Celestia Forums

Hello folks,

I am very new to open-source Celestia software because I recently downloaded and installed Celestia v1.60. Also, I have Orbiter simulator as well. I have some questions for you. Does it support launching from ground into orbit like in Orbiter simulator software? Also, I was searching for apollo, space shuttle, soyuz, etc but unable find any add-ons for them. Where does anyone know them are?

Thanks,
Sword7

Sword7 wrote:Hello folks,

I am very new to open-source Celestia software because I recently downloaded and installed Celestia v1.60. Also, I have Orbiter simulator as well. I have some questions for you. Does it support launching from ground into orbit like in Orbiter simulator software? Also, I was searching for apollo, space shuttle, soyuz, etc but unable find any add-ons for them. Where does anyone know them are?

Thanks,
Sword7

Don't know about your other questions, but you can find all of the add-ons you want at the Motherlode.
You can also find some more technologically-correct add-ons at the Celestial Matters Home.

Hope that helps.
Thanks, Brain-Dead

Celestia is a visualization/display program. It doesn't simulate gravity or acceleration. Instead, it uses ephemerides that are included or which you provide.

There are several options for showing a launch in Celestia:
+ a file containing the xyz (or xyzv) coordinates of the object's trajectory
+ an SSC "timeline" using sections of conics (EllipticalOrbits) for various parts of the trajectory
+ position functions which you provide as "ScriptedOrbits"

Spacecraft models are available on the CelestiaMotherLode at
http://celestiamotherlode.net/catalog/spacecraft.php

selden wrote:Celestia is a visualization/display program. It doesn't simulate gravity or acceleration. Instead, it uses ephemerides that are included or which you provide.

There are several options for showing a launch in Celestia:
+ a file containing the xyz (or xyzv) coordinates of the object's trajectory
+ an SSC "timeline" using sections of conics (EllipticalOrbits) for various parts of the trajectory
+ position functions which you provide as "ScriptedOrbits"
...

Selden, I got it now. I looked into its source code and noticed that program is designed for fixed orbits (ephemerides). I hope that developers would implement gravity/acceleration (F = GMm/r^3) into Celestia in the future for space dynamics. Ok, thanks for some replies.

Sword7

Sword7 wrote:

selden wrote:Celestia is a visualization/display program. It doesn't simulate gravity or acceleration. Instead, it uses ephemerides that are included or which you provide.

There are several options for showing a launch in Celestia:
+ a file containing the xyz (or xyzv) coordinates of the object's trajectory
+ an SSC "timeline" using sections of conics (EllipticalOrbits) for various parts of the trajectory
+ position functions which you provide as "ScriptedOrbits"
...

Selden, I got it now. I looked into its source code and noticed that program is designed for fixed orbits (ephemerides). I hope that developers would implement gravity/acceleration (F = GMm/r^3) into Celestia in the future for space dynamics. Ok, thanks for some replies.

Sword7

Surely not, since the resulting gravity field due to several NOT very distant, extended massive bodies is enormously more complicated than what you tried to hint at . Just imagine the gravity field acting on a spaceship that travels among the many moons of (non-spherical) Jupiter!

The only reasonably correct approach would involve a numerical (integration) approach which is much too time consuming.

Think about it, we did a long long time ago... Just play "Orbiter" if you want that sort of stuff.

Fridger