPIS_5:_Dancing_In_The_Dark|Chapter 5: Dancing In The Dark]]
 
|}
 
|}
 
[[Category: Articles|Go Play In Space 05]]
 
[[Category:Tutorials|Go Play In Space 05]]
 
 
{{HasPrecis}}
 

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