The photos in this video are taken from NASA’s “The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth” project.

Introduction
To understand the numbering system of NASA, we must plunge into the glorious and euphoric years of the first missions of the U.S. Space Shuttle. On April 12, 1981 Shuttle Columbia made ​​its maiden flight in order to certify the Shuttle as machine operational. The missions follow and nothing seems to stop this mad frenzy. Launch after launch, the shuttle impressed by its reliability and its modernism.

NASA and the USAF main “customers” of the shuttle are not always in agreement. The USAF wants to have its own shuttle (Atlantis) and his own base (Vandenberg) as originally scheduled by the program. NASA must imagine a new numbering system.

To do this, NASA will take into account the fiscal year, the number of the launch site, and the chronological order set out the mission during its design. It may seem attractive, but in fact, this terminology will become a real headache!

The implementation
With the certification of acquired after the Shuttle STS-4, USAF completes preparations for its base in Northern California at Vandenberg (They will use the Shuttle Enterprise for its testing of assemblies on the shooting pad SLC-6 “pronounced Slick Six “, as the Shuttle” military “Atlantis is still under construction). NASA early in 1984 introduced a new numbering system, after STS-9 (should have called STS-41-A is the first of the fiscal year 1984 (30 September 83 October 1, 84).

Thus, the 10th shuttle flight was called STS-41-B instead of STS-10. The number 4 shows the fiscal year (1984) and the number 1, the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida (2 being that of Vandenberg in California). The letter B is the second launch scheduled in the fiscal year.

Please note that the NASA’s fiscal year begins October 1 to September 31 which will not simplify things.

In a perfect world, this system was relatively simple, but the problem is that it is difficult to make a shuttle take off on schedule (but is still in the phase “Nasa Euphoric” that sees think big … )

So why the 21th Space Shuttle mission which took off October 3, 1985 was called STS-51-J? Because, as mentioned above, the fiscal year of 85 NASA ends September 30! She should have called STS-61A! Or why do we find in the list of missions an STS-51-L (ie the 12th mission of the year) while in the same year there are only nine missions?

Welcome to the crazy story of NASA’s numbering! To understand what real quack, we must understand that the missions are decided long before launch and that these launches themselves suffer delays often very long because of the state of the fleet of shuttles and even cancellations as was the case with the STS-51-E (combined with STS-51-D). Some commercial missions are simply canceled while the numbering of the following tasks are already allocated … What to do when a Mission is canceled? Change and rename all following missions in order not to leave a “gap”? What to do when a Mission can not be achieved because no Shuttle is available or that the payload is not ready?

Take for example the fiscal year 84 of the 10 scheduled flights, only five were able to achieve. Indeed, the shuttles Columbia and Atlantis will be available in late 85) and was only two Nasa Shuttles for that year. Difficult to launch 10 missions in these conditions. Note that NASA had to repeatedly postpone the first flight of the Shuttle Discovery due to technical problems.

As the years pass more such anomalies are shown in Table hunting of the U.S. space agency.

The back
On January 28, 1986, NASA will experience a serious setback that will require to reassess its ambitions. 73 seconds after the launch of the Shuttle Challenger for mission STS-51-L, the Shuttle disintegrates killing seven crew members. NASA will be blamed and budget revised down. The Shuttle is no longer American dream and they see it as a lethal weapon … Shaken by the tragedy, the authorities of NASA will have to make significant changes to use the shuttles again one day.

Changes in the launch pad from Vandenberg SLC-6 is still under way (The choice of this site was chosen to perform missions with polar orbits), and expenses incurred in the redevelopment had been problematic and costly.

Vandenberg Air Force Base should have been commissioned for mission STS-62-A October 15, 1986 but the explosion of Challenger Shuttle nailed the ground for more than two years.

On December 26, 1986, the site of Vandenberg as a base for launching shuttles was officially canceled. Without two launch bases, the value of using such a naming system has no purpose and NASA returned to the previous numbering system. And the first flight which followed that of the STS-51-L was the STS-26.

