imfd manual

imfd full

manual

written by: mark lieberbaum

playbacks 1-3 and 5-7: mark lieberbaum

playback 4: tom roach

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Interplanetary MFD

Forward:

I have made this manual and tutorial package so that everybody can learn how to perform

complex navigation maneuvers, such as interplanetary transfers, direct ascents, and direct

reentries. Credit goes to jarmonik, the programmer and creator of Interplanetary MFD,

who did an extraordinary job to create one of the most powerful and useful MFD’s in

existence. Also, I used text from his IMFD manuals in this manual. Credit also goes to

Tommy for several things—proofreading this manual and tutorial package, helping me

figure out complex navigation maneuvers, helping me find more efficient ways to use

IMFD, and making the playback for IMFD tutorial #4—Moon to Earth. And of course,

credit goes to Dr. Martin Schweiger, without whom we would not have Orbiter. With

this manual and tutorial package, I hope that anybody who wants to can fly to other

planets, moons, and space stations and explore the solar system in a way they can only do

in their dreams. Please, if you have any questions or suggestions for a future release,

please do not hesitate to contact me via PM on orbiter-forum.com and I will do my best

to help you with whatever it is you need. So, are you ready to explore the solar system?

Get flying!

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Table of Contents

Interplanetary MFD Background Information...................................................................................6 Start Key Selection.............................................................................................................6 Color Configuration.............................................................................................................6 Setting Values from the Keyboard......................................................................................6 Sharing Flight Plans............................................................................................................6 3D Rotation.........................................................................................................................6 Time in GET and UT...........................................................................................................6 What is EIn? .......................................................................................................................6 What is RIn? ......................................................................................................................7 Information Flow………………………….............................................................................7 LambertAP Mode................................................................................................................8 Sources, Targets, and References.....................................................................................8 Burn Guidance....................................................................................................................8

Burn Integrations.................................................................................................................9 Burn Timing.........................................................................................................................9 Burn Guidance Modes………………………………………………………………………….10 Burn Vector View………………………………………………………………………………..12

IMFD Configuration Page………………………………………………………………………………..14 Map Program………………………………………………………………………………………………16 General Information……………………………………………………………………………..16 Button Layouts/Descriptions……………………………………………………………………19 Map Configuration Page………………………………………………………………………..22 Text Modes………………………………………………………………………………………24 Map Program Displays………………………………………………………………………….25 Course Programs…………………………………………………………………………………………29 General Information……………………………………………………………………………..29 Target Intercept Program………………………………………………………………………………...30 General Information……………………………………………………………………………..30 Burn Guidance Modes………………………………………………………………………….31 Transfer Types…………………………………………………………………………………..32 Button Layouts/Descriptions……………………………………………………………………34 Target Intercept Program Displays……………………………………………………………37 Offsetting the Target…………………………………………………………………………….41 Tangential Transfer Program…………………………………………………………………………….42 General Information……………………………………………………………………………..42 Tangential Transfer Program Display…………………………………………………………42 Text Items………………………………………………………………………………………..42 Planet Approach Program……………………………………………………………………………….44 General Information……………………………………………………………………………..44 Planet Approach Program Display…………………………………………………………….44 Text Items………………………………………………………………………………………..45 Orbit Insert Program………………………………………………………………………………………46 General Information……………………………………………………………………………..46 Orbit Insert Program Display…………………………………………………………………...46 Delta Velocity Program…………………………………………………………………………………...47 General Information……………………………………………………………………………..47 Delta Velocity Program Display………………………………………………………………..47 Text Items………………………………………………………………………………………..47

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Orbital Program……………………………………………………………………………………………49 General Information……………………………………………………………………………..49 Button Layout…………………………………………………………………………………….49 Circularize Orbit Mode………………………………………………………………………….50 Match Velocity Mode……………………………………………………………………………51 Find Target Mode………………………………………………………………………………..52 Surface Launch Program………………………………………………………………………………...53 General Information……………………………………………………………………………..53 Button Layout…………………………………………………………………………………….54 Surface Launch Program Display……………………………………………………………..55 Text Items………………………………………………………………………………………..55 Orbit Eject Program……………………………………………………………………………………....57 General Information……………………………………………………………………………..57 Orbit Eject Program Display……………………………………………………………………58 Text Items………………………………………………………………………………………..58 Base Approach Program…………………………………………………………………………………60 General Information……………………………………………………………………………..60 Orbit Insert Mode………………………………………………………………………………..62 Reentry Mode……………………………………………………………………………………64 Slingshot Program………………………………………………………………………………………...66 General Information……………………………………………………………………………..66 Slingshot Program Display……………………………………………………………………..67 Slingshot Program Text…………………………………………………………………………67 Appendix A: Glossary for Acronyms used in IMFD……………………………………………………69 Appendix B: Keyboard Commands……………………………………………………………………..72 Appendix C: Common Flight Source, Reference, and Target Settings……………………………..73 Appendix D: Summary of Programs, When to use each Program…………………………………..77 Appendix E: Navigation Maneuver Checklists…………………………………………………………82 Appendix F: The Major Do‘s and Dont‘s of IMFD with secrets to make your life easier…………..89 Appendix G: Playback In-flight Notes…………………………………………………………………..91

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Interplanetary MFD

Interplanetary MFD is one of the two powerful navigation tools in Orbiter (the other one being TransX MFD). IMFD is a flight navigation computer designed to accomplish almost any navigation feat that you might want to achieve.

Start Key Selection You can define the key that is used to open this MFD. The IMFDKey variable can be edited in the IMFD.cfg file. Key codes are listed in an orbitersdk.h and the default setting is ―I‖ Color configuration IMFD allows colors to be configured by configuration file. The file is located in Config folder and the file is named IMFD.cfg. The same file will be used at least by BaseSyncMFD. Setting values from keyboard You can set up values in a many forms from the keyboard by pressing the [Set] button. The exponent form can be used. Examples are ―12.4e3‖ or ―11.45e-2.‖ Also the exponent can be replaced by a letter like ‖12.4k‖ or ‖33.2M‖ or ‖22.2G‖ where k is equal to ―e3‖ and so on. ―d‖=day and it will multiply the input value by 86400. ―h‖ is equal to an hour, and ―a‖ is one astronomical unit. Sharing Flight Plans A Single flight plan can be "shared" between multiple MFDs by setting IMFD into remote access mode by pressing [PG] button in the main menu. A popup window will ask for an ID code of the MFD being accessed. The ID code of an MFD is shown in the top right corner of the MFD. The flight plan will stay in the MFD it is planned in even if the MFD containing the flight plan is closed so the other MFDs can access the plan. If you want to disconnect one MFD from another just input an invalid ID, which could be the ID of the MFD itself or just a random number that is not an ID of an open IMFD. When using two IMFD‘s they cannot access each other. For example, when using two MFD‘s, only one of them can use remote access to access data from the other. 3D Rotation Some of the programs support 3D rotation via mouse. Hold down shift and spacebar OR shift and the Z and L keys to rotate the display. Currently supported programs are: Target Intercept, Planet Approach. Only the Left and Right MFD displays can be rotated. To get the display back to normal, hit the PRJ button on the MFD you just rotated. Time in GET and UT It is possible to enter dates in UT format like ―UT 14-nov-1969‖ or with the 24h clock ―UT 14-nov-1969 17:45:21.1‖ Used names for the months are Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov and Dec (not case sensitive). IMFD 5.0 supports GET (Ground Elapsed Time). This feature can be activated from the configuration page. Also the date of launch must be specified. You can enter data in GET format by pressing the [Set] button and entering the time ―GET 120:34:56.7‖. When flying with AMSO IMFD will receive GET time via the inter-process-com link. What is EIn? In IMFD EIn is used to express angle between the current velocity vector and the vector of the target‘s orbital plane. However, it is not the same as relative inclination between orbital planes. Typical situations are: How much the escape vector is out of the source plane, how much the target is out of the source plane, and how much the vessel is out of the target plane. In other words it presents an alignment or a launch window. Basically, EIn is to interplanetary flights as RIn is to Lunar/Space station flights.

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EIn, Orientation of the lunar orbit doesn‘t matter here What is RIn? RIn is a relative inclination it used to display the angle between orbital planes. The target plane is always one of these planes. And the other one is either the source plane (green) or the plane of the hypothetical transfer orbit (purple). In many situations it presents the magnitude of the plane change in degrees. Information Flow IMFD contains separate programs for transfer, slingshot, orbit-eject, trajectory plotting, and burn control. There is some information transferred form one program to another, beginning with the transfer programs and ending in the trajectory plotting and burn control.

Information Flow in IMFD

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LambertAP Mode This option specifies the primary operation mode of the guidance system of the IMFD. There are two options available—―IMFD‖ and ―ApolloP30‖. The setting will affect the reference frame of the Burn Vector view, powered flight attitude control, behavior of the Autoburn, and trajectory prediction of the map program. In IMFD powered flight, steering uses constant pitch and yaw angles respect to velocity vector of the vessel. Delta velocity is displayed relative to the velocity vector in the thrust monitor. The ApolloP30 is the AGC P30 compatibility mode that uses a constant attitude in the global frame during burn. Delta velocity is displayed in a compensated local vertical system as P30 input requires. Autoburn tries to operate as P30/40 does. Basically, just leave the mode in IMFD mode; it will get you where you want to go.

Fixed attitude and velocity relative attitude Sources, Targets and References For correct operation of the transfer program, the source, reference and target must be correctly defined. The reference and source objects are automatically set after setting the target. So, start the flight plans by setting the target first. If necessary the reference and source can be manually overridden. If for some reason the source of the target is incorrectly defined an error will be displayed. To be able to generate an escape vector the source must be set to the planet being orbited (planet you start at). By setting the source to ―x‖, the current ship will be selected. When using IMFD the target must be always defined, otherwise the ecliptic is targeted automatically. There are some special targets available—see the Map program section for more details. Space stations can be targeted and sometimes they can be used as a reference objects but a space station cannot be a source object. Target [TGT] and reference [REF] selection buttons are in a left edge of the MFD and the source [Src] button is in a second button page in a right edge. Change the page with [PG] button. A list of Reference, Target, and Source settings for various flights is available in Appendix C. Burn Guidance Most of the programs are capable of generating burn data. The data will appear in the lower left corner and there is a Time to Burn (TtB) item and remaining Burn Time (BT) item. After the (BT) there might be (PG) or (RG) flags. Those will indicate that the burn is a pro-grade (PG) or a retro-grade (RG). If the flag is not present the burn will use a burn vector and you must use a cross hair tool to setup the attitude of the space craft. The cross hairs will appear when pressing [BV] button. Also the autoburn will complete the burn automatically, so there is no need to play with the cross hairs unless Autoburn acts crazy, which is not likely. The autoburn can be activated and deactivated by pressing [AB] button. When using spacecrafts that rotate slowly you may want to decrease an attitude control speed from IMFD.cfg, which would be AP MAX ANG VEL which is the maximum angular velocity when Autoburn controls your attitude (rad/sec).

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Burn Integrations In IMFD burn integrations are used to improve the accuracy of the burns. Typically in a transfer calculation, it is expected that the delta velocity is gained at once with no burn time at all. This is the initial burn executed in the initial position. However, in reality, the time of the burn must be taken into account somehow. The easiest way is to reduce half of the estimated burn time from the initial burn position. Thus, that would be the actual position where the engines should be started. The ship will end up, almost but not exactly, in the right direction. The grey sector in the picture below shows this method. In the burn integrations, numerical methods are used to calculate the burn position more accurately, so that the ship ends up in a trajectory that matches the initial target trajectory as well as possible. This technique is used with the Pro- and Retro-grade burns. The green sector displays this technique in the picture below.

Idea of burn integrations Burn Timing If for some reason above integration fails, the burn position will start jumping all over the place. Due to the experimental nature of this method it is possible to control it from the IMFD Menu by pressing [PRJ] button. If this happens in Base Approach, try changing the Num value.

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Burn Guidance Modes Prograde Guidance Mode This will definitely fix the problems with long burns in low earth orbits. This method OR Off-Axis Mode is a good choice in many long burn situations. The idea of this method is to adjust the burn position and burn time so that the velocity to be gained will be equal to the velocity of the vessel at engine cut-off.

Figure 1: Prograde burn mode Realtime Guidance Mode Realtime mode is designed for short duration course correction maneuvers. The maneuver can be considered to be short when the traveled central angle (the Reference Planet being the vertex) during the burn is very small. Realtime mode is improper in long duration low orbit maneuvers like the TLI burn, although it can be used with no problems. In this mode, the software computes the target velocity vector in realtime and the vector changes its magnitude and direction while the vessel moves forward. This mode is recommended for any type of mid-course corrections.

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Off-Axis Guidance Mode Off-Axis mode is specially designed for the Apollo TLI burn. This mode applies some thrust for all 3 axes and can be used even if the orbits are not perfectly aligned. This mode will compute a numerical solution to place the vessel in target trajectory. This mode requires that the time to ejection (TEj) is higher than 3 seconds. Below the 3 seconds the program no longer generates new information for the burn execution programs (Autoburn / Thrust Monitor Program) as during this time they are preparing to execute the burn. This mode is recommended for long duration low orbit maneuvers like TLI, TEI, Orbit Insertions and Orbit Ejections.

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Burn Vector View Burn Vector View displays more detailed information about a burn. The contents of this display depend on the guidance mode (realtime, off-axis or prograde). When using realtime mode, only applied and remaining delta velocity are displayed. Remaining delta velocity is computed by flight software in realtime. In other modes the delta velocity is numerically computed and predefined for the burn. You can select the reference frame used in burn vector view from the configuration page. You really do not need to worry about the technical information that follows, but know that the most important thing is Tot (Total dV) under dV remaining. This is the total amount of dV in meters/second left in the burn. dV Applied This section displays the delta velocity that is sensed by onboard equipment. It is integrated from the thrust generated by thrusters over time. dV Applied can be reset by switching the Autoburn [AB] on and off. dV Required This section displays required total delta velocity. This section is displayed only if exact

values are known, not in a realtime mode. is equal to numerically integrated accelerations over time. dV Remaining This section displays the remaining delta velocity. It is total delta velocity minus applied delta velocity. This is the most important display—it shows how much more Delta Velocity you must burn. Local Vertical

Defines a reference system where the z-axis (dVo) points away from the planet. . The y-axis (dVp) points direction of orbit normal. The x-axis, or (dVf), points to the horizontal direction

of flight. Local Velocity Frame

Defines a reference system where x-axis (dVf) is pointing prograde direction. . y-axis (dVp) points in the direction of orbit normal and z-axis (dVo) points outbound direction

.

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Burn Vector View:

The cross represents your rotation position. Rotate your vessel towards the cross. When the cross turns grey, you are rotated to the correct attitude and you can start your burn (if you want to do it manually). Autoburn will automatically rotate you and automatically perform the burn for you. In dV Applied, dV remaining, and dV Required, dVf is the x-axis, dVp is the y-axis, and dVo is the z-axis, and Tot is the total delta velocity.

Course Program Velocity Frame Mode dV Applied Data dV Remaining Data Target for Burn View Vector Reference

Target Source dV Required Data Rotation Position cross Time until burn Burn Time

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IMFD Configuration Page

Nodal Regression enables regression computations for source and target orbits. Mission Timer specifies what mode of date you use, GET or MJD. Timer Start MJD specifies the start date of the GET timer. If the date is not valid GET feature will be automatically disabled. LambertAP Mode specifies primary operation mode of the guidance system. See details on page 2. Landing Target option is used to define an additional target such as a ground base. This option is currently used by only the Map Program. Time Of Landing specifies time of landing. This option is used predict an alignment of ground base and it's only used by Map Program. AutoBurn Maxrate specifies maximum angular velocity used in autoburn. Glass Cockpit Mode When this mode is NO, Arrows are on the right hand buttons and their commands are displayed in the MFD. When this mode is YES, the commands are directly displayed on the right hand buttons. Entry Intrf.Alt specifies default setting for atmospheric entry interface altitude. AB RCS Threshold Specifies remaining DV at which point the Main Engines cut off and the rest is done with the forward translational thrusters. AB Throttle Down Specifies remaining DV at which point the Main Engines are commanded to begin throttling down.

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Parking Orbit Altitude Altitude at which all programs use for parking orbits before transfers. Secure cut-off is a feature used by Map program. If it's enabled, the trajectory will be plotted in the Map by using pre-computed engine cut-off state vectors that are created by navigation programs. If it's disabled, the Map program will "simulate" the burn using engine thrust parameters and thrust vector. Propagate TEj enables numerical ignition state vector propagation. P30 Comp Mode is used only by NASSP 7 beta. This setting must be "1" when used with NASSP 7 beta (March 22. 2009 or later). And "2" is used when used with older beta versions. It will control direction of P30 compensation. Consider switching to this option if the TLI burn attitude is incorrect. It is best to leave all items in their original setting except the following: Mission, Timer Start MJD, Autoburn Max Rate, Glass Cockpit Mode, Entry Interf. AB RCS Threshold, AB Throttle Down, and Parking Orbit Altitude. If your ship keeps rotating and never getting to the correct burn attitude (attitude thrusters keep firing and the ship keeps spinning like crazy) when you hit [AB] (ie the RCS thrusters provide a low angular acceleration—good examples are Vespucci and Deepstar) you might want to turn Autoburn Max Rate down. Or, you could open burn vector view, manually rotate towards the cross, then hit Autoburn.

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Map Program

The Map Program is a general display used for monitoring the ship‘s course and predicting an approach to target planets. It allows the user to view entire solar system as well a single target. The map program uses planet to planet calculated trajectories. The trajectory is no longer limited to ellipses and hyperbolas now; it can be displayed over multiple references regardless the distance or influence the reference causes. The user has the ability to control the speed and accuracy of the trajectory engine. The modifications can be made from the configuration page. All modes will provide a great accuracy for interplanetary missions. Update rates as high as over ten times per second can be archived with out a significant system load with an average home computer. The Core The core uses the Encke-Fehlberg methods which allow a high speed trajectory prediction. In this version of the trajectory engine the graphical steps and the numerical integration steps go side by side. So, increasing a step size will lower the graphics quality. It would be possible to use a high order integration method with a long time step to compute the trajectory, and use sub-integrations to increase the graphics quality. That would be more complicated and it would not significantly increase the overall performance. So, a lower order method with a lower step size has been chosen as a default option. However, the user can select the integration method from Third order RK3, RK4-Gill, Symplectic 4th Order and RK-Fehlberg methods. Also the Adams-Multton method is under consideration. Of course, it is possible to create a much faster trajectory predictor but it is questionable that it does not provide a satisfying reward vs. effort ration. Surely, in the integrations where graphical plotting is not required, such methods could be used more easily. Core Configuration Some of the core functions are configured through the IMFD.cfg file. The LegSize option will define the size factor for the leg. A higher number will make the legs longer; therefore, the amount of legs required to compute the trajectory will decrease. The LegsPerFrame option will define how many legs are computed within every frame. If the frame rate is 80 frames per second and 20 legs are calculated in every frame, that makes 1600 legs per second. The integrator option will define the integration method to be used in a prediction. Centering the display You can center the display around a desired celestial body by pressing [Cnt] button. Then, you can type the name of the object you wish to center. The display will move to center on the object‘s current position. If you wish the center the display in a future position it can be done but only for positions and times of periapis passages. You can center the reference planet of the periapis by writing ―r-‖ in a front of the name,such as ―r-Mars‖, or the command ―p-planetname‖, which will center the display on the point (in the future) of your closest passage around that planet. Centering a particular periapsis will automatically bring up the text description for that periapsis (normally you would have to use the [SEL] button to scroll through periapsises to find the one that you want). About the Periapis There can be multiple periapses on a trajectory. The number of available periapses and the currently selected periapis are shown in the top-left corner such as ―Pe 1 of 2‖. ―Ref Moon‖ is indicating that the Moon is the reference of this periapis. Only the selected periapis is shown on the display. Also there are two different kinds of periapis points, strong and weak ones. This simply means that the strong periapises are located inside the SOI (Sphere of influence). The weak periapises are located outside the SOI and most likely there isn‘t a stable orbit in that position. So, that could be considered to be the position where the ship will by pass the planet at minimum range. The strong or weak periapsis will be displayed for reference and target planets only. If the trajectory goes several orbit periods around the reference planet up to six periapsises/apoapsises can be displayed, but only if ‖One Pe/Ref‖ option is disabled from the configuration page.

