Earth To Mars Checklist
Checklist for using the TransX MFD in the
Orbiter Space Flight Simulation
Orbiter Space Flight Simulation
by Cpt_CryBaby
Last Updated 31 Jan 2005
ATTENTION! This checklist has not been verified in the newest version of Orbiter.
This is my step-by-step procedure for getting to mars from earth using the TransX MFD. Many
thanks to Duncan for this excellent navigational tool. And, as always, where would we all be without
Martin? He has made the world a better place.
This checklist is aimed at beginners. As a relative newbie, I don't claim to be an expert. All I'm
saying is that the following procedure gets me to mars. This checklist is based on the tutorials and
manual posted on Duncan's site. I've filled in some of the holes with a more detailed checklist
based on my limited experiences. Admittedly, this checklist wanders so please take it with a grain.
Experienced navigators can provide corrections where I've strayed or fallen short. Everyone is
welcome to add/comment. I will post all relevant feedback.
I apologize in advance for all type-Os, spelling and usage errors. My writing sux but I think the
points get across to the reader.
This checklist assumes familiarity with the basics of orbital mechanics. If you haven't docked with
the ISS a couple times, then much of this won't make sense. Go here for my docking checklist.
Here we go!
==
Make sure you've turned fuel consumption off in the launch pad or are flying a ship with low fuel
consumption characteristics. I use the millennium falcon V2.0 by Kyle Wiegers which is an excellent
ship to use for learning interplanetary travel. It has powerful forward thrust and is very responsive
in both linear and rotational thrusters. Make sure that the ship you choose is fully functional with
both rotational and linear thrusters.
1. After launching Orbiter, switch to cockpit view and launch the transx mfd (shift + j)
2. Ensure that 'view' is set to 'setup'. If it is not, cycle through view settings (shift + w) until 'setup'
is selected.
Note: Most variables in the transx are selected by cycling through a list of available settings. Each
list is of different lengths so the instruction of "(shift + w)" means "cycle through the list using 'shift +
w' until the appropriate value is selected." This will clean up the checklist by excluding instructions
of "do this twice" or "cycle until" etc. etc. Yer just gonna have to pay attention! :)
3. Change 'target' to 'escape' (shift + '+') [which means hold down the shift key and hit the '+' key
until 'escape' is selected.]
4. Create a new stage (shift + f)
5. Select target planet 'mars' (shift + '+'). The inside blue circle is earth's orbit. The outside blue
circle is mar's orbit. The sun is the "+" at the center.
6. Change 'view' to 'eject plan' (shift + w)
7. Select 'prograde vel' variable (shift + >)
8. Increase the value of 'prograde vel' (shift + '+') to see the hypothetical orbit that this thrust
would create. Continue to add thrust until the dashed orbit moves out from the earth and
intersects with mar's orbit (the outside blue circle). The most efficient trip will be one where the
orbit of your ship just barely reaches the orbit of Mars (meaning it reaches mar's orbit but does not
overshoot). If you overshoot, (shift + '-') will decrease thrust.
9. Change variable to 'eject date' (shift + >)
10. Change the date by moving FORWARD (shift + '+') until the two straight dotted yellow lines
match up. You must move forward since you are trying to determine what your launch window will
be in the future. As the date is adjusted, the dashed lines might be coming together nicely and
then they suddenly jump to totally new positions. Orbital mechanics are finicky and sometimes they
just can't work out for a given situation. Don't worry! Keep moving the date forward in time and
eventually the lines will coincide.
Note: Planetary orbits are ellipses and usually offset from each other. So as you rotate the date,
you might find that the hypothetical orbit (green dashed line) that previously reached out to Mar's
orbit now falls short or maybe overshoots a bit. If this happens, jump back to step 7 and add or
subtract thrust until the ship's orbit is tangential to mar's orbit again.
During many steps of this process of getting to mars, it will be necessary to jump back and forth
between steps to fine tune the plan. Changing one variable may throw an old variable out of whack
so you have to go back and adjust.
11. Continue to hop between and adjust the 'prograde vel' and 'eject date' variables until 'cl. App'
(closest approach) is as small a value as possible.