Xavier Jehl

STS-131 Mission patch

Our story begins somewhere in 1988, a 5 year old boy refuses to go to bed and insists that he is a grown up boy and he should stay up late with the adults. The parents finally allow the begging toddler stay up and watch some more TV. Back in those days, Israel has had only one domestic TV channel, and the very late hour was in fact eight o’clock. The whole country watches the news (the only thing on TV that time in the evening). Towards the end of the broadcast, the child, barely able stay awake, suddenly sits up with his eyes open wide. On the screen, there is a flickering image of a large orange missile, engulfed in clouds of smoke and fire, rising slowly with an airplane strapped to its back… The anchor man announces that Discovery has launched into space, none of that actually interested the infant, since he was glued to the screen. As years passed and the infant got older, and his love for planes only intensified as years passed by. The kid has learned a few more important facts, including that these vehicles are not called “a Discovery”, but rather a “Space Shuttle”. And that apart from Discovery there are a few other white aircraft strapped to orange missiles. They were named Columbia, Atlantis, Endeavour. Later he even found out that the orange missiles are actually fuel tanks …

The kid grew up, joined the Army, and three years later it was his time to be discharged (In Israel there is a mandatory three years army duty). Over the years, that early memory has faded, Discovery taking off on the TV screen was forgotten. His love for aviation and to photography on the other hand were not.

In 2003, the then young soldier, along with all of Israel, has witnessed the loss of Ilan Ramon and the six crew members aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia – blunt reminder of the risks faced by all those involved in breaking the boundaries of human knowledge.

As 2007 ended, a computer game was released on the internet, a simulator, one of many, but that one was different, it was about the Space Shuttle, the young boy , whom we can now call by his name – Me – could not resist the temptation and bought the game. Over countless hours in front of the computer, spanning over months of play, the little boy’s love for the big white aircraft strapped to a large orange missile has lit up again.

Back in 2003 in the aftermath of the Columbia disaster, NASA decided to end the Space Shuttle program once the contruction the International Space Station is finished. But there is still a lot to be done, and dozens of flights required to complete the task. As the end of 2008 neared, the deadline suddenly felt close, an approximate date was announced for the last flight, November 2010. What? Just two more years? How? Why? What? Those magnificent vehicles, that have been accompanying me throughout my life would be grounded? And I will not be there to see something like that before it’s gone for good?!? It was unthinkable.

What do we do? Begin saving money, and a lot …

Objective: STS-131 launch,
Time: Running out,
Estimated TOT: January – March 2010,
Place: Kennedy Space Center in Florida,
Means: Everything that gets me there…

As the months passed and the due time approached the schedule began to take a more accurate shape, deadline: Mar 18, 2010 at 12:37 AM Eastern Time. STS-131 is scheduled to be fourth to last, three additional launches were scheduled to follow it (STS-135 was a late addition, and was not planned at that time). Discovery was planned for that flight (who said closure?), and the planned launch date was very close to my birthday. (And I have always claimed that the birthday presents you buy for yourself are always the best )

Now what? A work plan. We must have a work plan. You can’t just knock on the door right? Well, no, you can’t… But NASA was selling tickets. Each ticket costs between $50 and $70.

The Explorer - Shuttle mockup in KSC (photo by uri_ba)

The $50 ticket allows you to view the launch from the KSC visitor center. The 70$ one takes you a bit closer to the launch pad – actually it takes you as close as you can without possessing a Press/VIP pass or NASA astronaut family member… That so called “Civilian close” is actually on the causeway, a bridge a across one of the sea tongues common along Florida’s Atlantic coastline. From there you can see the Launch Pad almost without interruption. The tickets can be purchased directly from  NASA and the ticket sale starts about a month prior to launch. Happy heart I checked the NASA site every few days to see when the sale opens, but alas – I checked the site in the morning when I got to work, but when I got home at night and checked again and I was horrified to discover that the sale has begun, but they ran out before I got home … Now what? Hoping for help, I’ve turned to the SSMS community members for help. It turns out that there are two companies which specialize in these trips. NASA actually sells less than a third of the tickets themselves. The majority are actually going to various specialized tour operators working under NASA’s approval. One of the better known is Gator Tours, an Orlando based company. They sell VIP tickets (That’s how they call the ticket that gets you to the causeway) for about 120$ – more expensive then buying them directly from NASA, but including Orlando hotels pickups to the Kennedy Space Center, transportation to the Causeway for the launch and then back to Orlando (or to whereever they picked you up from). Overall not a bad deal. They sell the tickets online and they have a lot more tickets available for sale then NASA. I bought one on the spot. OK, pressure starts to build up, countdown begins.

