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This simulator covers multiple landmark missions across spaceflight history, with each era rendered through its appropriate cockpit interface. Below is a quick-start using the classic Lunar Module DSKY — other mission interfaces are documented inside their respective scenarios.
Mission Flow
| 1 | Pick a mission | On the Missions page, pick a scenario (first-timers: try Apollo 11 Quick Start, Easy difficulty) |
| 2 | Pick a mode | Guided shows hints; Expert is bare DSKY — you type everything yourself |
| 3 | Start simulation | Backend spins up an AGC instance, DSKY enters P63 awaiting PRO |
| 4 | Press PRO | Confirms powered descent start. COMP ACTY light should start flashing |
| 5 | Monitor N63 | Press V06 → N63 → ENTR to watch altitude / descent rate / remaining Δv |
| 6 | Handle alarms | When 1201/1202 fires, press PRO to continue — don't panic |
| 7 | P64 → P66 | AGC auto-transitions to P64 around 7000 ft, P66 around 500 ft |
| 8 | Touchdown | Keep descent rate < 3 m/s, horizontal velocity < 1.5 m/s, fuel reserve > 5% |
Different Missions, Different Interfaces
The DSKY was Apollo-specific hardware; not every mission used it. This sim faithfully renders the era-appropriate interface for each scenario. The table below shows what to expect:
| Apollo 9-17 | DSKY + LM cockpit | 1968-1972 era Lunar Module instruments — button layout matches the historical hardware |
| Gemini 6A/8 | 1960s electromechanical | 1965-1966 era spacecraft instruments + toggle switches, no DSKY |
| STS-1 / STS-61 | Glass cockpit MFD | 1981-2011 era Shuttle panels + multi-function displays + keypad |
| Vostok 1 | Globus mechanical globe | 1961 era Soviet analog instruments + Globus mechanical orbital indicator — pilot had no control |
| Voyager 1/2 | Ground console | Unmanned probe — Deep Space Network 70m antenna remote command |
| Mars lander | EDL timeline | 1976/1997 era autonomous entry-descent-landing software; ground only watches telemetry |
| CNSA (20) | Beijing flight-control data wall | Chang'e / Shenzhou / Tianwen / Tiangong / DFH / BeiDou / LM5 — modern mission-control style, autonomous flight, ground only monitors (no DSKY, no manual flying) |
| International (4) | Mission-control panel | Hayabusa2 Ryugu sampling (JAXA) / Chandrayaan-3 south-pole landing (ISRO) / Philae first comet landing (ESA, bounces shown honestly) / JUICE launch (ESA) — autonomous sequences, ground monitoring |
Chinese Missions · Autonomous Monitoring
The Chinese missions (Chang'e / Shenzhou / Tianwen / Tiangong / DFH / BeiDou / Long March 5 — 20 in all) use CNSA's own GNC: no DSKY, no manual flying. They fly fully autonomously and your role is a Beijing ground-control monitor. The interface is a modern flight-control data wall, not the Apollo CRT.
| Start | Click "Start" | Chinese missions fly fully autonomously — your role is ground control: monitor telemetry, no manual flying |
| Speed | Top speed bar 1×–20× | Ascent / coast / braking can be long — accelerate to skip; key events are auto-announced & annotated |
| Abort | "Emergency abort" (lower right) | Two-click confirm. Rarely used on the real flights — here for practice |
| Voice | Beijing flight-control calls | Chinese dispatch callouts (tower jettison / spacecraft separation / hazard avoidance…). Edge browser gives the best male anchor voice |
| Result | Mission report | Autonomous missions are graded by milestone completion; landings also check touchdown speed (≤5 m/s = soft) |
Mission catalog (grouped by type):
| Lunar orbit / landing | Chang'e 1 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 | Chang'e-1 was China's first lunar orbiter (modeled as the CZ-3A launch into parking/phasing orbit). CE3/4/5/6 fly the seven-phase autonomous descent (braking → pitch-over → approach → hover → hazard avoidance → slow descent → free fall), real lunar physics; CE4 farside, CE5/6 sample-return |
| Lunar ascent | Chang'e-5 ascender | China's first liftoff from another celestial body → lunar orbit |
| Crewed | Shenzhou 1 / 5 / 6 / 7 | Long March 2F ascent to orbit. SZ-1 was the program's first (uncrewed) test flight, SZ-5 Yang Liwei first flight, SZ-6 multi-crew multi-day, SZ-7 first spacewalk |
