



                          Starship Pilot



                                by




                         Aphelion Software
                          2652 Yalonda Ct.
                       Beavercreek, OH 45434





                        Copyright (C) 1994
                        William E. Wiesel








                           Installation                           

     The first thing you should do is make copies of the 
diskettes, particularly if you will not be installing StarShip Pilot  
on a hard disk.  Put your originals in a safe place, and run from 
the copies.  

     To install StarShip Pilot on a hard disk system, create a new 
directory with 

     mkdir sp

and then copy the contents of both 5 1/4 floppies or of the 3.5 
inch microdisk to the new directory. 

     To run StarShip Pilot from a hard disk, simply change to the 
directory (cd sp) and then start the program by typing 

     sp

at the prompt.  Running from the microfloppy is similar: change to 
the microfloppy drive and then type `sp'.  

     Starship Pilot will run under Windows.  To install this 
program, select the program group you wish to put Starship Pilot 
in, probably Games.  Then select the Files menu in Windows, and 
the New... option.  Select `Program Item', and enter the required
information.  For example, if you installed Starship Pilot in the 
directory c:\sp, you would enter

     Description:  Starship Pilot
     Command Line:  c:\sp\sp.exe
     Working Directory: c:\sp\

To install the icon, select `Change Icon', and then `Brouse'.  The 
icon is located in the same directory as the program, so change 
directory to the Starship Pilot directory, and select the file 
`sp.ico'.  You should be rewarded with a cute picture of a 
spaceship.  Select OK, and Starship Pilot should be available in 
your Games program group.





                         Your First Voyage                        

     Since we don't really believe that you will actually read the 
manual before trying StarShip Pilot, here is instructions for a first 
short jaunt.  You may want to follow along with the command 
reference card.
     After the startup sequence, you will be at Cape Canaveral, on
 earth.  To launch, hold shift, and hit the A on the keyboard.  You 
are now accelerating upwards at 1 gee.  Hit 'b' to watch  the  cape 
vanish  out  the  back viewer.  
     To further speed things up, type 'A' several more times. When you 
are above escape speed (12 kilometers/second) shut down the engines by 
hitting F6 and cancel landing mode by hitting F7.  Now, type 't', 
followed by 5 and return (or enter).  You have just compressed time by 
a factor of five, and the earth will drop away somewhat faster.  This 
is a good time to get out the reference card and familiarize yourself 
with viewing in different directions, rotating your spacecraft, engine 
contols, etc. 
     Once clear of the earth, type F4 to switch from visual to local 
sensors.  If you haven't already done so, try the different views from 
the ship: l=left, r=right, b=back, u=up, and d=down.  Locate earth's 
moon (Luna).  Now, using either keypad 4 (yaw left) or keypad 6 (yaw 
right), line up Luna with the cross on the FRONT viewscreen.  You may 
need to use keypad 8 or 2 to pitch up or down, and the delete key to 
stop rotations. 
     Now, lined up with the moon on the FRONT viewscreen, hit A 
from 5 to 7 times.  You will begin to accelerate, and while your 
speed mounts you may wish to find the earth again (F1 for visual, 
and l, r, b, f, u, or d for direction.)  But WATCH YOUR SPEED!  At 
about 50 km/sec (kilometers per second, about 30 miles per second) 
hit F6 again to shut off the main engines.  Looking out the front 
viewscreen, you will notice that the moon is hardly moving.....its 
about 380 thousand kilometers from the earth.  You can try 
compressing time by, say, 25X (thats t, 25, return) or it will be 
a long trip.
     At some point, you will enter lunar space (the nav computer 
will inform you of this).  Cut time compression to something more 
reasonable (say 5), and watch the moon approach.  If you are 
warned you are on a collision orbit, congratulate yourself on your 
aim, and then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!  Either S (to stop) or C (to 
enter a circular orbit) are useful emergency keys.
     To venture further afield, try finding Mars (F2 for long 
range sensors, then look in different directions).  Line up Mars 
with the FRONT viewscreen cross, and accelerate at about 10 Gee's 
(A ten times).  Watch the moon sweep behind you, then compress 
time by a factor of 50 (t, 50, return).  Both the earth and moon 
will converge astern.  Again, watch your speed!  About 1000 km/sec 
is a quite nice interplanetary speed; when you are near this speed 
hit F6 to shut down the engines.  Now, compress time by 500 (t, 
500, enter), or it will take you DAYS to get there.  The solar 
system really is that big.
     When Mars begins to rapidly drift from the front position, 
hit S to stop, line up with Mars again, cut time compression to 
about 50, and accelerate to about 500-1000 km/sec, then shut down 
the engines.  Repeat as necessary until you enter Mars' space, and 
you can see the "disc", or physical body of Mars.  Approach 
gingerly, becoming less aggressive with time compression and 
acceleration as you approach the planet.  
     You are now on your own, but have lots to learn, see, and 
explore!  While at Mars, refuel at one of the space stations, 
visit the earth colonies Goddard City or Tsiolkovsky, the 
historical "First Landing" site, and of course no trip to Mars is 
complete without touring the ancient alien temples left by the 
extinct martians.
     Also not to be missed is the sight of Poseidon hanging 
forever just above the horizon from Cousteau on Oceania, or the 
very extensive alien ruins on Arabie in the NoviMir system.  Alien 
derelicts are still found in many systems.....even the inhabited 
systems are not yet fully explored.  So go explore, the universe 
is yours!
     One last comment: planets and moons should appear round on 
your screen.  If they do not, you may wish to adjust the vertical 
size control of your terminal until they do appear round.  There.  
That's the last time we are going to admit that this is not 
reality.  You have just purchased your very own private star 
yacht, and the Universe is yours! 