Well, now we are going into the more complex issue: other than being a Space Shuttle geek and flight sim enthusiast, I also consider myself an amature photographer, and I take it seriously. If you have ever met a person infected with the shutter bug, you probably know that every self-respecting amateur photographer is not going anywhere without knowing what equipment he needs to take with him. The rule of thumb in this says that the common man will be taking a camera with him on a trip. Photographers on the other hand, take trips for their cameras. I’m going to go into some photography mumbo-jumbo now, so feel free to skip…

The Missile garden at KSC (Photo by Uri_ba)

When going on a trip with such a specific subject to be covered, the equipment list must cover this event exactly. No mistakes and no margin for errors. My main work tools already exist, Nikon D300, its “fire rate” is sufficient, and image quality is above and beyond. Now comes the optics. We need to go back and examine the launch site, the Causeway is the closest place to a Space Shuttle launch open for the general public. The viewing distance is between 6 to 7 miles (10 to 12 km) from the launch pad. NASA families and “real” VIP guests, sit closer, about 6 km from the pad. Unfortunately, I’m not that important, so from 11 km away I need a telephoto lens, with the longest focal length I can find. In my bag I usually carry a 80-200, and a x1.7 extender. That gives me 340 mm. Will it be sufficient? No way. A quick search online shows that people cover launches with 800 mm and some with even longer focal-lengths. I also have a “Bigma” (Sigma 50-500) which, on my camera body, is like having a 750 mm lens. But I reject the idea immediately. This event deserves only top to the line, and the Bigma just doesn’t cut it… I began makeing some inquiries, the first option, renting a 200-400VR in Orlando. The second option 300/4, which I can find the money to afford. the the Third option was renting a 600/4. I’ve consulted with some photographer friends, I went over EXIF ​​of launch photos to figure out the best option. One of my friends came to me and said, “Take my  300 f/4″. The Nikon 300/4 is a very sharp lens, with good and fast focus. Combined with my Nikon 1.7 extender it becomes 510 mm with a maximum aperture of f/6.3, same as the bigma, but with superior image quality. Now, I need a backup camera, I cannot afford to miss that shot. I have my old D70 cooked up in the stables, why not take her for one last ride? Possible, but who will shoot with her? I will be busy with the D300. The term “long exposure” crosses my mind. That triggers a quick conversation with myself. “Digital? Long exposure? What? Why? Only film! “,” Film? “,” Yes! Film! You have your F50, it lies in storage, just begging you to take it out for a ride.”,”Heck why not? Let’s roll with it”. So now I also have a backup camera. The F50 mounted on a tripod and shooting long exposure. Asaf Kliger, a good friend and talented photographer , has been doing a lot of long exposures on medium-format cameras and has gained a lot of critical experience. Asaf has worked a lot with the concept of photographing an event from start to finish on a single exposure. “What is our equivalent to that on space shuttle launch?” I ask myself . On the Shuttle program, the “true” launch begins 9 minutes prior to launch, when the Shuttle’s computer system (the GNC) takes over on the launch sequence and countdown from mission control. Unless some major problem occurs, at this poing Mission Control makes an overhaul survey and approves the launch. (STS-135 was an exception, for the first time in the Shuttle program, the clock was stopped at T-31 seconds due to faulty indication. Countdown was manually resumed after about a minute once it was clear it’s an instrumental failure). Endpoint of the frame should be the end of the launching process, i.e. the engine cut-off at orbit insertion, or MECO as acronyms are NASAs must-haves. MECO occurs approximately eight and a half minutes after launch. Which gives us an exposure time of roughly 20 minutes. How do you make a 20 minutes exposure at noon? (The launch was initially planned for mid-day) That is easy, you ask Asaf… His first reaction was predictable, “What? I’m coming with you!”. A split second later he remembered that he will be in South America on a trip of his own. But what is the secret of such long exposures photography in broad daylight? Well it’s easy one ND filter 10 stops. In addition, you should have another 3 stops ND filter, that would allow some more flexibility if the light is stronger then expected. “But what is that nonsense are you talking about?”, Asaf continued, ”35 mm film? Are you kidding me? Take my Mamiya, I do not intend to drag her all over South America.” And so I got a medium format camera for the long exposure. And just like that the F50 became the third in line. (Asaf ended up taking a Fuji medium format rangefinder with him on his trip and returned with some great photos). So let’s sum up: so far we have the D300 +300/4 + X1.7 for hand-held shooting, which means I need a monopod to help stablize the shots and take the weight. Long exposures of 20 minutes? Two tripods have just been added to the equipment list. One large and impressive for the Mamiya and a second that can be a little smaller and little less stable (which makes it less expensive) for the F50.