Note:
k = km
m = 1000km
g = 1,000,000km
t = 1 billionkm
12. Once you have 'Cl. App' at minimum value, Go back to steps 7 thru 11 and pump up the
sensitivity of each variable by using (shift + {). This will allow you to trim down the distance even
more with fine tuning.
Note:
The levels of sensitivity are:
course
medium
fine
super
ultra
13. Change 'variable' to 'ch plane vel' (shift + >)
14. Add or subtract to this variable (shift + '+' OR shift + '-') to align the grey line with the two
dotted yellow lines that are already lined up with each other. As with past steps, pump up the
sensitivity (shift + {) and continue to adjust until 'Cl. App' is at the minimum value.
15. Once you are satisfied that 'Cl. App' is as low as it can get, switch to "eject date' (shift + >) and
write down the MJD.
16. Return to stage one (shift + r). You should now see a graph of the earth with the hypothetical
orbit represented as a curved dashed line.
16.5 Change 'view' to 'escape plan' (shift + w)
17. Change 'variable' to 'pe distance' (shift + >). This is where you set the distance of the
periapsis above the earth. Add or subtract (shift + '+' OR shift + '-') until 'pe distance' is 6.505.
Fine tune as needed (shift + {). Here are a couple graphs that may help.
You may notice that this has shifted the hypothetical orbit to a position just above the surface of
the earth.
Note: I've deviated a bit here and hopefully some of you vets can clarify. The tutorial on Duncan's
site calls for a periapsis much lower than this. When I tried it, I crashed and I think it was because
of atmospheric drag. I read someplace (or was told) that earth's atmosphere ends at 134km. If this
is added to the earth base distance of 6371, the periapsis would be 6505. Right or wrong, let's
proceed with 6505 as our chosen distance. I'm guessing that it may not matter exactly what value
periapsis is set at since the transx will adjust for whatever you select.
=
Congratulations! You've identified and recorded your launch window! You have also set up your
flight plan in the transx mfd.
Now all we have to do is follow through on that plan.
=
18. Exit Orbiter and 'save current' as E2M01.
19. This step is weird but hang with it: Launch the scenario that you just created (E2M01) in
Orbiter. Quit out and save AGAIN as E2M02. What is this all about?
20. Close out launch pad. Navigate your files and find E2M02 where it lives on your computer.
For most of us that will be:
start/my computer/local Disc C/Program Files/Orbiter/Scenarios
Your computer may have a different file structure. If you can't find the file, do a search.
21. Dbl click on E2M02. It should open in notepad. If it doesn't, close out, launch notepad and
then open the file E2M02.
22. Close to the top of this document, you will see the line "Date MJD #####.#######". Change
the MJD to one day BEFORE the launch window that you copied down in step 15.
Example:
If you wrote down 52799.3435
Change MJD to 52798.3435
23. Save this document using 'file' and 'save'. Do not rename it. Save it as the name it currently
has which should be E2M02. Exit Notepad.
What did we just do and why?
24. Launch E2M02 in Orbiter. You are now exactly one day away from optimum ejection burn.
There are a few things left to do before we make our burn to mars so get your ship up and in orbit
asap. An orbit around 7000 with a low eccentricity will do nicely for now.
We are taking liberties that won't work when flying a 'real' ship with limited fuel. There are ways to
optimize takeoff and align with the target at the same time. However, for simplicity, this checklist will
break these actions into separate steps. After you've gone to mars a couple times with this
checklist, you can research and experiment with ways to maximize efficiency.
25. Change 'view' to 'escape plan' (shift +w). Change 'variable' to 'ej orient' (shift + >)
26. The solid green straight line is your ship. The grey straight line shows the points where your
current orbital plane intersects the orbital plane of your target (mars).
You will use this information in the next step as you would with the standard 'Align Orbital Plane'
mfd to align your orbital plane with mars' orbital plane.
27. Rotate your ship to '+normal' and time a burn to straddle either point where the grey line
intersects your orbit. The goal is to reduce 'R. Inc' to a value as close to zero as possible.
If 'R. Inc.' increases when you hit the gas, switch quickly to a retro thrusters.
