Project Mercury 5.0 (050116) is RELEASED!

I want to let you know that Orbiter 2005 (050116) has been released. I
know you do mostly documentation, Orbiter allows folks to take those
docs and actually put them to use.

Its website is at http://www.orbitersim.com

*January 16, 2005: New release: ORBITER 2005 Edition*

Virtual cockpits: Orbiter now supports 3-D virtual spacecraft cockpits.
This takes Orbiter to a new level of immersion and enhances situational
awareness by providing a rotating camera viewpoint. Instrument displays
are fully functional, and buttons and switches can be operated with the
mouse. The Orbiter distribution provides a reference cockpit
implementation for the Delta-glider, but addon spacecraft can be
upgraded using the virtual cockpit programming interface.

New visual effects: New atmospheric haze rendering make planets appear
much more realistic from orbit. Looking towards the horizon in low
Earth orbit shows the increasing effect of haze blurring of surface
features. Spacecraft, buildings and even smoke trails now cast a shadow
on the ground, providing more attractive visuals and a useful altitude
cue.

More accurate astrodynamics: A lot of effort has gone into improving
Orbiter's physical engine. Planetary ephemeris codes have been
extensively redesigned. The sun is no longer fixed in the centre of the
solar system, but rotates around the barycentre. Earth's moon uses a
more accurate perturbation solution. Jupiter's four largest moons are
now also controlled by a semi-analytic perturbation code, improving
long-term stability. Perturbations of the gravitational field due to
nonspherical planet shapes are now supported.

New delta-glider: One of Orbiter's favourite spacecraft has been
completely redesigned. Apart from a new exterior mesh and virtual
cockpit contributed by Roger Long, it has also undergone a functional
upgrade, including a version with air-breathing scramjet engines.

Better orbital flight model: Orbiter now uses a new method of orbit
stabilisation during time compression. It calculates the osculating
orbital elements of the primary gravity source, and dynamically
propagates only the perturbations of this 2-body model. This provides
better stability of trajectories - invaluable for interplanetary trips.

New help system: A context-sensitive HTML-based help system provides
information about a particular spacecraft, instrument or simulation
scenario. This greatly enhances the ability to design tutorials and
in-game reference material.

Markers and labels: A variety of configurable surface markers and
celestial labels can now be displayed in Orbiter's "Planetarium" mode.
They can be used to identify places of interest, landmarks, historical
landing sites, guidance stars or other celestial objects.

A more detailed list of new features can be found in the Change Log
http://www.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/%7Emartins/orbit/change.html.

================================================== ===
Next is that the Meadville Space Center team and myself released
Project Mercury 5.0

This release features accurate panels, simulation of the capsule's
systems, historically accurate scenarios, checklists, full range of
sound, failure modes, and capsule recovery.

Along with Project Mercury 5.0, Earth 1962 050116 has been released. It
works with the latest version of Orbiter.

http://www.orbithangar.com/addons/earth_1962_050116.zip
http://www.orbithangar.com/addons/pr...ury_050116.zip

while there is still work to be done, it is the most complete
simulation of the mercury capsule you can download for your pc.

Here is some screenshots of project mercury 5.0

http://www.ibiblio.org/mscorbit/imag...ry_capsule.jpg
http://www.ibiblio.org/mscorbit/sour...nelGraphic.jpg
http://projectmercury5.moonport.org/screenshots.html

Enjoy
Rob Conley