Now after this long detour let’s get back to our story.

Discovery Rolled over to the VAB (photo by NASA)

It’s now mid-February 2010. I have secured the launch tickets, and the launch is one month away. Airline tickets – check dates and prices – looks reasonable. And the clock is running. The day after I authorized the flight tickets (and made the payment) the first problem arose, Discovery’s roll over from the OPF to the VAB is delayed due to not-perfect weather conditions. It was too cold and they didn’t want to let her out. Because of the delay and the scheduled launch of a Russian Progress spacecraft, they decide to postpone the launch to April 5th. my flight ticket back home was for April 6th… a quick phone call to the travel agent (and some additional fees) and the flight was pushed back a week and a half. On February 23, Discovery was mated to the ET/SRB stack. On March 5th, she was rolled out to pad 39A.

Discovery During Mating (Photo by NASA)

The stack, which is the “politically correct” name for the Orbiter, ET and SRBs mated together, together weighs about 600 tons (1,200,000 lbs), is almost 100 meters (300ft) high and has to be taken to the launch pad, some eight miles away, The rollout process to the Pad takes about 12 hours using a specially built Apollo-era moving platform called a “crawler”. The Shuttle is brought out to the launch pad about a month prior to the designated launch date, since there are several tests that cannot be done indoors due to the toxicity levels of some of the components. During the tests a faulty valve was found in one of Discovery’s OMS pods. The valve was stuck open. My stress levels spiked, such failure if not fixed, can very easily lead to the cancellation of the launch. Will it abort the launch? Will it be on time? NASA managers decided to delay the decision till more comprehensive examinations are made, a process which will continue during the next week and a half. My flight leaves in four days. I take a decision, I’m going! Shuttle launch or not , I was going. I planned to leave the country a week and a half before launch date, tour the East Coast, the head down to Florida in early April, see the launch and continue to travel in Florida until the end of my trip. I had enough spare time to “suffer” a week-long delay of the launch. But if this problem would eventually become a show stopper the delay will not be a week. It’ll be a three months delay. At least.

Flight day arrived. First stop is Vienna, 24 hours with a childhood friend, see some of the city. From there to New-York, walk around the city to see what all the fuss is all about. But even more important, drop in for a visit in the world’s best and biggest “toy store”, B&H, world famouse for their wide selection of anything photography related… The most critical equipment, the ND filters, was ordered from B&H before the date change, since originally the visit to New-York was to be at the end of my trip not at the beginning. On my second day in New-York, I  got some good news: NASA announced its final decision. The launch will take place as scheduled, Monday April 5th, 6:21 AM – which means it’s going to be a night launch. In April the sunrise in Florida is around 7 am. Leaving New-York, I flew to Chicago for a few days, I heard good things on the city, plus a friend, USA~Driver from the SSM community, lives nearby, so It’s a chance to meet From there, to Washington, Actually from Chicago I went to see the Smithsonian Air&Space Museum, Washington was just an excuse. Short hops, short stay,  and lots of pictures.

April has arrived, and I headed down to Florida, the launch being scheduled for Monday. On Friday I went to KSC for the first time, I wanted to see the Discovery on the pad. The visitor center ticket is good for two entries into the complex and valid for a week. If the first launch postponed I want to save myself the option to enter again for launch. And if all goes well, 39A would be empty, and as I have already said, I want to see her on the pad. Tour at Kennedy is not cheap ($ 39 for two entries) but it is particularly enjoyable aviation enthusiast like me, I ran around there from 11 am until closing at 20:00 like a little kid at an amusement park.

