Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter add-on

[jasonda]

Download from my homepage.
A few disclaimers:
1) This is my first attempt at a Celestia add-on. Also my first post in the forums.
2) The Horizons data from JPL only goes out to Oct 15, so the .xyz data is incomplete (orbit only goes partway to Mars).
3) The JPL website only has a little data about the final science orbit of MRO at Mars, so the circular polar orbit is an approximation.
4) I don't know how to properly combine .xyz data for a non-elliptical orbit and .ssc for the science orbit around Mars (or two elliptical orbits by the same body, one around the Sun and the other around Mars). Tips on this problem would be appreciated. As it is, there are basically two MROs: one for the cruise to Mars, and the other for the science orbit, one ending when the other begins.
5) Due to even less data on the aerobraking phase, I had to skip that for now. Eventually, I'd like to have a single MRO, cruising to Mars, inserting into the highly elliptical polar aerobraking orbit, watching its apoapsis get lower and lower, until final burn circularizing the orbit. Again, suggestions would be appreciated.
6) Preferably, do all this before it has happened (predicting the orbits rather than simply plugging in the .xyz data recording where the orbiter went). Like how I could view the entire Cassini mission before it really began. Maybe we'll have to wait until after a further trajectory correction before Horizons will have more data?

[Tomasz M. Bladyniec]

Very nice work, I really love spacecrafts' trajectories I hope you'll write some more of them (Hayabusa for example)

[rthorvald]

I don't know how to properly combine .xyz data for a non-elliptical orbit and .ssc for the science orbit around Mars (or two elliptical orbits by the same body, one around the Sun and the other around Mars). Tips on this problem would be appreciated

Nice!
As for the two ssc files, combining them into one is not currently possible. At least not if you want a realistic orbit; more spesificially, it is impossible to transform a ssc entry that orbits one body to one that orbits a different body. In this example, the XYZ file is relative to the sun, while the Mars orbit is relative to Mars.

If you managed to convert the XYZ points relative to the sun to ones relative to Mars, you could make it work... But i suspect there are no tools to do that. In that case, the XYZ data would take priority over the EllipticalOrbit parameter until it??s final date entry, and you would be left with the Mars orbit.

-rthorvald

[ElChristou]

Jasonda,

All this work on xyz files need an improved model!!
I will enter MRO in my list of to do... ...if you are agree for sure...
Tx for the work.

Bye

EDIT:

I have just done a quick search for MRO picts and...
...should it doesn't looks like this???

[jasonda]

Yes, that's it. There are some pictures of other views on JPL's website. Here's one for scale:



Here is a page that lists a good deal of artwork concerning MRO

Thanks for any modeling assistance you can provide!

Jason

[ElChristou]

...Thanks for any modeling assistance you can provide!...

Much later unfortunatly, I'm really busy and I got first some others model to do... If you have interesting picts, they are always welcome.

Bye

[Are]

I`ve just made patch to this add-on. Now it contains efemerids up to
orbit insertion. Its just a patch, no complete add-on, so first one have
to install add-on and then overwrite .ssc and .xyz files.

http://anorien.republika.pl/MRO.rar

[selden]

Are,

It's best if you use Zip to package your addons. RAR format requires 3rd-party software to be installed. Zip is included with Windows XP and most other operating systems. The slightly improved compression provided by the RAR format really isn't worth the hassle.

[Are]

It's best if you use Zip to package your addons.

I`m using rar couse of my problems witch FTP-uploading. My internet
provider seems to block FTP and I have transfer 200B/s - and it usually
stops after ~20 kB or even less ;-( So here is zipped MRO:

http://anorien.republika.pl/MRO.ZIP

but my Hayabusa/Itakowa add-on i`ll posibly upload later, from other
computer.

Everyone, please feel free to convert, spread and so on my add-ons.

PS. Possibly (like in Hayabusa/Itakowa) there is innacuracy in efemerids,
also here ~7000 km. I`m not sure what is the cause of that. I must be
doing something wrong, but what?

Once again: sorry for my english