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The Display Screen The projected course of the spacecraft will appear in bright green by default, and will appear in purple when using flight planning mode. The flight planning mode will generate a hypothetical trajectory based on the information created by some other program. The bright white dot is the spacecraft itself. The green/purple dot on a trajectory is the periapsis, the closest position to some object. The orange circle is the target orbit. Sometimes the target is not visible on the screen. The boxes on a trajectory line are the nodes. The line of nodes (dotted line) will be drawn between the nodes and the reference planet. That is the position where ship‘s orbital plane and target orbit intersects. This is also the position for a plane change maneuver. Due to the numerical computations, the calculations may cause some weird effects on the node positions. Usually they are located at opposite sides of the reference planet. The information on the screen is displayed for the periapis positions, NOT for the current position of the ship. The one exception is when no single periapis is available, and the current position of the ship is used. Included Plane Change The Map program will automatically include the plane change at the first node if the (PlC) is activated. Warning: Sometimes the plane change is required in a prediction but it may cause failures in a prediction if used in wrong place. You don‘t NEED the Map Program for a plane change. You can do it with only the course program. What is included in Map All planets included in computations have the following characteristics: a mass greater than 1e20 kilograms (this number can be altered via the configuration page in the Map Program—hit [MOD] until it comes up) and they must orbit the same reference planet as the ship, or orbit the Sun. In addition, any planet, ship or station that is selected as a reference or a target is also included. Moons that have a different reference than the spacecraft are not included in trajectory calculations. Trajectory Limiters Due the nature of a numerically computed trajectory, the generation of the trajectory must be limited somehow, as there is no end point in a trajectory (if nothing is done, your spacecraft will continue forever unless it collides with a moon or planet). There are two automatic limiters for the trajectory called Period and Hyperbolic limiters. These limiters will cut the trajectory—otherwise there would be too much of your trajectory on the screen and the display would look chaotic. You can configure these limiters in the map program configuration page. The period limiter will limit the trajectory to one orbital period around the reference object. The hyperbolic limiter will limit the trajectory to one hyperbolic periapsis relative to reference planet. These automatic limiters can be overridden manually by setting the time limit, which limits the trajectory in a specified amount of seconds. That is the most stable if the others fail. So, If the trajectory looks a little strange or short it may have been limited incorrectly by automatic and you should make some adjustments to the configurations.

Special orbits You can also target a special orbit such an ecliptic orbit, an equatorial orbit, or a geostationary orbit (GEO). The purpose of the ecliptic and equatorial orbits are for relative inclination. IMFD calculates relative inclination with respect to a target. If you want to have a relative inclination of 30 degrees to the planet‘s or moon‘s equator, set the target to equatorial so when you set relative inclination to 30 degrees, IMFD interprets this as being inclined 30 degrees to the equatorial (target you just set). Thus, an equatorial orbit has a relative inclination of zero with respect to the equator, and an ecliptic orbit has a relative inclination of zero with respect to the ecliptic. Also, the orbital plane of the reference planet can be targeted. This is good especially when transferring between planets or returning from the Moon. Special orbits can be used with all programs. Type the corresponding letter when asking the name of the target—g for geostationary, l (lowercase L) for equatorial, e for ecliptic, and r for the orbital plane of the reference planet or moon.

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Flight Planning mode This mode allows you to use the numerical multibody predictor to generate the hypothetical transfer orbit based on the information generated by other programs. When this mode is activated the ―Plan‖ text and the name of the program generating the plan will appear in a title. Also, the trajectory will be displayed in purple (in a default configuration, of course). Whenever the burn information is present a hypothetical trajectory can be generated. This mode is especially great when planning free-return trajectories and returning from the Moon. Projections You can select the projection plane by pressing [Prj] button. Because the space is three dimensional, displaying it in a two dimensional display will cause some graphical problems. Therefore, choose the proper projection. Options are Self (your orbit), Ecliptic (ecliptic of the reference planet), target (the target‘s orbit is used as the projection), periapsis, and HTO (your hypothetical orbit). Nonspherical Gravity The Map program includes non-spherical gravity in its predictions. Currently only J2 coefficients are used and this will be included only when the ship is within the sphere of influence. This feature is controlled automatically. However, it can be manually overridden from the IMFD.cfg by setting the option NonSpherical 0 it can be forced to be always active with NonSpherical 2. Configuration Page Some basic configurations required by multi-body predictor can be made from the configuration page. In the top edge there is an indicator telling an amount of integration steps used in the prediction. Also, it will tell how many planets are currently included in the computations. For example, ‖3+5 of 62‖ indicates that there is three objects fully being used in the calculation and five objects that are using an analytical update out of a total of 62 objects.

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Button Layouts: Button Layout—Page 1:

Button Layout—Page 2:

Choose object that is Centered Zoom In Zoom Out Cycle through Periapsis Display all Star System Objects Turn Auto Zoom on or off

Main Menu Cycle through Pages Select Reference Body Select Target Body Cycle through Text Modes Cycle through Projections

Highlight your orbit in bright green Turn Display Celestial Body‘s Sphere of Influence on or off Turn Intercept Mode on or off Highlight your orbit in purple Cycle through celestial bodies in the star system


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Button Descriptions MNU—Main Menu Clicking this button brings up the main menu screen of IMFD. PG—More Buttons Switches the right hand side between two sets of buttons. REF—Set up Reference Allows the user to set up the reference body. TGT—Set up Target Allows the user to set up the target body. There are special options. Inputting ―G‖ targets a geostationary orbit. Inputting ―e‖ targets the ecliptic. Inputting ―l‖ targets the equatorial. Inputting ―r‖ targets the orbit of the reference planet. MOD—Mode Information Display Cycle through text modes. There are 3 text modes, plus the map configuration page. PRJ—Projection Cycle through projections. There are 5 projections—Self, Ecliptic, Target, Periapsis, and Equator. Self projection uses the current orbit of the ship. Ecliptic projection uses the ecliptic plane. Target projection uses the target orbit for projection. Equator uses the Equator of the target planet for projection. Periapsis uses the ship‘s orbit in a periapsis around Pe. Reference. CNT—Set up Center Allows the user to set up the object that the Map Program displays at the center. Inputting ―X‖ centers your vessel. Inputting ―p-Target_Name‖ Centers your point of closest approach to your target body (your periapsis with reference to that target body). Inputting ―r-Target_Name‖ Centers the target body at your closest approach point to that target body (your periapsis with reference to that target body). Z+—Zoom in Zoom in on the object that is currently centered. Z- —Zoom out Zoom out on the object that is currently centered. SEL—Cycle through Periapsises or Apoapsises Cycles through Periapsises or Apoapsises. There may be multiple Periapsises or even an Apoapsis in your trajectory. When cycling, Pe stands for Periapsis and Ap stands for Apoapsis. DSP—Body Display When on, all bodies above the mass limit designated in the Map Configuration Page are displayed. When turned off, only the target body, reference body, reference body‘s orbit, your vessel, and your vessel‘s orbit are displayed. AZO—Auto Zoom Automatically zooms so that all items listed in the DSP description are centered and fit nicely into the display. SLF—Self Orbit When on, your ship‘s orbit is displayed in bright green. When off, your ship‘s orbit is not displayed.

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SOI—Sphere of Influence When on, all bodies displayed have a dotted line around them indicating the boundary of their sphere of influence. When off, no such lines are displayed. INT—Intercept Mode Turn Intercept Mode on or off. PLAN—Course Plan When on, your ship‘s orbit is highlighted in Purple. When off, your ship‘s orbit is highlighted in green. FIND—Find Body Cycles through all bodies in the star system displayed, highlighting their orbits in yellow as they are selected.

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Map Configuration Page The Map Configuration Page controls how the Map Program runs. To access the configuration page, hit the MOD button until it appears. It is probably best to leave these configurations in their default values unless you must absolutely change them. The only exception to this rule is Accuracy, which must be changed on occasion, such as when you are doing a direct reentry from the moon and you need a perigee prediction with an accuracy of within 2 km at a distance of 250,000 km from Earth, or Mass Limit if you want to use more bodies in the calculation.

Legs/Frame—Number of trajectory legs computed in every time step. Accuracy—Accuracy of trajectory computations. A higher accuracy requires more CPU resources and produces better results. MassLimit—The Map Program will ignore all objects with a mass less than this. Exceptions to this are, of course, your spacecraft. PeriodLimit—Automatically limits trajectory calculation in one full orbit period around the reference planet or moon. Hyper. Limit —Automatically stops trajectory calculation after a flyby. TimeLimit—Calculate trajectory a specified amount of seconds. This setting will override all other limiters. (0=Disabled) Tgt WeakPe—Displays flybys even if the periapis is outside a sphere of influence. One Pe/Ref —When on, the Map Program will display only one periapis passage (the closest one) even if the trajectory will pass by the object multiple times. If disabled, periapis data is recorded for every periapis passage. RefAltitude—Altitude of entry interface. Method—Order of RK method used in trajectory calculation. Order options are RK 4(5), RK 6(7), and RK 7(8). Use Celbody—When YES, the Map Program acquires celestial body positions from Orbiter's celestial body interface. Otherwise, the Map Program uses Keplerian orbit elements.

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Adaptive—Experimental parameter, must be left in default setting. Err. Toler—Experimental parameter, must be left in default setting.

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Text Modes There can be multiple periapsises or even an apoapsis in your trajectory. Text information may vary for these cases. For example, in an Earth to Mars transfer, you will have your periapsis at Mars, your periapsis your solar orbit, and your apoapsis of your solar orbit. You can cycle through these periapsises or apoapsises via the SEL button, and you can cycle through text modes via the MOD button. Below are all abbreviations you will encounter in the Map Program:

RIn Relative Inclination to a Node

PeT Time to Periapsis

PeV Velocity at Periapsis

PeD Radial Distance of Periapsis

PeA Altitude of Periapsis

Ecc Eccentricity of Orbit

Cir Delta Velocity required to circularize orbit

Tn Time to next node

PlC Delta Velocity required for the Plane Change

GET Mission Elapsed Time *Note—not always accurate

Hed Heading on the surface of the celestial body

EqI Equitorial Inclination

Lon Current longitude on surface of celestial body

Lat Current latitude on surface of celestial body

ApT Time to Apoapsis

ApV Velocity at Apoapsis

ApD Radial Distance of Apoapsis

ApA Altitude of Apoapsis

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Map Program Display Display Close to a Planet Here is what the display looks like close to a planet. Here, we are about 3 hours out of Earth Ejection.

Note—Your ship‘s orbit is broken. The line to the left shows your orbit in one solar orbit from where you are now. It is broken because Mars‘s gravity when you pass it (if you don‘t do an insertion burn and just come right back to where you started) distorts your orbit slightly. Note, you will be near where you started if you do this, but Earth will not be there!!! Also note how the ship is inside Earth‘s SOI in the figure above.

Program Type Your Ship Your Ship‘s Orbit (bright green line) Earth Earth‘s SOI Reference Projection

Centered Body Target Earth‘s Orbit Moon‘s Orbit Moon Moon‘s SOI SOI‘s are displayed Body Display is ON

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Display far from a Planet

Map display with Body Display OFF:

Note: The point of intersection is where your orbit and your target‘s orbit cross AND where a node is. The point of intersection of your orbit and your target‘s orbit below ―Point of Intersection‖ is NOT where you will intercept the target because there is not a node in that location.

Program Type Your current Orbit Reference Body Projection SOI‘s are displayed Point of Intersection

Centered Body Target Body Target Body‘s Orbit Your current Position Line of Nodes Nodes Target‘s current position

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Map display with Body Display ON: All objects in the display described on the previous page are the exact same. Hitting Dsp turns on all other bodies and their orbits. The bodies‘ orbits are in dull green, while their current positions are displayed by little grey circles.

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Intercept Mode: In the below figure we are closing in on our Target, Mars. The Intercept Line (white dotted line) leads to the point of intercept. Note that the periapsis at the target planet MUST be centered in order for Intercept Mode to work.

Intercept Mode: Close up view of intercept

Map Program Target‘s Orbit Your Ship‘s Orbit Reference Body Projection Intercept Mode is ON SOI‘s are displayed

Centered Body Target Body Target‘s current Position Your current Position Intercept Line

Map Program Target Body‘s Current Position Target Body‘s Position at Intercept Reference Body Projection Intercept Mode is ON Target Body‘s Orbit

Centered Body Target Body Your Ship‘s Orbit Your Ship‘s Current Position Intercept Line Your Ship‘s Periapsis SOI‘s are being displayed

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Course Programs

IMFD‘s list of course programs are the primary navigation tools of IMFD. They include programs on everything you will need to do with IMFD, from setting up your trip to arriving at your desired Planet.

Program Menu You can select a program by pressing the [Prv] and [Nxt] buttons from the right edge of the screen (Shift-1 and Shift-2) When you have selected the program you wish to use press the [Set] button to activate it. Pressing the [Set] button on a program title will always reset the program to its default condition. Important: Press [+] or [-] when the program‘s title (Target Intercept, Planet Approach) is highlighted on the program‘s display to return to the program menu. But, unfortunately, the program configuration will be lost because many common variables are used within the programs. However, you can return into the main menu with [MNU] button without losing the configuration. You can return back to the navigation program by activating the course program from the main menu. The selected program is underlined and highlighted in white. Also, you can go to the Map Program or Surface Launch Program without losing data.

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Target Intercept Program

From technical point of view this program will calculate a solution for Lambert’s problem, sometimes known as Gauss’s problem. The following page is highly technical. Understanding the math shown is NOT crucial to understanding the program. This is the primary navigation program and there are two versions available. This program will set your course to intercept the target at a time or date you have specified. This program can create escape vectors for interplanetary transfers. The program can be also used in a mid course corrections and later interception maneuvers after that. If you are using a planar transfer to your destination, after executing the plane change maneuver in a node you should continue with the off-plane version of the program to target directly towards the planet. In some cases the program may generate highly inefficient transfer orbits. IMFD often is unable to locate a good window automatically. It seems to assume we want the first possible opportunity, not the best one. Adjusting just the TEj isn't usually enough. To plan our course we need to know when the best time for the transfer, and how long it should take. To find the best launch window and thus optimize your transfer, follow the step by step directions listed below: Step 1. (in Target Intercept) Lock TOF Step 2. Advance TEj until dV is minimized (I use 10x adjustments on the MJD to advance one day per click) Step 3. Unlock TOF Step 4. Adjust TIn to minimize dV Step 5. Alternately adjust TEj and TIn to further minimize the dV. Step 6. Use scenario editor to advance time until one week before launch (for distant windows, stop one month prior to launch also) Step 7. Repeat step 5 to adjust for inaccuracies in original predictions (IMFD gets more accurate over shorter times) Step 8. Fast forward to launch. The target can be a planet, moon or a space station. The Equator and Ecliptic cannot be targeted, and an ―Invalid Target‖ message will be displayed. The burns generated by the program are usually not prograde or retrograde burns. However, in some special cases a pro-grade burn can be used— for an example, when intercepting the moon from low earth orbit. Pro-/Retro-grade burns are more efficient than non pro-/retro-grade burns. Important: When adjusting the setup the burn mode should be set to Realtime because the Pro-grade mode will make some adjustments on its own. Be aware of the transfer efficiency. The line of nodes (blue dashed line) is the position where the hypothetical transfer orbit and the target orbit intersect. (RIn) is the relative inclination measured at this node. When using Off-plane version, Ejection angle (EjA) and the Intercept Angle (InA) will also contain the error in inclination. Basically, EjA is to Interplanetary flight as RIn is to an Earth to Moon flight. Therefore, lower the angle the better the transfer. Plane Align (planar transfer only) When using a planar transfer and the ship is the source object, plane alignment information is displayed and the line of nodes will appear (green dashed line). When (EIn) is zero, the ship is located in the orbital plane of the target at the time of interception. This statement says one VERY important—you can have a relative inclination of several tens of degrees with an Ejection Inclination (EIn) of zero. For example, in an Earth to Moon transfer, the ship can be flying with a Relative Inclination to the Moon‘s orbital plane of 45 degrees, but the orbit could intersect the Moon‘s orbit at the exact point of intercept—in which case the EIn would be zero while the RIn would be 45 degrees. In such a case the node of the transfer orbit (blue dashed line) is located in the interception position so the transfer would be similar to the off-plane transfer. Therefore, unlike Relative Inclination which can only be reduced at an exact spot, the error in Ejection inclination (EIn) can be reduced with normal/anti-normal burns in any position, reduction is most efficient at the node (green dashed line). However, this statement doesn‘t take into account that a

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plane change maneuver uses less fuel far from the planet. So, if you can either change planes right at a node close to a planet, or not at a node very far from a planet, you should choose the second option. Burn Guidance Modes Realtime Guidance Mode Realtime mode is designed for short duration course correction maneuvers. The maneuver can be considered to be short when the traveled central angle (the Reference Planet being the vertex) during the burn is very small. Realtime mode is improper in long duration low orbit maneuvers like the TLI burn, although it can be used with no problems. In this mode, the software computes the target velocity vector in realtime and the vector changes its magnitude and direction while the vessel moves forward. This mode is recommended for any type of mid-course corrections. Off-Axis Guidance Mode Off-Axis mode is specially designed for the Apollo TLI burn. This mode applies some thrust for all 3 axes and can be used even if the orbits are not perfectly aligned. This mode will compute a numerical solution to place the vessel in target trajectory. This mode requires that the time to ejection (TEj) is higher than 3 seconds. Below the 3 seconds the program no longer generates new information for the burn execution programs (Autoburn / Thrust Monitor Program) as during this time they are preparing to execute the burn. This mode is recommended for long duration low orbit maneuvers like TLI, TEI, Orbit Insertions and Orbit Ejections. ProGrade Guidance Mode Off-Axis mode normally replaces this mode for guidance but it is still used by some programs. The thrust is applied directly in a prograde or retrograde direction. This mode also requires that the time to ejection (TEj) is higher than 3 seconds.

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Transfer Types Planar Transfer (Every mode except Off-Plane):

Off Plane Transfer (Off-Plane):

Off-Plane This method will create a trajectory that will intercept the target directly. This is the easiest way to reach the destination, but it's also very often the most inefficient way. In this method there is no plane change nor any other maneuver during the flight. In some special cases this may be the only working method. In this method the EIn presents how much the target is out of source plane at time of interception.

Source Plane This method will create a trajectory that will follow the source plane for some time. Typically 90 degrees before target interception the off-plane section will begin requiring a plane change burn (2nd Maneuver). When the time of this maneuver is close the IMFD can be prepared for the 2nd maneuver using automatics by pressing the ―Prep. PlC‖ item.

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Two-Plane This method creates a trajectory that will follow both Source and Target planes. This may not be a very useful method; it is just a special case of the Source-/Target Plane methods.

Target Plane This method will create a trajectory that will begin with an off-plane transfer section typically the first 90 degrees and then goes into the target plane. This would be good choice for the Earth to Mars transfer. Note that there is currently a bug that requires you to switch from Target Plane mode to Manual Target mode after leaving a planet‘s SOI.

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Button Layout



Previous Item Next Item Adjust UP Adjust DOWN Set Value Set Adjust Increment



Turn Burn Vector View ON or OFF Zoom IN Zoom OUT Select Source Select Centered Body Autoburn

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Button Descriptions: MNU—Main Menu Clicking this button brings up the main menu screen of IMFD. PG—More Buttons Switches the right hand side between two sets of buttons. REF—Set up Reference Allows the user to set up the reference body. TGT—Set up Target Allows the user to set up the target body. There are special options. Inputting ―G‖ targets a geostationary orbit. Inputting ―e‖ targets the ecliptic. Inputting ―l‖ targets the equatorial. Inputting ―r‖ targets the orbit of the reference planet. MOD—Mode Information Display Cycle through text modes. There are 3 text modes, plus the map configuration page. PRJ—Projection Cycle through projections. There are 5 projections—Self, Ecliptic, Target, Periapsis, and Equator. Self projection uses the current orbit of the ship. Ecliptic projection uses the ecliptic plane. Target projection uses the target orbit for projection. Equator uses the Equator of the target planet for projection. Periapsis uses the ship‘s orbit in a periapsis around Pe. Reference. PRV—Previous Item Scrolls through selectable items in reverse order. Note that not all items displayed are selectable. NXT—Next Item Scrolls through selectable items. Note that not all items displayed are selectable. +—Adjust UP Increases the value of a selected item. If a selected item has no value, it scrolls through the options for that item. - —Adjust DOWN Decreases the value of a selected item. If a selected item has no value, it scrolls through the options for that item. SET—Set Value This button allows the user to input a value. If you need to adjust a large amount or you just want to input an exact value, then use this button. ADJ—Adjust Increment of Adjustment This button cycles through the increments of adjustment. The three options are 1x, 10x, and 100x. The larger the number, the more coarse the adjustment will be. BV—Turn ON or OFF Burn Vector View Turns Burn Vector View on or off. Z+—Zoom in Zoom in on the object that is currently centered. Z- —Zoom out Zoom out on the object that is currently centered.

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SRC—Set up Source Allows the user to set up the source object. CNT—Set up Center Toggles the center between the Reference Object and the point at which you intercept the target. AB—Autoburn Initiates Autoburn.

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Target Intercept Page—Page 1: Hit the MOD button to go cycle through Page 1 without picture, Page 1 with picture, Page 2 without picture, Page 2 with picture. Descriptions of the picture can be found on the following page.

Text Items: TEj—Time to Ejection Current time until you should eject from low orbit around the source planet. It is not crucial if you do not eject at this exact time. GET—GET of Ejection The time of ejection in GET. EjA—Ejection Angle Your current ejection angle. InA—Intercept Angle The Intercept Angle of your planned course. RIn—Relative Inclination Your current Relative Inclination PeA—Altitude of Periapsis The altitude of your periapsis around the Reference body. oV—Outward Delta Velocity The Outward Delta Velocity of your planned transfer. iV—Inward Delta Velocity The Inward Delta Velocity of your planned transfer.

