NASA - SSMS Synchronized Launches Events

[gablau]

For the last 4 launches or so, I had sync-ed SSM2007 to the NASA MET and performed everything from T-1:50 up to MECO in parallel with the real launch. One reason is to verify our model and second reason to simply have fun and "feel" a "real" launch.

What a great idea. Congrats.

Reminds me a little story. Back in the 80s (late 80s) I was already playing a lot with the MS Flight Simulator. Back then I was already a great space and flight fan and followed literally every shuttle launch. One day (I don't remember exactly when), I was waiting for a shuttle launch, broadcasted on TV (I don't even remember whether there was a NASA channel yet), while I was pretending with the flight simulator to fly around the shuttle (with a small Cessna) on the launch pad (in which of course the shuttle never goes up). Suddenly, from the TV I hear some announcement that some alert went off, because some small private plane entered the restricted airspace around the Cape area.

Of course total coincidence, but at that moment, it was just very funny (or weird, or call it whatever you like).

[Admin]

For the last 4 launches or so, I had sync-ed SSM2007 to the NASA MET and performed everything from T-1:50 up to MECO in parallel with the real launch. One reason is to verify our model and second reason to simply have fun and "feel" a "real" launch.

What a great idea. Congrats.

Reminds me a little story. ...<SNIP>...

Of course total coincidence, but at that moment, it was just very funny (or weird, or call it whatever you like).

Not a coincidence. You were actually flying in a parallel universe - as we all do!   
/Admin

[schmidtrock]

How exactly will we synch up the MET?

[uri_ba]

Hi Armin,
I'm not sure I'll be able to join you guys this saturday..
But let me know if you need anything

[Pocci]

How exactly will we synch up the MET?

During prelaunch there are 1 official hold for 10 minutes at T-9 min and two unofficial holds (where even the real time holds waiting for you to flip the switches).
The unofficial holds (at T-5min and T-2min) can be cut down to under a second with some preparation.
The official hold is part of the game (and of real life), so at "my" meeting time (Launch minus 1 hour) we schould be at T-0:50:00 and running or better at for example at T-30min and in pause mode, so we could chat along a little and all go out of pause at T-30min (Launch minus 40min) and let it run without timeskip till launch.
We need one person to call out the "official" time every some minutes. If this can not be Uri then someone else.
If someone comes late or falls out of sync he can overtake us with timeskip, pause at a defined time T-x and wait there for us to unpause. (That is what I did during the last two real launches.)
It would help, for each to rehearse this alone in advance, especially the time critical moments at T-5min and T-2min.
Maybe it would help if we all use the same mission. (We should find a launch 2 or 3 hours after sunrise.)
Armin

[spaceboy7441]

You bring up a great point and I hope everyone agrees. As before but have no idea if this is possible but it would be so perfect if SSM could without a lot of work create just the launch portion of STS-127 at the right time of day so we would completely match up.

[spaceboy7441]

Ok well I just saw that some of the SSM Ground Crew might checkout the test sins so can we make it final that at 18:00 GMT everyone meets on TS and has SSM ready and we can discuss how it will work? Maybe if Admin thinks it should be, he can post like a news thing or something like that telling everyone that we will have our test sinc Saturday 5-30-09 at 18:00 GMT.

[schmidtrock]

I'll be there for this, just want to know what to have loaded, when and where, and when to pause it. I was NEVER good at math. 

[Pocci]

That's the reason why I posted the time in different timezones:

18:00 GMT would be
11:00 (11 a.m.) PDT
13:00 (01 p.m.) CDT
14:00 (02 p.m.) EDT
19:00 (07 p.m.) West Europe (London, ...)
20:00 (08 p.m.) Central Europe

I checked the launch times of the SSM2007 missions yet published to compare with the STS-127 launch time (shortly after sunrise). Two missions come close:
STS-1   (15 minutes too late compared to sunrise and STS-127)
STS-96 (30 minutes too early)

STS-1 would have the most equal lighting conditions and the correct launch pad (39A) but the white tank, the wrong inclination, no roll up maneuver, no OMS assisted burn.

STS-96 is too late (lauches exactly on sunrise) and the wrong launch pad (39B) but the rest would come close and the inclination is exact, because it is an ISS launch.

So I would opt for using STS-96.
If we meet at the time printed above (one hour before launch) we should have prepared SSM2007 to be in pause at T-30min, that is just before or at comm 14 (after completing the cabin vent checks and before entering the firs OPS 101 into the computers).
We would have then 20 min for chatting before unpausing. That should be enough time for everyone to prepare.
To enter Teamspeak, go to one of the following pages
http://wiki.ssm-fans.info
http://portal.ssm-fans.info/index.php/teamspeakserver
and click on connect in the Teamspeak viewer area.
You have to enter a nickname (the second link will try to enter your email as nickname, but you can change this before connecting).
Nickname should be the same as the forumname here.

See (and hear) you on Saturday on the
Official SSM2007 STS-127 rehearsal countdown.

Armin

[schmidtrock]

Awesome can't wait. 

[spaceboy7441]

Great Post Armin. You did a great job researching and posting it! There is only one thing I would like to add and that is the official TS website for anyone who is new to it. http://ts.ssm-fans.info

[marvx]

Great idea, great job, spaceboy, Pocci!!!

Hope to see you all there


/Marvx

[Pocci]

I try to be on TS in 2 hours (that is 24h before the planned session).
"See" you then.

[Pocci]

Hi folks!

This is mission control  and if we want to keep to my suggestion we are at T-01:44:57  at the moment I post (post, not edit) this.

Admin, I must correct your other post http://www.space-shuttle-mission.com/forum/index.php?topic=3154 a little, if you allow.

Suggestion was to meet at UTC 18:00 in teamspeak with STS-96 running in pause mode at T-30 min. So far correct.
But suggestion was that at UTC 19:00 we launch and not unpause.
So assuming the countdown hold at T-9 min is exact 10 minutes we would unpause at UTC 18:20 (40 minutes before launch) but we can talk about this in teamspeak.
I guess waiting a full hour for unpause would be a little boring.

To help keeping synced, I made an excel file with a countdown clock.
It has an autorun-macro that keeps all times actual.
I placed it on a webserver of the hospital I am working for.
The direct link for it is:

http://www.anaesth.med.tu-muenchen.de/Daten/Countdown.zip

The countdown holds in it are for real starts. To use it with SSM2007 the hold at T-20 min must be set to 0.

Admin or Uri, if you like it, you are free to host it on the SSM site or the wiki.

Armin

[wolfast]

Have fun.... i was planing to join, but things came up...