First Steps
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After you finished the Installation of the latest beta version the Project Apollo scenarios are in the "Project Apollo - NASSP" scenario folder and subfolders.
While you may choose any mission to start, we recommend users start with Apollo 8 as it is by far the easiest and a great introduction to NASSP.
Because Project Apollo -- NASSP is an addon for Orbiter Spaceflight Simulator it is recommended, although not strictly necessary that users have some prior experience with Orbiter.
Flying missions can be hard at times but help is never far. We strongly encourage users to join us on our forums on Orbiter-Forum or on the #nassp channel of the Spaceflight Server Discord.
Editor note: previous versions of this page and NASSP mention a "Quickstart mode" or "AGC++". This is no longer supported as the focus of NASSP has shifted heavily toward realism.
Flying with MCC Support
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| Quickstart missions are no longer supported. Consider using the Virtual AGC scenarios. |
Virtual AGC Mode
The Virtual AGC mode is intended for the advanced users, who already have some basic knowledge about the Apollo missions, are familiar with Orbiter and now want to do it like the real astronauts did.
In Virtual AGC mode everything is as authentic as possible and you have to fly the mission (almost) like the real thing. You have to do long checklists and control the internal systems manually. The spacecrafts behave more like the real ones, the S-IVB is restartable only once for example.
A very important device of the Apollo spacecraft is the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC), which normally does the guidance, navigation and control tasks. In this mode, the Virtual AGC, an Apollo Guidance Computer emulator running the original, authentic Apollo flight software (at the moment Colossus 1A, build 249 from October 28, 1968, flown with Apollo 9) is used. With the Virtual AGC you can do all procedures exactly as described in the original documentation.
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| Because of the AGC hardware emulation time acceleration higher than about 10x is not recommended as long as the guidance computer is turned on. |
Missions
The following missions and scenarios are available for Virtual AGC mode:
Checklists
The following checklists are available for Virtual AGC mode:
Annotated checklists in Word file format
are in the Doc\Project Apollo - NASSP\Checklists folder of your installation.
Project Apollo Checklist MFD
For Virtual AGC Mode Project Apollo Checklist MFD provides in-game checklists. It can execute checklists automatically, so to watch the show do the following:
- Start Orbiter, go to the "Extras" tab of the Orbiter launchpad, double-click Vessel configuration and then double-click Project Apollo Configuration.
- Go to the "Virtual AGC Mode" tab and activate both the "Enable automatic checklist execution" and the "Slow automatic checklist execution (e.g. for demonstrations)" option.
- Start the "Project Apollo - NASSP/Apollo 7 Virtual AGC - Launch" scenario. Choose "Start paused" if you don't want to miss the first steps.
- Press F1, F4, choose "Custom, then "External MFD".
- Select the "Project Apollo Checklist" MFD.
- Press FLSH to highlight the switch of the current step (if applicable)
- Unpause Orbiter and enjoy the show!
Unmanned Missions
A few unmanned Apollo missions are supported. The missions run automatically, simply activate time acceleration and wait for the next event. time acceleration will be deactivated a few minutes beforehand.
Fictional Missions
Scenarios in Fictional missions directory:
Documentation
As always, be sure to review documentation relevant to your mission. The Missions and Spacecraft pages are good places to begin (work in progress).