Note: Unlike the standard 'Align Orbital Plane' mfd, the duration and timing of the alignment burn
are not computed for you. Use what you have learned about the 'Align Orbital Plane' mfd to make
your best guess about when to initiate this burn. It will probably take 2 or more burns to get 'R. Inc.'
down as close as possible to zero.
28. Rotate your orbit so that your periapsis matches the hypothetical periapsis (green dotted
straight line) on the transx graph. How do I do this?
Still confused? Check out this graphic, it may help
29. Set your right mfd to 'orbital' (shift + o). The next time you reach apoapsis, execute the
necessary burn to move your periapsis to the pre-determined altitude of 6505.
Note: It is very important that all remaining burns in earth orbit happen as close as possible to
apoapsis and periapsis. To burn at any other point will tend to un-do the periapsis alignment that
we just made in step 28.
30. The next time you reach periapsis, execute the necessary burn to move your apoapsis to an
altitude of approx 6600. Ensure your apoapsis doesn't dip below 6505 or it will flip with your
periapsis and cause confusion.
31. The instructions from this step were integrated into step 33. Please move on to next step.
32. Exit Orbiter and 'save current' as E2M03. It is a good idea to save at this point in case
something goes wrong with the burn. Should things go wrong, you can go back and relaunch from
this point.
33. Launch your newly saved scenario (E2M03). Ensure ship is oriented to 'prograde' ([). Set
your right mfd to transx (shift + j) but advance it to stage 2 (shift + f) while leaving the left mfd in
stage 1. Monitor the countdown on stage 1 of the transx mfd. In the lower left is a variable called
'T to Pe' (time to periapsis) This is the approximate countdown to burn. When this countdown
reaches zero, (at the appropriate MJD) as you approach the periapsis (green dotted straight line)
initiate ejection burn.
Note: A dead-on successful burn will actually have to be initiated prior to this time. The transx mfd
is unable to calculate correct burn initiation for all possible spacecraft. You can either make your
best guess and correct en-route with maneuver burns or you can save the scenario just prior to
burn so you can relaunch and adjust if the burn isn't just right.
For example, I initiate burn 60 seconds before 'T to Pe' with the Millenium Falcon. The idea is to
get the solid green line (actual orbit) aligned with the dotted green line (hypothetical or target
orbit). Don't worry if you are off by a little bit. The big looping orbits involved in interplanetary
travel can be forgiving. Just get it close and we'll correct our course as we go.
34. Continue to burn while monitoring 'DeltaV' in the left transx mfd. Burn until this value is as
close to zero as possible. You can alternately watch the right mfd and see the actual orbit (solid
green) expanding outward from earth orbit (blue) towards the hypothetical orbit (dashed green).
This will help you anticipate when to shut down the main burn and fine tune it with linear thrusters.
35. When 'DeltaV' is zero, or as close as you are willing to get it, shut down all engines. You are
now on the way to mars.
36. Pick a port with the best view of earth. Crack open a cold one and enjoy the view as you leave
earth behind.
37. Keep an eye on the left transx mfd. When you have escaped the earth's influence, it will
change automatically to stage 2. This is a good time to initiate the first correction burn.
38. This step was deleted. Please move on to the next step.
39. Switch 'view' to 'manoeuvre' (shift + w)
40. turn 'manoeuvre mode' 'on' (shift + '+')
41. Using all variables (prograde vel, outward vel, ch plane & man. date). Adjust each to bring 'cl.
app' to smallest value. (Shift + '+' OR Shift + '-') as needed.
(Shift + {) will adjust the sensitivity of these variables for fine tuning.
42. When cl. App is lowest possible value, switch 'view' to 'target' (Shift + w)
43. Rotate ship until the "x" centers in the graph.
44. Fire engines until 'Rel V' is as close to zero as possible.
44.5 Change view to 'manoeuvre' (shift + w). Change variable to 'manoeuvre mode' (shift + >).
Turn 'manoeuvre mode' off (shift + '+').
Important note: The 'manoeuvre mode' should be turned off when it isn't being used to perform a
correction burn. If you don't reset the mode between burns, you'll be planning your burn using
information that is weeks or more old.
45. As you progress to mars, small course corrections can be accomplished with linear thrusters.
Point ship to prograde ( [ ). Fire linear thrusters as needed to reduce Delta V to its lowest value.
