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[1.1.3] Orbital Decay v1.5.2 (17/07/2016) - Total Overhaul

Whitecat106

By Whitecat106
in KSP1 Mod Releases

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Whitecat106

Whitecat106

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Posted (edited)
16 hours ago, Drew Kerman said:

so, eager as I am to use this mod I've come up against two serious problems:

The first is that since this actually models decay, Arrowstar says he can't include it in his mission planner software. I really need to have a robust mission planner.

Second is a bit more personal but tied to the first, in that if KSPTOT can't include decay, my Flight Tracker can't handle it either since it's based of KSPTOT orbital calculations and therefore the assumption that there is no decay in KSP

The mod is doing a great job now of modeling decay, and Whitecat106 wants to make it even more realistic with n-body perturbation, so I highly doubt he'd want to go backwards as well and work out a very simple and mainly static model that approximates decay. But hey, never hurts to ask.

Hello there,

Those are some really interesting points that you raise, I will open up an issue in github and have a look at KSPTOT and see what I think. I could possibly make a branch release with a reduced version of orbital decay that would act as an extension to KSPTOT, simply altering some numerical values before KSP sets these into vessel orbits. Working backwards at the moment seems to be a good idea, especially since I want to rebuild the code for the next version of orbital decay anyway; I'm sure I could look into this! Up to this point I had not realized this incompatibility! :)

 

@sidfu, thanks for this! Since 1.2 new vessel types have been added so I will have to add a check for these in the UI. Added to the Github as #87.

 

As for a note on progress, I have been thinking a lot and a rebuild of the code is in order for 1.6.0:

- starting by trying to remove as many clunky 'foreach' loops as I can, generally try and reduce system strain, especially with large games.

- I shall then work checking Mascon functions are working and accurate - this will include making Mascon maps for each planet in the stock and RSS systems - Maybe a scansat add on displaying such maps would be cool? Any ideas?

- I will then fix and finalize some of the features I had planned for 1.6.0, including fixing the SCS plugin issues (resetting solar cycles randomly), fixing the in development VAB/SPH menu, better vessel sorting (by name, active, search).

- If possible I will try and produce some compatibility with persistent rotation, (basically background Yarkovsky effect) - It would be nice to have to make sure you rotated in an axis perpendicular to a heat source to minimize decay!

 

In the mean time, for 1.5.3 I would like to address any issues with the dropbox version I uploaded on Saturday, so please do let me know if everything is going good/bad and what I need to tweak! Of course time is still an issue, so any code submissions/pull requests would be greatly appreciated especially in the VAB/SPH editor utilities menu area.

Whitecat106 :)

 

 

Edited by Whitecat106
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sidfu

sidfu

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encounttred a bug but couldnt pinpoint the cause. when i clicked the enabled station keeping on a ship manulay(in the right click menu) that was around 320km above kerbin everything disappeared and i was taking to exactly 0 heigt and the world textures where gone even on the space center(building still there thou). there was no error thou( i have critical error like that set to show on screen). funny thing is even going back to title the world textures where gone. havent booted up again to see if does again or if was random kracken hit.

 

 

update.

ok the black planet and 0alt seems to happen if u enabled sation keeping while on a suborbital path. doesnt seem to do it every time thou. probaly a check to prevent station keeping enable till they in alt greather than 1 to prevent.

yeah right now cant enable station keeping on some except when u select them as the lists need update to include all the stock game categories

 

on update why not make the llist by planet dropdown then slit into types. would be much more neater.

for example

kerbin

        sat relay

              sat 1

Edited by sidfu
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Drew Kerman

Drew Kerman

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Posted
5 hours ago, Whitecat106 said:

Those are some really interesting points that you raise, I will open up an issue in github and have a look at KSPTOT and see what I think. I could possibly make a branch release with a reduced version of orbital decay that would act as an extension to KSPTOT, simply altering some numerical values before KSP sets these into vessel orbits. Working backwards at the moment seems to be a good idea, especially since I want to rebuild the code for the next version of orbital decay anyway; I'm sure I could look into this! Up to this point I had not realized this incompatibility! :)

Your consideration of this issue is very much appreciated! I do not hold you to it in any way. If I think up any more thoughts on the matter I will address them in the Github issue.

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Maeyanie

Maeyanie

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Posted

With the dropbox version, the following exception happens during startup: 

NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
  at FlightGlobals.GetHomeBody () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 
  at WhitecatIndustries.VABUserInterface..ctor () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 
UnityEngine.GameObject:Internal_AddComponentWithType(Type)
UnityEngine.GameObject:AddComponent(Type)
AddonLoader:StartAddon(LoadedAssembly, Type, KSPAddon, Startup)
AddonLoader:StartAddons(Startup)
<LoadObjects>c__Iterator4A:MoveNext()
UnityEngine.SetupCoroutine:InvokeMoveNext(IEnumerator, IntPtr)
UnityEngine.MonoBehaviour:StartCoroutine_Auto(IEnumerator)
UnityEngine.MonoBehaviour:StartCoroutine(IEnumerator)
<CreateDatabase>c__Iterator49:MoveNext()
UnityEngine.SetupCoroutine:InvokeMoveNext(IEnumerator, IntPtr)
UnityEngine.MonoBehaviour:StartCoroutine_Auto(IEnumerator)
UnityEngine.MonoBehaviour:StartCoroutine(IEnumerator)
GameDatabase:StartLoad()
<LoadSystems>c__Iterator5D:MoveNext()
UnityEngine.SetupCoroutine:InvokeMoveNext(IEnumerator, IntPtr)
UnityEngine.MonoBehaviour:StartCoroutine_Auto(IEnumerator)
UnityEngine.MonoBehaviour:StartCoroutine(IEnumerator)
LoadingScreen:Start()

It seems harmless enough, but figured it was worth mentioning.

