How
to Play the Nutation Control Game:
Click
the mouse to fire the thrusters,
Fire the thrusters (small rockets) to decrease the spacecraft
nutation, and to compensate for the Earth drift.
Primary
Goals:
- Your
prime goal is the Spacecraft safety. The nutation might
damage the long flexible booms if the oscillation gets
too wild.
- Maintain
the radio link with the Earth. When the spacecraft points
outside the blue circle you lose contact, and you cannot
command the thrusters to fire.
To
save fuel, you have to try and do both at the same time.
Ideally, you should fire at the right time to stop the nutation,
but only if the direction is also good to move the centre
of the rosette towards the Earth. Sometimes this is as difficult
as it sounds! And you may need to expend some extra
fuel to keep things under control.
Read
Tips and Tricks to learn to fly like an ACE!
Nutation
Game copyright European Space Agency 1996
(Developed by Raul Garcia-Perez of the European Space Agency
office at JPL).
Send Comments to Bruce
E. Goldstein.