Note: After a time, these small corrections will become ineffective. If so, go through steps 38-44.5
to perform a major correction burn.
46. Make corrections (using steps 38 - 44.5 or step 45) as needed to keep 'cl. App' as low as
possible.
47. Break out the chess board--it will be a long trip.
48. Monitor your progress:
Set one of your mfds to transx (Shift + J)
The inside blue circle is earth's orbit. The solid blue line shows where earth is on that orbit.
The outside blue circle is mar's orbit. The solid blue line shows where mars is on that orbit.
The solid green ellipse is your ship's orbit. The solid green line shows where your ship is on that
orbit.
The grey line indicates the point of intercept as computed by all your actions up to this time using
the transx mfd.
Be patient. Continue to correct your course and wait for the intercept point. Once you can see
mars, you will be tempted to point your nose at it and try to 'rocket' on over. This might work when
approaching the ISS but taking this action on a planetary scale will get you lost in space. Distance
and direction are deceptive in space. Don't trust your eyes, trust your flight plan.
49. Once you reach the intercept point, switch the left mfd to the standard 'orbit' mfd (Shift + o). If
mars isn't the reference body, (check the upper left of the mfd) then assign it. (Shift + r) and type
in "mars".
Note: Ensure you don't overshoot your periapsis. The burn that puts you into mars orbit needs to
happen as close to periapsis as possible.
50. See diagram below to read the graph on this mfd. It is a bit confusing because it looks
different from what you are used to seeing.
Turn your ship to 'retrograde'. At periapsis, fire main engines until an orbit of mars is achieved.
Note: The mfd will go wonky a couple times during this step. These are natural reactions to a
switch from a solar to a mars central orbit. Stay calm and burn through these temporary visual
glitches. Soon your orbital ellipse will settle down and be recognizable on the graph.
51. On subsequent orbits at periapsis and apoapsis refine your orbit to a low mars orbit.
52. Pat yourself on the back--You made it to mars.
==
TransX allows a third stage for establishing orbit at the target planet. This checklist has gotten
long enough so I will leave it to you to explore the functionality of that part of the tool.
It wasn't the most efficient or most elegant trip. But our goal was to get to mars and this checklist
should have accomplished that. Use this experience to research and refine your interplanetary
navigational skills.
thanks to Duncan for this excellent navigational tool. And, as always, where would we all be without
Martin? He has made the world a better place.
This checklist is aimed at beginners. As a relative newbie, I don't claim to be an expert. All I'm
saying is that the following procedure gets me to mars. This checklist is based on the tutorials and
manual posted on Duncan's site. I've filled in some of the holes with a more detailed checklist
based on my limited experiences. Admittedly, this checklist wanders so please take it with a grain.
Experienced navigators can provide corrections where I've strayed or fallen short. Everyone is
welcome to add/comment. I will post all relevant feedback.
I apologize in advance for all type-Os, spelling and usage errors. My writing sux but I think the
points get across to the reader.
This checklist assumes familiarity with the basics of orbital mechanics. If you haven't docked with
the ISS a couple times, then much of this won't make sense. Go here for my docking checklist.
Here we go!
==
Make sure you've turned fuel consumption off in the launch pad or are flying a ship with low fuel
consumption characteristics. I use the millennium falcon V2.0 by Kyle Wiegers which is an excellent
ship to use for learning interplanetary travel. It has powerful forward thrust and is very responsive
in both linear and rotational thrusters. Make sure that the ship you choose is fully functional with
both rotational and linear thrusters.
1. After launching Orbiter, switch to cockpit view and launch the transx mfd (shift + j)
2. Ensure that 'view' is set to 'setup'. If it is not, cycle through view settings (shift + w) until 'setup'
is selected.
Note: Most variables in the transx are selected by cycling through a list of available settings. Each
list is of different lengths so the instruction of "(shift + w)" means "cycle through the list using 'shift +
w' until the appropriate value is selected." This will clean up the checklist by excluding instructions
of "do this twice" or "cycle until" etc. etc. Yer just gonna have to pay attention! :)
3. Change 'target' to 'escape' (shift + '+') [which means hold down the shift key and hit the '+' key
until 'escape' is selected.]