Course Program Program Type Target Body‘s Orbit Intercept Point (white line) Source‘s Orbit Your Transfer Orbit Line of Nodes

Target Body Source Body Nodes at Plane Change Your current Position (purple line) Source‘s Current Position (green line)

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PlC—Plane Change Velocity Delta Velocity due to the plane change. Tot—Total Velocity The Magnitude of your escape vector. Tin—Time to Intercept Time to intercepting your target. GET—GET at Intercept The GET at the time which you intercept your target. Realtime—Burn Mode Selects the burn mode for a plane change. TOF—Time of Flight When unlocked, you are free to change the time of ejection and intercept. When locked, you can change either one, but the other will change too in order to keep the time of flight the same. Smooth Adj.—Adjustment Mode There are three options. Smooth Adj. lets you adjust the time of intercept or ejection normally. Src. Period adjusts it in increments of the period of the source planet (31.54M seconds for Earth). Tgt. Period adjusts it in increments of the period of the target planet. Prep PLC—Plane Change Mode Turn this on by selecting it and hitting the plus before making a plane change. Tn—Time to Node Time to the node, and consequently, time to plane change maneuver.

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Target Intercept Page—Page 2: Hit the MOD button to go cycle through Page 1 without picture, Page 1 with picture, Page 2 without picture, Page 2 with picture.

Text Items: Offset Disabled—Offset Mode This is how to turn on or off Offset Mode. A description of Offset Mode is located on the next few pages. You should usually use Vel. Frame mode. Prograde—Prograde This has nothing to do with offsetting. You should not change this value. Lon—Longitude in the reference frame. Lat—Latitude Latitude in the reference frame. Rad—Offset Vector Length Length of the offset vector. oV—Outward Delta Velocity The Outward Delta Velocity of your planned transfer. iV—Inward Delta Velocity The Inward Delta Velocity of your planned transfer. PlC—Plane Change Velocity Delta Velocity due to the plane change.

Course Program Program Type Target Body‘s Orbit Intercept Point (white line) Source‘s Orbit Your Transfer Orbit Line of Nodes

Target Body Souce Body Nodes at Plane Change Your current Position (purple line) Source‘s Current Position (green line)

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Tot—Total Velocity The Magnitude of your escape vector. Tin—Time to Intercept Time to intercepting your target. GET—GET at Intercept The GET at the time which you intercept your target. LPC—Longitude of Plane Change Longitude of reference body at which you execute your plane change maneuver. You are free to rotate this around.

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Offsetting the Target Target offsetting allows you to displace the target point from the center of the target planet. Target offsetting is activated when the offset reference frame is selected. Lon, Lat, and Rad items define the offset vector in spherical coordinates. When the offsetting is activated, an ―Offset‖ flag will appear in main program screen. The offset point can be displayed by pressing [Cnt] button. This will switch the view between reference planet and offset point. The Offset vector is white and dashed. Prograde/Retrograde selector has nothing to do with offsetting so don‘t touch it. It is sometimes required in moon hopping in outer planets. Use a positive Rad number to ―lead‖ the target object, and use a negative Rad nuber to ―trail‖ the planet.

Text Items: The text items are the exact same as described on Target Intercept—Page 2.

Course Program Program Type Transfer Orbit Target Object‘s Orbit Reference Projection

Target Body Source Body Target Body‘s Surface New Intercept Point Offset Vector (dotted white line)

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Tangential Transfer Program This program works very similarly to the Target Intercept Program, but will take only a one input parameter from the user which is expressed in a two forms—a time to ejection (TEj) and a MJD of ejection. This program generates a transfer orbit that will be tangent to both the source orbit and the target orbit. The program uses a planar transfer and a plane change burn is required in a node. The ejection burn will be a pro- or retro-grade burn. The white line in the display indicates an orbit intersection position and the orange dashed line indicates the position of the target planet at the time of intersection. If these two lines are over each other, you will intercept the target in that position. The Source orbit can be hyperbolic, but the target must be elliptical or circular. When the local equator or ecliptic is targeted the radius of the target orbit can be defined. There are no orbiting bodies so the target position is not displayed. This program creates the most efficient transfers, but at the cost of being VERY difficult to set up a perfect orbit. It is strongly recommended not to use of this program as a normal means of interplanetary travel.

Text Items: TEj—Time to Ejection Current time until you should eject from low orbit around the source planet. It is not crucial if you do not eject at this exact time. GET—GET of Ejection The time of ejection in GET. Tin—Time to Intercept Time to intercepting your target. GET—GET at Intercept The GET at the time which you intercept your target.

Course Program Program Type Your Position at Intercept (white line) Target Position at Intercept (dotted yellow line) Reference Projection

Target‘s Orbit Target‘s Current Position Your Transfer Orbit Source Orbit Current Position (green line) Ejection Position (purple line) Line of Nodes

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Dis—Delta Radial Distance Final Radial Distance from the Reference body minus initial Radial Distance from the Reference Body. RIn—Relative Inclination Your current Relative Inclination. oV—Outward Delta Velocity The Outward Delta Velocity of your planned transfer. iV—Inward Delta Velocity The Inward Delta Velocity of your planned transfer. PlC—Plane Change Velocity Delta Velocity due to the plane change. Tot—Total Velocity The Magnitude of your escape vector.

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Planet Approach Program

You can easily change the orbit altitude or periapsis location with the planet approach program assuming that you are in an approach stage (Close to or inside the sphere of influence and approaching with a hyperbolic orbit). Also, the equatorial inclination can be adjusted. This is good when planning to approach a high inclination orbit. However, you might not be able to choose an inclination lower than your current inclination to the equator. Sometimes, to reach lower inclinations, abnormal plane change maneuvers must be executed in the ascending or descending node of the equator, but it‘s worth a try if you really want to. ‖Min EqI‖ and ‖Max EqI‖ display the bounds of inclination adjustment. Inclinations higher than -90 and lower than 90 degrees represent prograde orbits, and inclinations higher than 90 and lower than -90 degrees represent retrograde orbits. When the inclination is negative you will approach the planet from the South Pole, otherwise, you will approach the planet from the North Pole. The burn created by this program should be executed as far from the planet as possible. Sometimes it is possible to execute the burn as far as three times the sphere of influence. This will minimize the fuel usage. Smaller correction burn can be executed later if required. Note that the planet you are trying to reach MUST be the REFERENCE, NOT the target. Also, your vessel must be the source to make correction burns. In order to set your inclination with respect to the equator (probably what you want to be doing if you intend on landing), the target MUST be Equator. Planet Approach Display Screen:

*Note—The low influence warning will go away as you get closer to the planet. You can still complete autoburns even when under low influence. This is probably a better idea as it is more fuel efficient. Also, for the RIn item, Relative Inclination to the target, the target is the equator in the picture above, so you are inclined 40 degrees to the equator. Be careful though, as executing the burn too far from the planet will lead to inaccuracies. It is best not to execute the burn more than twice as far as the SOI.

Course Program Planet Approach Program Your current Position (end of line—not visible in the screen) Planet Surface Reference Body Projection

Target Source Your Current Orbit Your Target Orbit Your Line of Nodes (dotted green line) Target Line of Nodes (dotted purple line) Low Influence Warning

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Text Items: EqI—Equatorial Inclination Inclination with respect to the Equator. PeA—Altitude of Periapsis Altitude of your periapsis (closest approach) to the reference Planet. RIn—Relative Inclination Inclination relative to the target. EIn—Eject Inclination Ejection Inclination. This value is not very important. AgP—Argument of Periapsis. The Argument of Periapsis of your target orbit. This is the angle between your periapsis and your ascending node. PeT—Time to Periapsis. Time to your periapsis (closest approach). Cir—Circularization Velocity Delta Velocity required to make your hyperbolic approach orbit a circular orbit. Min EqI—Minimum Equatorial Inclination Minimum Equatorial Inclination possible given all of your current parameters. Max EqI—Maximum Equatorial Inclination Maximum Equatorial Inclination possible given all of your current parameters. dV—Delta Velocity Delta Velocity required for your current orbit to match the target orbit. You can use Autoburn or the Burn Vector View to complete this burn.

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Orbit Insert Program You MUST use IMFD 4.2.1 for this program to work properly!!!! This program does not require much explanation. It is used to make an orbit insertion from hyperbolic approach orbit to a low orbit around the reference planet. You can define the eccentricity or the apoapis distance of the target orbit. The burn integration technique is used for the burn position calculations. This Program might not run 100% efficiently or accurately. The Autoburn might cut off early; if it does, you can switch to Burn Vector View to finish the burn manually.

Orbit Insert Program Eccentricity Apoapsis Radial Distance Delta Velocity Time Until Burn Burn Duration Planet Surface

Your Current Orbit Your Target Orbit Your Current Position Burn Initiation Position (dotted green line) Burn Cutoff Position (purple line)

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Delta Velocity Program The Delta Velocity Program is a manual Delta Velocity tool. You can input how much delta velocity and in which direction and hit Autoburn and the program will change your velocity as such. You should probably not need to use this program all that much, but it is a nice tool to have.

Text Items: The following are all of the text items not explained in the diagram above: TEj—Time until burn Time in seconds until the burn initiates (if you have enabled Autoburn). GET—GET Time of Burn Time of the Burn in GET Vel. Frame—Reference Mode Option Reference Mode Option. This should be left in Vel. Frame. Other options are Local Vrt., P30 LVLH, and Global. Off Axis—Burn Mode Burn Mode. Off Axis is the only option. dVf—Delta Velocity in the x direction. Delta Velocity to apply in the x direction. It‘s easier to think of the f standing for ―forward‖ (prograde is positive, retrograde is negative). dVp—Delta Velocity in the y direction. Delta Velocity to apply in the y direction. It‘s easier to think of the p standing for ―planar‖ (north is positive, south is negative).

Course Program Delta Velocity Program Your Current Line of Nodes (dotted green line) Your Target Line of Nodes (dotted purple line) Reference Planet Projection

Target Source Target Orbit Current Orbit Your Current Position (green line) Planet Surface Burn Stop/Start Positions (purple lines)

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dVo—Delta Velocity in the z direction. Delta Velocity to apply in the z direction. It‘s easier to think of the o standing for ―outward‖ (positive is away from a planet, negative is towards a planet). Tot—Total Delta Velocity Total Delta Velocity to apply. ApA—Apoapsis Altitude Altitude of the Apoapsis of your target orbit. PeA—Periapsis Altitude Altitude of the Periapsis of your target orbit. Ecc—Eccentricity Eccentricity of your target orbit. RIn—Relative Inclination Relative inclination of your target orbit. LAN—Longitude of Ascending Node Longitude of Ascending Node of your target orbit.

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Orbital Program The Orbital Program can help you change your orbit if you are trying to, or it can help you find a target in space. It has three modes: Circularize, Match Velocity, and Find Target. Button Layout:

*Note: PG cycles through Circularize, Match Velocity, and Find Target modes. MOD and PRJ are ineffective in this program.

Main Menu Cycle through Modes Select Reference Body Select Target Body Cycle through Text Modes Cycle through Projections

Open Circularize Mode Open Match Velocity Mode Open Find Target Mode Autoburn

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Circularize Orbit Mode: This Mode will make your orbit a perfect circle. Center the cross until it turns grey and fire your engines until dV reaches zero. You may have to readjust your attitude several times, as the first time you center the cross may not be perfect. Or just use Autoburn.

Orbital Program Circularize Orbit Mode Delta Velocity Burn Duration Current Eccentricity

Reference Target Burn Crosshairs Attitude Position

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Match Velocity Mode Use this mode to match your velocity with a target. Very useful for station keeping, or for intercepting the Martian Moons.

Orbital Program Match Velocity Mode Delta Velocity Burn Duration Distance to Target


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Find Target Mode Rotate towards the cross. When the cross is in the center of the crosshairs and it turns grey, you should be looking directly at the target.

Orbital Program Find Target Mode


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Surface Launch Program This program can be used to launch into a lunar transfer orbit or any other parking orbit for an interplanetary flight generated by the Course, Base Approach or Sling-shot programs. Operation mode must be selected to correspond with your current plan. When using lunar transfer mode the target must be defined. Also, you must define the date of lunar orbit insertion. This parameter is not available when you are not using the lunar transfer mode. The (Time) item in the launch conditions display counts down the optimum launch time. Every planet rotation, there are two launch opportunities, some slightly better than the others, but pretty much equal (feel free to launch whenever the Time reaches zero). You can launch any time you want to in a heading pointed by (Hed), but the launch conditions may not be at their best and you may end up with a high EIn. During the ascent, the ship should be moving towards this heading (Hed). Keep the Surface Launch Program open the entire time, and introduce side slip to keep the EIn at its minimum. The target is more like a point rather than a plane. So, don‘t worry—if EIn is not perfectly zero, later course corrections are possible. It is very similar to heading towards a VOR beacon with an airplane. (EIn) presents deviation from the target point. This number should be as close to zero as possible, but not during the first few minutes when launching in some other direction than that displayed in the Hed item. For example, if you are launching from Cape Canaveral at a heading of 330 degrees, and Hed is 90, don‘t worry about EIn being very high as you are rolling down the runway, but once you turn towards 90 degrees and begin to pick up speed, you should start watching EIn. Don‘t add side slip if it is decreasing, wait until it has hit a minimum and started increasing, THEN add side slip. You should be able to control the liftoff so that the (EIn) is zero at MECO (if you launch when the time item on the Surface Launch Program says zero, EIn will be very close to zero if you perform a nominal ascent). It shouldn‘t be very difficult to do. Under most circumstances, the best launch heading would be ‖090‖ because the launch would be in a rotation direction of the planet and you can use the rotation velocity to assist, but that is not always the case. Launching in any other direction would be a little more difficult because of the planet rotation must be compensated during the launch and it will consume more fuel. The launch latitude should be as close to equator as possible. (BLL) shows optimal launch latitude but you don‘t have to launch from there. Optimal launch heading (Hed) is displayed launch conditions display. Launch into this heading should take a place when the (Time) is zero. (RIn) displays the transfer orbit inclination relative to target orbit. The launch conditions display will disappear after takeoff or launch. The realtime flight data display remains.

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Button Layout: Note that on Page 2 (brought up when you hit MOD—and not shown here), only Z+ and Z- work (BV and Autoburn do nothing).

Main Menu More Buttons Select Reference Body Select Target Body Cycle through Text Modes Cycle through Projections

Previous Item Next Item Adjust UP Adjust DOWN Set Value Set Adjust Increment

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Surface Launch Program Display: The orbit display (the picture) is almost identical to Orbit MFD. Once you launch, Hed, Time, BLL, and TEP disappear. Text Items are described below:

Text Items: Course-Program—Data Location This is where the Surface Launch program gets its information. Options are Course-Program, BaseApproach, Slingshot, Higher-Orbit, Lower-Orbit, and Lunar Off-Plane. Lunar Off-Plane is useful for launches to LEO before going to the moon. If you want to get data from another MFD, you will have to use the shared mode. Alt—Altitude of Orbit This is the altitude of the parking orbit. Hed—Heading This is the heading that you should fly if you were to take off right now. Ecc—Eccentricity This is your current eccentricity. PeA—Periapsis Altitude Your current Altitude of Periapsis. ApA—Apoapsis Altitude Your current Altitude of Apoapsis. EIn—Ejection Inclination Current Ejection Inclination. Hed—Launch Azimuth The heading you should fly when you launch for orbit.

Surface Launch Program Current Orbit Current Periapsis Reference Projection

Target Current Apoapsis Planet Surface Bad Plane Warning

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Time—Time to launch Time in seconds until your optimum launch time. BLL—Optimum Latitude of Launch The optimum Latitude that you should launch at. It does not matter if you are not at this latitude, however, you should be as close to the equator as possible. Bad Plane—Bad Plane Warning This is displayed if your Ejection Inclination is greater than one degree.

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Orbit Eject Program Orbit eject is probably the easiest program to use. It is used for escaping from the current planet you are orbiting—a necessity required when traveling between planets or moons. However, it is not required when traveling from the Earth to the Moon because you never leave the influence of the Earth. So, in order to use this program, you must leave the source planet‘s SOI. In the program, there are five items those can be modified. (oV) is the outward delta velocity, that‘s the velocity added to a velocity of the planet. (TEj) is the time to the ejection. The ―Burn mode‖ item is used to select the burn mode, which can be off-axis or realtime. The Green dashed line is the position for the burn recommended by the flight computer. Time to Burn (TtB) will tell how long it takes to reach this position. This is the position at which Autoburn will begin the burn.

Burn Mode There are also two different burn modes available—Realtime and Off-Axis. Realtime mode is a good one for escaping from the low gravity bodies. This mode uses a burn vector to eject the ship towards a correct heading. However, this mode is slightly more inefficient in long burns, but works perfectly. The Off-Axis mode is created for long burns and it uses a Pro-grade burn. So, use a PG autopilot or the autoburn feature to complete the burn. If you use the prograde autopilot, turn on Burn Vector View and make sure that the cross stays centered. It may deviate, at which point you should turn off the prograde autopilot and rotate the ship manually to center the cross. Off-Axis mode is not available if (EIn) is greater than 1.0 degrees. Nor it is available during the liftoff. In a highly elliptical orbit the integration of the exact burn position may take a few seconds. The position is integrated with high accuracy and you should end up exactly in a correct heading after the burn. Do NOT switch between realtime and off-axis during the burn.

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Orbit Eject Display Screen Note that the button layout is the same as the Course Program with one exception—there is no source or center button on the second page (accessed by hitting PG). Once the burn starts the green line (current position) disappears and the purple line (New Position Line) becomes your new current position line.

Text Items: oV—Outward Velocity The outward velocity that you inputted or that another program sent the Orbit Eject Program. To get another program to send data to the Orbit Eject Program please see the Data Source item below. TEj—Time to Ejection Time in seconds until the burn must start. GET—GET of Ejection Burn The GET at which the burn must start. Data Source—Data Source This is where the Orbit Eject Program gets its data. Options are Lower Orbit, Higher Orbit, Course, BaseApproach, and Slingshot. Higher Orbit and Lower Orbit require a manual input of oV, while the other three get that number from their respective programs. You must use shared mode if you want to use data from another MFD. Burn Mode—Burn Mode Burn Mode being used. Options are Realtime and Off-Axis. EqI—Equatorial Inclination Current inclination with respect to the equator. EjA—Ejection Angle Ejection Angle for Transfer Orbit. EIn—Ejection Inclination Current Ejection Inclination.

Orbit Eject Program Position at which you leave the Planet‘s Sphere of Influence Your current Position Reference Projection

Your current Orbit Line of Nodes Your Target Orbit Burn Start Position (green dotted line) New Position Line (purple line)

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Tn—Time to Node Time to the next node. If negative, then it is time since the last node. PlC—Plane Change Velocity Amount of dV required for the Plane Change burn. dV—Delta Velocity Delta Velocity required to match your current orbit with the target orbit.

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Base Approach Program With this program it is possible to plan a flight that will allow you to land directly on a base located on a planet without an orbit insertion burn before landing. This program must be initially set up and used far from the planet, such as near the edge of the SOI. This will allow better synchronization with the base, and it will also use less fuel. There exist only limited trajectories which will allow you to land on a base. To find a proper trajectory or flight plan, you must increase the suggested flight time (Hint—only used in Re-Entry Mode). If the flight computer is unable to find a solution then no purple orbit (target orbit) is displayed. It is much more likely to find a solution for the Orbit-Insert mode than for the Reentry Mode. Note that the Reentry (Old) Mode is just the older version of the Reentry mode, and should not be used. The Base Approach Program will alter your orbit to alter your time to intercept, making you intercept your target planet or moon when the base is in a desirable location. Thus, the faster a planet or moon rotates, the easier it will be to find a solution, and the less dV the correction burn will take because your target base passes under your periapsis with greater frequency, so your orbit does not need to be altered as much. When the solution is found, the flight data for the solution will appear. You can still increase the Hint or reentry anticipation to find another flight plan. Before all of this though, you must set up the target base with [TGT], or a longitude and latitude to tell Base Approach where you want to land. In the flight configuration you can define the re-entry angle, reference altitude (altitude at which you are considered to be in the atmosphere) and anticipation (degrees of longitude between Entry Interface or reference altitude and your landing site—see the picture for more details). The reference altitude must be set correctly as this is the level from where the re-entry angle is measured and the anticipation begins. Good values might be 120km for the Earth and 8km for Mars. Anticipation is measured in degrees from the center of the planet. When landing on a planet that has a very thin atmosphere, the anticipation should be increased because braking will take longer.

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Moon to the Earth return When returning from the Moon to the Earth, like Apollo used to, the landing zone is located on the far side of the Earth as seen from the moon (See fig. Elliptical). Since the re-entry angle is only 5.5 to 7.5 degrees, the zone is located very close to the periapis. Latitude of the periapis will depend on the position of the Moon and the size of the landing zone will depend on the re-entry angle. The inclination of the Moon is about 23 degrees relative to Earth‘s equator. Therefore, the area that can be targeted from the moon lies between 23deg North and 23deg South but only a small part of that area can be target at a time. So, if the base is located outside the 23 degree area it is highly difficult to land there using elliptical orbit. It is possible if you set up your flight from the moon properly—see the tutorial with an Earth to Moon flight and direct reentry. When the rotation of the planet is recognized the landing zone will cover all longitudes between the latitudes.

