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STSPLUS.NEW
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1992-12-12
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STSORBIT PLUS Revision History
------------------------------
Each released version of STSPLUS uses a four digit revision code such
as 9250. The first two digits indicate the year and the second two digits
indicate the week of the year. In some cases, an additional letter suffix
is added to distinguish changes occurring within the same week or to
identify special versions. A partial week at the beginning or end of the
year is counted as a full week. Using this method, a year will typically
have 53 weeks although it is possible to have 54 weeks in a leap year (1972
is an example). The current year-week revision code is shown on the Julian
Date display, Display Mode 7, in my program ASTROCLK.
This file records the revision history of program STSPLUS through all
of the minor twists and turns that usually accompany the evolution of such
a complex program. It illustrates the tortuous process of maintaining and
refining a program as ideas and problems are reported from every quarter.
These notes may also be helpful to users who are upgrading from one version
to another to find out what has changed.
David H. Ransom, Jr.
Version 9250 -- December 1992
-----------------------------
-This is a MAINTENANCE AND FEATURES UPDATE.
-In response to numerous suggestions, I have redesigned and enlarged the
space shuttle icon and switched from a profile to a plan view to make the
icon easier to find on the screen. The new icon has almost three times as
many pixels and takes more time to draw. Comments are invited!
-In response to many user requests, I have improved file selection logic
for 2-line elements using F7 from the Main Menu to "remember" the path and
save it in file STSPLUS.INI. Users may now keep all 2-line elements files
for STSPLUS and other tracking programs in a separate directory.
-While the default filetype for 2-line elements is still ".TXT", the
program now also searches for filetype ".TLE".
-Event timers (showing AOS and LOS for the local station, TDRS, etc.) are
now enabled by F10+F7 from the Main Menu.
-I have added the Location Map in orthographic mode; press "L" while an
orthographic map is displayed. The projection used for the Location Map is
now based upon the current projection, rectangular or orthographic, when
"L" is pressed.
-Improved resolution of spacecraft lighting from 10 seconds to 1 second and
the Sun's position is now calculated every 10 seconds instead of every 60
seconds.
-Spacecraft lighting icon and symbol (to the right of "Orbit #:" in the
data block) now indicate the full range of solar illumination:
* Bright White Full sunlight
+ Yellow Partial sunlight (penumbra)
- Light Red Refracted sunlight
White Full shadow (umbra)
Note that LIGHT RED and the "+" and "-" symbols have been added to
distinguish refracted sunlight from partial sunlight.
-In response to several user requests, I have added AOS and LOS event
timers for orbital sunrise and sunset, displayed when the solar features
are enabled. In order to avoid excessive delays during the ground track
plotting (when the timers are set up), I have used a simpler algorithm for
orbital sunrise and sunset than that used during program operation. The
simpler algorithm is usually accurate to about plus or minus 15 seconds.
The actual spacecraft lighting is calculated dynamically and is both more
accurate and takes into account the non-spherical shape of the Earth.
-After several user comments about the "big clocks", I have again tweaked
the shape of the large digit "5" (back to what I started with) and modified
the "6" to better distinguish it from the "5".
-In order to free a display line in orthographic mode, the map drawing time
and map database file information have been combined on a single line (e.g.
"EARTH4 10.91") at the bottom of the display block.
-STSPLUS now automatically detects the type of processor and math
coprocessor; if no math coprocessor chip is detected, the program displays
a caution message at startup. The SLOW MODE is now automatically set or
reset depending upon the presence or absence of the math coprocessor and
the menu selection for the SLOW MODE has been removed.
-Performance may be improved if a memory manager such as EMM386, QEMM386 or
386MAX is NOT used! See the section "PROGRAM SETUP AND USAGE NOTES" for
specific information.
-Changed the grid spacing in orthographic mode, MAG=200, to 10 degrees from
5 degrees to make the display a bit less cluttered.
-STSPLUS is now compiled using Microsoft Visual Basic for DOS.
-Updated this documentation. Added the sections "SUN and Solar Features",
"Event Timers and Audible Alarms", and "F5 Display Ground Track:
DOTS/LINE". Moved the section "F5 Show Ascending & Descending Node Data"
to the proper place in the text.
-Corrected a bug which caused a minus sign (if present on Y or Z) to
persist when changing from XYZ to Alt/Az or RA/DEC satellite coordinates.
-Various minor cosmetic changes.
-Version 9249 was a limited release beta version.
Version 9245 -- October, 1992
-----------------------------
-This is a MAINTENANCE UPDATE, correcting several bugs and adds the launch
date and time capability.
-Added file STSPLUS.LTD which contains the NORAD number and launch date
(Julian date, UTC) for selected satellites. A sample entry appears as:
22194,2448918.21503472,0
This example is the data for Space Shuttle mission STS-52 (NORAD #22194)
and corresponds to a launch date and time of 22 OCT 1992 @ 17:09:39 UTC.
The last parameter is reserved and should be set to zero. Launch date and
time may be appended to file STSPLUS.LTD when entered using F5 from the
Main Menu. See the section "Using File STSPLUS.LTD for Launch Date & Time"
for a complete discussion.
-Corrected a misplaced statement which caused "BASIC PDS Error = 5" when
the Satellite Motion Map was requested from rectangular modes.
-Changed future dots on ground track to LIGHT GREEN when only dots are
shown to avoid confusion with solar terminator. (That's what it was
supposed to be but I messed up ...)
-Changed satellite circle of visibility on the Satellite Motion Map to
solid white (from light white dots) for greater clarity.
-Added a default magnification of 200 for the End key.
-Corrected the coordinates for Shanghi, China, in STSPLUS.LOC.