Procedure Time
The procedure times that are displayed in the mission list reflect the start time of the procedure for the first procedure of the mission and the end time of the procedure for all subsequent procedures. For a landing procedure, the time displayed is the time that the aircraft touches down, and not the end of the entire procedure (as the aircraft must still complete its ground roll). Normally, STK's Aviator capability adjusts the times of procedures as needed to achieve the mission goals that you have set.
Controlling Procedure Time
If the timing of a procedure is important to your mission goal, you can specify how the procedure time will be defined by clicking or selecting Set Time from the right-click menu in the mission list, which will open the Procedure Time window. The Procedure Time window contains parameters related to the various aspects of procedure time that you can control, including Start Time, Interrupt Time, Normal Stop Time, Duration. The procedure's place within the mission will determine which time aspects that you can control.
To control the start time of a procedure, select Set Fixed Start Time and enter a desired start date and time in the field below.To control the normal stop time of the procedure, use Set Fixed Normal Stop Time; this property is unavailable for the first procedure of a mission. Use Set Interrupt Time to stop the current procedure in progress at the specified time and begin the next procedure. For more information on the options available for time instances and start and stop times, see Time Options.
You can also attempt to control the duration of a procedure. The Normal setting defines the duration as the natural product of the procedure's start and stop times. Select Automatic/Computed to allow the duration to be adjusted by Aviator in order to satisfy the start or stop times of other procedures; this option disables the Set Interrupt Time property. Select Set Fixed/Override and enter a desired time to constrain the duration of the procedure to the exact time that you specify; this method will adjust airspeed if necessary to achieve the desired result.
The STK Vehicle procedure site has its own time element (the vehicle's), and in the process of calculating the mission Aviator may not achieve a procedure time that coincides with the time that the object is at the site location (e.g., if there is another procedure somewhere in the mission that has a fixed or user specified time). Select Minimize Site/Procedure Time Difference to attempt to force the procedure and site times to converge; refer to the STK Object Waypoint site Help section for complete information on how this option functions.
There are several buttons at the bottom of the Procedure Time window that provide supplemental information or controls. Click Details... to open the Time Details window, which displays estimated minimum and maximum values for the time properties of the procedure based on the current settings. Click Turns... to set the Use Max Speed When Computing Turn Radii option for any of the procedures in the mission list. Click Calc Options... to open the Calculation Options window. Click Reset properties above to last good values to restore the property values from their current state to the last valid values that were assigned to them. Click Reset Mission Start Time To Scenario Startto set the mission epoch to the recalculated start time of the first procedure; this option is unavailable if the first procedure has a fixed start time.
A fixed procedure time will appear in the mission list with a clock icon in front of it.
Specified Time Properties and Invalid Procedures
If you set a fixed start or normal stop time, Aviator will modify the times of other procedures in the mission that do not have fixed times to accommodate the time property that you have defined. It is possible that doing this will invalidate the other procedures because the times required for them cannot be achieved. If you are unable to correct the problem by adjusting the time properties of the procedure that you are trying to specify, try adding a Delay procedure between the procedure and the first invalid procedure to restore the validity of your other procedures.
If you set a time property for a procedure that renders that procedure invalid, the invalid property will be marked and you will have to change it to a valid setting before you can click OK or Apply to implement the changes.