Moon, Mars, and Beyond - real or simulated - choices

Good day, too many links, not enough time.

Have mentioned the Orbiter Spaceflight Simulator before and haven't had the time to learn how to navigate a spaceship but maybe some of you or your potential astronauts would like to. A wealth of information is available.
See some links below.

Maybe you just want to be able to look down at the Moon and see what the terrain is like. There are thousands of images. Some links to some below.

What is happening today and being pushed for tomorrow are some of the topics in the links from [Spaceref-daily] SpaceRef Newsletter - 27 April 2006.
Included some of those links below as well.
- LRK -

Ross Tierney put two new images of the latest variants of the proposed launchers for the new program in the files section of the group of the "Inside_KSC" Yahoo group. Provided a link but may need to be a member to view.

Larry Klaes provided a link to a fellow from Canada that has actually filmed Suitsat as it passed overhead!

O.K., need to go study some Thai language as we are going there in June to see Sangad's relatives and where my money has been going. :-)

Sawasdee.[sa wat dee] Hello - Goodbye
http://www.sawasdee.com/
http://www.thai-language.com/
http://www.thai-language.com/id/196817
http://www.thai-language.com/id/589845


Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsltr.: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

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http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/orbit.html
Orbiter Spaceflight Simulator
http://www.orbitersim.com

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http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/download/orbiter.pdf
Orbiter User Manual 3.3 MB PDF file

MFD = Multifunctional Display - LRK -
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https://sourceforge.net/projects/mscorbaddon/
Meadville Space Center (Orbiter Add-ons)

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http://www.orbitersim.com/Forum/default.aspx
Orbiter Spacelight Simulator Forums
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http://www.orbitersim.com/Forum/default.aspx?g=posts&t=3064
Beginners guide to Orbiter - Tutorials
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http://www.orbitermars.co.uk/stdorbit.htm
'Standard Orbit, Mr Sulu'

It's a pretty good bet that you've seen the Enterprise orbiting a planet in
the Star Trek standard orbit. Of course, we can only really speculate why
such an orbit was standard in Star Trek. Perhaps it's a good orbit for
scanning planets, or avoiding being attacked by things on the surface. What
we can be sure of is that Captain Kirk's standard orbit isn't actually a
very good orbit from a navigation point of view. It's circular, but it's
neither close to the planet nor far away. It's actually not the best orbit
for doing anything.

So what are the standard orbits for Orbiter? I'd say there were five
standards. Why five? The reason is that different orbits are good for
different things. Things that are easy in one orbit can be incredibly
expensive in fuel in another. So doing the right thing in the right orbit
can make the all the difference.

Snip
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http://www.ibiblio.org/mscorbit/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=219
Meadville Space Center
Know the future through the past
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http://www.orbithangar.com/
http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=2132
http://www.orbithangar.com/orbiter.php
Orbit Hanger Mods
Orbiter Downloads

Orbiter is a free space flight simulator created by Martin Schweiger.
You can find the official web site is at http://www.orbitersim.com .
Listed below is a collection of old orbiter versions I am currently hosting.
Only the base package and texture package is required. When
upgrading a version, make sure you apply the patches in order!
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http://www.orbithangar.com/searchresults.php?category=Spacecraft&subcat=nasaConcepts&Submit=Search&OrbVer=default
Search Results

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Go to the Slideshows - Mapping - and do a quick flight over the Moon.
Then take your time with the Panoramic views.
- LRK -
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http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/apollo/
Apollo Image Atlas
Moon Rise
Foreword
Scanning and Processing Information
Credits

The Apollo Image Atlas can be accessed in the following ways:

* Browse Image Catalog
o 70mm Hasselblad
o Mapping (Metric)
o Panoramic
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/apollo/catalog/pan/
o Apollo Lunar Surface Closeup Camera (ALSCC)
* Search
o Search by Feature Name
o Search by Coordinate
* Slideshows
o 70mm Hasselblad
o Mapping (Metric)
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/apollo/slideshow/metric/

The Apollo Image Atlas is a comprehensive collection of Apollo-Saturn
mission photography. Inluded are almost 25,000 lunar images, both from orbit
and from the moon's surface, as well as photographs of the earth, astronauts
and mission hardware.

For questions or comments about this dataset please contact
rpif@lpi.usra.edu.



Please also visit the Lunar and Planetary Institute's companion lunar
atlases:
Digital Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/lunar_orbiter/
Consolidated Lunar Atlas of the Moon
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/cla/
Ranger Photographs of the Moon
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/ranger/

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Some links from [Spaceref-daily] SpaceRef Newsletter - 27 April 2006
- LRK -
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THE DAY IN SPACE
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In today's space news from SpaceRef:

-- NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 26 April 2006
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=20425
-- NASA Space Station Status Report 26 April 2006
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=20431

"New supplies arrived at the International Space Station today as an
unpiloted Russian cargo spacecraft linked up to the Zvezda Service Module.
The ISS Progress 21 is filled with 2.5 tons of food, fuel and personal items
for the station's Expedition 13 crew. Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight
Engineer Jeff Williams will open the hatch to the supply ship once leak
checks are completed later today. The crew will begin unloading items
Thursday."