4. Create a new stage (shift + f)
5. Select target planet 'mars' (shift + '+'). The inside blue circle is earth's orbit. The outside blue
circle is mar's orbit. The sun is the "+" at the center.
6. Change 'view' to 'eject plan' (shift + w)
7. Select 'prograde vel' variable (shift + >)
8. Increase the value of 'prograde vel' (shift + '+') to see the hypothetical orbit that this thrust
would create. Continue to add thrust until the dashed orbit moves out from the earth and
intersects with mar's orbit (the outside blue circle). The most efficient trip will be one where the
orbit of your ship just barely reaches the orbit of Mars (meaning it reaches mar's orbit but does not
overshoot). If you overshoot, (shift + '-') will decrease thrust.
9. Change variable to 'eject date' (shift + >)
10. Change the date by moving FORWARD (shift + '+') until the two straight dotted yellow lines
match up. You must move forward since you are trying to determine what your launch window will
be in the future. As the date is adjusted, the dashed lines might be coming together nicely and
then they suddenly jump to totally new positions. Orbital mechanics are finicky and sometimes they
just can't work out for a given situation. Don't worry! Keep moving the date forward in time and
eventually the lines will coincide.
Note: Planetary orbits are ellipses and usually offset from each other. So as you rotate the date,
you might find that the hypothetical orbit (green dashed line) that previously reached out to Mar's
orbit now falls short or maybe overshoots a bit. If this happens, jump back to step 7 and add or
subtract thrust until the ship's orbit is tangential to mar's orbit again.
During many steps of this process of getting to mars, it will be necessary to jump back and forth
between steps to fine tune the plan. Changing one variable may throw an old variable out of whack
so you have to go back and adjust.
11. Continue to hop between and adjust the 'prograde vel' and 'eject date' variables until 'cl. App'
(closest approach) is as small a value as possible.
Note:
k = km
m = 1000km
g = 1,000,000km
t = 1 billionkm
12. Once you have 'Cl. App' at minimum value, Go back to steps 7 thru 11 and pump up the
sensitivity of each variable by using (shift + {). This will allow you to trim down the distance even
more with fine tuning.
Note:
The levels of sensitivity are:
course
medium
fine
super
ultra
13. Change 'variable' to 'ch plane vel' (shift + >)
14. Add or subtract to this variable (shift + '+' OR shift + '-') to align the grey line with the two
dotted yellow lines that are already lined up with each other. As with past steps, pump up the
sensitivity (shift + {) and continue to adjust until 'Cl. App' is at the minimum value.
15. Once you are satisfied that 'Cl. App' is as low as it can get, switch to "eject date' (shift + >) and
write down the MJD.
16. Return to stage one (shift + r). You should now see a graph of the earth with the hypothetical
orbit represented as a curved dashed line.
16.5 Change 'view' to 'escape plan' (shift + w)
17. Change 'variable' to 'pe distance' (shift + >). This is where you set the distance of the
periapsis above the earth. Add or subtract (shift + '+' OR shift + '-') until 'pe distance' is 6.505.
Fine tune as needed (shift + {). Here are a couple graphs that may help.
You may notice that this has shifted the hypothetical orbit to a position just above the surface of
the earth.
Note: I've deviated a bit here and hopefully some of you vets can clarify. The tutorial on Duncan's
site calls for a periapsis much lower than this. When I tried it, I crashed and I think it was because
of atmospheric drag. I read someplace (or was told) that earth's atmosphere ends at 134km. If this
is added to the earth base distance of 6371, the periapsis would be 6505. Right or wrong, let's
proceed with 6505 as our chosen distance. I'm guessing that it may not matter exactly what value
periapsis is set at since the transx will adjust for whatever you select.
=
Congratulations! You've identified and recorded your launch window! You have also set up your
flight plan in the transx mfd.
Now all we have to do is follow through on that plan.
=
18. Exit Orbiter and 'save current' as E2M01.
19. This step is weird but hang with it: Launch the scenario that you just created (E2M01) in
Orbiter. Quit out and save AGAIN as E2M02. What is this all about?
20. Close out launch pad. Navigate your files and find E2M02 where it lives on your computer.
For most of us that will be:
start/my computer/local Disc C/Program Files/Orbiter/Scenarios
Your computer may have a different file structure. If you can't find the file, do a search.