Hyperbolic Approach Elliptical Approach When approaching a planet, let‘s say Mars, the orbit will be hyperbolic. That will allow you to rotate the periapis all over the planet. Therefore, the landing zone will be shaped like a ring. (See fig. Hyperbolic) and will cover most of the planet. So, there shouldn‘t be any difficulty landing on Mars or any planet when approaching hyperbolically. The diameter of the ring depends on the eccentricity of your orbit. When the eccentricity is very close to one the area will be more similar to the area in the picture ‖Elliptical‖. When the eccentricity increases the diameter of the ring will also increase. It is necessary to execute the first synchronization and plane orientation burn far from the planet, perhaps as far as 500000 seconds before the periapis. This is far before crossing the sphere of influence. Making a burn that far is highly inaccurate and the trajectory will change a lot after the burn, but it will reduce the magnitudes of the coming burns. Be careful though—sometimes making a burn too far away can make things worse. So, two more synchronization burns should follow when the time to periapis is about 100000 and 15000 seconds. Orbit Insert mode can be used when you wish to establish an orbit over the base. The (Alt) item defines the altitude of the periapis. The orbit must be circularized at the periapis (if you are doing an orbit insert, not a direct reentry). If the orbit is not circular the synchronization with the target base will not work as well as it is capable of. The rotation of the planet is calculated in the synchronization during the approach and circular orbit phase. The (Num) item is used to define the number of full orbit periods to spend on orbit before landing. Zero means that there is only a fraction of orbit before landing, which in a few circumstances might not be enough for a de-orbit burn, but should usually work fine with moon landings. There are two orbits, opposite to each other, which will lead to the target base. One will lead to pro-grade orbit and the other to retro-grade orbit. Orbit insert mode doesn‘t suffer problems of critical timings and zones. Therefore, it is much easier to use. It is possible to use orbit insert mode to return from the Moon to the Earth and land on a specific base but the orbit insertion to low earth orbit is required. For a direct reentry, precise timing is needed (see the Moon to Earth flight with a direct reentry tutorial to see how to do this).

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Orbit Insert Mode:

Text Items: N/A—Non Applicable Non Applicable for this program mode. ProGrade—Orbit Direction Direction of Orbit. A description of Inclinations with respect to directions can be found in the description of the Planet Approach Program. Options are prograde or retrograde. TEj—Time to Eject With this item you can tell the Base Approach Program in how long to make the correction burn. The value inputted will be in seconds, and the Autoburn will execute the burn xxxx (the value you inputted) seconds AFTER YOU INPUTTED IT. GET—Get of Eject This is so you can set up the same exact instance as TEj, but using a GET time. Orbit-Insert—Program Mode This defines the program mode. Options are Re-Entry, Re-Entry (Old), and Orbit Insert. Lon—Target Longitude Target Longitude that Base Approach will bring you to. Lat—Target Latitude Target Latitude that Base Approach will bring you to. Alt—Altitude Target Altitude of your periapsis (closest passage).

Base Approach Program Planet Surface Current Position Target Line of Nodes (dotted purple line) Reference Projection

Target Object Source Object Target Orbit Current Orbit Program Mode Current Line of Nodes (dotted green line)

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Num—Number of Passages This is the number of passages over the target landing site at which you execute your deorbit burn. Note that this number is AFTER the insertion burn. If Num is 2, then you should perform your deorbit burn as you pass over the base a third time. If Num is 0, then you should do your deorbit burn right as you are passing over it the first time. PeT—Time to Periapsis Your current time to Periapsis. GET—GET of Periapsis The GET of your Periapsis. PeV—Velocity at Periapsis Your estimated Velocity at Periapsis. EqI—Equatorial Inclination Your current Equatorial Inclination. dV—Delta Velocity Your required Delta Velocity to make your orbit match your target orbit.

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Reentry Mode:

Text Items: Hint—Time to Periapsis Your time to Periapsis. Get this number from the Map Program for the most accuracy. ProGrade—Orbit Direction Direction of Orbit. A description of Inclinations with respect to directions can be found in the description of the Planet Approach Program. Options are prograde or retrograde. TEj—Time to Eject With this item you can tell the Base Approach Program in how long to make the correction burn. The value inputted will be in seconds, and the Autoburn will execute the burn xxxx (the value you inputted) seconds AFTER YOU INPUTTED IT. GET—Get of Eject This is so you can set up the same exact instance as TEj, but using a GET time. Re-Entry—Program Mode This defines the program mode. Options are Re-Entry, Re-Entry (Old), and Orbit Insert. Lon—Target Longitude Target Longitude that Base Approach will bring you to. Lat—Target Latitude Target Latitude that Base Approach will bring you to. Alt—Altitude Target Altitude of your periapsis (closest passage).

Base Approach Program Planet Surface Current Position Target Line of Nodes (dotted purple line) Reference Projection

Target Object Source Object Target Orbit Current Orbit Program Mode Current Line of Nodes (dotted green line)

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ReA—Reentry Angle Angle between your velocity vector and the planet‘s horizon at Entry Interface. Ant—Anticipation Estimated degrees around the planet that you will pass from the time of Entry Interface to the time of Landing. ReT—Time to Reentry Estimated time to reentry. Listen to the number given to you by the Map Program over this number. GET—GET of Reentry The estimated GET of your Reentry. ReV—Velocity at Reentry Your estimated Velocity at Reentry. ReA—Reentry Angle Just a second display of Reentry Angle, see above for description. EqI—Equatorial Inclination Your current Equatorial Inclination. dV—Delta Velocity Your required Delta Velocity to make your orbit match your target orbit.

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Slingshot Program From a technical standpoint, the sling shot program is very much like the orbit-eject program. The user interface is similar and the mathematics in the program are the same as orbit-eject. This program is used to change your course to the next target and it can be used for powered or unpowered fly-bys. The program will create burn data for the correction burn to make sure that your exit vector will be exactly the same as that defined by the target intercept program containing your course to the next stage. The source of navigation information can be selected with the top-right item. Available sources are the same as in the Orbit-Eject section. Items on the left edge allow you to define the position of the burn, but usually this is not required since the burn should be executed as early as possible. This program doesn‘t contain any functions to optimize sling-shots. Nor does it contain any sling-shot planning functions. The program is solely designed to move your course plan to the next target. The program is capable of generating an escape vector for a minor body, such as a moon, providing that the moon is outside its planet‘s SOI. So, you can eject the ship from the Moon to the Mars if you want to. When ejecting from the Moon, the most recommended time for the ejection is when the Moon is moving in the escape direction. It is important to note that a slingshot is NOT always the most efficient means of getting to a planet. Once you perform a correction burn about an hour from Periapsis, don‘t perform another one until periapsis passage. dV will increase rapidly, but don‘t worry—it will decrease back to normal just before you engage Autoburn at PeT=0. Pro/Retro-grade You can choose whether to launch in a pro- or retro-grade direction over the reference planet. Choose the mode carefully so that you won‘t collide to the reference planet. Watch the periapis altitude item (PeA).

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Slingshot Display Screen:

Text Items: TEj—Time to Eject With this item you can tell the Base Approach Program in how long to make the correction burn. The value inputted will be in seconds, and the Autoburn will execute the burn xxxx (the value you inputted) seconds AFTER YOU INPUTTED IT.

GET—Get of Eject This is so you can set up the same exact instance as TEj, but using a GET time.

Course—Data Source This shows that you are getting your data from the course program. It is not recommended that you get your data from any other program. Prograde—Orbit Direction Dictates whether you want your slingshot to be a prograde or retrograde orbit. It is much better to leave this in prograde mode. EjA—Ejection Angle Your current Ejection Angle. LAN—Longitude of Ascending Node Your current Longitude of Ascending Node. EIn—Ejection Inclination Your current Ejection Inclination. PeA—Altitude of Periapsis Your current Altitude of Periapsis.

Sling-Shot Program Reference Planet Surface Current Position (end of purple line) Position at which you leave the reference planet‘s SOI (white line) Reference Projection

Source Current Orbit Current Periapsis Target Orbit Target Periapsis

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PeT—Time to Periapsis Your current Time to Periapsis. C3—Energy Your current Orbital Energy of Escape Asymptote. oV—Outward Velocity Current Outward Delta velocity.

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Appendix A

AgP Argument of Periapsis. This is the angle between the longitude of the periapsis and the longitude of the ascending node. Alt Altitude at which the Base Approach program in reentry mode considers you to have started reentry. Also, the altitude of the parking orbit in the Surface Launch program. Ant Reentry anticipation angle. This is the measure of the angle in degrees (the center of the reference planet being the vertex) between the point at which you cross the Alt number on the Base Approach display screen and the landing site. For example, an Ant of 90 would mean you would travel a quarter around a planet from 120k (if that is the altitude setting you chose) to your landing site. ApA Altitude of the apoapsis of the orbit measured above the surface of the reference planet. ApD Radial distance (from the center of the reference planet) of the apoapsis of the current orbit. Apt Time in seconds until reaching the apoapsis. ApV Predicted orbital velocity in meters/second at the apoapsis. BLL The best latitude to launch as dictated by the Surface Launch program. Don‘t worry if your latitude is not this latitude, but do try to launch near the equator (Cape Canaveral is fine). Bt Estimated burn duration in seconds. C3 Orbital energy of escape asymptote. C3 = o

2 v /1000

Cir The required delta velocity needed to circularize your orbit. Dis Difference in radial distance from the reference planet traveled during a flight planned by the Tangential Transfer program. Also the distance from the target in the Match Velocity mode of the Orbital program. dV Delta velocity, the difference in velocity of your ship to match a target orbit or velocity vector. dVf The x component of a delta velocity vector. dVp The y component of a delta velocity vector. dVo The z component of a delta velocity vector. Ecc The current eccentricity of your ship‘s orbit. EIn Escape Inclination or Ejection Inclination. The angle between your current velocity vector and that of the target planet‘s or moon‘s velocity vector. Thus, in an off-plane transfer where you do not do a plane change, you must start the flight with an EIn of zero. EjA Angle between the velocity vectors (tangents) of the ship‘s orbit and the transfer orbit at the time of ejection. EqI The current inclination of your ship‘s orbit with respect to the equator.

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GET Ground elapsed time. This is the ground elapsed time of any significant event in the flight happens. You can set the start date (GET=0 at xxxxx.xxxx MJD or MM-DD-YYYY at HH:MM:SS) via the IMFD configuration page. Hed The heading that the Surface Launch Program recommends that you fly at in order to achieve a minimum EIn (so you don‘t have to do a fuel-costly burn to fix it later). Hint The estimated time to Periapsis in the reentry mode Base Approach program. Be sure to get this value from the Map Program, accuracy set at 1.000. InA Intercept angle. The angle between the velocity vector of ship‘s orbit and the target‘s orbit at the time of interception. iV Inward delta velocity. A component of the escape velocity vector. LAN Your ship‘s current longitude of the ascending node. Lat The latitude of a particular point in the flight (plane change, latitude of a base) with respect to the Reference planet. LPC Longitude of a plane change with respect to the reference planet. Lon The longitude of a particular point in the flight (plane change, longitude of a base) with respect to the Reference planet. Min EqI The minimum equatorial inclination with which a program can generate a target orbit. Max EqI The maximum equatorial inclination with which a program can generate a target orbit. Num This is the number of passages over the target landing site at which you execute your deorbit burn. Note that this number is AFTER the insertion burn. If Num is 2, then you should perform your insertion burn as you pass over the base a third time. If Num is 0, then you should do your deorbit burn right as you are passing over it the first time. So basically it is the number of FULL orbits before making your deorbit burn. oV Outward delta velocity. A component in the escape velocity vector. This is the component that you want to be minimized for a more fuel efficient flight. PeA Altitude of the periapsis of the orbit measured above the surface of the reference planet. PeD Radial distance (from the center of the reference planet) of the periapsis of the current orbit. Pet Time in seconds until reaching the periapsis. PeV Predicted orbital velocity in meters/second at the periapsis. PlC Estimated delta velocity required for a plane change maneuver. Rad Distance from the center of the reference planet. ReA Estimated reentry angle between your ship‘s velocity vector and the atmosphere at the altitude that you set (default 120k in Base Approach). ReT Estimated time until you hit the altitude that you set (default 120k in Base Approach) ReV Estimated velocity at the altitude that you set (default 120k in Base Approach).

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RIn Angle between the orbital planes of either the target and the source, the target and your ship, or the target and the hypothetical transfer orbit. Basically, it is the angle between two orbital planes. TEj Time in seconds until ejection, or time until a burn is performed (Base Approach, Slingshot). Time The time as displayed by the Surface Launch Program until optimum launch time. Tin Time in seconds until you intercept your target (closest passage). Tn Time in seconds until the next node. TOF Time of Flight, from orbit eject to orbit insertion. Tot The combined magnitude of the components of a delta velocity vector. So, it is the total magnitude of the delta velocity vector. TtB Remaining estimated time to burn (assuming that the main engines are at 100%) in seconds.

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Appendix B

Key commands To be able to access the commands in a second column you must change the page with [PG] Shift-I command. Open InterplanetaryMFD with the Shift-I command. MNU Shift-F Prv BV Shift-1 PG Shift-I Nxt Z+ Shift-2 REF Shift-R (+) Z- Shift-3 TGT Shift-T (-) Src Shift-4 MOD Shift-M Set Cnt/Aux Shift-5 PRJ Shift-P Adj AB Shift-6 Key commands for programs other than Map MNU Shift-F Cnt Slf Shift-1 PG Shift-I Z+ SOI Shift-2 REF Shift-R Z- Int Shift-3 TGT Shift-T Sel Shift-4 MOD Shift-M Dsp Plan Shift-5 PRJ Shift-P Azo Find Shift-6 Key commands for Map program Prv Shift-1 Select previous variable Nxt Shift-2 Select next variable +,- Shift-3,4 Adjust variable Set Shift-5 Set variable manually Adj Shift-6 Change adjustment speed Z+- Shift-2,3 Change a zoom factor Src Shift-4 Setup source object Cnt Shift-5 Center the display in other position AB Shift-6 Enable/Disable autoburn BV Shift-1 Open/Close burn vector display Aux Shift-5 Auxiliary vector input for SBC Key commands for programs other than Map PG Shift-I Change a button list in right edge MNU Shift-F Open program menu TGT Shift-T Select target orbit REF Shift-R Select the reference planet MOD Shift-M Change a display mode Text/Graphics PRJ Shift-P Change the projection plane Buttons available in a left edge Sel Shift-4 Select the periapis to use Dsp Shift-5 Display additional graphics in map Azo Shift-6 Enable or Disable autozoom feature Slf Shift-1 Display or Hide ship‗s trajectory Soi Shift-2 Display the Sphere of influence IPC Shift-3 Include plane change in prediction Plan Shift-5 Switch flight planning mode on and off Find Shift-6 Find targets from the reference Key commands for Map program

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Ariel to Miranda Reference: Uranus Source: Ariel Target: Miranda Ariel to Oberon Reference: Uranus Source: Ariel Target: Oberon Ariel to Titania Reference: Uranus Source: Ariel Target: Titania Ariel to Umbriel Reference: Uranus Source: Ariel Target: Umbriel Callisto to Ganymede Reference: Jupiter Source: Callisto Target: Ganymede Callisto to Europa Reference: Jupiter Source: Callisto Target: Europa Callisto to Io Reference: Jupiter Source: Callisto Target: Io Deimos to Phobos Reference: Mars Source: Deimos Target: Phobos Dione to Enceladus Reference: Saturn Source: Dione Target: Enceladus Dione to Hyperion Reference: Saturn Source: Dione Target: Hyperion Dione to Iapetus Reference: Saturn Source: Dione Target: Iapetus Dione to Mimas Reference: Saturn Source: Dione Target: Mimas Dione to Rhea Reference: Saturn Source: Dione Target: Rhea Dione to Tethys Reference: Saturn Source: Dione Target: Tethys Dione to Titan Reference: Saturn Source: Dione Target: Titan

Earth to Jupiter Reference: Sun Source: Earth Target: Jupiter

Earth to Mars Reference: Sun Source: Earth Target: Mars

Earth to Mercury Reference: Sun Source: Earth Target: Mercury

Earth to Neptune Reference: Sun Source: Earth Target: Neptune

Earth to Pluto Reference: Sun Source: Earth Target: Pluto

Earth to Saturn Reference: Sun Source: Earth Target: Saturn

Earth to Uranus Reference: Sun Source: Earth Target: Uranus

Earth to Venus Reference: Sun Source: Earth Target: Venus

Enceladus to Dione Reference: Saturn Source: Enceladus Target: Dione Enceladus to Hyperion Reference: Saturn Source: Enceladus Target: Hyperion Enceladus to Iapetus Reference: Saturn Source: Enceladus Target: Iapetus Enceladus to Mimas Reference: Saturn Source: Enceladus Target: Mimas Enceladus to Rhea Reference: Saturn Source: Enceladus Target: Rhea Enceladus to Tethys Reference: Saturn Source: Enceladus Target: Tethys Enceladus to Titan Reference: Saturn Source: Enceladus Target: Titan

Europa to Callisto Reference: Jupiter Source: Europa Target: Callisto Europa to Ganymede Reference: Jupiter Source: Europa Target: Ganymede Europa to Io Reference: Jupiter Source: Europa Target: Io Ganymede to Callisto Reference: Jupiter Soruce: Ganymede Target: Callisto Ganymede to Europa Reference: Jupiter Soruce: Ganymede Target: Europa Ganymede to Io Reference: Jupiter Soruce: Ganymede Target: Io Hyperion to Dione Reference: Saturn Source: Hyperion Target: Dione Hyperion to Enceladus Reference: Saturn Source: Hyperion Target: Enceladus Hyperion to Iapetus Reference: Saturn Source: Hyperion Target: Iapetus Hyperion to Mimas Reference: Saturn Source: Hyperion Target: Mimas Hyperion to Rhea Reference: Saturn Source: Hyperion Target: Rhea Hyperion to Tethys Reference: Saturn Source: Hyperion Target: Tethys Hyperion to Titan Reference: Saturn Source: Hyperion Target: Titan Iapetus to Dione Reference: Saturn Source: Iapetus Target: Dione Iapetus to Enceladus Reference: Saturn Source: Iapetus Target: Enceladus

Appendix C

These are organized alphabetically by the planet or moon that you are flying FROM, then the planet or moon that you are flying TO. Inputting the target to the planet you want to fly to should set the reference and source up automatically, but if you want to double check, you can use these flight plans. Note that this list does not contain Planet to Moon (Earth to Moon) or Moon to Planet (Moon to Earth). Rather, it contains Planet to Planet and Moon to Moon.

