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KerbalEDU Mission: Principia Mun "Free Return" Flyby


AloE

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Kerbal Scenarios & Missions using the n-body gravitation & angular momentum mod "Principia"

NOTE 2022 January: 

  • With TeacherGaming closing its doors, the login based KerbalEDU 1.4.5 & 1.3.1 are no longer available.
  • Private Division has released, to current holders of KerbalEDU, the old installer based KerbalEDU 1.2.2.
  •  
  • For anyone desiring to use Principia in an EDU setting, I recommend using the most recent KSP (currently 1.12.3) as both Principia & KSP have progress tremendously since 1.2.2 and also since the Principia developers only support the current release of Principia. 
  • That said, if you really want to tinker with Principia without support in KerbalEDU 1.2.2 then  Principia Cramer and its specific install dependencies (also study the Principia install instructions) was the last version to support KSP 1.2.2
  • The KSP save files I provided below will not work in 1.2.2 as they are for later versions of KSP.   To start, I instead suggest tinkering with the ship in the KSP save posted at: Principia Challenge: Munar Retrograde Rendezvous (1.2.2)

[edit 2020 March: expanded this topic to cover EDU related Principia activities rather than just one Mun mission]

Table of Contents (= Links to key posts below with details):

Edited by AloE
WIP updates
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  • 1 year later...

 KerbalEDU Mission:

Principia Mun "Free Return" FlyBy

Why Use this KerbalEdu Scenario

History:

Plan your 1km Sunset crater FlyOver: (a.k.a Expensive Real Near Future Space Tourism)

Learn Principia: tinker with an already created flight plan

  • Explore Plotting Reference Frames
  • Principia uses delta-V sliders rather than maneuver nodes.
  • adjust maneuver to fly lower through canyon
  • add maneuver to enter Mun orbit
  • add maneuver to slingshot to Mimus

Free Return Trajectory Fun...try to (or not to) skip off the atmosphere on return!

Fti2NH9.png

1G8Vvqi.png

 

Scenario Requirements & Credits:

 

IMPORTANT

On 2/5/2014 at 1:19 AM, eggrobin said:

KerbalEDU 1.3.1 & 1.4.5 must use the release (Fatou)This is the last version to support KSP 1.3.1 and 1.4.5.  To download the binary (Macintosh, Ubuntu, and Windows) click:

  1. here for 1.3.1 &
  2. here for 1.4.x, 1.5.1, 1.6.1, and 1.7.0;

 

DRAFT Principia Mun Flight Plan Saves

KerbalEDU x64 1.4.5 & 1.3.1 :

KSP 1.4.5+:

KSP 1.11.2:

the .craft files:

Instructions: some ways to use the .sfs save file...

Spoiler
  • Place the .sfs file in the main KerbalEDU-->Saves-->Scenarios folder then launch from the Scenarios menu in game....OR...
  • you may  also rename the .sfs. to "persistent.sfs" and place it in a new folder you create & name in KerbalEDU-->Saves.  Then open from the "Resume Saved" menu in game

 

o33ZoO1.png

Mission Draft Ideas, Issues, Etc.:

You are welcome to post suggestions in comments!

  • NO KerbalEDU Mission Editor event triggers have been added yet as craft & 'free return trajectory' timing are still being edited
  • Vessel has added EDUtools so the .sfs files fail to load the craft in regular KSP
    • note EDU force indicator in 1.3.1 experiences drag:
    • 0PFsu6k.png
  • Experiment with various re-entries:
    • 9B43Bzs.png
  • Mun approach angle considerations:
  1. lit crescent approach
  2. celestial timing: easier Mimus "add maneuver" transfer option

 

More Images:GZxK8FT.png

Change Log:

  • 2019 June: updated links for the final Principia release that supports 1.3.1 & 1.4.5
  • 2018 Dec 14: verified the .sfs files work fine in KerbalEdu x64 1.4.5 & revised images
  • 2018 Dec 7: added .craft files
  • 2018 Oct 26: clarified x64 KerbalEDU required
  • 2018 Oct 8: Created Post & added initial KSP 1.3.1 draft WIP .sfs files
xTbCwT6.png z7n4DrQ.png
4Olussg.png 38Ii9zR.png

 

And...some Astronomy with KSP & Principia:

ovQq900.png

Edited by AloE
added links to files that work with KSP 1.11.2
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  • 4 months later...

Useful update notes regarding experimentation & scenario creation when using Principia saves:

Excerpts from the change proposed in issue #2457 since "A vessel that gets teleported to another planet should be ignored and forgotten by Principia while that happens."

