Reentry - A Space Flight Simulator News

I'm happy to announce that MOCR Monday now has expanded to having two hosted sessions, one for the EU timezone, and one for the US timezone.

Curious of what MOCR Monday is? https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/882140/view/3072012083349984263

The first Season of MOCR Monday is complete. This season had one scheduled session in the EU timezone every Monday where an Apollo 10 style mission and a Mercury orbital mission was completed over 10 "MOCR Monday" sessions.



The first season was all about testing and improving the network logic in addition to improving systems and bugs in the spacecrafts. MOCR Monday lets real players monitor systems and spacecraft behavior, making it an ideal tool for developing the spacecrafts.
The first half of the sessions had a lot of connectivity and technical networking issues. I was able to gather and analyze a lot of data and monitor network load/timeout data in real-time. Some of the major issues has been solved and for the last few MOCR Monday sessions, we have had zero timeout issues and very stable sessions. Thanks to everyone who as joined or tried to join a session, as this has been a critical factor on solving some of the basic networking logic issues needed to have more reliable and stable sessions.

MOCR Monday Season 2 has started and we welcome everybody to participate. You do not need to have been part of the season before, or have joined a previous session, to be able to join. Even if a session is a continuation from the previous session, the roles and participants will change. The veteran and high level players has always been helpful if new and inexperienced players has joined, so do not be afraid, it's all fun! :) Each Season will have a major mission focus such as for example doing an Apollo 11 or Apollo 8 missions, where each session will continue from where the crew left of last time. One episode might be ascent and LEO insertion, while the next will be TLI, etc.


So when are the MOCR Monday events hosted?
Every Monday at:
- EU: 18:30 UTC
- US: 00:00 UTC (5 hours 30mins after the EU time)

Feel like participating or watching one of the streams for the events, or want to get into the details of the event? Checkout the #mocr-monday channel on the Reentry Discord where all the event planning and execution takes place: http://discord.gg/reentrygame

Thanks to all the volunteers who are making this happen!

I was thinking we could start by taking a brief journey through the year so far, focusing on the biggest new features that has been added to the simulator.


2021 started with the 0.75 update, where Apollo received its huge TSS-update. In addition the Command Module Optics Subsystem with its Telescope and Sextant was created, and the 3rd campaign was added, an Apollo 8 type of mission focusing on the CSM.

P52 was also added so you could use these scopes to align the IMU, and to align it with the preferred or nominal direction.
It also added Trans-Earth Injection burn to get back to Earth from Lunar Orbit, and a complete update to the Apollo Command Module interior with the laser-scan by Smithsonian.

And lastly the Cloud Rendering System was added.


Next was the 0.80/0.81 update where we saw many updates to the CSM and LM systems, Saturn V abort modes and CSM/LM basic failures, a full Lunar Module exterior update, the addition of the last campaign, Campaign IV: The End of the Decade, covering the Lunar Module, and the first version of the Apollo Mission Control Multiplayer Mode was added. Both Gemini and Mercury had multiple new iterations to their systems as well.


Then the 0.82 continued to add a lot of improvements to the CSM and LM systems and to the AGC/LGC DSKY rendering. It also added the first preliminary VR implementation for Apollo.


The 0.83 continued to iterate on the CSM systems, Gemini systems and Mercury systems. It's main feature was the CSM ECS update, and the EECOM station in MOCR received a new channel to monitor it. The COAS reticle texture was also updated.


We then started to host an official event called MOCR Monday, with the primary goal of testing the Apollo Mission Control multiplayer module at a larger scale to fix networking issues. The first few sessions had some major technical difficulties but the logic slowly evolved to correct these. MOCR Monday have had 9 sessions so far, where a full Apollo 10 style mission was performed with various results. Each monday, one part of the mission was played. For the last two sessions, most of the technical issues related to networking and stability was solved and we had zero disconnects and loading issues. I recommend all of you to try it out again as we start a new Mercury and Apollo mission next year. We are hosting a MOCR Monday session next Monday as well.



The 0.84 updated continued the ECS path and added the Lunar Module ECS system and Lunar Stay operations. A new crew management interface was added to help with some basic crew related tasks, and the Lunar Module interior received some big corrections and changes. The TELMU station in MOCR also received a channel to monitor the LM ECS. In addition, multiple Mercury and Gemini old-timer issues was resolved.


Lastly, the 0.85 update came with many tweaks to the Mercury ECS, and updated many of the Mercury and Gemini checklists. Gemini procedures was improved and made more realistic.