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Iapetus to Hyperion Reference: Saturn Source: Iapetus Target: Hyperion Iapetus to Mimas Reference: Saturn Source: Iapetus Target: Mimas Iapetus to Rhea Reference: Saturn Source: Iapetus Target: Rhea Iapetus to Tethys Reference: Saturn Source: Iapetus Target: Tethys Iapetus to Titan Reference: Saturn Source: Iapetus Target: Titan Io to Callisto Reference: Jupiter Source: Io Target: Callisto Io to Europa Reference: Jupiter Source: Io Target: Europa Io to Ganymede Reference: Jupiter Source: Io Target: Ganymede Jupiter to Earth Reference: Sun Source: Jupiter Target: Earth Jupiter to Mars Reference: Sun Source: Jupiter Target: Mars Jupiter to Mercury Reference: Sun Source: Jupiter Target: Mercury Jupiter to Neptune Reference: Sun Source: Jupiter Target: Neptune Jupiter to Pluto Reference: Sun Source: Jupiter Target: Pluto Jupiter to Saturn Reference: Sun Source: Jupiter Target: Saturn Jupiter to Uranus Reference: Sun Source: Jupiter Target: Uranus Jupiter to Venus Reference: Sun Source: Jupiter Target: Venus Mars to Earth Reference: Sun Source: Mars Target: Earth

Mars to Jupiter Reference: Sun Source: Mars Target: Jupiter Mars to Mercury Reference: Sun Source: Mars Target: Mercury Mars to Neptune Reference: Sun Source: Mars Target: Neptune Mars to Pluto Reference: Sun Source: Mars Target: Pluto Mars to Saturn Reference: Sun Source: Mars Target: Saturn Mars to Uranus Reference: Sun Source: Mars Target: Uranus Mars to Venus Reference: Sun Source: Mars Target: Venus Mercury to Earth Reference: Sun Source: Mercury Target: Earth Mercury to Jupiter Reference: Sun Source: Mercury Target: Jupiter Mercury to Mars Reference: Sun Source: Mercury Target: Mars Mercury to Neptune Reference: Sun Source: Mercury Target: Neptune Mercury to Pluto Reference: Sun Source: Mercury Target: Pluto Mercury to Saturn Reference: Sun Source: Mercury Target: Saturn Mercury to Uranus Reference: Sun Source: Mercury Target: Uranus Mercury to Venus Reference: Sun Source: Mercury Target: Venus Mimas to Dione Reference: Saturn Source: Mimas Target: Dione Mimas to Enceladus Reference: Saturn Source: Mimas Target: Enceladus

Mimas to Hyperion Reference: Saturn Source: Mimas Target: Hyperion Mimas to Iapetus Reference: Saturn Source: Mimas Target: Iapetus Mimas to Rhea Reference: Saturn Source: Mimas Target: Rhea Mimas to Tethys Reference: Saturn Source: Mimas Target: Tethys Mimas to Titan Reference: Saturn Source: Mimas Target: Titan Miranda to Ariel Reference: Uranus Source: Miranda Target: Ariel Miranda to Oberon Reference: Uranus Source: Miranda Target: Oberon Miranda to Titania Reference: Uranus Source: Miranda Target: Titania Miranda to Umbriel Reference: Uranus Source: Miranda Target: Umbriel Neptune to Earth Reference: Sun Source: Neptune Target: Earth Neptune to Jupiter Reference: Sun Source: Neptune Target: Jupiter Neptune to Mars Reference: Sun Source: Neptune Target: Mars Neptune to Mercury Reference: Sun Source: Neptune Target: Mercury Neptune to Pluto Reference: Sun Source: Neptune Target: Pluto Neptune to Saturn Reference: Sun Source: Neptune Target: Saturn Neptune to Uranus Reference: Sun Source: Neptune Target: Uranus Neptune to Venus Reference: Sun Source: Neptune Target: Venus

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Nereid to Proteus Reference: Uranus Source: Nereid Target: Proteus Nereid to Triton Reference: Uranus Source: Nereid Target: Triton Phobos to Deimos Reference: Mars Source: Phobos Target: Deimos Pluto to Earth Reference: Sun Source: Pluto Target: Earth Pluto to Jupiter Reference: Sun Source: Pluto Target: Jupiter Pluto to Mars Reference: Sun Source: Pluto Target: Mars Pluto to Mercury Reference: Sun Source: Pluto Target: Mercury Pluto to Neptune Reference: Sun Source: Pluto Target: Neptune Pluto to Saturn Reference: Sun Source: Pluto Target: Saturn Pluto to Uranus Reference: Sun Source: Pluto Target: Uranus Pluto to Venus Reference: Sun Source: Pluto Target: Venus Proteus to Nereid Reference: Uranus Source: Proteus Target: Nereid Nereid to Triton Reference: Uranus Source: Nereid Target: Triton Rhea to Dione Reference: Saturn Source: Rhea Target: Dione Rhea to Enceladus Reference: Saturn Source: Rhea Target: Enceladus Rhea to Hyperion Reference: Saturn Source: Rhea Target: Hyperion Rhea to Iapetus Reference: Saturn Source: Rhea Target: Iapetus

Rhea to Mimas Reference: Saturn Source: Rhea Target: Mimas Rhea to Tethys Reference: Saturn Source: Rhea Target: Tethys Rhea to Titan Reference: Saturn Source: Rhea Target: Titan Saturn to Earth Reference: Sun Source: Saturn Target: Earth Saturn to Jupiter Reference: Sun Source: Saturn Target: Jupiter Saturn to Mars Reference: Sun Source: Saturn Target: Mars Saturn to Mercury Reference: Sun Source: Saturn Target: Mercury Saturn to Neptune Reference: Sun Source: Saturn Target: Neptune Saturn to Pluto Reference: Sun Source: Saturn Target: Pluto Saturn to Uranus Reference: Sun Source: Saturn Target: Uranus Saturn to Venus Reference: Sun Source: Saturn Target: Venus Tethys to Dione Reference: Saturn Source: Tethys Target: Dione Tethys to Enceladus Reference: Saturn Source: Tethys Target: Enceladus Tethys to Hyperion Reference: Saturn Source: Tethys Target: Hyperion Tethys to Iapetus Reference: Saturn Source: Tethys Target: Iapetus Tethys to Mimas Reference: Saturn Source: Tethys Target: Mimas Tethys to Rhea Reference: Saturn Source: Tethys Target: Rhea

Tethys to Titan Reference: Saturn Source: Tethys Target: Titan Titan to Dione Reference: Saturn Source: Titan Target: Dione Titan to Enceladus Reference: Saturn Source: Titan Target: Enceladus Titan to Hyperion Reference: Saturn Source: Titan Target: Hyperion Titan to Iapetus Reference: Saturn Source: Titan Target: Iapetus Titan to Mimas Reference: Saturn Source: Titan Target: Mimas Titan to Rhea Reference: Saturn Source: Titan Target: Rhea Titan to Tethys Reference: Saturn Source: Titan Target: Tethys Titania to Ariel Reference: Uranus Source: Titania Target: Ariel Titania to Miranda Reference: Uranus Source: Titania Target: Miranda Titania to Oberon Reference: Uranus Source: Titania Target: Oberon Titania to Umbriel Reference: Uranus Source: Titania Target: Umbriel Triton to Nereid Reference: Uranus Source: Triton Target: Nereid Triton to Proteus Reference: Uranus Source: Triton Target: Proteus Umbriel to Ariel Reference: Uranus Source: Umbriel Target: Ariel Umbriel to Miranda Reference: Uranus Source: Umbriel Target: Miranda Umbriel to Oberon Reference: Uranus Source: Umbriel Target: Oberon

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Umbriel to Titania Reference: Uranus Source: Umbriel Target: Titania Uranus to Earth Reference: Sun Source: Uranus Target: Earth Uranus to Jupiter Reference: Sun Source: Uranus Target: Jupiter Uranus to Mars Reference: Sun Source: Uranus Target: Mars Uranus to Mercury Reference: Sun Source: Uranus Target: Mercury Uranus to Neptune Reference: Sun Source: Uranus Target: Neptune Uranus to Pluto Reference: Sun Source: Uranus Target: Pluto Uranus to Saturn Reference: Sun Source: Uranus Target: Saturn Uranus to Venus Reference: Sun Source: Uranus Target: Venus Venus to Earth Reference: Sun Source: Venus Target: Earth Venus to Jupiter Reference: Sun Source: Venus Target: Jupiter Venus to Mars Reference: Sun Source: Venus Target: Mars Venus to Mercury Reference: Sun Source: Venus Target: Mercury Venus to Neptune Reference: Sun Source: Venus Target: Neptune Venus to Pluto Reference: Sun Source: Venus Target: Pluto Venus to Saturn Reference: Sun Source: Venus Target: Saturn Venus to Uranus Reference: Sun Source: Venus Target: Uranus

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Appendix D

This is a summary of all programs. It is also a description of when to use each one. Map Program Information: The Map Program is really not used to plan any trajectories. Rather, it predicts them and displays them. It uses a special trajectory prediction method that allows for extremely accurate predictions. Used to:

Display your orbit and your target‘s orbit

Provide very accurate data on many different properties of your trajectory Appropriate to use when:

You are out of a Planet or Moon‘s SOI

You need an accurate periapsis prediction

You want to see where your trajectory is taking you

You need an accurate prediction of almost anything, from Periapsis Velocity to Delta Velocity required to circularize an orbit

Not appropriate to use when:

No instances where the Map Program really is not useful. Helpful Hints:

Set up the Reference to the body that everything is orbiting (you, the body you left, and your target object).

Set target to your target.

Hit the SOI button and use CNT to center your spacecraft to see when you cross inside a planet‘s SOI.

Hmmm, Why is it that I have outer planets installed with all 62 of jupiter‘s moons, and I see the grey circles around Jupiter on the Map Program but there are only green orbits displayed for the four Galilean Moons? If this happens anywhere, you might want to decrease the Mass Limit in the configuration page. All objects will be displayed as little grey circles, but only objects with a mass greater than the mass limit will have an orbit displayed. The minimum value for Mass Limit is 1e15.

The Base Approach or Planet Approach Program may not give you entirely accurate predictions of PeA (altitude of periapsis). For the most accurate prediction possible by IMFD, set the Accuracy to 1.000 in the Map Configuration Page.

When far from a planet, predictions made by the Map Program of values such as PeA (Altitude of Periapsis) and PeT (Time to Periapsis) will be much more accurate than those made by MFD‘s such as Orbit MFD. However, as you get closer to a planet, Orbit MFD becomes more accurate, and can be used.

Target Intercept Program Information: The Target Intercept Program is used to calculate your trajectory from one celestial body to another. It uses special trajectory prediction methods, and is extraordinarily accurate. Be careful, though, because the target it heads you for is the very center of the planet!! Used to: Predict trajectories, plan flights, perform midcourse corrections, set up free return trajectories. Appropriate to use when:

Making a Planet to Moon trip (Earth to Moon)

Making a Planet to Planet trip (Earth to Saturn)

Making a Moon to Moon trip (Europa to Io)

Performing a midcourse correction far from a planet (outside its SOI)

Viewing important information such as time to target intercept, and viewing a diagram of you, your target, and the planet or moon you left.


Making a midcourse correction close to a planet. As stated above, the Target Intercept Program will try to make you head for the dead center of a planet.

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Making a Moon to Planet trip (Moon to Earth, Phobos to Mars, etc.) Helpful Hints:

The Reference is the object that the body you leave and your target object both orbit (Reference is the Sun for an Earth to Mars trip because Earth and Mars orbit the sun).

The Source is the object that you leave (For the same trip Source would be Earth because you leave the Earth).

Target is the object you are trying to get to (For the same trip Target would be Mars because that is where you are going)

Whenever you leave a Planet‘s SOI, ALWAYS SET THE SOURCE TO YOURSELF!!!!!!! You can do this by pressing the SCR button and inputting ―x‖ without the quotations.

After you are just outside a planet‘s SOI, and you set the source to yourself, you might find the dV value (delta velocity for midcourse correction) quite large. This is because you are still near the planet. Time warp until dV hits a minimum value and starts to climb, THEN perform your first midcourse correction.

It is inefficient to just launch to any planet whenever you want. Open up Target Intercept, set your Target, Source, and Reference, open doors so the crew can breathe for a long time (DGIV, XR series) and open your radiator or turn on External cooling so you don‘t overheat (XR series), and time warp at 100,000x until oV hits a minimum and starts climbing. This is the day you should go to your desired planet.

Off-Plane is often the most inefficient way to get to a planet. If you are going for efficiency, use Target Plane, Two Plane, or Source Plane.

After setting the source to yourself when using Target Plane, set the mode to manual target!!! There is a bug that will allow the line of nodes to rotate, always keeping you 90 degrees from your plane change.

Tangential Transfer Program Information: This program is not used very often. Appropriate to use when:

You are trying to make a transfer with the minimum delta velocity. Not appropriate to use when:

You want to get to a planet quickly and don‘t feel like spending 20 minutes finding a perfect launch time.

Helpful Hints:

You may want to use the SET button instead of the + and – buttons, because often times you will have to adjust TEj a HUGE amount and you would be holding down the + and – buttons for a very long time.

Planet Approach Program Information: This program is useful when you are approaching a planet. It allows you to set up select orbital elements for your approach orbit, and thus it is more efficient than eyeballing your approach via Map MFD and Orbit MFD. Appropriate to use when:

You are near a planet (inside or just outside its SOI). You can do your first correction burn far from the SOI to minimize the dV of later correction burns, but your first burn may be inaccurate if you are too far.

You want to orbit a planet a certain number of times and then land perfectly aligned with a base.

You want to see a diagram of what your approach orbit looks like.

You are planning a trip from a moon to a planet. Not appropriate to use when:

You are not near your target planet

Any mid course corrections far from your target planet. For this use the Target Intercept Program.

You are too close to a planet. If you wait until you get too close to a planet to perform the burn to set up your planet approach, the dV value will be astronomically high.

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Helpful Hints:

Set up and perform the first burn when you are outside the planet‘s Sphere of Influence. It will be inaccurate but it will decrease the magnitude of the upcoming burns.

Do several burns (Autoburn) in the course of approaching a planet; this keeps dV low. Once dV gets high and you get close to a planet, it can begin to increase very rapidly.

Orbit Insert Program Information: This program is used to do a capture burn from a hyperbolic orbit. Appropriate to use when:

You are near a planet with a hyperbolic orbit, and you want the computer to do your insertion burn for you instead of doing it manually so it is more accurate.


Every other instance other than the one listed above. Helpful Hints:

USE IMFD V4.2.1!!!!!!!! The Orbit Insert program in the later versions of IMFD is highly inaccurate, and it decreases your periapsis dramatically. For best results, have the current version of IMFD AND version 4.2.1. Use 4.2.1 for Orbit Insert and the latest version for everything else.

You should execute Autoburn far from the actual point it will perform your insertion burn. Autoburn controls time warp automatically, so you never have to worry about passing the planet by mistake because you forgot to turn down the time warp.

Delta Velocity Program Information: This program is used to autoburn a set delta velocity value. It is rarely used. Appropriate to use when:

You want an automated burn for a specific amount of delta velocity Not appropriate to use when:

Performing ejection burns

Performing insertion burns

Performing midcourse corrections

Basically, there is no real need to ever use this program. Orbital Program Information: This program does several very useful things when you are in orbit. Appropriate to use when:

You want to circularize your orbit at your CURRENT altitude.

You want to match the velocity with a target orbiting with a low relative velocity to you so you can intercept it (Martian moon, space station, etc.)

You want to center a target in your front windshield. Not appropriate to use when:

You are flying between two bodies that have their own gravity (planet to planet, planet to moon EXCEPT for situations similar to Phobos, Deimos, tiny moons close to outer planets such as Amalthea). Use Planet Approach and Orbit Insert to enter orbit around these larger bodies. So any moon that you cannot orbit around (Phobos, Deimos, tiny moons close to outer planets such as Amalthea) you should use the Match Velocity Mode and then land on the moon much as if it were a space station—move slowly towards it; its gravity will not tug you towards it.

Helpful Hints:

The circularize orbit mode will circularize your orbit at the altitude when the engines start firing. It will not wait for you to reach apoapsis or periapsis. When you hit autoburn, the burn starts immediately.

If you want to put a space station into view, and don‘t want to ―cheat‖ by using planetarium mode, use the Find Target mode.

Surface Launch Program

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Information: This program helps you launch into a low orbit that is nearly ready to be ejected from. Appropriate to use when:

You are on the ground waiting to launch.

You are ascending from the source planet (going to low earth orbit for an earth to mars trip)


You are in orbit around anything anywhere. Basically, only use this program for the above cases.

Helpful Hints:

You can launch at any time. For the lowest EIn when you launch, wait until the yellow number counting down seconds reaches zero. This will happen twice per simulator day.

Leave this program up throughout your entire ascent. You can add left or right nose slip to keep the EIn number at a minimum.

Orbit Eject Program Information: This program is used to eject from a low orbit onto an orbit created by another program. Appropriate to use when:

You are in low orbit around a planet or moon, ready to eject to travel to your target planet or moon.


Any other circumstance other than the one listed above. Helpful Hints:

Always use Off-Axis mode when you perform a long ejection burn. Then, after it has completed, switch to realtime mode and hit autoburn again to correct any mistake that the Autoburn made the first time. With very long burns, it is likely that Autoburn will not be able to make it perfectly.

Although you can get data from the Course, Base Approach, and Slingshot programs, you rarely use the latter two options—when flying to another planet, you almost always set up a course plan with target intercept, use surface launch to get into a low orbit, and use orbit eject to get on your way.

Base Approach Information: Base Approach is used when you want to do a direct landing when you arrive at a planet, so you will not do an insertion burn and a deorbit burn. Either you will do a direct reentry (eliminating both of the above mentioned burns) or you will combine them (such as when you are approaching Brighton Beach on the Moon) into one long burn. Appropriate to use when:

You are very far away from a planet.

You want to land directly and not orbit the target planet or moon. Not appropriate to use when:

You are making a midcourse correction VERY far from a planet. Use the Target Intercept Program to make midcourse corrections.

You want to orbit the target planet for some time (maybe for some sightseeing )

Any other instance other than the ones mentioned in the ―Appropriate to use when‖ list. Helpful Hints:

You will not find a solution every time. If the program cannot find a solution, then no target orbit (purple) is displayed.

dV may be very large. This is the price to pay for landing directly. Again, if you do your first burn far away from the planet and use several smaller burns as you get closer, the dV is minimized.

Hint is time to periapsis. Do not trust Orbit MFD or anything else. Use the Map Program, with the accuracy set to 1.000.

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Set Ant to 90 degrees for winged vehicles (DGIV, XR series, etc.) when approaching the Earth from the moon (elliptical). Set it to 120-160 degrees when approaching Earth from another planet (hyperbolic)

This program basically alters your orbit, thus altering the time at which your ship crosses the periapsis of a planet. As a result, you will find that it works best with planets with a fast rotation because a base on the surface will ―pass under‖ your reentry or landing zone more often during your approach. It is difficult to get this program to work with planets or moons that rotate slowly.

Slingshot Program Information: This program is used to change your course target by setting up a slingshot around a planet. Appropriate to use when:

You are performing a slingshot around one planet enroute to another. Not appropriate to use when:

Any other instance other than the case mentioned above. This program will not plan a slingshot, it will simply set it up and autoburn so that your ship will fly by the planet on its way to the next planet.

Helpful Hints:

Once again, if you do your first burn far away from the planet and use several smaller burns as you get closer, the dV is minimized.

If doing slingshots around gas giants, once you are out of their SOI and you switch the source to self in target intercept, you may find dV quite high. That is because they are still influencing your orbit. Time warp until dV reaches a minimum and begins to climb, THEN perform your midcourse correction.

Slingshots are rarely more efficient than a direct transfer orbit (unless you are NASA and you calculate to launch on a very specific date when the planets are perfectly aligned for you). If you want to do a good slingshot, why not use NASA‘s dates? For example, do an Earth to Jupiter to Saturn around the time that Voyager 1 did it. Use Scenario Editor to ―go back in time.‖

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Appendix E

These are brief checklists designed for quick reference. To see any one in more detail, please see the in which the checklist is described (these are written in much more detail). Course Setup (Off Plane, Planet to Planet)

Example: Set up an Earth to Mars Transfer

Open IMFD

Select Course

Select Target Intercept. Since we are traveling from a planet to another planet, this is our navigation tool of choice.

Set Target as Mars because this is where we are going.

Check Reference is Sun and Source is Earth because the Sun is orbited by both the Earth and Mars (Reference), and we are leaving Earth (Source).

Check that the Transfer Mode is Off-Plane. This is the easiest way to get there.

In Target Intercept, Lock TOF. This is so that when we adjust TEj, TIn will adjust at the same rate, keeping our time of flight constant.

Advance TEj until dV is minimized (I use 10x adjustments on the MJD to advance one day per click).

Unlock TOF

Adjust TIn to minimize dV

Alternately adjust TEj and TIn to further minimize the dV.

Use scenario editor (or time warp) to advance time until one week before launch (for distant windows, also stop one month prior to launch)

Again, alternately adjust TEj and TIn to adjust for inaccuracies in original predictions (IMFD gets more accurate over shorter times, so dV will have changed a bit)

Fast forward to launch.

Return to normal time when TEj says 10,000. That is the approximate number of seconds that you will be in orbit around Earth before you leave for Mars (gives you plenty of time to circularize your orbit, align planes, etc.)

Congratulations! You have a flight plan to Mars. Course Setup (Off Plane, Moon to Moon)—Playback 3

Example: Set up an Io to Callisto Transfer

Open IMFD

Select Course

Select Target Intercept. Since we are traveling from a moon to another moon, this is our navigation tool of choice.

Set Target as Callisto

Check Reference is Jupiter and Source is Io because Jupiter is orbited by both the Io and Callisto (Reference), and we are leaving Io (Source).

Check that the Transfer Mode is Off-Plane. This is the easiest way to get there.



Unlock TOF




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Return to normal time when TEj says 10,000. That is the approximate number of seconds that you will be in orbit before you leave for Callisto (gives you plenty of time to circularize your orbit, align planes, etc.)

Congratulations! You have a flight plan to Callisto. Course Setup (Off Plane, Planet to Moon)—Playback 2

Example: Set up an Earth to Moon Transfer

Open IMFD

Select Course

Select Target Intercept. Since we are traveling from a planet to a moon, this is our navigation tool of choice.

Set Target as Moon. Once you do this, the purple orbit will begin to ―swivel,‖ shrinking and growing continually.

Set TEj to 0. This will stop it from shrinking and growing.

Check that the Reference is Earth (because this is the object that the target and source are orbiting around) and check that the Source is your spacecraft (in a Planet to Moon Transfer, the source must be yourself).

Set the TIn to your desired time until intercept PLUS 6000 seconds. A good value for this would be 400,000 seconds. This six thousand seconds should be under TEj, but a bug causes the orbit to shrink and grow unless TEj is set to zero. So, we must account for the 6000 seconds in the TIn.

Go to the Surface Launch Program.

Hilight the Course item and hit + until it says Lunar Off-Plane. This is the mode of surface Launch you must use when you do a Planet to Moon transfer.

Input Moon as the Target (it will prompt you to do so when Lunar Off-Plane is selected).

Wait for Time to reach zero, and take off, and enter orbit. You are ready for your orbit ejection!

Course Setup (Off Plane, Moon to Planet)—Playback 4

Example: Set up Moon to Earth Transfer

Open IMFD

Select Planet Approach. Since this is a moon to planet flight, we must use planet approach.

Set the Source to Moon. The display should now change. We did this because we are leaving from the Moon.

Check Target Equator and Reference Earth. The Earth is the thing that the source and target are moving around (Reference) and the target is the Equator so we can set the inclination with respect to the equator, which makes things easier.

You can set up desired values of your Earth orbit (PeA, Equitorial inclination, etc.) but this is not completely necessary.

Congratulations! You have planned a Moon to Earth Transfer. Course Setup (Planar Transfer, Planet to Planet)—Playback 5

Example: Set up an Earth to Mars Transfer

Open IMFD

Select Course

Select Target Intercept. Since we are traveling from a planet to another planet, this is our navigation tool of choice.