| Docking | Shenzhou-8 / 9 / 11; Tiangong | Hold-point approach 5 km → 400 m → contact. SZ-8 China's first (uncrewed, automated), SZ-9 first crewed + first manual (Liu Wang; Liu Yang first woman), SZ-11 docked Tiangong-2 (longest crewed flight at the time) |
| Space lab | Tiangong-2 | Long March 2F/T2 launch of China's first true space laboratory; hosted the SZ-11 30-day stay and the Tianzhou-1 first on-orbit refueling |
| Mars EDL | Tianwen-1 | The "9 minutes of terror" entry-descent-landing, with the CNSA-signature hover-and-avoid |
| Launches | DFH-1 / BeiDou-3 / Long March 5 / Tianhe | From the 1970 first satellite to the 2016 heavy-lifter, 2020 BeiDou completion and 2021 space-station first launch — half a century |
DSKY Keys (Apollo missions only)
| V N 0-9 | Number pad | Click on DSKY or type on keyboard |
| ENTR | Enter | Submit current VERB/NOUN combination or data |
| CLR | Clear | Clear current register input |
| PRO | PROCEED | Continue / confirm AGC prompted action (one of the most important keys) |
| KEY REL | Key release | Return display control to AGC |
| RSET | Reset | Clear alarm lights |
Common VERB Codes
DSKY operations follow a VERB + NOUN grammar. VERB says what to do, NOUN says to which data. Sequence: VERB → two digits → NOUN → two digits → ENTR.
| V06 | Display decimal | Show selected address as decimal (most common — pair with a NOUN to read attitude/velocity/etc.) |
| V16 | Monitor decimal | Continuously monitor & refresh data, no freeze |
| V21 | Load address | Write data to the selected address |
| V25 | Load R1 | Modify register 1 value |
| V32 | Recover from alarm | Use when OPR ERR or program alarm fires |
| V35 | Light all indicators | Lamp test |
| V37 | Select major program | Every mission starts with V37, then a two-digit program (e.g. 63 ENTR) |
| V49 | Request attitude maneuver | Have the AGC perform an attitude change |
Common NOUN Codes
| N17 | Current attitude (body axes) | Three-axis body angles |
| N36 | Time (HH/MM/SS) | Mission clock — pair as V06N36 |
| N40 | Velocity data | Current velocity, remaining Δv, burn time |
| N62 | Inertial velocity / altitude rate | Use during powered descent |
| N63 | Altitude / altitude rate / Δv | Main display during P63 — all three registers |
| N68 | LR altitude residual | P64 approach — compare landing radar vs inertial |
| N69 | Update landing point offset | Armstrong used this to manually redesignate landing site |
Programs (PROG)
Powered descent has 5 programs, selected via V37 + two digits. Mission usually starts with V37 → 63 → ENTR to enter P63 braking phase.
| P63 | Braking phase | PDI — engine throttles to kill horizontal velocity from 5500 ft/s to ~500 ft/s. Lasts ~8 min |
| P64 | Approach phase | LM pitches upright, crew sees landing site for first time. LPD (Landing Point Designator) active |
| P65 | Automatic landing | Full AGC autoland (rarely used in actual Apollo missions) |
| P66 | Attitude hold / manual descent | Crew controls translation, AGC controls descent rate. Armstrong used P66 to overfly the West Crater |
| P67 | Manual flight | Fully manual control — emergency use only |
Program Alarms
When the PROG light turns on, press V05N09 → ENTR to display the alarm code. Most common are 1201/1202 — don't abort the mission, just press PRO to continue.
| 1201 | Executive overflow (no core sets) | AGC job queue full. Happened twice during Apollo 11. Action: watch PROG light, press PRO (PROCEED) to continue, no abort needed |
| 1202 | Executive overflow (no vac areas) | Famous alarm at 6000 ft on Apollo 11 — Steve Bales (24) called "GO!". Same handling as 1201 |
| 1404 | Two accept requests | Same channel got input twice. Usually ignorable |
| 500 | Radar overflow | Landing radar signal too strong. Usually ignorable at low altitude |
Scoring Dimensions
Mission scored in 5 dimensions (100 pts total):
· Accuracy: distance from target landing site (meters)
· Fuel: percentage remaining at touchdown
· Time: total mission duration (faster = higher)
· Landing quality: descent rate / horizontal velocity / attitude deviation at touchdown
· Alarm response: response time, whether you missed any PROCEED prompt