21. Dbl click on E2M02. It should open in notepad. If it doesn't, close out, launch notepad and
then open the file E2M02.
22. Close to the top of this document, you will see the line "Date MJD #####.#######". Change
the MJD to one day BEFORE the launch window that you copied down in step 15.
Example:
If you wrote down 52799.3435
Change MJD to 52798.3435
23. Save this document using 'file' and 'save'. Do not rename it. Save it as the name it currently
has which should be E2M02. Exit Notepad.
What did we just do and why?
24. Launch E2M02 in Orbiter. You are now exactly one day away from optimum ejection burn.
There are a few things left to do before we make our burn to mars so get your ship up and in orbit
asap. An orbit around 7000 with a low eccentricity will do nicely for now.
We are taking liberties that won't work when flying a 'real' ship with limited fuel. There are ways to
optimize takeoff and align with the target at the same time. However, for simplicity, this checklist will
break these actions into separate steps. After you've gone to mars a couple times with this
checklist, you can research and experiment with ways to maximize efficiency.
25. Change 'view' to 'escape plan' (shift +w). Change 'variable' to 'ej orient' (shift + >)
26. The solid green straight line is your ship. The grey straight line shows the points where your
current orbital plane intersects the orbital plane of your target (mars).
You will use this information in the next step as you would with the standard 'Align Orbital Plane'
mfd to align your orbital plane with mars' orbital plane.
27. Rotate your ship to '+normal' and time a burn to straddle either point where the grey line
intersects your orbit. The goal is to reduce 'R. Inc' to a value as close to zero as possible.
If 'R. Inc.' increases when you hit the gas, switch quickly to a retro thrusters.
Note: Unlike the standard 'Align Orbital Plane' mfd, the duration and timing of the alignment burn
are not computed for you. Use what you have learned about the 'Align Orbital Plane' mfd to make
your best guess about when to initiate this burn. It will probably take 2 or more burns to get 'R. Inc.'
down as close as possible to zero.
28. Rotate your orbit so that your periapsis matches the hypothetical periapsis (green dotted
straight line) on the transx graph. How do I do this?
Still confused? Check out this graphic, it may help
29. Set your right mfd to 'orbital' (shift + o). The next time you reach apoapsis, execute the
necessary burn to move your periapsis to the pre-determined altitude of 6505.
Note: It is very important that all remaining burns in earth orbit happen as close as possible to
apoapsis and periapsis. To burn at any other point will tend to un-do the periapsis alignment that
we just made in step 28.
30. The next time you reach periapsis, execute the necessary burn to move your apoapsis to an
altitude of approx 6600. Ensure your apoapsis doesn't dip below 6505 or it will flip with your
periapsis and cause confusion.
31. The instructions from this step were integrated into step 33. Please move on to next step.
32. Exit Orbiter and 'save current' as E2M03. It is a good idea to save at this point in case
something goes wrong with the burn. Should things go wrong, you can go back and relaunch from
this point.
33. Launch your newly saved scenario (E2M03). Ensure ship is oriented to 'prograde' ([). Set
your right mfd to transx (shift + j) but advance it to stage 2 (shift + f) while leaving the left mfd in
stage 1. Monitor the countdown on stage 1 of the transx mfd. In the lower left is a variable called
'T to Pe' (time to periapsis) This is the approximate countdown to burn. When this countdown
reaches zero, (at the appropriate MJD) as you approach the periapsis (green dotted straight line)
initiate ejection burn.
Note: A dead-on successful burn will actually have to be initiated prior to this time. The transx mfd
is unable to calculate correct burn initiation for all possible spacecraft. You can either make your
best guess and correct en-route with maneuver burns or you can save the scenario just prior to
burn so you can relaunch and adjust if the burn isn't just right.
For example, I initiate burn 60 seconds before 'T to Pe' with the Millenium Falcon. The idea is to
get the solid green line (actual orbit) aligned with the dotted green line (hypothetical or target
orbit). Don't worry if you are off by a little bit. The big looping orbits involved in interplanetary
travel can be forgiving. Just get it close and we'll correct our course as we go.
