reeder@reed.UUCP (Doug Reeder) (09/11/89)
Numbers: When you must tell the computer which body (sun, planet, you) you want, 0 is always the sun, the planets are assigned numbers in the order you chose them, and you are the last number. If you took Earth and Jupiter, in that order, 1 is the Earth, 2 is Jupiter, and 3 is you.
Commands:
<S>cale: the larger the scale, the smaller the area you see
<T>ime: number of days per calculation The more days per calculation, the faster things seem to move. Orbits get skewed when you calculate too many days at a time.
<B>urn fuel: A .1 burn will increase your velocity .1. Orbital burns are along your flight path,transverse is perpendicular. Positive transverse burns push you in when going clockwise and out going counterclockwise.
<Q>uit this setup
<P>ath trace: Toggle on or off
<I>nquire about location an velocity of a planet or yourself
<F>ocus: changes what body is shown motionless in the middle of the screen.
<R>elative velocity - you and another body
<C>lock
<K>eep a position so you can return to it
<G>o back to an earlier position
<A>cceleration(total): how much fuel you've used
<?>:list of commands
Scale:
1 unit of distance = 10,000,000km
1 unit of time = 1 day
1 unit of mass = 1 solar mass
1 unit of velocity = 9.86E6 km/day
= 114.1 km/sec
(sorry!)
The moon will not orbit the Earth unless the time increment is .05 or less.--
Doug Reeder USENET: ...!tektronix!reed!reeder
Institute of Knowledge, Jinx BITNET: reeder@reed.BITNET
"A blaster can point two ways." from ARPA: tektronix!reed!reeder@berkeley.EDU
-Salvor Hardin Box 722 Reed College,Portland,OR 97202