Launch day came. I should be at the assembly point at 23:30 for the pickup. There, buses pick up the ticket holders and drive them to the KSC Visitor Center for a few hours and then take them out to the Causeway some 3 hours before launch. Understandably, Security is quite tight. Because I wasn’t staying  in Orlando, I could not enjoy Gator Tours hotel pick-up. I chose instead to be picked up from Titusville. This town is the closest one to KSC and has a park from which the launch can be viewed (distance is about 20 miles). I headed out on Sunday morning in the general direction. That Sunday, April 4th was Easter and one of the coastal towns had its annual surfing contest, so I decided to make a little detour. After several hours of picture-taking, I continued to the Visitor Center for a few hours because I still had my ticket from Friday. I had a few more hours of horsing around like a little kid in the Visitor center and went back to Titusville to have a rest for the night.

At around 1:30 AM I was at the Visitor Center once again, this time having fun with my Mamiya, warming up the engines for the main event. From there we will be taken to the launch pad.

STS-131 Long exposure (photo by uri_ba)

From a distance of 12 kilometers (7 miles) the Shuttle looks like a small toy on the horizon, powerful spotlights piercing the darkness. Discovery is there like a jewel on display against the dark night sky. I quickly setup both my film cameras on tripods, starting to take test shots, to figure out the correct exposure for the the launch. I had a few shots planned out before the “main event”, but we got delayed in the Visitors Center so we only had 30 minutes before launch.

I wanted to put the cameras in front of everything, so that people will not show up in the photos. but because we arrived so late, the front line was full of people, so I only had room for one tripod outside the marked area (a rope marking up to where we can stand). The second tripod was placed as close as possible the rope, from my side, the camera on that tripod (the F50) was unable to get a proper picture, because every time someone moved somewhere around me and hit the rope, the rope would oscillate hitting my camera and blur up the exposure. And the people around me could not sit still.

Launch time approaches, the 9 minute mark coming with it. My trusty D300 is in my hand, mounted on a monopod with 300/4 and a 1.7 extender. On one tripod a Mamiya RZ with 50 mm lens (equivalent to 24 mm) and a 3 stops ND filter (it’s night after all). The second tripod, with my F50 and 80-200, and another three stops ND. I counted down with GC for the end of the 9 minute hold. As the crew would hit the timer start switch on the center console, I would press the shutter release button on the Mamiya, at T-9 Minutes starting the exposure that will end at MECO. The F50,will do a 30-second exposure starting about 15 seconds before launch (so I’d have enough time to get back to the D300).

Launch readiness poll, and we have a GO for launch. Now the tension really starts to build up. I verify that all the cameras are set to go. T-9 minutes, Mamiya starts exposure – I suspect it’s under-exposed by about a one stop or so, but there is no time to think and correct. The clock is running. The camera in my hand clicks happily. it was made for this kind of moments. Meanwhile I’m running the checklist in my head. After so many “launches” in SSM, I know the routine by heart. I know which swich each of the crew members is about to flip at any given moment and what they are looking at. The excitement continues to mount. five minutes to launch, our eyes turn up for the sky as the ISS passes overhead. The time of the launch is planned so that it will minimize the fuel requirements for the rendezvous. The Station looks like a bright shining star passing quickly across the sky and it disappears in less than a minute. Thirty seconds to launch. My finger is ready on the faithful F50, 15 seconds, I press the exposure button.

STS-131 liftoff (photo by Uri_ba)

Back to 300, My heart is beating. 10… 9… 8.. 7… Main engine start – a small flame on the horizon, a cloud of smoke hides Discovery. 3… 2… 1… And then the two SRBs light up, and with them the sky. The sky which was pitch black is now suddenly painted red. Out of the smoke her majesty, Discovery, slowly rises. With a total wight of over 2000 tons (4,500,000 lbs), it climbs slowly at first, then starts picking up speed. Exposure had become impossible, the flames are so bright I can hardly make out the shuttle. it’s a lost battle for me, I’m hysterically trying to run the exposure from side to side, hoping to get something properly exposed. A minute has passed, The Shuttle is now only a bright point on the horizon, the camera can not focus, Discovery has shrunk to a bright spot. I finally look up out of the viewfinder and breath. The mind starts to understand what I just saw. The most amazing “discovery” was the difference between the speed of light speed of sound. Sound moves through the air at about one km every 3 seconds. I was standing at a distance of about 12 km from the launch pad. Which means that only 40 seconds after launch the engines noise reached our viewing point. At first, a thunder –  the water sound suppression system. Then SSMEs starting up, a fraction of a second from each other. The noise increases, as the SSMEs are brought to full power. Five seconds later, the sound of the SRBs. A low frequency tremors convey an overwhelming sense of power, 3000 tons of thrust, from a distance of 12 km. Even at this distance it’s as noisy as a jet taking off. The low-frequency sounds shake the body and you can feel the engines. It’s just like standing next to the sub-woofer at a live concert. Discovery continues to shrink in the sky, and the Sun begins to rise.

