A physics-based flight simulator written in Python from scratch. It models N-Body gravity (Earth/Moon) and multistage rocket mechanics in 2D, featuring a custom flight computer capable of autonomous missions.
- Physics Engine: Custom implementation of Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation, atmospheric drag, and 3-stage rocket separation dynamics.
- Guidance Computer: A Finite State Machine (FSM) autopilot capable of:
- GSO Insertion: Autonomous launch, gravity turn, and circularization at 35,786 km.
- Lunar Mission: Autonomous parking orbit, phasing wait, and Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) targeting.
- Trajectory Prediction: Real-time Runge-Kutta integration to visualize orbital paths and impact points.
- Rendering: Custom Pygame vector rendering with dynamic time-warp scales (up to 1000x real-time).
- Install Pygame:
pip install pygame - Run the simulation:
python Main.py - Follow the on-screen menu to select Manual, GSO, or Lunar modes.
- Orbital Insertion: Solves the Vis-Viva equation to predict apogee/perigee in real-time.
- Lunar Capture: Uses a Sphere of Influence (SOI) trigger (66,000 km) to switch coordinate systems from Earth-Centric to Moon-Centric for retrograde capture burns.