-- Mikulski Calls for Balanced Space Program, Increased Support for NASA
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=19687

"NASA's role in promoting science has been ignored by this administration.
NASA is absolutely crucial to the innovation economy and the innovation
society. It is time for the administration to recognize both the cost and
the benefits of a balanced space program," said Senator Mikulski. "A
balanced space program is what made our nation the leader in space - it
pushed the envelope of science and discovery, while spurring innovation."


-- ESA SMART-1 maps Humorum edge - where Highlands and Mare mix
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=20424

"This sequence of images, taken by the advanced Moon Imaging Experiment
(AMIE) on board ESA's SMART-1 spacecraft, shows on area on the near side of
the Moon, on the edge of the Mare Humorum basin. AMIE obtained these raw
images on 13 January 2006 from a distance ranging between 1031 and 1107
kilometres from the surface, with a ground resolution between 93 and 100
metres per pixel."


--IFPTE Urges Congress to Save NASA Science and Aeronautics
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=19686

"IFPTE President Gregory Junemann outlined the union's requests to restore
funding to these two programs back to the levels approved by Congress last
year. Junemann also raised objections to NASA's new Workforce Strategy and
the proposal to spend tens of millions of dollars implementing a RIF of up
to 1,000 NASA civil servant scientists, engineers, and other staff. The
brewing plan to support some of NASA's aeronautics expertise by farming it
out to European interests was also addressed."


-- Mini satellites rocketing to space station
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=19700

"A Russian rocket launched Monday, April 24, is carrying the first of three
small, spherical satellites developed at MIT to the International Space
Station -- a major step toward building space-based robotic telescopes and
other systems."


-- Galaxies Don Mask of Stars in New NASA Spitzer Image
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=19704

"A pair of dancing galaxies appears dressed for a cosmic masquerade in a new
image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The infrared picture shows what
looks like two icy blue eyes staring through an elaborate, swirling red
mask. These "eyes" are actually the cores of two merging galaxies, called
NGC 2207 and IC 2163, which recently met and began to twirl around each
other."


-- Pieces of NASA'S Next Mars Mission are Coming Together
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=19702

"NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, the next mission to the surface of Mars, is
beginning a new phase in preparation for a launch in August 2007. As part of
this "assembly, test and launch operations" phase, Phoenix team members are
beginning to add complex subsystems such as the flight computer, power
systems and science instruments to the main structure of the spacecraft."

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If you are not on the "inside_ksc" yahoo groups you might not be able to see
this. That being the case, maybe you should be. :-)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/inside_ksc/
- LRK -
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"R Tierney"

I've put two new images of the latest variants of the proposed launchers for
the new program in the files section of the group here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/inside_ksc/files/

They are called CLV.jpg and CaLV.jpg

In brief, NASA's current alterations are:-

Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV) AKA "The Stick" AKA "Ares-I":

* 5-segment SRB with PBAN propellant
* Interstage no longer to be lattice-structure, but closed
* Interstage structure includes latteral thrusters for the roll program
portion of the launch
* 5.5m wide, much shorter Upper Stage
* Upper Stage now powered by J-2X, a more powerful variant of the J-2 used
during Apollo which is being put back into production
* Fairing above the Upper Stage tapers to 5.0m to mount the CEV.
* 5.0m diameter CEV Command and Service Modules
* Total Lift Capacity to LEO (30x160nm, 28.5deg) ~ 24 tons.


Cargo Launch Vehicle (CaLV) AKA "Ares-V":

* 5-segment SRB with PBAN propellant
* Core Vehicle diameter increased from 8.7m (External Tank diameter) to
10.0m (Saturn-V diameter)
* Main Core Stage powered by 5 x RS-68 engines instead of SSME.
* Main Core Stage capacity increased by ~40% over original CaLV spec
* Upper/Earth Departure Stage (EDS) also 10m diameter
* Upper/EDS to be powered by single J-2X engine
* Payload fairing also 10m diameter (external)
* Total Lift Capacity to LEO (30x160nm, 28.5deg) ~ 146.5 tons.

Enjoy.

Ross.

Make sure to visit the Flagship website:
http://www.insideksc.com

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Thanks to Larry Klaes for info here. - LRK -
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A fellow from Canada has actually filmed Suitsat as it passed overhead!

The quote from Spaceweather.com:

REMEMBER SUITSAT? Three months ago, ISS astronauts hurled an old Russian
spacesuit overboard. Amazingly, it is still orbiting Earth. On April 18th,
Kevin Fetter videotaped "SuitSat" passing over his home in Brockville,
Ontario, Canada: 1 MB movie. (The bright star in the movie is Vega.)
Eventually, SuitSat will sink into Earth's atmosphere and disintegrate in
spectacular style--a fireball--but not yet!

The film is here:

http://science.nasa.gov/spaceweather/swpod2006/27apr06/fetter.wmv

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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