  • "The canonical way to make Principia ignore a vessel in-game is to hack gravity (in the cheat menu) while it is active; this can be used to set its orbit using the cheat menu.  This is however not persistent, so we have explicit mechanism to support save file editing. "
    •  
  • "If you are doing save file editing, you have full control of the save file: the identity of the vessel for Principia’s purposes is its pid (A GUID, corresponding to the C# fields ProtoVessel.vesselID, Vessel.id). Replacing that by a GUID you generate yourself will make the vessel appear to be a new one, unknown to Principia, obviating any issues involved with vessels changing while under Principia’s control."
    •  
    • details on a 'fortuitous' way of save file editing of Principa saves that appears to work relatively well:c7DoIHC.png

Also, the Principia team has added a remarkable new capability to the mod in their recent Principia release.  While KerbalEDU needs to be updated to something beyond KSP 1.4.5 to work with current versions of Principia, the Principia team's video is worth an anticipatory view:

 

Principia team's videos: angular momentum, moments of inertia & time warp: (yes, physics DURING time warp! )

 

Edited by AloE
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  • 8 months later...

& for those of us not traveling to today's total solar eclipse centerline we can watch the eclipse in KSP with the help of Kopernicus, Module Manager, RSS, Scatterer, EVE, RSSVE & Principia:

2020 December 14 Total Solar Eclipse
5RRUzS7.png

& some fun additional ways to watch:

Live Stream:

NSO h-alpha network
p0l938D.jpg

 

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  • 5 months later...

@scimas created a very useful set of Principia initial states for use with Real Solar System (RSS). 

To make it easier to find, below is the link to the relevant post in the Principia thread that has the link to the actual files & why they help make Principia more manageable:

https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/162200-wip181-191-1101-and-1110%E2%80%932-principia%E2%80%94version-green-released-2021-05-11%E2%80%94n-body-and-extended-body-gravitation/&do=findComment&comment=3883817

Basically, if you want to recreate past real missions, try your hand at real near future missions, or do planetary astronomy in KSP or KerbalEDU, etc. you will want to delete the

GameData\Principia\real_solar_system\initial_state_jd_2433282_500000000.cfg

and replace it with one of scimas' Principia "initial state" files that has an epoch just before your launch date, astronomical event, etc.

Further details regarding the purpose of the Principia "initial state" file may be found at this link: 

https://github.com/mockingbirdnest/Principia/wiki/Principia-configuration-files#the-principia_initial_state-configuration

These files will also work with Fatou which was the last Principia version to support KSP/KerbalEDU 1.4.5.   KerbalEDU 1.4.5 was the final version released & also was the last KSP version to support x32 operating systems.  Sadly, TG development & sales of KerbalEDU shutdown in May 2021.  At least today, I was able to login to TGdesk & KerbalEDU.  I really hope TG shares their work with the KSP community & Squad/TT so that their excellent flight recorder, formula tool, & force arrows mods continue and that some TGdesk login like form of EDU licensing may continue in the KSP community.

Edited by AloE
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  • 4 weeks later...
wEc5lPY.png
  • For the present KerbalEDU 1.4.5 using Principia Fatou, (or regular KSP 1.11.2 using Principia Green) the "square orbit" save provided at the older KSP post above is fun to explore (one can also think of it as a special elliptical orbit around the Kerbin that results in a "square" retrograde path around Mun...really...fly it & enjoy the KSP tourism experience).

 

  • Also, I've provided a KSP 1.11.2 Principia & FARc save to help people new to Principia explore eggrobin's tutorial mentioned earlier in this topic thread...my prior saves had a ship that only loaded in KerbalEDU...I revised the ship to work fine in KSP.   For now the save only works in KSP 1.11.2 until Principia & FARc update to 1.12.x .  (I also made this new save in part since KSP 1.12 is stated to be the last major update to KSP & with the hope that Squad/TT eventually makes a final update of KerbalEDU to 1.12.x... since the 'final original' KSP & the huge mod & tool contributions for it built by the community is more perfect than ever for education...)

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iByh94S72yX3Ynxo1WapKtI_YZSdhUCI?usp=sharing

I've also written some further suggestions for people new to Principia to help with 'learning by exploring, studying numbers in pictures, & just plain clicking & sliding the Principia buttons & sliders on your own' at the following post on the Principia thread:

https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/162200-wip181-191-1101-and-1110–2-principia—version-gröbner-released-2021-06-10—n-body-and-extended-body-gravitation/&do=findComment&comment=3995239

  • As mentioned in the post at the above link, making & using 'new bodies files' with KSP Trajectory Optimization Tool built with MATLAB  & its KSP plugin is quite helpful with Principia especially with the pre-release version 1.6.8 (read especially KSPTOT pages 179 & 178 for key details on the pre-release version):

 

Edited by AloE
added key KSPTOT thread links regarding pre-release 1.6.8
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Hey there, KSPTOT author here.  If you plan on using KSPTOT's LVD software tool to model N-body motion, please make sure to grab the latest v1.6.8 pre-release.  There's a bug in the way this is modeled in the v1.6.7 release.  Thanks!

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