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Set Target as Mars because this is where we are going.

Check Reference is Sun and Source is Earth because the Sun is orbited by both the Earth and Mars (Reference), and we are leaving Earth (Source).

Check that the Transfer Mode is either Target Plane, Two Plane, or Source Plane. It is recommended that you use Two Plane or Source Plane, not Target Plane.



Unlock TOF






Return to normal time when TEj says 10,000. That is the approximate number of seconds that you will be in orbit before you leave for Mars (gives you plenty of time to circularize your orbit, align planes, etc.)

Congratulations! You have a flight plan to Mars. Course Setup (Planar Transfer, Moon to Moon)

Example: Set up an Io to Callisto Transfer

Open IMFD

Select Course

Select Target Intercept. Since we are traveling from a moon to another moon, this is our navigation tool of choice.

Set Target as Callisto

Check Reference is Jupiter and Source is Io because Jupiter is orbited by both the Io and Callisto (Reference), and we are leaving Io (Source).

Check that the Transfer Mode is either Target Plane, Two Plane, or Source Plane. It is recommended that you use Two Plane or Source Plane, not Target Plane.



Unlock TOF






Return to normal time when TEj says 10,000. That is the approximate number of seconds that you will be in orbit before you leave for Callisto (gives you plenty of time to circularize your orbit, align planes, etc.)

Congratulations! You have a flight plan to Callisto. Surface Launch—Playbacks 2,3,4,5,6,7

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Example: Launch to Low Earth Orbit before going to Mars. Note that this assumes you have completed some type of Earth to Mars Transfer setup.

Open IMFD

Select Surface Launch. Since we are on the ground launching to LEO, Surface Launch is the Program of choice.

Check that it says Course-Program in the top right hand corner. This means that the program will gather data from the Course Program.

Set the Altitude to the altitude that you want your orbit to be at. For Earth, it should be above 200k, and for Mars, above 100k. This is to avoid an orbit inside the atmosphere.

Time warp slowly until the time says about 300s (5 minutes to takeoff), and return to normal time.

Prepare your vessel for takeoff.

When it hits zero, engage main engines and take off. Fly the heading that the Surface Launch Program displayed as Hed.

Introduce nose side slip to keep EIn as low as possible. This saves us from using fuel trying to fix it later.

Perform MECO when in orbit.

Contratulations! You are in orbit ready to go! Orbit Eject—Playbacks 3,4,5,6,7

Example: Eject from Earth Orbit to go to Mars. This assumes that you have completed some type of Earth to Mars Transfer setup AND you have launched into a low earth orbit.

Open IMFD

Open the Orbit Eject Program. We are in orbit, ready to eject, so this is the program of choice.

Highlight the item in the top right hand corner and change it from Higher-Orbit to Course. We want Orbit Eject receiving data from the Course Program.

Hit the NXT button and change from Realtime to Off-Axis. Since this is a long duration burn, Off-Axis mode is the method of choice.

Now time warp until you hit a node. Turn Orbit Normal or Orbit Anti-normal, and engage main engines. Note that IMFD does not tell you which way to turn, so you must guess. Your goal is to get EIn down to zero, because this is Eject Inclination and we want it as low as possible. When it is zero, MECO.

Now time warp until you are about a third of an orbit away from your eject point (solid green line is about a third of an orbit away from the dotted green line), return to normal time, and hit Autoburn.

Time Warp to 100x. Autoburn will slow down time, and execute the burn.

Leave the Orbit Eject program up.

Congratulations, you are on your way to Mars! Leaving a Planet’s SOI—Playbacks 1,3,4,5,6,7

Example: Eject from Earth Orbit to go to Mars. This assumes that you have completed some type of Earth to Mars Transfer setup, you have launched into a low earth orbit, AND you have ejected from Low Earth Orbit.

IMFD should be open, and set to the Target Intercept Program.

IMFD should be open on the other side too, with the Orbit Eject Program running.

When the Orbit Eject Program displays a message that says ―Have a nice voyage!‖ set the source in the Target Intercept to Program (SRC input ―x‖ without the quotations) and hit MNU to change the MFD with Orbit Eject to Map Program.

Time warp carefully until dV hits a low point and starts increasing again, and then hit Autoburn to execute your first Midcourse Correction (All in the MFD with Target Intercept).

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Congratulations! You have left a planet‘s SOI! Midcourse Correction—Playbacks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7

Example: Perform a midcourse correction en route to Mars from Earth. This assumes that you have completed some type of Earth to Mars Transfer setup, you have launched into a low earth orbit, AND you have ejected from Low Earth Orbit.


Check that Source is set to Self.

Hit the Autoburn Button.

Congratulations! You have made a midcourse correction! Midcourse Correction Special Case—Plane Change Maneuver—Playbacks 5,6,7

Example: Perform a plane change maneuver en route to Mars from Earth. This assumes that you have completed some type of Earth to Mars Planar Transfer setup, you have launched into a low earth orbit, you have ejected from Low Earth Orbit, AND you are well out of the Earth‘s SOI.


You should see a number, Tn (Time to Node). Time warp until you are about 1800s (about half an hour) away from the Node.

Scroll down to Prep. PlC using the NXT and PRV buttons.

Hit the + button. This turns on Prep. PlC, and the course program begins to prepare for the plane change maneuver.

Hit Autoburn, and time warp to 100x. Let Autoburn do the rest.

Congratulations! You have just completed your plane change maneuver!

Note that now that you have done your plane change maneuver, the Target Intercept Program will act as if it were in Off-Plane Mode.

Planet Approach Setup—Playbacks 6,7

Example: Set up your approach to Mars. You should have a PeT of about 400,000 seconds (get this value from the Map Program!!!)

Open IMFD.

Select the Planet Approach Program. Since you are approaching a planet but not doing a direct landing or direct reentry, this is the program of choice.

Set the Reference to Mars. This tells the program that you are approaching Mars.

Set the Target to Equator. This allows us to use Equatorial Inclination as opposed to Ecliptic Inclination, making our lives easier.

Use NXT and PRV, and +, -, or SET to set values for your PeA (Altitude of Periapsis) and EqI (Equatorial Inclination) to what you desire. You must set EqI to a latitude higher than the base you intend to land on, if you intend to land.

Execute the Autoburn Button.

Congratulations! You are now approaching Mars!

Now, you must time warp slowly and keep an eye on dV. It will start to increase. Every once in a while, hit Autoburn again (maybe every time it gets above 100). Careful as it increases at a dramatic rate as you get close to the planet.

Orbit Insert—Playbacks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7

Example: Perform a capture burn to enter low Mars orbit. You should have a PeT of about 1800 seconds and be approaching Mars with a hyperbolic orbit (Eccentricity greater than 1). Since we are close to the planet, most MFD‘s will have an accurate prediction of PeT, and you do not NEED to use the Map Program for this prediction (You can use Orbit MFD).

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Open IMFD V 4.2.1. You must use this version of IMFD for Orbit Insert!!! The later versions (5.0, 5.3, etc) do not work very well.

In IMFD 4.2.1, Select the Course button. The Orbit Insert Program is located here.

Select Orbit Insert. TtB should be less than 1800 seconds, as you are nearing your periapsis.

Set desired ApD (Radial Distance of Apoapsis) OR Eccentricity. When you change one, the other one also changes. For a perfectly circular orbit, just set Eccentricity (Ecc) to zero. You cannot control your PeA (Altitude of Periapsis).

Engage Autoburn.

Time warp to 100x. Let Autoburn slow time automatically (which it will do, don‘t worry) and let it perform the burn. Watch dV.

When the engines shut off, there will probably still be some dV left. Switch to Burn Vector View by hitting the BV button, rotating towards the grey cross, and engaging main engines until dV nears zero.

Congratulations, you are in low orbit!! Base Approach Setup—Playbacks 1,3,4,5,6

Example: Set up your approach to Olympus Base. You should have a PeT of about 500,000 seconds (get this value from the Map Program!!!)

Open IMFD.

Select the Base Approach Program. Since we are approaching a planet and we want to land at a particular base, Base Approach is the program of choice.

Hit the TGT button, and set the Target to Olympus. This will automatically input Olympus‘s Longitude and Latitude.

Set Alt to 120k. Mars‘s atmosphere ends at 100k, but we want to give ourselves some room for error.

Set up the Num item. This is the number of full orbits between orbit insert and landing. See the description of this item in the Base Approach Program section.

Hit Autoburn.

Congratulations! You are now approaching Mars, headed for a landing at Olympus!

Now, you must time warp slowly and keep an eye on dV. It will start to increase. Every once in a while, hit Autoburn again (maybe every time it gets above 100). Careful as it increases at a dramatic rate as you get close to the planet.

Map Program Setup—Playbacks 3,4,5,6,7

Example: Set up the Map Program en route to Mars.

Open IMFD.

Select the Map Program.

Set Reference as Sun.

Set Target as Mars.

Set Center as what you want centered (your ship, periapsis at mars, etc.)

Hit SOI. This will display the SOI around all bodies with a mass greater than the mass limit in the configuration page.

Hit Dsp. This will display all orbits. If you do not want to see all orbits, then do not hit this button.

Hit the INT button. This will turn on intercept mode.

The map is now set up to go to Mars. Note that none of these steps are absolutely necessary, but it‘s nice to have a good display as your ship travels through the Solar System.

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Slingshot Setup—Playbacks 6,7 Slingshot setups are very tricky and are different for every scenario. The two slingshot playbacks should cover most situations you will encounter. Circularize Orbit

Example: Circularize your orbit around Earth. This assumes you are in a closed (Eccentricity less than 1) orbit and you are currently at the altitude that you want your orbit to be at.

Open IMFD.

Select the Orbital Program.

Hit the CIR button to open the Orbit Circularization Mode.

Hit the Autoburn button.

You are now in a circular orbit. Match Velocity—Playback 2

Example: You are approaching Phobos at about 50 m/s, and you want to match its velocity so you stay in the same position relative to the Martian Moon.

Open IMFD.

Select the Orbital Program.

Hit the VeM button to open the Velocity Match Mode.

Hit the TGT button and type in Phobos.

Hit the Autoburn button.

You now have the same relative velocity as Phobos. Direct Ascent to the Moon—Playback 1

Example: Start at Cape Canaveral, and set up and execute one long burn for a direct ascent to the moon.

Open IMFD.

Select the Course Program.

Select the Target Intercept Program. Since we are going from a planet to a moon, Target Intercept is the program of choice.

Set Target as Moon. Once you do this, the purple orbit will begin to ―swivel,‖ shrinking and growing continually.

Set TEj to 0. This will stop it from shrinking and growing. Also, since this is a direct ascent, time between takeoff and ejection burn is zero because it is one long combined burn.

Check that the Reference is Earth (because this is the object that the target and source are orbiting around) and check that the Source is your spacecraft (in a Planet to Moon Transfer, the source must be yourself).

Set the TIn to your desired time until intercept. A good value for this would be about 400,000 seconds.

Open Burn Vector View. Once the ship is in a stable state, time warp at about 10,000x until the cross goes SIGNIFICANTLY ABOVE the horizontal green line (more than one third of the way from the horizontal green line to the top of the circle). We have now found our launch window. We will be flying with our nose pointed towards this cross, and if the cross is below the horizontal green line (which is the horizon line), we will be burning our engines for several minutes towards Earth. Not a good idea.

Take off, and fly towards the cross. Keep the cross grey (not green) and in the center of the crosshairs.

When your Total dV remaining reaches around 5,000, cut off your main engines and hit the Autoburn Button. Let Autoburn take care of the rest of the burn.

Congratulations! You are on your way to the Moon!

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Appendix F

The do‘s and don‘t ever‘s of IMFD. DO…

Realize that IMFD will not always work as expected 100% of the time. Unfortunately, this is the truth of incredibly complex pieces of software offered for free. However, Jarmonik knows what he is doing and IMFD is reliable 99.9% of the time. If it does not work, look back to this manual and see if you find something that explains the problem. If you cannot, Jarmonik, myself (markl316), Tommy, and countless others can help you on the forum.

When you first open a program and a delta velocity to match a target orbit is displayed, ALWAYS time warp until it hits a minimum, THEN hit autoburn. There are several reasons for this. First, it is the most fuel-efficient way to do a burn. Second, most programs do not take gravity into account. This means that as you approach a planet from far away, the orbit begins to change drastically. So if you correct the burn too far away, the orbit will change drastically, requiring lots of fuel to correct.

In the above case, if you start to time warp and dV increases, IMMEDIATELY execute autoburn. dV will not increase and then decrease, so in this case perform the burn as soon as possible.

Learn how to cope with huge ships. With large slow rotating ships (such as Deepstar or Vespucci), either turn down Autoburn Max Rate, or manually rotate the ship to the correct attitude using the Burn Vector View and THEN execute autoburn. If your ship keeps rotating and never getting to the correct burn attitude (attitude thrusters keep firing and the ship keeps spinning like crazy) when you hit [AB] (ie the RCS thrusters provide a low angular acceleration—good examples are Vespucci and Deepstar) you might want to turn Autoburn Max Rate down. Or, you could open burn vector view, manually rotate towards the cross, then hit Autoburn.

Plan Ahead. Open programs such as Base Approach and Slingshot WAY ahead of time. Then time warping slowly, keep an eye on dV. Slow and steady wins the race.

Watch the display screen of autoburn during the ENTIRE time autoburn is controlling your ship. Sometimes, Autoburn will act crazy. This is just a fact of life, with a complex free piece of software. If in the middle of the burn Autoburn starts to spin your ship like crazy, hit the [AB] button to shut it off. Try time warping at 10x for about 6 seconds (one minute sim time) and try it again. If it still doesn‘t work, switch to Burn Vector view and make the burn manually.

Use Realtime mode for burns instead of Off-Axis if Off-Axis is giving you trouble, even if everybody tells you not to. Realtime burn mode is slightly less fuel efficient than off-axis, and much more reliable. If Off-Axis mode is giving you grief, just use realtime and don‘t worry about it. You can do any burn in realtime and get to your target and have everything work perfectly.

Slow down time and watch your orbit match the target’s orbit when using Off-Axis mode. Sometimes, when using Off-Axis mode, the Autoburn will not shut down the engines, and your orbit (green) will go right past the target orbit. If this happens, just turn off Autoburn, wait 30 seconds, then engage Autoburn again—IN REALTIME BURN MODE. If this fails, switch to Burn Vector View and do the burn manually.

When doing a long burn, first do it in Off-Axis mode, then let Autoburn finish, then switch to realtime burn mode and engage autoburn again. This is to allow Autoburn to make your burn perfectly.

Engage Autoburn early.

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Even if it says Time to burn 120000 seconds, it is better to engage it early then to miss your ejection point. Plus, if you do this, Autoburn will slow down time as you approach the point of burn, so you never have to worry about missing the burn point.

Don’t EVER…

Switch between Realtime and Off-Axis mode during the Autoburn This may make Autoburn go haywire. If you must switch, first turn Autoburn off (hit the [AB] button), then make the switch to Realtime, then engage autoburn a second time.

Engage Autoburn at high time warps. This can cause Autoburn crashed, IMFD crashes, and CTD‘s. ALWAYS switch to realtime before engaging Autoburn.

Engage Autoburn for one program, and while the burn for that program is running, switch to a different program. If you do this, Autoburn will not shut off the engines. You will burn until you realize what is going on, run out of fuel, or crash. Leave a program open when its autoburn is running.

Switch between internal view and external view when Autoburn is running. Results of this problem are very similar to the problem above—the engines don‘t shut down when you are in external mode.

Engage Autoburn AFTER TtB says 0. This causes many weird autoburn symptoms, including aiming your ship towards earth and diving straight for the planet. It is strongly recommended to quicksave very often in case this happens to you.

Use scenario editor to go back in time. Instead, quicksave often. Using scenario editor to go back in time will cause many weird malfunctions. Also, don‘t EVER use scenario editor to go forward in time with two exceptions—on long flights (Earth to Pluto) when you are in the cruise phase (out of Earth‘s SOI, ship is in a stable state), or when fast forwarding many years to a launch window. It is recommended that you adjust first the seconds, then minutes, then hours, then days, then months, then years. This ―gradual onset‖ of time change can help IMFD not crash or malfunction.

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Appendix G

This Appendix contains all in-flight notes for all playbacks. If you missed an in-flight note, or you just want a hard copy, here they are. It is highly recommended that you take all flights in order as some lessons use material introduced in past lessons. IMFD Tutorial #1—Direct Ascent to the Moon IMPORTANT: Since I used High Resolution KSC for this playback, depending on whether you have it installed or not, this flight might not start you on the runway. Don‘t worry, you will still get to the Moon. 0 Welcome to IMFD Tutorial #1--Direct ascent from Earth to the Moon!!! 7 This tutorial will take you to the Moon from the Earth with a direct ascent from the Earth. 17 Open up IMFD in the Left Hand MFD. 32 Hit the [MNU] button, then the Course button. 44 Target Intercept should be highlighted and underlined in white. Hit the Set button to select it. Since this is a Planet to Moon transfer, Target Intercept is the program of choice. 60 Hit the [TGT] button, and input Moon. This is the target because it is where we are going. Reference and Source will be automatically set up when you input the target. 85 Hit the [NXT] button to highlight TEj, then hit the Set button. Set the value to zero. This will stop the orbit from shrinking and growing. 105 Hit the [PG] button, and then the [BV] button to open the Burn Vector View. Basically we will fly towards the cross and apply about 10k m/s of delta velocity. In order to do that, we must wait for the green cross to be above the horizontal green line (horizon line) or we will be flying into the Earth. We will begin to time warp until that happens. 47202 Ok, the cross is well above the horizontal line. We will now take off and fly towards the green cross. 47212 Engaging main engines. 47234 Gear up. 47282 Now that the cross is centered (note that it has turned grey--this means it is centered) we will use the kill rotation autopilot to keep our attitude steady. Note that this will take a while to do a 10k m/s change in delta velocity. We will stay in normal time for the first half of the ascent. If you want to walk away from your computer, come back at sim time = 47700. 47330 Don't worry, we will stay in real time. So be back at your computer in 370 seconds (6:10) if you want to get a snack or something. You won't be missing anything, I'm just keeping the cross centered by rotating towards it. 47700 Ok hopefully you are back. We are now going to transfer the burn to Autoburn. This will allow us to just sit back and relax instead of manually keeping the cross centered. 47728 There's Main Engine Cutoff. We had to do that because in order to engage the autoburn, the engines cannot be running. 47732 There's Main Engine Cutoff. We had to do that because in order to engage the autoburn, the engines cannot be running. Engaging Autoburn. 47736 Now that Autoburn is controlling the burn, we can use Time Acceleration. 48261 Now we are back in normal time, with Main Engine Cutoff coming up in about 20 seconds. 48296 Now we will time warp until we are about halfway to the moon for our first midcourse correction. 178620 Now we are about halfway to the moon. It's time to set up our base approach using the Base Approach Program so we can land at Brighton Beach. 178635 Open IMFD on the right if it isn't already open, and hit [MNU]. 178650 Select the Base Approach program. Make sure the Reference is Moon. If not, hit [REF] and type Moon. This program will help us set up a hyperbolic orbit that will allow us to land shortly after orbit insert. 178665 Scroll down using [NXT] and [PRV] until the Re-Entry item is highlighted and underlined in white, then hit the [+] button twice until Orbit-Insert is displayed.

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178680 Now hit the [TGT] button and input Brighton Beach. 178695 Scroll using [NXT] and [PRV] until altitude is selected, then hit the SET button and input 12k. This is the altitude of our low orbit before deorbit burn and landing. Also make sure that Num is 0, which tells us that we will land at the passage over Brighton Beach right after our insertion burn. 178710 Now we will time warp until dV on the Base Approach Program hits a minimum and starts to increase, then we will perform our Autoburn to zero dV. 327377 Now that dV has hit a minimum and started increasing, we will perform our Autoburn to match our orbit with the planned approach orbit. 327410 Hmmm, don't really know what happened there. Sometimes Autoburn will fail. If you see dV increasing when Autoburn is burning, just hit the Autoburn button again to cancel it, then wait a while and hit it again to make it try again. You can always use Burn Vector View if it fails, but normally it doesn't. 327433 That's better. Autoburn worked this time, and now dV is pretty close to zero. 327439 Now, we are time warping to Lunar Periapsis. 374655 It is normal for dV to increase even after we have completed the first autoburn. You must perform a few Autoburns, starting with one very far away from the planet, and more as you get closer. Doing one far away from the planet makes the burns you do closer to the planet much less fuel costly. It is normal to perform 3 or 4 burns after your initial Base Approach setup. 374688 dV is zero again, now time warping some more to get closer to our lunar periapsis. 404071 The Course Program has displayed the warning message that it does when you cross into your target body's Sphere of Influence. Not a big deal, just hit the Source button and enter Moon. We will also do another Base Approach correction Autoburn. We want this to be perfect, as it is aligning us up perfectly with Brighton Beach. 404090 Now open IMFD 4.2.1. Very important--This MUST be IMFD 4.2.1!!! We are doing our insertion burn, and in order for that to work properly, we MUST use IMFD 4.2.1!!! 404105 Hit the [MNU] button, then the Course Button, then scroll down using [NXT] and [PRV] and select Orbit Insert. 404130 Now I have hit the Autoburn Button--Don't you do this, I am just telling what I have done. Now we can time warp safely, because with Autoburn engaged IMFD will automatically slow down time to let Autoburn execute the burn. 419001 Let's do one final Base Approach correction burn, just to get it perfect. 419010 Autoburn has been pressed. 419030 dV is zero once again. Now time warping again. 421362 About 4 seconds until Main Engines being engaged. 421421 Remember, Orbit Insert is not always 100% accurate. It may leave a little dV leftover. Just switch to Burn Vector View and finish the burn manually. 421435 I am now finishing the burn manually using Burn Vector View. 421453 Now we are in a circular Lunar Orbit. 421465 Open Orbit MFD on the left. IMFD has served us well, but we won't be needing it anymore. 421480 Open up Com/Nav MFD on the Right, and set Comm1 to 132.50, the VTOL frequency for Pad 4 at Brighton Beach. This is the pad where we will be landing. 421520 Now open up a Map MFD on the right, and set the target to Brighton Beach. 421539 Now time warping to near the landing time. Watch the cross on the Map MFD. 425861 Now engaging Regrograde Autopilot. We will orient ourselves for the Deorbit burn. 425880 All MFD's are set up for the deorbit burn--the Comm/Nav MFD has the right frequency, and you should have Map MFD on the right. Switch from Orbit MFD to Surface MFD on the right. 425905 This has been a great four and a half days with you (or 25 minutes at Play at Record Speed :) ). 425930 Oh man! Would you look at our fuel! It's pretty low. 425960 The landing will be done in real time. If you already know how to land, you can just exit out here. But I recommend you watch the landing. Spectacular views of the Lunar sunset await.