In the latest patch, I added a new holiday special "event", and fixed the MOCR Room Settings screen. Your settings are now stored between sessions.


Reentry is part of the Winter Sale and is 25% off. During the sale, there will be a seasonal special mode that will render some decorative elements to the Mission Control Centers as well as a Santa Hat on your avatars head. This is to test a new system that we can use to have some fun on the various seasonal events over the year.

This feature can be toggled off from the Graphics Settings in Main Menu, or the Room Settings in MOCR.



Thank you all for following the project during 2021, for providing feedback and bug reports, and for taking part in the Reentry Community here on Steam and Discord, and a special thanks to all the Test Pilots, community moderators and all the contributors who has been working hard to help out with the project.

Happy Holidays!
- Petri

The 0.85 comes with a full overhaul of the Gemini checklists and procedures, improves checklist formatting, and adds RUN features to the Mercury and Gemini checklists. I have also improved the old Mercury ECS system to fix some of the major issues it had with temperature control, and general loop dynamics. Mercury and Gemini missions (Academy, Campaign) has been changed the reflect the updated procedures.

Gemini Procedures
Thanks to Jon C aka. papymaj5 for contributing a big overhaul to the Gemini & Mercury checklists. My access to realistic Gemini checklists has been limited when I first started, but this update will change this. I have now spent a few days tailoring these into the game, while revisiting the old Gemini Academy lessons and the Gemini Campaign to update some of them based on these new procedures.

The reference of these checklists has been the "Handbook, Final Gemini 10 Flight Plan": http://digitalsc.lib.vt.edu/Ms1989-029/Ms1989-029_B03_F7b

Some of the new features are powering up or down the spacecraft in Orbit, post landing procedures and shutdown. The Gemini Deorbit, Entry and Landing checklists has substantial changes to the procedures, as well as EVAs.


I have also added a radio message that will be communicated as the Gemini spacecrafts crosses the Entry Interface at 400.000ft altitude.



If you are a Gemini commander, I would recommend you to revisit the Deorbit, Entry and Landing Academy lesson to get the major changes to this.

The general procedure is to run PRE RETRO at 30 minutes before entry burn, then the TR 256 SEC TO RETRO to execute the burn, then post jettison, entry and Landing for a safe entry and splashdown. Top if off by powering down the spacecraft while floating in the ocean by following the POST LANDING checklist.

There might still be some procedural differences that has not been detected in various missions. If so, let me know so I can iterate, but also refer to the checklists. If you are stuck in a mission, you can use the Console command:
s -mission -proceed
This command will complete the current mission instruction and move to the next. Only do so if you are stuck, time scaled past a point, or due to a bug.

Gemini Checklist Guide
A complete version of the Reentry Checklist Dictionary file for Gemini has also been added. This will improve the readability of checklist instructions when using the RUN feature. As you can see in the image below, the checklist guide UI now shows the full name and location of the switch, instead of a cryptic identifier name.

Thanks again to Jon C for contributing this.

Mercury Checklists
The Mercury checklists has received a reformatting and should be more readable. Most of the checklists has a RUN feature too now.


Slight changes has been applied to the Ascent checklists where a split between the Redstone and the Atlas checklist happens at booster cutoff. In addition, a Pre-Day checklist has been added to cover the procedures needed to change from a night configuration to a day configuration.


Mercury ECS
Some major changes has been applied to the Mercury ECS. Issues such as temperature control issues (suit loop would always be burning hot) has been addressed, and the temperature settings has been overhauled. The temperature control selectors range from 1 to 7, and configures the amount of cooling. If you set it to 7, it put a lot of strain on the ECS evaporators and water accumulator to maintain a cold cockpit, while setting it to 1 will not provide any cooling at all.

As long as you ensure that the ECS loop has flow by ensuring one suit fan is operational, most of the ECS will be fully automatic.

Gemini entry effect
I have also applied the reentry effects to Gemini. It is a fusion between the old and the new as I'm still experimenting with some things, but it should at least look a bit better!



Bugfixes
- Blocking issue: Mercury C&D missions such as Campaign mission 1: Corrected the ECS H2O SUIT and CABIN warning light issue
- Corrected so the Gemini EVA buttons are hidden after entering the cockpit again
- Corrected the issue where the RR section of the Gemini capsule would still be visible after chute deploy.
- Corrected states where the CSM SPS was armed on load
- Corrected the TIEMR -> TIMER label on CSM Panel 306
- Corrected some of the CSM and LM DAP default values
- Corrected the strange behavior in Mercury when ascending related to the Gyros and Maneuver switch
- Corrected so you wont unlock the CSM/LM rendezvous achievement when loading the Coasting scenario
- Adjusted the LM FDAI rate band sensitivity to more correctly indicate attitude rate
- Several typo corrections in missions and checklists

The 0.84 is a dedicated update for the Lunar Module and its Environmental Control System. In addition, a lot of blocking fixes and issues has been resolved in Mercury, Gemini and Apollo.