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Vanamonde

Vanamonde

Posted
Posted

Please keep in mind that what feels like flattering enthusiasm on your part can come across as aggressively demanding to the mod maker. 

Also, guys, if you think a post is a problem, please just report it rather than replying to it. Replying just adds off-topic clutter to the thread. 

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SynthWeaver

SynthWeaver

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Hey everyone, Does someone know how to see how long my relays ships are staying in orbit?

I can only see buttons for probes, ships, bases, derbis and unknown objects.

I do not like to change my relay to probes every time :(

Edited by SynthWeaver
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stratochief66

stratochief66

Posted
Posted

Great mod, and I like how the way it works it appears to be immediately compatible with RSS, which is great. I am testing this mod in my 1.2.2 RSS/RO/RP-0 testing environment, and I was seeing unexpected behaviour with eccentric orbits around Earth.

I'll use this post to make sure we're on the same page, and that I'm on the right one. First off, I want to make sure I'm looking at the right code, that is being used by the KSP 1.2.2 version that was shared via DropBox. Is this it?
https://github.com/Whitecat106/OrbitalDecay/blob/master/Source/DecayManager.cs#L665

I found that a craft with an orbit of 190 km by 10760 km was not decaying at all. I believe that is because the SMA of this orbit is 11845 km, which is greater than the 'MaxInfluence' for Earth of 6371 km * 1.5 = 9557 km. So, I bumped the orbit to 171.5 km by 5984 km so that the SMA was below 9557 km, and the eccentricity here is 0.308 for reference. This gave me an 'Equivalent Altitude of 615 km (calculated by the equation for Eccentricity > 0.085). The thing I currently find the most disturbing is that eccentricity appears to stay constant, which will be particularly untrue for eccentric orbits.

Anyway, most of this is to make sure I'm on the right page. In checking my basic mental logic, I saw this page: http://www.lizard-tail.com/isana/lab/orbital_decay/ which links to a paper that uses similar equations to yours, and also notes at the end that (for eccentric orbits) "The apogee height is decreased whilst the perigee height is little affected until the orbit becomes close to circular."

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NFunky

NFunky

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Posted

Hey,

First, I want to add my thanks to everyone else's.  Just discovered this mod and I love it!  It finally forces me to do all kind of realistic space things that I wouldn't have before.

I've got a pretty simple question about the decay rate in Real Solar System.  I've noticed the decay rate is really high in LEO.  I have a 4 ton ship (mk1 pod, mk1 cabin, +support equipment) in a 300x300 km orbit around earth.  I'd think I could last a decent while up here with such a little ship, but the estimated time until decay is only 16 days!  My decay rate is more than 900  m/day.

Is this realistic?  I'm very much not an expert, so please let me know if this is just how fast things decay in reality.  Otherwise, what should my settings be for realistic decay in RSS?

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eberkain

eberkain

Posted
Posted (edited)

Found this online calculator for orbital decay.   

http://www.lizard-tail.com/isana/lab/orbital_decay/

It does seem like the mod may need to be tuned a little bit for real scale systems.   But I'm also no expert.  

EDIT:  Looks like the Decay Multiplier is set to 10x by default.   I can be changed on the KSC menu. 

Edited by eberkain
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PhoenixSpaceIndustries

PhoenixSpaceIndustries

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Posted

I am also seeing quite high decay rates for satellites, especially when compared to the orbital injection stage for that satellite, which is a similar size, if not larger. The satellite is decaying in 17.6 days, compared to the injection stage's 255.9, which seems wrong. Could anyone clarify if this is just my misconceptions, or if I need to change anything? I have set the decay modifier to 1. 

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ZAJC3W

ZAJC3W

Posted
Posted (edited)

I've compiled latest code from github and it's not loading at all, it's in between major updates code.

Last known working source for 1.2.2 is running, but GIU isn't showing up properly, If anyone knows what has changed 1.2->1.3 GUI wise I would much appreciate help.

 

I'm an idiot, .dll without Icons won't show correct GUI

Orbital Decay 1.53 compiled for 1.3

Same version as for 1.2.2, unzip inside GameData folder

Module Manager required, not included.

Edited by ZAJC3W
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ZAJC3W

ZAJC3W

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I've dropped it from my mods list while ago as it was messing up some orbits, missing Duna by half of it's orbital period after carefully aiming to get encounter wasn't fun.

No game+save crashes for me though. But playing with 30+ ships and ~300 of debris was lagging.

Only recompiled as kessler syndrome badly needs it.

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