Moonjs: Apollo Guidance Computer Simulator | Hacker News Reader

Moonjs: Apollo Guidance Computer Simulator

svtsim.com

129 pointsdavidbarker14 comments

That's cute. Now someone needs to hook it up to Kerbal Space Program so you can fly with it.

KSP controls and UI are already a thousand times more powerful than this, though, so you'd have to disable all of those. The game would be unplayable without a ground station helping you out with the tracking, guiance and so on. Which, incidentally, is how this computer is designed to be used.

You should check out the announcements for KSP beta version .90... It seems the tracking station have to be earned now, in career mode. ;)

Edit: It seems like the simulated Saturn 5 launch program is spending most of the time keeping the apoapsis relatively close to, and in front of, the rocket. Is this the most efficient way to bring up the periapsis?

Edit2: Ah well... Ended up in a fairly elliptical orbit, as the launch program didn't control the apoapsis too well in the end. Final orbit - apoapsis: 1116nmi & periapsis: 99nmi

True. But the web version just has zero velocity at all times, so the guidance computer can't do any guidance.

You can run through a simulated launch by following the instructions on http://www.svtsim.com/moonjs/checklist.html

Maybe it's possible to interface it with Telemachus?

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/24594-0-25-%2820...

Orbiter already has a "Virtual AGC" mode that hooks into the emulator:

http://nassp.sourceforge.net/wiki/Main_Page

A lot of simulators and emulators in javascript emerging lately. Advances in javascript are making it more useful as a real programming language as it seems.

I would guess it's more advances in javascript engines' performances that in the language per se.

You might be right.

This is awesome!

I am decidedly not a math person, however, what would one need to know to interpret the different values being displayed? In other words, what would I need to know as an astronaut using this and how would that influence what I do in space vs. what happens on the ground at Houston?

All you need is to have is a manual for the codes. This thing is mainly a shorthand assembler computer connected to sensors outputting raw number data.

Cool simulator. I'm curious, I was under the impression that the JS after the name was meant for libraries or frameworks not just anything built with javascript, I guess I was wrong.

Add some sound effects, including rocket sounds and shaking the screen during launch this would be incredible!!

Very nice!!

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