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425996 Now we will time warp until the deorbit burn. 426301 We are seconds away from the deorbit burn. 426309 Engaging main engines. 426381 Nearing Main Engine Cutoff. 426396 There's Main Engine Cutoff. Now we will turn Prograde, then Level Horizon and slow down our descent rate. 426433 While we're at it, let's open the Retro Doors. we'll need those to slow ourselves down as we near Brighton Beach. 426477 Let's open the VOR/VTOL MFD in place of the Map MFD so we can head towards the pad. 426510 The Velocity Vector (Circle with crosshairs on the HUD) has been placed on the pad. 426604 Let's start reducing speed. 426652 We're getting close to landing. 426706 There's that REALLY annoying radar beep. In place of the Surface MFD, open up the Radio/MP3 MFD, hit the [RAD] button to stop the beep, and then go right back to the surface MFD. 426780 Landing gear down. 426813 Now we're centered over Pad 04. 426844 Now Autohover is engaged, and we're hovering about 5 meters above the pad. I will now make any final corrections in centering us over the pad. 426877 Now we will start to descend again. 426908 Gear Touchdown!!! Now turning off all autopilots and killing hover thrust. 426920 Congratulations!!! If you have Lunar City installed (available at Orbithangar) and McWoggs's new sun texture installed (also available at Orbithangar), hit F1 to go outside (Make sure Orulex is disabled for this spectacular view). The sun is setting directly behind Lunar City, making it appear to have rays growing out of it. Beautiful. 426935 The pad lights have just turned on. This is Markl316 signing off. Enjoy your stay on the Moon. IMFD Tutorial #2—Mars to Phobos 0 Welcome to IMFD Tutorial #2--Mars to Phobos!!! 7 This tutorial includes a flight from Mars to Phobos, with a landing on PreludeII Phobos. 16 The method used here is the EXACT same method used to get from the Earth to the Moon. 32 So, using this method, substitute "Moon" for "Phobos" and "Earth" for "Mars" and you will get to the moon no problem. 45 Welcome to Olympus Base. We're in a deltaglider. 52 Open IMFD, and select Surface Launch. we'll plan our course once we're in orbit. 65 With Course highlighted, hit the [+] button until lunar off-plane comes up. 78 Set the target to Phobos. 86 Notice EIn. This is Ejection Inclination, and we'll take off when it's zero. Time warping until that point. 15834 EIn is less than 1 degree. When we take off, we'll turn towards a heading of 90 degrees, because the Hed item in the Surface Launch Program is 90.00. 16316 Takeoff!!! We'll turn to 90 degrees, then ascend. The ascent is not too long, so we'll be doing it in realtime. Don't leave your computer, important instructions follow. 16464 Now that we have picked up some speed, we can introduce side slip (yaw the nose left or right) to minimize EIn (as our goal for this number is zero). 16642 There's Main Engine Cutoff. Not the best orbit, but it's a quick fix once we reach apoapsis. 17394 That's good enough, it doesn't have to be perfect, as we'll be leaving soon. 17400 Ok, time to plan our course to Phobos. Hit the [MNU] button, then select Course, and Target Intercept. 17413 Set the target to Phobos, then scroll to TIn, hit Set, and input 7200.

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17423 Scroll until TOF-Unlocked is selected, then hit [+] to make it locked. This is so when we adjust TEj, the difference between TIn and TEj (time of flight) stays the same. 17445 Now we must adjust TEj until dV reaches a minimum. Since I have already flown this flight, I know that the approximate value is 4570, so highlight TEj, hit Set and then input 4570. 17470 Now, with Adj at 1x on the bottom (hit Adj until it is), use [+] and [-] to adjust TEj to make dV a minimum. 17490 Note how EIn is a bit off, so we'll turn Orbit Anti-Normal to make the plane change burn. Remember, we don't have to be at a node--EIn can be adjusted anywhere, but it's most efficient at a node. 17596 EIn is zero. Now, we'll turn off the Anti-Normal autopilot, then I'll hit the [AB] button. 22041 5 seconds until burn. 22046 Engaging main engines. 22115 Autoburn complete. Notice how quickly dV is changing. Because Phobos moves so fast (it's very close to Mars so it has a low orbital period) any tiny deviation in dV is "amplified." 22140 Don't worry, with an Earth to Moon flight, dV won't change nearly as quickly at all--it will hardly change at all. This is just for flying to a target that moves fast (low orbital period). 22153 Time warping until we're halfway to Phobos. 24783 Let's do a midcourse correction burn. Engaging Autoburn. 24804 The burn is complete, and dV is very close to zero. Let's time warp until we're closer to Phobos. 28002 We're closer, and dV has deviated, so let's do another course correction. Engaging Autoburn. 28030 Good, dV is minimal again, let's time warp until we're even closer. 28590 Let's do one more mid course correction. Since we're doing this correction with the course program, it is trying to crash us into the dead center of phobos. 28600 When flying to the moon, this would be BAD, but since we're not entering orbit around phobos, it's no problem. 28612 Autoburn is done. Open the Orbital Program now. 28620 Select the Velocity Match Program ([VeM] on the right). 28625 Set the target as Phobos. 28635 dV is 782 and distance to phobos is 467.7k. Let's wait until we're closer to initiate Autoburn. 29116 Ok, engaging autoburn. 29151 Ok, I cut Autoburn off early. I don't want to cancel too much velocity too quickly, or it would take forever to get to Phobos. 29212 Ok, bring up Surface MFD in the MFD that doesn't have IMFD. Let's cancel some more velocity. Engaging Autoburn. 29235 dV is good for now. 29242 Approaching Phobos. Go to external mode (F1). What a view!!! 29310 Now we'll do our final autoburn to completely match our velocity to Phobos's velocity. 29330 Our velocity relative to Phobos is now zero. 29348 Now rotating towards Phobos. Let's see if we can see PreludeII Phobos from out here. 29367 Base sighted! Now we'll fly towards it. 29390 Retro doors are open. 29790 Landing on Phobos. Sit back and relax. 29839 Open the Comm/Nav MFD in place of IMFD (we won't be needing it anymore), and set Nav1 to 134.1 (the VTOL frequency of Phobos). Then open VOR/VTOL MFD. 29925 Gear down. 30041 Touchdown!!! Important: landing on moons with low G fields (tiny moons close to planets--Phobos, Amalthea, Pan, etc.) can be tricky. You have to hit kind of hard (-.2 m/s) to land. We bounced the first time because we didn't land hard enough. 30060 Enjoy the view of Mars over the rail at the edge of the pad. 30075 Enjoy your stay at PreludeII Phobos. This is Markl316, signing off.

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IMFD Tutorial #3—Europa to Callisto 0 Welcome to IMFD Tutorial #3--Off-Planar Flight from Europa to Callisto!!! 10 Open IMFD in the left MFD display. 20 Hit [MNU], then the course button, then [SEL] to select Target Intercept. 30 Hit [TGT], then type callisto. Since this is where we are flying to, Callisto is our target. 40 Scroll down to the TOF-Unlocked item, then hit [+] to change it to TOF-Locked. We will be time warping quite a bit to a launch window, and we want time to ejection AND time to intercept to go up at the same rate. 55 Hit [Adj] until the Adjustment factor in the bottom of the screen says 100x. 62 Highlight the GET item under TEj, and adjust it with [+] until dV hits a minimum. Then, hit [Adj] until it says 10x, and repeat process, and do the same with 1x until you hit an absolute minimum. 90 Values for this particular flight are approximately TEj=367.4k and TIn=765.7k. 100 Unlock TOF the same way you locked it. Also note how above it there is an item that says Off-Plane. This is good, as we are doing an off plane intercept. 114 Now time warping until TEj says 6400k (this is an estimate of the time from takeoff to ejection burn). 361097 Open IMFD in the left MFD display, hit [PG] and enter 0 (sharing with IMFD with ID zero-- the left MFD display) and bring up surface launch. 361120 The Surface Launch program says we should fly a heading of 88.467 degrees. Let's take off and turn to that heading. 361135 If you missed it, before we took off, Surface Launch said our optimum takeoff was in about 93000 seconds. 361145 That was the OPTIMUM launch time. We took off not at that time because we have a shorter time of flight, so it would eat in to a greater percentage of the flight (93000 divided by time of flight which is ~470k seconds). 361185 For an Earth to Mars flight, the time of flight is very long (about 21,000,000 seconds), and the earth has a fast rotation (optimum launch time twice every 24 hours) so it's not a big deal to wait for a good window in that situation. 361205 I'm going so high before engaging our main engines because if you have Orulex running, we don't want to crash into an ice cliff. 361220 Now we're rotating to keep EIn in the Surface Launch program at zero. 361321 There's Main Engine Cutoff. We don't need to worry about raising our PeA, as this is a parking orbit. 361335 Open Orbit Eject, and change Higher Orbit to Course. For this tiny plane change maneuver (0.01 degrees), I'll use sideways linear thrusters (translation numpad 1 and 3). 361360 Now, in Target Intercept, set the TEj in Target Intercept to match TEj in Orbit Eject. This step is not really necessary, as we can eject when TEj in Target Intercept is 10k or less, but it helps make IMFD a tiny bit more accurate in the course planning. 361380 We'll time warp until a bit closer to our ejection point. 361942 Notice how EIn has changed since we set our two TEj's to match (those in the Target Intercept and Orbit Eject). Let's burn to correct that. 361983 Oops, wrong way. IMFD doesn't tell you to turn Orbit Normal or Orbit Anti-Normal, so you just have to guess. If EIn increases, cut off the engines and turn the other way. 362104 Now I have engaged the Autoburn for Orbit Eject. We'll time warp, then let Autoburn lower the time warp and do the burn for us. 363193 5 seconds until the burn. We will time warp at 10x through the duration of the burn. 363360 There's main engine cutoff. Let's time warp until we are away from Europa. 407700 Ok, time to set up the Map Program. Open it up ([MNU], Map button). 407710 Hit [TGT] and type in Callisto. 407720 Hit the [Cnt] button, and type p-Callisto. This will center our periapsis at Callisto. 407730 Now hit the [Int] button to turn on intercept mode. 407745 Now that we're out of Europa's sphere of influence (SOI), in Target Intercept, hit the [Src] button and type x.

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407760 The dV value looks kinda high, let's see if it goes down with time (we'll time warp slowly and watch it). 407895 Note how it increased. Thus, we should Autoburn now, as it will not increase and then decrease. 407931 Now time warping until we are about halfway there, for our second midcourse correction. 563122 It's time for our second midcourse correction. I'll simply hit the [AB] button (autoburn) in the Target Intercept Program. 563156 dV is zero, now we're time warping until we get a bit nearer to Callisto. 578556 Ok, let's set up our base approach. Open the Base Approach Program in the right MFD in place of the Map Program. 578570 Set the reference (using the [REF] button) to Callisto, as this is the body we're approaching. 578580 Hit the [TGT] button and enter "PreludeII Callisto" without the quotations. If this doesn't work, in the previous release of the Prelude Packs, there was a typo in the base name, so try "PreludeII Callsito" without quotations. Note the spelling of Callisto in the latter example. 578590 Scroll down to the Re-Entry item and hit [+] until it says Orbit-Insert. 578599 Time warping until dV hits a minimum. 716577 dV has hit a minimum, we'll hit the Autoburn button in the Base Approach Program now. 716606 Now time warping until we're closer to Callisto. 749352 Let's do another Autoburn in the Base Approach Program to get dV back down to zero. 749384 Time warping until our third and final Base Approach Correction. 759078 The warning message has just been displayed in the Target Intercept Program, saying we are under the influence of Callisto. Open IMFD 4.2.1 in place of Target Intercept, and go to Orbit Insert ([MNU], course button, orbit insert). 759108 Now Autoburning--this will be our final base approach correction. 759125 dV is zero. Now, hit the [AB] button in the right MFD (the one with Orbit Insert), and we'll time warp until the autoburn slows down time and executes the burn. 763657 We'll finish the burn manually in Burn Vector View. Hit [PG] then [BV] to open this view. 763693 Welcome to Callisto Orbit! 763700 Open Map MFD in the left MFD screen and open Comm/Nav MFD in the right MFD screen. 763715 In Map MFD, target PreludeII Callisto and in the Comm/Nav MFD, set Nav1 to 131.60. 763730 Now we'll time warp until we get closet to landing. 769690 Now preparing to land. 770525 Now executing the deorbit burn. 770609 There's Main Engine Cutoff, we'll turn Prograde, then Level Horizon and descend towards the base. 770670 What a view of Jupiter! Go into the virtual cockpit for a really neat perspective. 770700 We're falling towards the surface, and I'm using numpad 1 and 3 in translation mode to get the Velocity Vector right under the nose, which is pointed directly at the base. Also, I just opened the retro covers. 770730 Retro Engines engaged. We're gonna overshoot the base, but we'll come back. 771000 Now open VOR/VTOL MFD in place of Map MFD, as we are picking up a VTOL signal. 771025 I'm now landing the ship. 771466 I'm centering the ship over the pad now. 771480 Gear down. 771560 We're centered over the pad, now landing. 771592 Touchdown! Welcome to PreludeII Callisto. 771601 This is Markl316, signing off. Enjoy your stay on Callisto. IMFD Tutorial#4—Moon to Earth IMPORTANT: The following settings may be required in the XR2 configuration file in order for this playback to function properly: RequirePayloadBayFuelTanks=0

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EnableAFCtrlPerformanceModifier=0 Main Fuel ISP=5 LOXLoadout=1 LOXConsumptionRate=-1 Main Engine Thrust=1 Hover Engine Thrust=1 APUFuelBurnRate=2 0 Press the <RAD> button in the left MFD to stop the annoying beeps. 10 Open OrbitMFD on the right, and set your projection and dist. 30 On the left, open IMFD. 33 In IMFD, press <MNU>, then select the Course program 36 Select Planet Approach 39 Press <PG> then set the source (SRC button) to "moon" 42 Press <PG>, then set the EqI to 30. Cape Canaveral is at just under 29 degrees north latitude. 45 Set the PeA to 500k. The course program is a bit inaccurate, so we'll set the PeA high. 48 Set the TEj to 6400. That's about how long it will take to reach our ejection point. 51 Set the GET under PeT to 143:30:00. See the manual in you docs folder to see how I got this number. 54 Press <MNU> and select Surface Launch. 57 The Hed shows our launch heading. During ascent we want to get the EIn down to zero. 198 Takeoff, turn to heading of 58.06 degrees. Ascend to an ApA of 150k. 340 Open IMFD on the right and press <MNU> 360 Press <PG> and enter 0 to set the opmode to shared 380 Select Orbit Eject program. Change "Higher Orbit" to "Course". Change "Realtime" to "Off Axis" 410 Since our ejection time is after our Apo, change back to OrbitMFD and wait to circularize the orbit 2945 NOTE Reopen IMFD on the right. Since we've changed our orbit we need to adjust our TEj. Adjust it to get the lowest Enroute dV. 6895 Using IMFD's AB to execute ejection burn. 6960 After the ejection burn is fully completed, change to IMFD's Map Program and set the reference to "earth". Press <mod> untill you see the configuration settings, and change the accuracy to 1. 27320 Open OrbitMFD on the left and change the reference to Earth. Then we wait until we enter Earth's SOI. The G number at the bottom will chang from red to yellow when it reaches .50. 378845 On the left, open IMFD and select Base Approach. 378875 Target "cape canaveral". 378905 Set the Ant to 90. The XR-2 has a much longer glidepath than an Apollo capsule. Leave the Alt and ReA as they are. 378935 Increment the HInt until it matches the PeT shown on IMFD's Map. You may have to change pages or modes on Map show PeT (not ReT). 379000 Using AB to correct course for Cape Canaveral direct ReEntry. 379020 After the burn is complete, orient prograde. We need to be EXACTLY prograde, so wait until the roll is complete. 379050 Since our PeA is to high, we'll use left translational RCS to lower it. If it was low, right translation would raise it 379070 Adjusting PeA to just under 70k. 379090 When I'm happy with my PeA, I'll switch the HUD to Surface Mode and fast forward to 20M alt. I'll also dump any remaining Main fuel (recording doesn't show this) 502406 Now we can open AerobrakeMFD on the right, and target "cape canaveral". Bring up SurfaceMFD on the left. 506425 Orienting for ReEntry. Roll inverted, eliminate slip, and set AOA to 40 to 45 degrees.

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506545 At about 115k Alt, I'll close the retro doors and radiator. Set the COG to about .2 to the rear, and trim up. 506575 I use Killrot to provide roll and pitch dampening until I can get the ship stable. 506660 As my VS approaches zero I'll pitch down to maintain a slow descent rate. 506790 I'll raise my AOA to gain altitude. I want to get to about 70 km by the time I'm down to 7.5k V so I don't risk burning up when I transition to upright. 506950 At about 7.5k V I'll lower the AOA to zero and roll upright. I want about 70ms to 100 ms of negative verticle speed before I engage the Attitude Hold AP. 507000 Engaging Attitude hold AP at 42.5 degrees AOA 507020 From here it's a standard ReEntry. I'll adjust my AOA and bank according to AerobrakeMFD's map. 508017 Killing the AP, going to normal flight. I want to cross south of the runway at close to a right angle. 508075 I've just crossed the runway so I'll start my HAC turn. 508170 I'm a little under the glidepath, but I'm light enough to get away with it. 508396 Voila! Special thanks to Agentgonzo for the many hints. IMFD Tutorial #5—Earth to Mars IMPORTANT: Since I used High Resolution KSC for this playback, depending on whether you have it installed or not, this flight might not start you on the runway. Don‘t worry, you will still get to Mars. IMPORTANT: The following settings may be required in the XR2 configuration file in order for this playback to function properly: RequirePayloadBayFuelTanks=0 EnableAFCtrlPerformanceModifier=0 Main Fuel ISP=7 Scram Fuel ISP=2 LOXLoadout=9 LOXConsumptionRate=-1 Main Engine Thrust=1 Hover Engine Thrust=1 APUFuelBurnRate=1 0 Welcome to IMFD Tutorial #5--Planar Transfer from Earth to Mars!!! 10 Open IMFD in the Left and Right MFD's. 20 Hit [MNU] on both MFD displays, then hit [PG] on the right MFD. Input "0" without quotations, so that the right MFD gets its data from the Left MFD. 35 In the Left MFD, hit the Configuration option, then using [NXT] and [+] change GET to MJD. 55 Now open Target Intercept. Hit [MNU], then Course, then Target Intercept, then hit [TGT] and input Mars. This is our primary navigation tool in a planet to planet transfer. 70 Lock Time of Flight by highlighting the TOF-Unlocked item, and hitting [+] once. When we adjust our ejection time, time to intercept will now adjust in conjunction with time to ejection, leaving our time of flight the same. 85 Hit [Adj] to 90 Highlight the MJD item under the TEj item. 105 Adjust it by holding down the [+] button. Every click will shift Time to Eject (TEj) and Time to Intercept (TIn) up one day. Both will be adjusted as Time of Flight is locked. 130 When it hits a minimum, hit [Adj] until it says 1x, and adjust it again for a more fine adjustment. 145 It looks like in this flight, oV hit a minimum around 4.497k m/s of dV (4,497 m/s). Now unlock Time of Flight. 160 Highlight Off-Plane, and hit [+] until it says Source Plane. This is a highly effective way of getting to Mars. 180 Lock TOF again, and adjust TEj the same way you did earlier, until oV hits a minimum.