34. Continue to burn while monitoring 'DeltaV' in the left transx mfd. Burn until this value is as
close to zero as possible. You can alternately watch the right mfd and see the actual orbit (solid
green) expanding outward from earth orbit (blue) towards the hypothetical orbit (dashed green).
This will help you anticipate when to shut down the main burn and fine tune it with linear thrusters.
35. When 'DeltaV' is zero, or as close as you are willing to get it, shut down all engines. You are
now on the way to mars.
36. Pick a port with the best view of earth. Crack open a cold one and enjoy the view as you leave
earth behind.
37. Keep an eye on the left transx mfd. When you have escaped the earth's influence, it will
change automatically to stage 2. This is a good time to initiate the first correction burn.
38. This step was deleted. Please move on to the next step.
39. Switch 'view' to 'manoeuvre' (shift + w)
40. turn 'manoeuvre mode' 'on' (shift + '+')
41. Using all variables (prograde vel, outward vel, ch plane & man. date). Adjust each to bring 'cl.
app' to smallest value. (Shift + '+' OR Shift + '-') as needed.
(Shift + {) will adjust the sensitivity of these variables for fine tuning.
42. When cl. App is lowest possible value, switch 'view' to 'target' (Shift + w)
43. Rotate ship until the "x" centers in the graph.
44. Fire engines until 'Rel V' is as close to zero as possible.
44.5 Change view to 'manoeuvre' (shift + w). Change variable to 'manoeuvre mode' (shift + >).
Turn 'manoeuvre mode' off (shift + '+').
Important note: The 'manoeuvre mode' should be turned off when it isn't being used to perform a
correction burn. If you don't reset the mode between burns, you'll be planning your burn using
information that is weeks or more old.
45. As you progress to mars, small course corrections can be accomplished with linear thrusters.
Point ship to prograde ( [ ). Fire linear thrusters as needed to reduce Delta V to its lowest value.
Note: After a time, these small corrections will become ineffective. If so, go through steps 38-44.5
to perform a major correction burn.
46. Make corrections (using steps 38 - 44.5 or step 45) as needed to keep 'cl. App' as low as
possible.
47. Break out the chess board--it will be a long trip.
48. Monitor your progress:
Set one of your mfds to transx (Shift + J)
The inside blue circle is earth's orbit. The solid blue line shows where earth is on that orbit.
The outside blue circle is mar's orbit. The solid blue line shows where mars is on that orbit.
The solid green ellipse is your ship's orbit. The solid green line shows where your ship is on that
orbit.
The grey line indicates the point of intercept as computed by all your actions up to this time using
the transx mfd.
Be patient. Continue to correct your course and wait for the intercept point. Once you can see
mars, you will be tempted to point your nose at it and try to 'rocket' on over. This might work when
approaching the ISS but taking this action on a planetary scale will get you lost in space. Distance
and direction are deceptive in space. Don't trust your eyes, trust your flight plan.
49. Once you reach the intercept point, switch the left mfd to the standard 'orbit' mfd (Shift + o). If
mars isn't the reference body, (check the upper left of the mfd) then assign it. (Shift + r) and type
in "mars".
Note: Ensure you don't overshoot your periapsis. The burn that puts you into mars orbit needs to
happen as close to periapsis as possible.
50. See diagram below to read the graph on this mfd. It is a bit confusing because it looks
different from what you are used to seeing.
Turn your ship to 'retrograde'. At periapsis, fire main engines until an orbit of mars is achieved.
Note: The mfd will go wonky a couple times during this step. These are natural reactions to a
switch from a solar to a mars central orbit. Stay calm and burn through these temporary visual
glitches. Soon your orbital ellipse will settle down and be recognizable on the graph.
51. On subsequent orbits at periapsis and apoapsis refine your orbit to a low mars orbit.
52. Pat yourself on the back--You made it to mars.
==
TransX allows a third stage for establishing orbit at the target planet. This checklist has gotten
long enough so I will leave it to you to explore the functionality of that part of the tool.
It wasn't the most efficient or most elegant trip. But our goal was to get to mars and this checklist
should have accomplished that. Use this experience to research and refine your interplanetary
navigational skills.
| Falcon in Low Mars Orbit |