The SSME plumes expand as the atmospheric pressure drops around the Shuttle. The Sun shining off the plume leaves the most visually stunning contrail – Something I’ve never seen on TV. These trails look like huge wings around a bright point of light. The SRB smoke trail is lit up by the rising sun. The plume of smoke is first painted red and yellow. Then slowly shades of blue and purple appear. Amazing sight. As people around begin packing their things, I’m still staring at the sky. I put a wide angle lens on the D300, and begin to pack up my equipment. My medium format camera is still exposing the film. Loudspeakers announce the Shuttle approaching MECO – it is already halfway to Spain, at an altitude of nearly 140 km, almost unimaginable speed of 24 000 miles per hour, eight minutes and forty-five seconds after liftoff. Finally I can stop the exposure. That’s it, finished. now starts the rest of my trip. I came to see what I just saw. And what an experience!

Discovery returned to Kennedy on April 19th at the end of a successful mission, I never got to see it, as she landed, I was on a plane on my way home.

Since then four more missions were flown:
STS-132, Atlantis took to the sky on May 14th 2010. She safely returned on May 26th.
STS-133, Discovery’s last flight launched on February 24th, 2011. Landing on March 9th, marking Discovery’s 356st Day in orbit.
STS-134, Endeavour’s last journey May 16, 2011 – June 1, 2011, bringing Endeavour to a total of 296 days is space.
And last, STS-135, Atlantis’ last voyage to Space, July 8th to July 21st 2011. During this mission the Atlantis crew, as well as the ISS crew, have taken some of the most beautiful images for the shuttle and the ISS I’ve seen. After landing for the final time Atlantis has a total of 306 days in orbit.

Truly an end of an era.

Considering, it been over two years of SSM2007, and the fact, that its been a long time since i’ve posted here, i wanted to share my thoughts on this project.

Since the launch of SSM2007 on Dec. 31st 2007 the Space Shuttle mission Simulator has come to MP 5.0 There have been numerous updates since then, including many suggestions by the Community, zillion of bugfixes and outrageous additions. In my mind, it’s just fair to leave a post here, to thank all of the Team around the SSM2007 simulator. What they do, the way they do and the way they are treating the community is outstanding, and in my mind unique! I don’t know any Community around the net, where the forum is that related, friendly and explainatory, than our all beloved SSM2007-Community. Its not usual the way things go on at this site, and i must really speend all my appreciation to the team. The effort that they give into the Simulator is outstanding, and everytime a new mission or Featurepack comes out, i am astonished, what they have done. It’s kinda like a miracle every time. Also the way the communicate with us, seems not to have any competetor in the world wide web.

When i installed the first BETA including the ARES 1-X mission, i thought to myself: “My god, what they have managed to create again?”. As Admin stated, that this is a hint about the things to come, i really must admit, that i never thought how far that project may come. Now that we are away a few months to the release of SSM 2010, i relly wonder, what is is, that makes the R&D team doin what they do. To give us the best supported, advanced and accurate Simulator in theSpace sector. They build a new, much more advanced Simulator, now. I myself cant really think of the things about to come. To get stickied, i must say, that especially the ARES 1-X-mission showed, with how much effort and love they build their stuff. All in all i just can say its always stunning again, watching ARES1-x lift off the launchpad.

Also that they offer all updates for free make me feel, to say thank you to all that are involved!

I just can speak for myself, but let me take the chance to SAY, that this team is the best, that i could work with, and when i think of the things i learnt in the last two years, then i really must say WOW. It’s always much fun plaing the sim, and it is the only game so far that enjoyed the the way SSM2007 does. So if anyone of you wants to join in pleasing that appreciation the the Groundcrew then let a comment left on the blog, to show them urs as well.  Beiing part of that wonderful community make me proud and also brought me to a higher level personally also.