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220 Unlock TOF again. Approximate values for this flight are: oV=3480, TEj=354.1k, TIn=22.43M, MJD of TEj=60586.640, MJD of TIn=60842.261, and Tn=7.643M. 250 Time warping until ejection point. Note that you will rarely get a launch window 5 days after you started the scenario, but since I had flown the flight multiple times, I started the playback 5 days away from launch time. 344338 TEj is 10,000 seconds (10.00k), so let's open Surface Launch on the Right MFD. Again, you may want to do this earlier (at least 50k before ejection, but since I've flown this flight multiple times, I know when to take off). 344355 Time warping until the Time item in Surface Launch says zero, then we'll take off. 348153 APU is on, External cooling is off, and AF control surfaces are active. 348159 Takeoff! 348180 Gear up. We cut the engines because we had a high takeoff speed, which was near the gear failure speed, so we don't want to pick up speed too quickly until the gear is up. 348190 Turning to 90 degrees as instructed by the Surface Launch program before we took off. 348223 Open up Surface MFD on the left. Don't worry, the course plan we just set up won't get deleted. 348229 Mach 1. 348257 We've banked a bit to try to get the EIn to zero during the launch. 348325 Scram Doors opening. 348360 Scram Engines Engaged. We'll bring the main throttle down slowly, making sure the scram engines continue to produce sufficient thrust. 348436 We've banked again to try to reduce EIn during ascent. 348618 We've banked again to keep EIn at zero. 348720 The SCRAM engines are losing their effectiveness. Let's turn them off, get the SCRAM doors closed, and continue the ascent with our main engines. 348762 In the Surface Launch Program, hit the PRJ button until the projection is on self, and burn until we have an ApA of 300k. 348822 Main Engine Cutoff. APU is now off. 348835 We'll fix our periapsis later. Let's reopen IMFD on the left MFD display. 348842 On the Right IMFD display, hit [MNU], the Orbit Eject. We will use Orbit Eject to eject from Earth enroute to Mars. 348855 We will eject on this orbit because TEj in Target Intercept will be at around 3000 when TEj in Orbit Eject is zero, and that's close enough for an Earth to Mars flight. Time warping until we hit the node in Orbit Eject. 349163 Turning Orbit Normal +. 349352 Time warping until we're at apoapsis so we can fix our orbit. 350440 Turning prograde. 350521 Our orbit is now almost a perfect circle. I use the Secondary HUD, mode 2 for ApA and PeA values to avoid messing around with the MFD's. 350530 I just hit Autoburn, and now we're time warping until we eject from Earth Orbit. 351158 5 seconds until the burn. We'll do the burn in 10x time warp since it is long. 351420 Main Engine Cutoff. Ok, coolant is hot, let's get the radiator out. 351560 Ok, coolant is back to normal. We'll now time warp until we're out of Earth's SOI. 414985 Ok, we're out of Earth's SOI. Set SRC in Target Intercept to "x" without quotations (x is for your ship) and open the Map Program on the Right. 414995 Set Reference to Sun, Target to Mars, and Center to p-Mars. 415025 Hit [INT] to turn on Intercept mode, and [DSP] and [SOI]. 415040 Time warping to plane change maneuver. 7333825 We're about 312,000 seconds until plane change maneuver. So, use [NXT] and [PRV] to highlight the Prep. PlC item. Then hit the [+] button ONCE, then hit [PG], and [AB]. We are now set up for our plane change burn. 7333860 Time warping. 7646730 5 seconds until the burn. 7646784 Ok, dV is zero, time to time warp until we get closer to Mars. 16444578 Ok, let's do a midcourse correction burn. I will hit [AB]. 16444590 Good, dV is zero, let's time warp until we get even closer.

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19475478 Time for another mid course correction burn. I'll hit [AB] once again. 19475503 Time warping. 21893567 Ok, we're a little over 500,000 seconds away from our periapsis at Mars. Open Base Approach in place of the Map program on the right MFD. 21893575 Set the Reference to Mars. 21893590 Change Re-Entry to Orbit-Insert. 21893605 Time warping to see if dV will increase or decrease. 21895536 dV increased, so let's immediately do the base alignment. 21895545 Set the Target to Olympus in the Right Hand MFD screen. 21895555 Set the Num item to 1. We will be able to do a full orbit before landing, which will be great for some sightseeing after our long journey. 21895565 Autoburning. 21895585 dV is very close to zero, so let's autoburn until we get a bit closer. 22300555 Ok, time for a correction burn. Autoburning. We are using the Base Approach Autoburn, NOT the Target Intercept Autoburn. 22300575 Time warping. 22427332 Ok, we're in Mars's Sphere of Influence. In the left MFD, open IMFD 4.2.1, and hit [MNU], then Course, then Orbit insert. This is to prepare for the insertion burn. 22427353 Time warping until very close to Mars. 22429784 Autoburning from the Base Approach Autoburn for one final correction. 22429813 Ok, I've hit the Autoburn button for the Left MFD (Orbit Insert), and we'll time warp until that point. 22431544 Autoburn didn't quite complete our insertion burn, so I'll use the Burn Vector View to complete the burn. 22431612 Welcome to Martian Orbit!! Open Orbit MFD on the right and hit [AR] and [PRJ] to set the reference to Mars and projection to self. Also, open up Comm/Nav MFD on the right. 22431630 Set Nav1 to 132.20 hZ. 22431640 Now, open up Map MFD on the right, and target Olympus. 22431650 As Base Approach said, we have one full orbit until deorbit burn. Time warping. 22440515 Landing Preparation time. Turning retrograde, and closing the radiator. 22441033 De-orbit burn. 22441244 Ok, Main Engine Cutoff. Turning prograde. Let's turn on the APU and open the Hover doors. Now, we'll engage the descent autopilot, and open the Left MFD to Surface. 22441312 Ok, I've set the descent rate at -150 m/s vertical speed. 22441340 We can set it at -200 m/s as we are still high up off the Martain Surface. 22441360 Opening retro doors. 22441450 I've set the rate back at 150 m/s. You don't want to hit the thick (lower) part of the Martian Atmosphere TOO fast. 22441482 This is just like a typical moon landing, but there's a bit of air to deal with. Not a big deal. 22441508 The vertical speed rate is now at -100 m/s. 22441544 We are now receiving a VTOL signal, so open up VOR/VTOL MFD in place of Map MFD. 22441747 Vertical Speed rate is now at -50 m/s. 22441777 Landing. 22441831 Gear down. 22441962 Touchdown!!! Welcome to Mars!!! 22441970 As the smoke cloud clears, check out the amazing view of Mars. A Deltaglider is on Pad 3. 22441988 APU off. 22441992 Enjoy your stay on Mars. This is Markl316, signing off. IMFD Tutorial #6—Moon to Mars

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0 Welcome to IMFD Tutorial #6--Moon to Mars!!! 10 This flight is very complex, and it may take you a few tries to get it right on your own. 20 Open IMFD in the left and right. 30 Hit [MNU] on both IMFD displays, on the right, hit the shared button and input 0, and change the configuration from GET to MJD on the left MFD via the configuration page. 53 In the left MFD, open Target Intercept. 60 Set Reference to Sun and Target to Mars in that order. Then, check that Source is Earth. 72 Lock TOF by highlighting TOF-Unlocked and hitting [+] once. 83 Highlight MJD under TEj, set Adj to 10x, and adjust with [+] until you hit a minimum. 120 Now, when you hit a minimum, set Adj to 1x and adjust the same way to make a finer adjustment. 140 Looks like oV hit a minimum of 3.424k on this flight. Now unlock TOF. 155 On the right MFD, open slingshot. 160 Set Reference to Earth, and Source to Moon, in that order. 175 Now it gets kind of tricky. Use [+] to adjust the TEj item in SS (NOT MJD) until PeA=200k. 190 It will get bigger before getting smaller. First, use 100x, then 10x, then 1x. A bug does not properly adjust the MJD, so DON'T do it, only adjust the TEj. 230 Ok, now that PeA in Slingshot is 200.0k, in the Target Intercept (left MFD), hit SET, then input the exact value of TEj in the Slingshot Display. 250 Notice how that just affected the PeA in the Slingshot display. Readjust TEj to get a PeA of 200.0k just as you did earlier, and keep adjusting. You have until sim time = 320. 320 Once you get comfortable adjusting the values, you might want to input the following values for this particular flight to make your course match the course being flown: 345 Target Intercept: TEj=1.112M, TEj MJD=52019.634, TIn=25.68M, TIn MJD=52304.026, oV=2.832k, and in Slingshot TEj=1.112M, and don't worry about MJD (because of a bug). Your values should already be pretty close to these. 380 A bug in Slingshot makes the MJD number display the current MFD, not the MJD of ejection. Time warping until TEj gets lower. 1028995 Things have changed a bit, so adjust TEj in the Slingshot display so that PeA once again is 200k. 1029015 Now, in Target Intercept, hit SET, and input the TEj value from Slingshot, just as you did earlier. 1029030 On the right IMFD display, open Surface Launch. 1029040 Change the Course item until it says Slingshot by hitting the [+] button. Time warping until TEj = 3500. 1108929 Ok, time for takeoff. We'll fly a heading of 90 degrees as dictated by Surface Launch. We will turn during ascent to reduce EIn. 1108971 Now, we're rotating to try to get EIn zero so we don't have to do a plane change. 1109042 In Surface Launch, hit PRJ to change the projection to self, so we can see our orbit better. 1109080 We'll get into a high lunar orbit. Sometimes, the engines burn us a little towards the moon (-10 degrees maybe) in a slingshot, and we want to leave room for error. This is not very likely though, so this step is not necessary, just a precaution. 1109112 Main Engine Cutoff. Welcome to Lunar Orbit. 1109120 Open Orbit Eject in place of Slingshot (on the right), and set the projection to self. 1109130 Change Higher-Orbit to Slingshot. 1109144 Time warping until apoapsis so we can fix our orbit.. 1113747 Fixing orbit. 1113824 Engaging Autoburn in Orbit Eject, NOT Target Intercept. We want to eject from Lunar orbit, while Target Intercept's autoburn will be used for midcourse corrections. 1117846 Ok, our ejection burn is complete. 1117855 Ok, open up the Map program in place of Target Intercept (left), and open Slingshot in place of Orbit Eject (right).

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1117865 Set the accuracy to Max (1.000) via the configuration page, and set the reference to Earth. 1117880 In slingshot, set Source to self by inputting x. 1117890 Turning prograde so we can adjust our PeA at Earth. We'll time warp a bit to get EXACTLY prograde. 1117990 We're using Translational thrusters Numpad 1 and 3 to get PeA to 200k. Don't use 6 and 9, as these will speed us up and affect our time of flight, where 1 and 3 just "push" us closer and farther from Earth. 1118127 Ok, PeA at Earth is 200.6k. Close enough. Time warping, and keep a sharp eye on dV in Slingshot. 1164489 dV has started to climb, so we'll engage Autoburn in SS to zero it. 1164506 Ok, autoburn complete, and our new PeA (from the Map Program) is 575k. That's a bit higher than 200, but it's fine. We won't burn again until periapsis at Earth. Don't worry if dV increases, it will go back down. Time warping. 1226490 Ok, we're at our Earth Periapsis. Engaging autoburn in Slingshot. 1226526 Autoburn is complete. We're on our way to Mars! 1226535 Hit the SOI button in the Map program, and zoom in. We'll time warp until we're out of Earth's SOI. 1332027 We're out of Earth's SOI. In the left, open Target Intercept (don't worry, our flight plan didn't get deleted), and set Source to self (input x), and open the Map Program in the right. 1332055 Make the following changes to Map: Reference to Sun, Target to Mars, Center p-Mars, then hit the Int button, then the Dsp button. SOI's should already be displayed (check for the grey SOI writing on the bottom). 1332090 Time warping, we'll watch dV in Target Intercept to see if it increases or decreases. 1334050 dV is decreasing, so let's time warp until it hits a minimum, then we'll autoburn. 1762121 There's the minimum, so I will engage Autoburn in Target Intercept. 1762153 dV is zero, now time warping. 5711468 dV has gotten kind of high, so it's time for a midcourse correction. Engaging Autoburn. 18436315 dV has gotten kind of high, so it's time for another midcourse correction. Engaging Autoburn. 25309104 Time to open up Base Approach in the right MFD. 25309115 Set Reference to Mars, and Target to Olympus. 25309130 Change Re-Entry to Orbit Insert. 25309145 Set Num to 1. Often times this will stop the display from "blinking" between one trajectory and another. 25309155 Autoburning in Base Approach. 25309172 Time warping. 25612284 dV has gotten high, time for a correction burn. 25612309 Good, dV is close to zero, time warping. 25662286 We're now in Mars's Sphere of Influence. Open up IMFD 4.2.1 in the left MFD, and open Orbit Insert. 25662305 Time warping until closer to Mars. 25678765 Ok, let's do another Base Approach correction burn. Autoburning. 25678779 Ok, good, dV is close to zero, time warping. 25681164 One final Base Approach correction using Autoburn. 25681186 Ok, I've just engaged Autoburn in Orbit Insert on the left. Time warping. 25681801 Autoburn failed! Don't worry, this is kind of common, just hit Autoburn again, and it should work. If not, just do it manually using Burn Vector View. 25681970 Autoburn shut off early, now using Burn Vector View to finish the burn manually. 25682048 Welcome to Martain Orbit!! 25682055 On the left, open Orbit MFD, and on the right, open COM/NAV MFD. 25682070 Set Nav1 to 132.20 Hz. 25682085 Now open Map MFD in the right, and set Reference to Mars and Target to Olympus. 25682105 Time warping until landing. Base Approach said we have one full orbit before landing. 25687807 Turning retrograde.

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25687885 I'll fire our engines to determine the acceleration they provide. Then I'll use vf^2 = vo^2 + 2a(x-xo) to get the distance from Olympus at which to do the deorbit burn. That equation is one of Newton's equations in case you didn't know. 25688207 Deorbit Burn has begun. 25688403 Main Engine Cutoff. We'll turn Prograde, then Level Horizon, and bring up Surface MFD in place of Orbit MFD. 25688480 This is just a standard Mars landing. 25689296 Touchdown!!! 25689305 Enjoy your stay on Mars. This is Markl316, signing off. IMFD Tutorial #7—Earth to Jupiter to Saturn IMPORTANT: Since I used High Resolution KSC for this playback, depending on whether you have it installed or not, this flight might not start you on the runway. Don‘t worry, you will still get to Saturn. IMPORTANT: The following settings may be required in the XR2 configuration file in order for this playback to function properly: RequirePayloadBayFuelTanks=0 EnableAFCtrlPerformanceModifier=0 Main Fuel ISP=7 Scram Fuel ISP=2 LOXLoadout=9 LOXConsumptionRate=-1 Main Engine Thrust=1 Hover Engine Thrust=1 APUFuelBurnRate=1 0 Welcome to IMFD Tutorial #7--Earth to Jupiter to Saturn!!! 10 This is a very complex flight, and may take several tries to get right on your own. 20 Since IMFD doesn't calculate slingshot windows, we'll use Voyager's launch window. 30 First we must set up a planar transfer to Jupiter, then the Slingshot Program will transfer us to a Saturn target. 45 Open IMFD in the left and right. 55 In the left MFD, go to the config page and change GET to MJD. 70 NOw, in the left MFD, open Target Intercept 90 Set target to Jupiter. 97 Lock TOF, and change Off-Plane to Source Plane. 110 Set Adjust to 10x if it isn't already. 116 Highlight the MJD item under TEj. 125 Now adjust it to get the lowest possible dV on the bottom of the display screen. Use 1x for finer adjustment. You have until sim time = 160. 160 Ok, unlock TOF. Approximate values for this flight are: TEj=604.7k, MJD of TEj=42992.608, TIn=82.64M, and MJD of TIn=43942.167. 189 Time warping until launch time. 577826 5 minutes until takeoff. On the right, hit [MNU], then the shared item and input 0. Then, open Surface Launch on the right. 578115 T-10 seconds. Engaging APU and Aerosurfaces. 578125 Takeoff! 578191 We'll bank and yaw to keep EIn in the Surface Launch Program zero during the ascent. If you can already do this and do not need to see the ascent, come back in 11:40 or at sim time = 578900 (we'll stay in realtime). 578301 Ok, Mach 3, opening SCRAM doors. 578806 Scram doors closing. 578906 Main Engine Cutoff, turning off APU.

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578915 Now, open Orbit Eject in the right MFD. Our orbit has a very low periapsis, but don't worry, we'll fix this later. 578925 Change Higher-Orbit to Course. Time warping to next node to change planes. 580686 We'll now eliminate EIn. 580732 Wrong way. Remember, IMFD does not tell you to turn Normal or Anti-Normal. 580799 Now turning prograde to fix orbit. 580860 Ok, orbit fixed. Now engaging Autoburn on the Orbit Eject MFD. 580874 Time warping until ejection point. 581729 Oops, let's close the radiator. 583000 5 seconds until the burn. We'll do it at 10x time warp since it's a very long burn. 583480 Ok, Autoburn has completed the burn. Time warping until outside Earth's SOI. 618595 Ok, we're out of Earth's SOI, so open the Map Program on the Right. 618605 Set Target to Jupiter. 618615 Set Center to p-Jupiter. 618625 Hit the Intercept item to turn on Intercept Mode. 618635 Now set Center to the Sun. 618645 Hit the [Dsp] and [Soi] buttons to turn on thier respective features. 618655 Now, in the Left MFD (Target Intercept), set Source to self by inputting x. 618665 Highlight the Prep. PlC and hit the [+] button ONCE. 618675 Engaging Autoburn in the left MFD, and time warping until plane change. 9179207 5 seconds until the Plane Change burn. 9179238 Good, dV is zero, time warping until we get closer to Jupiter. 51590300 Engaging Autoburn in Target Intercept to perform a midcourse correction. 51590322 Ok, dV is zero again. Time warping until we need another midcourse correction. 63599143 Time for another midcourse correction. Also, in the Map Program, set Center to self by hitting the cnt item and inputting x. 63599175 dV is zero. Time warping. 69357470 Another midcourse correction. 69357500 dV is zero again. Time warping. 77436314 We're near Jupiter's SOI. On the left, open Planet Approach, and set the reference to Jupiter if it is not. 77436330 Set Eqi to zero. It will say ~4.665 because it is the minimum EqI we can approach with, so anything less than that value inputted will result in ~4.665. 77436345 Set PeA to 1.8G. We want to give ourselves plenty of room for error. 77436355 Time warping to see if dV increases or decreases. 77437210 dV increases, so we'll engage autoburn immediately. 77437288 dV is zero. Time warping until inside Jupiter's SOI. 78084427 Ok, we're inside Jupiter's SOI. Open Target Intercept on the left, and target Saturn. 78084445 On the right, open Slingshot, and set the reference to Jupiter if it is not. 78084455 In Target Intercept, set Adj to 100x. 78084465 Now highlight the MJD item under TIn. 78084475 Make sure TOF is locked, and adjust it to minimize dV in Slingshot. You have until sim time = ...8084525. 78084525 dV in Slingshot should be approximately 1.225k. 78084535 Time warping to see if dV in slingshot increases or decreases. 78097830 dV is increasing, so we'll engage Autoburn immediately. 78097932 Ok, dV is zero. Time warping until our Jupiter periapsis. 80848659 We're at our periapsis, so I'm engaging the autoburn. 80848689 Ok, our burn is complete. Open up Map on the right. Time warping. 84969260 We're out of Jupiter's SOI. Now, in Target Intercept, set the source to self. 84969270 Time warping to see if dV increases or decreases. 85143315 dV is decresing, so we'll autoburn when it hits a minimum. 85143325 Wait, there's a small problem. 85143335 Look at our remaining LOX, and it's about 844 days. 85143345 Time to intercept is about 1000 days.

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85143355 We'd better change that, or we'll die before reaching Saturn. 85143365 Unlock TOF, and set TIn to 64.8M, which will give us about 100 days in Saturn orbit to land at a moon. 85143384 Engaging Autoburn. It will do the burn in about a minute real time (sometimes Autoburn acts goofy like this). 90066466 Engines engaged. 90066603 Engine cutoff. Now set the map target to Saturn. Time warping. 95831990 Time for a midcourse correction burn. Engaging Autoburn. 95832018 Time warping at 100,000x until the next midcourse correction burn, which will occur at TIn=36.00M. 113936199 Autoburning for a midcourse correction. 113936222 Time warping at 100,000x until the next midcourse correction, which will occur at TIn=12.50M. 137436958 Autoburning for another midcourse correction. 137436975 Time warping until we get closer to Saturn. 142348531 There's our Oxygen Low warning. Hit CTRL-W to silence it. Time warping. 144690155 Ok, we're nearing Saturn. Open up Planet Approach in the Left MFD. 144690165 Set the reference to Saturn. 144690175 Set the EqI to zero. It will set itself to the Min EqI. 144690185 Now set PeA to 1G. 144690200 Time warping to see if dV will increase or decrease. 144703181 It increased. Engaging Autoburn. 144703219 Time warping. 148924737 Let's perform a correction burn in Planet Approach. Autoburning. 148924762 Time warping. 149694960 Now open up IMFD v4.2.1 in the left MFD, and open Orbit Insert. 149694975 Engaging autoburn in Orbit Insert (it will wait until we're at periapsis) and time warping. 149864377 We'll do the burn in 10x time warp since it's long. 149864873 Finishing the burn using Burn Vector View. 149864896 Welcome to Saturn Orbit!!!!! 149864900 Now you can set up a flight to Titan by yourself. This playback has gone long enough. 149864910 Congragulations on completing IMFD flight school. You are now hopefully very well versed in IMFD. This is Markl316, signing off.

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