Running the Mission Control Sequence

To calculate the trajectory of the spacecraft you must execute, or run, the Mission Control Sequence. Astrogator will proceed through the MCS and execute each segment, generating an ephemeris for the spacecraft. As it runs the MCS, Astrogator carries the trajectory and state of the spacecraft determined so far from one segment to the next.

There are two modes of running the MCS - Run Entire Mission Control Sequence and Run Only Changed Segments. The Run Entire Mission Control Sequence mode will run the entire MCS and calculate the whole trajectory anew. The Run Only Changed Segments mode will start running the MCS at the first segment that has been changed, or that depends on a component that has been changed since the last run. For example, the run will begin with a Propagate segment if you have edited the propagator component that it uses, or it will begin with an earlier Follow segment if you changed the vehicle that the segment is following. However, Run Only Changed Segments mode does not detect changes made to files that the segments are using, such as plugins or maneuver attitude files; you should use the Run Entire Mission Control Sequence mode if your MCS uses plugins or other files that you are modifying between runs.

To run the entire MCS, click Run Entire Mission Control Sequence () - which is the MCS execution button that appears on the MCS toolbar by default.

To run only the changed segments, click Run Only Changed Segments () - which can be toggled to replace the Run Entire Mission Control Sequence by clicking the down arrow just beside the execution button and selecting the desired run mode.

You can also run the MCS using the currently toggled mode by right-clicking any segment in the MCS and selecting Run Sequence from the pop-up menu.

Running the MCS will cause Astrogator to apply changes made to all properties for the spacecraft.

If Astrogator is set to draw while calculating in the 2D or 3D Graphics windows, the iterations of calculating the trajectory of your spacecraft will be drawn in the chosen windows as the MCS is run.

To erase the iteration graphics after the run is finished, click Clear Graphics () on the MCS toolbar, or right-click any MCS segment and select Clear from the popup menu.