Il come to the end now, summarzing my thoughts by wishing the R&D as much success for SSM2010, as they earned with SSM2007, and let us uphold the manners and stay with them, as long as they decice to devliver us what they do!

Thank you very much!

Marvx

To help you all out, the SSM-Fans-Staff has been working hard to get the tutorial videos updated.

And Here are the Results

Rendezvous Videos on YT
part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilBUN1LO6Zc
part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3BXxMLdQFk
part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isb-jgDtzzs
part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgUq7hsYD-s
part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WafRumIS6g

Docking Vid on YT
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlGS1mnGZVw
Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ub8BywvZPA
Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZc_QAcbY_c

Fly-around Video
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5vka0KI3n8
Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdv62QrQNpU
Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_p1yLqDvNg

Hope this will help you getting through the Flight-school again

Have fun!

The SSM-Fans Staff

Because you are undoubtedly on edge I’ll say it right away.. Main features of the upcoming SP would be a new, more realistic, LOS system, complete with RBAR, TORVA & ISS Fly-around

I must admit, at first it was a complete head-scratcher for me. I had to re-learn the RNDZ and docking. Not to mention the brand new ISS Fly-around procedure. However, after a few hours for toying around with the new SP, I can safely say that I don’t know how we managed without it

Along with the RBAR, comes naturally, the TORVA approach.  The NASA checklists are our new best friend – the ssm-fans team is adapting the checklists to SSM, which is currently being reviewed and revised. Again, cool stuff. the GC have really outdone themselves Screenshots aren’t really helpful, but this clip might do the trick.. (if you look carefully you might even get some hints on the way the new LOS works)

In this article I want to cover a basic RMS challenge. working the arm without using external views…

Because of the current limitations of SSM2007 this is only possible on mission with the aft window un-blockd. So obviously that “disqualify” all ISS missions. but we are still left with a bunch of fun missions, STS-8, STS-41C, STS-51A, STS-27 and so on. You will also need to know how to operate the arm on UNL/ORB mode, because this is the main mode we will be using.

I have chosen STS-31 for this article, So let’s go have fun!

In order to tackle this challenge we need to divide it up to a few steps.

1. View angles
2. RMS handling and orientation
3. payload Handling.

Views

We have already said that we are not going to use external views, so that leaves us with the 3D VC and the 2D panel. and we will need them both. I will describe the work-flow the way I feel comfortable with it might not be the optimum way so in general, YMMV

I will now make a short “detour” to explain how I work with the RMS (If you are familiar with my way of work or you are just not interested to know   just click here)

I use X52 joystick with custom profile, I have programmed two of the HAT switches to function as a THC, one HAT switch on the Throttle controls left/right and up/down translations, while a second HAT switch on the stick controls FWD/AFT translations. the stick itself is the RHC, with a twist rudder it’s very similar in operation to the real deal. I of course have the RMS capture & released mapped to the stick (trigger). and I have main view configured on both the stick and throttle to allow some easy access. I can get to the 3D VC, switch position on the 3D VC and access the last 2D panel in a push of a button on the HOTAS system. the system also has a very uncomfortable mouse like device that allows me to make some minor mouse work if I don’t want to let go of the stick.

Another piece of hardware I use only when I want to try stuff like this is my TrackIR (I have the “old” TIR4). In SSM I Don’t like to use it most of the time, but on RMS ops without Ext. views it’s priceless and allows me to move my head around and get a whole new perspective (you’ll see later on what I mean). I can only assume how much fun the Vusix goggles will be – but it’s just too expensive for me.

OK, back to views.

As I said before, we have the 3D cockpit and the 2D panels, each would be used on a different part of the task, but we will transition between them all the time. In real life, the Port Aft position is RMS Operator and the STBD Position is the CDR/PLT position from which the shuttle is flown. so naturally our basic position will be the Port side, where we have the monitor for the CCTV cams and all the RMS readouts.

Because the 3D panel is currently unclickble we will need to preset several settings on the 2D panel first.