First of all, thank you to those who were part of the AF-1 mission to test these bits! Like usual, testing will still go on and corrections will be made as things are discovered.

Lunar Module Environmental Control System (LM ECS)
The first iteration of the Lunar Module ECS has been added. This is a huge network of systems working together. It contains the Atmosphere Revitalization Section (ARS), the Oxygen Supply and Cabin Pressure Control Section (OSCPCS), the Water Management System (WMS) and the Heat Transport System (HTS). As with the CSM ECS, this is not the complete implementation but a good start and covers many of the basic procedures and operational requirements.

With the LM ECS comes a bunch of new checklists to monitor the LM ECS, how to depressurize and repressurize the cabin and redundancy checks.

A new Lunar Module Academy lesson has been added that will teach you the basics of it and covers some of the new checklists.


The following diagrams shows a good overview of most of the additions you will see in the LM DPS.
The first system is the ARS. It will control the atmosphere in the cabin and the suits. A CO2 filter replacement system similar to what we have in the CSM has also been added.


The OSCPCS provides oxygen from the descent and ascent stage for use in the ECS, such as for the ARS above.


The WMS is controlling the water from the descent and ascent stages. It is needed for temperature control and consuming.


The HTS is responsible for heat control of the equipment using liquid coolant.


All of these systems play together as the LM ECS. Operating these might seem hard, but most is automatic as long as it's configured correctly based on mission need.

Lunar Stay Operations
The update also adds new procedures needed for Lunar Stay operations. This is tied with the LM ECS and covers the procedures needed to configure the Lunar Module correctly as it stands on the Moon. At this phase, the spacecraft is transformed into a home where two astronauts will live. Guidance systems and so on are not needed, and the things that consumes unnecessary power is shut down, and the primary power source is changed.

Multiple new checklists has been added to cover the Lunar Stay operations, and a dedicated Lunar Module Academy lesson has been added to explain them.

The End of a Decade campaign receives a Lunar EVA
Added an EVA to the Mission 5 of the Lunar Module Campaign (IV). It simply extends the mission and follows the procedures to do an EVA. The Academy lesson should be completed before attempting.


Crew Management
Added a CREW MANAGEMENT page to the CREW MEMBERS feature accessed from the C-menu. Used to move crew between the CSM and LM. An override exists that you can use for old save states, it will let you position crew without being docked and open hatch.

In addition, the crew members names can be changed to the names you wish. They will be set based on mission parameters from the Mission Definition file initially, but can be modified in-game.


Reversed Lunar Module P16 + lights
Made some general fixes on LM Panel 11 and Panel 16 such as more realistic circuit breakers lights, and reversed the P16 layout to match the realistic layout.

Here is the new P11:


Here is the new P16:


Here is the LM interior as a "whole":


New Apollo scenario: Coasting Home
This scenario will take place as the CSM has left the Moon with a TEI-burn. It is on a trajectory between Earth and the Moon, with about 50 hours of traveltime before reentry. The crew must correct the entry trajectory, prepare for entry, and land.

MOCR - Apollo Mission Control
Added one of the two LM TELMU/ECS channels (ch 36) to monitor and debug the LM ECS. This enriches the TELMU role of MOCR with all the data needed to monitor the LM ECS, and make actions.


Added the Mission Control headsets to Mercury Control Center and MOCR sessions, and fixed the mouths to prevent them from being open all the time. Thanks a lot to Paolo Mangili for simplifying his 3D model of the headset and providing it to the Reentry project!


MOCR stability changes and server selection,
A lot has been done to improve the stability on MOCR sessions. MOCR is currently only in alpha testing phase 1, where the network logic and stability is the primary development area.
I have also added server selection dropdown that lets the host select where the server will be created, or where you wish to connect when in MOCR. This improves ping and stability as the region (should be) is closer to the host. If the host is in Seattle for example, the game could be created on the USA, West region.

A new Connect button has been added next to the dropdown in the MOCR room. This button also works as a "RECONNECT" so hopefully you wont have to go back to the main menu again to reconnect to sessions.

The reconnect button has also been made functional.

