Changing Orbits

[Chuft-Captain]

Hi,

Does anyone know if it's possible to use a script to change an object's orbit from it's original .SSC definition?
I was thinking along the line of gradually adjusting the semi-major component so that a few minutes after starting the script, it's in a higher or lower orbit.

I'm currently using a .CEL script, however I'm willing to leearn .CELX and convert my existing script if nescessary to a .CELX if that's the only way to do it.

[cpotting]

Hi,

Does anyone know if it's possible to use a script to change an object's orbit from it's original .SSC definition?
...
I'm currently using a .CEL script, however I'm willing to leearn .CELX and convert my existing script if nescessary to a .CELX if that's the only way to do it.

Though CELX has more capabilities than CEL, it unfortunately does not allow the position of an object to be manipulated.

I have often wondered why not. Granted, orbiting objects could not be moved because their positions are funcitons of their obital elements and the simulation time, but why not objects defined by .XYZ files. It should be possible to access the XYZ data that Celestia has read and change it in memory.

Again, I have not had the time to really dive into the Celestia code and find out - life keeps getting in the way of doing the "fun" stuff. Otherwise, I would be working on adding observer selection, verbosity settings, object avoidance and positionable objects in CELX right now.

[Chuft-Captain]

Thanks Clive,

Since this posting, I have managed to develop a very basic technique which sort of gets around this limitation (in a limited way) in order to simulate the spacecraft Orion docking at Space Station V. It's a real hack, but a means to an end! See:
http://celestiaproject.net/forum/viewtopic.php ... ght=#66980

Regards
Phil