Equatorial Ascending/Descending Node Visuals?

[Goozeman]

I've done some Google searching, but I can't for the life of me find a mod for this. Is there a mod that adds an Equatorial (not target relative) AN and DN indicator to the map view like the AP and PE indicators? It would be nice to have for RSS, where the launch site is not equatorial.

Thanks!

[NathanKell]

I use MJ to do a "raise apogee at AN/DN" maneuver.

[Goozeman]

I use MJ to do a "raise apogee at AN/DN" maneuver.

I do as well, but since MJ does "impulsive" maneuver calculations, keeping it dead on with, say, a Centaur stage that burns for 5-6 minutes for a GTO burn requires a little bit of hand finessing on top of MJ.

I love MJ to death, but it needs a little massaging (that I am more than happy to give) on longer burns.

[NathanKell]

Very true. I actually requested Sarbian add a combined Ap kick and inclination change maneuver since GTO->GEO has to be done manually if you want to combine them

And yes, the impulsive assumption nodes makes is bad news. Centaur is bad enough, but trying to do the above on RCS rather than a solid kick motor is...heh.

What I meant by the MJ point is that you can create a maneuver at AN or DN just to have the maneuver node icon as visible representation of where the AN/DN is. I don't know of anything that adds AN/DN indicators, though, sadly. Can look at how FinePrint adds them to its orbital conics and try doing the same for the active orbit?

[Buzzou]

Precise node lets you place a maneuver node on AN or DN, and Engineer can tell your angle.

[Streetwind]

(...) and Engineer can tell your angle.

Not only your angle, but even your "time to AN" and "time to DN", which I find even more useful. It doesn't show anything on the map, but if you know that you need to burn for 5-6 minutes, then the "time to node" metric is quite helpful.

[Goozeman]

Thanks for the replies, all. I guess for now, I'll just rely on keeping "Time to Equ. AN/DN" lined up with "Time to AP." The map view would just be a nice visual short-cut. The "add point at AN" doesn't really work because I'm trying to manually tweak the relative positions of the node line and apse line.

Nathan: here's a trick for doing both at the same time:Set up MJ to do the inclination change. Take your circularization burn prograde dV and multiply by cos(delta_i) and sin(delta_i). Manually add these values to the prograde and normal components using precise node. The radial component is straight up addition or subtraction. Until Sarbian adds stuff anyways.

Edited December 8, 2014 by Goozeman