Issues and corrections
Gemini
- Fix for the Agena/Encoder code 220 for undocking and rigidize.

Command Module
- Fixed stability issues on the CSM ECS, and corrected some vent valves.
- Realistic GDC Align procedures can now be used
- Changed the CSM entry academy with steps to enable the batteries to power the CSM

Lunar Module
- Fixed the overpowered Lunar Module PGNS issue

Mercury Control Center
- Fixed the panels where the text had become invisible

Typos & Misc
- Merged typo and issue pull requests from GitHub for Checklists and Missions
- VR Laser Pointer logging for gathering data on cases where the laser pointer goes through the UI

Looking ahead. short term:
In the next updates I will be looking at improving the Gemini procedures to improve its realism. A PR has been created on GitHub that contains a lot of refined checklists and procedures that will be merged in. Slight changes to the Gemini Academy and missions will be made to reflect this. The Mercury ECS will also get a slight overhaul and updates. This is planned as the 0.85 update.

Then I will add a Lunar Module DPS Burn Planner used for DPS burns such as when performing a DOI. Typically, unless done manually, the CSM SPS has been used for any major orbital changes before the Lunar Landing. In Apollo 11, the LOI was done by the CSM, while the DPS did the rest. With the DPS burn planner, this can be done by the DPS. The procedures will be similar to an SPS burn where the planner is first used, then the P30 and P40 to execute the burn. P52 opt 1 will also be added for better and more precise burns.

As we are closing in on the 0.9 era of Reentry, multi-language support will be in focus, as well as integration with different services. This will lead us into 1.0 where once again systems will be in focus so that more historical missions can be created. Historical missions require a lot of systems to be in place and aligned to create. We will also start to focus more on multiplayer modes, and VR.
In addition, I have received many requests (some that has been added in recent updates), and I would like to figure out the feasibility of adding them such as Apollo Space EVAs, Saturn IB & Skylab, the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) for Lunar EVAs, new spacecrafts such as Vostok as a DLC, etc.

We will see what the future holds, but my point is that the 1.0 milestone will be about getting a solid fundament to build the future of Reentry on, while the journey to 2.0 will hold a lot of exciting things! :)

That's it for now, thanks again for all your feedback, input and suggestions!
- Petri

Are you familiar with the Lunar Module? Do you like to test and play around with a Lunar Module that is glued together with duct tape?

The Alpha Floor - 1 mission is for those who want to try out the latest (untested) bits before the 0.84 release is out. The intent is to get some proper feedback and testing on the bits through alpha-testing before they are released to the Early Access public branch.

Alpha testing has been going on for a good while, but this is the first time I try to set it together as a collaborative effort to test. We have been doing similar missions in the Test Pilot program with good success. The main testing platform is on the official Reentry Discord server, so you will need to be part of this community as most of the discussions, iterations and such happens there. You can join here: http://discord.gg/reentrygame

So what's the plan?
The main part of this update is the first iteration of the Lunar Module ECS, and CSM GDC gyro drifting.

The LM ECS is a huge system and contains the Atmosphere Revitalization Section (ARS), the Oxygen Supply and Cabin Pressure Control Section (OSCPCS), the Water Management System (WMS) and the Heat Transport System (HTS). This is not the complete implementation but a good start and covers many of the basic procedures and operation requirements. The depressurization/repressurization and venting time has been multiplied to make testing a bit faster for this first iteration.

New checklists related to the LM ECS and the LM Lunar Stay Operations + EVA has been added too.
The academy will take you through most of the changes, and will be the main focus of this first AF-1 mission.


FLIGHT PLAN
1) Test the Lunar Module Academy lesson 11: ECS
2) Test the Lunar Module Academy lesson 13: LUNAR STAY & EVA
3) Test the MOCR LM ECS display and monitor its data in a session (requires a live session*)
4) Monitor CSM IMU vs GDC on the MOCR consoles (requires a live session*)

*live sessions can be set up when needed, just request one on Discord and we will try to make it happen

If you decide to join in on testing, join the Discord server if you are not yet there, and switch to the alpha floor branch as explained here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/882140/discussions/0/3118160027737663624/
This page will also contain all the details for each af-build, so if you are curious of all the 0.84 updates, check here.

If you decide to join (it's not for everyone) keep in mind that you do not need to test every step. do one, then report, and if you feel like it, proceed with the next step in the flight plan.

For each step, please report if it works, your findings, issues, etc. in the #af-mission-1 channel on Discord. If you are not yet a member, join here: http://discord.gg/reentrygame