We will need to set the RMS to ORB/UNL mode (because it’s faster, better, more logical then single mode, and because single is unusable in 3D view – pick your favorite “excuse” ). Next we need to set up the RMS read outs, this is done by rotating the two big gray knobs (which I have no Idea how they are really called) to “wrist roll” and “EE ATT” – because this setting us the single, most important info we need to make a perfect grapple. Then we will need to turn on our cameras and set the MON1 on with cross-hairs. The secret here is to set up the camera that will be most helpful in getting the end-effector to position. Because we have no true 3D view (unless you use the Vusix), we need to cross two diagonal views for a good position. Looking out the back window will give us one, and we need to choose a second view from the 5 cameras we have (A-D and RMS elbow cam). For this mission I will start with the RMS elbow cam zoomed out all the way, adjusted full left, and full down. (because this is the general direction of the grapple point). In this Mission I think that the front STBD camera will also be OK because we are going for the STBD grapple point. so aiming at it will allow us a pretty good line up.

RMS handling and orientation

Now that we have the initial views set up we can start moving the arm to the grapple position. we are in ORB/UNL, so we start flying the arm to the right position, we need to be aware of the payload, not to hit him, but we also need to keep the arm low enough so that we can see the EE out of the window, here is where the TIR really helps, Just for the fact that you can “crouch down” and catch a bit more out the window. if you do not have a TIR you can also use the STBD position and the center position to help you with the looking around. (just look at the three images below, the EE is “lost” from standard view, “found” with TIR and with standard STBD view). The FF VC view inroduced on SP3.60 allows you the same function as the TIR does, only drawback is that you cannot move the RMS while using it..

Main issue here is to keep moving your view, look at the monitor and out the window and get a feeling on where the arm is. if you have a widescreen it’s relatively easy, because you can get both with just a slight change of view angle, on some cases once you set it, it stays there…

Once we got the Arm into position it’s time for the grapple, we need to switch the MON1 to the EE wrist Cam with the zoom set for grapple (zoom in until you can’t see the tip of the EE in the camera – as seen on the image on the right).

You can do the final adjustments either on 2D panel or on 3D panel, it’s up to you, both will give you the same info. IMHO (as you can see below), looking out the window at this point helps you remember where do you need to move the arm to get the camera in position, because you can see to where the camera is on the RMS. If you got a grapple on 180 deg wrist roll (like in this case), the FWD/AFT and LEFT/RIGHT are reversed, which can be very confusing. so pick your way and grapple the target. Once there we will start moving the Payload, and this is where it’s getting tricky.

Payload Handling

Now that he have grappled our target the real challenge begins. On the initial part of the unberthing especially with big cargo (LDEF, HST and pretty much everything we deal with in the missions that allows use to work without External views) will all be done from 2D panel. because the window will be blocked by the cargo, and we will need to switch back and forth between the four PLB cameras (A-D). the secret is to know where your clearance is problematic on every step and adjust the cameras accordingly. So before the initial movement, we will need to identify the problems. they easy way out would be pressing F1. But that is not what we are here for. Initially I will set the cameras to look at each other, something like this diagram.(all four cameras+the estimated FOV of each of them, you can click to enlarge).

That gives us a pretty good idea on where we would expect trouble, in this case, both sides and the front of the PLB. The front is even more problematic then you think.. Because when we move the arm up it tends to retract a bit and therefore moving the payload forward. So we’ll adjust the cameras and start motion. initially we want to raise the payload, without moving it. so maintaining the capture EE attitude would be a good idea while fiddling round in FWD/AFT and LEFT/RIGHT motion to keep clearance. Once we cross the “danger line” we can start changing attitude while keeping it clear of PLB walls and floor. at this stage we are still playing around with the cameras, so 2D view is still the place to be (at least most of the time).

At some point we would only need one of the aft cameras and the rest we can see out the AFT window – so we’re back to 3D VC from here. Once the payload is clear of the PLB it’s just a matter of getting it into position. while viewing up the top windows.

And that’s about it! One more important thing to notice, getting stuff out is easier then getting the same stuff back in (STS-27 and STS-41C Vs STS-32 are fine examples) so practice, practice and practice!

No satellites were harmed during the making of this article and all Images are hosted on the image pad

Hope you enjoyed reading this, as much as I had writing it
Uri