                             Chapter 1                            
                           Introduction                           

     Congratulations on your purchase of the Antares 5000SX 
personal starship! We are sure that you will agree that the 5000SX 
is the finest private star yacht available on the market today.  
With full graviton drive, she is capable of six interstellar jumps 
before needing refueling, so you can explore the final frontier to 
your heart's content!  The latest in fail - safe navigational 
ships computers is at your service, and no expense has been spared 
in the interior appointments and details. Should you need to 
entertain the Lord of the Ultimate Realities, you will be ready! 
     Be sure to study this booklet thoroughly before attempting to 
pilot your star yacht.  It goes without saying that you will need 
a Class II interplanetary license to pilot her within a star 
system, and a Class III deep jump license to take your Antares 
5000SX into hyperspace.  Aphelion Reaction Motors offers no 
warranty, express or implied, if you attempt to pilot your star 
yacht without a license.  Furthermore, no warranty as to the 
accuracy of the navigational data in this booklet is offered.  It 
is your responsibility as pilot to comply with all applicable in - 
system laws and regulations, and to obey all Confederation of 
Planets deep space navigational directives. 



                            Chapter II                            
                      Console Instrumentation                     

     Besides the tasteful features available for your enjoyment 
and those of your guests, the main control room contains the usual 
control station with extra large viewscreen and the standard "IBM" 
type keyboard.  Of course, ever since the 1980's when the first 
primitive "video games" appeared, virtually everything from 
autofreshers to zurffles have been controlled by this type of 
keyboard input, so you should be quickly at home and in control! 
     The function keys control the basic mode of operation of your 
yacht.  They select the type of display on the main viewer, and 
control the operating mode of the main spacecraft systems. 

                     2.1 Main Viewer Displays                     

     There are three types of main viewer display.  These are 
visual, sensor, and navigational displays.  The visual display 
will show the outside universe in full, living color.  The sensor 
display will show exactly the same visual field outside your 
yacht, but displays several other types of useful information, 
including the names of the planets and moons you are orbiting.  
The navigation display enables you to precisely control your 
orbit. 
     Function key F1 selects for visual display on the main 
screen. This gives you virtually complete vision outside your 
5000SX, since the keys `f' front, `l' left, `r' right, `b' back, 
`u' up, and `d' down select the view direction.  The direction of 
the current view appears in the lower corner of the main screen, 
along with the view type. These view areas overlap, and provide 
the widest "fisheye" main display of any modern space yacht, while 
fully protecting you from the hazards of outside radiation fields.  
The visual display will often be your choice for the main display, 
since humans are visual creatures.  (Different spectral bands are 
available as an extra cost option for our extraterrestrial 
customers.)  However, there are times when a picture of the 
outside world is not sufficient, and that is where the other two 
options show their value. 
     Function key F2 or F4 select for sensor output on the main 
viewscreen. The first option is your long range sensors, and will 
show objects out to the limit of any planetary system.  The short 
range sensors, F4, show more detail within the local planetary 
system, and do not require the high power levels needed for the 
long range systems.  Both are very similar in their format. The 
sensor screen shows exactly the same area as the visual option, 
and the same keys `f' front, `l' left, `b' back, `r' right, `u' 
up, and `d' down change the view direction.  It is easy, then, to 
switch back and forth between visual and sensor displays without 
becoming disoriented.  The ship's main sensors will display all 
objects within range of the main sensor system.  This range is 
over ten billion kilometers for planet class objects, so you will 
always be able to find a planet with the sensor screen, so long as 
you are actually within the planetary system.  Moons are displayed 
when close enough to the parent planet that that information 
becomes useful.  Since the visual display system duplicates as 
closely as possible the human eye, planets and moons are often 
lost in the star background, or just plain invisible on the visual 
display.  Since the sensor systems do not have enough range to see 
the stars, they cut through this clutter, and show only the local 
planetary system.  Most importantly, perhaps, short range sensors 
detect landing beacons at  and show the position of any service 
facilities in developed planetary systems.  So this is the screen 
to use when you are looking for a convenient spacedock or landing 
site. 
     The sensor systems display each object alongside its name or 
official catalog designation.  When names overlap and become 
unreadable, rolling the spacecraft will move the objects on the 
screen and make them readable.  In addition, the sensor screen 
will display your current heading with a red ` x V $', and the 
direction opposite your heading with a red ` x -V '.  Purists who 
wish to maneuver the old fashioned way will find these invaluable 
in aligning the Antares 5000SX for maneuvers, a topic we will 
briefly cover in a later chapter. 
     The navigation display is selected with the F3 function key. 
This display shows your current orbit about the closest planet or 
moon.  It also displays your orbit type as either "Closed Orbit", 
indicating a stable situation, "Escape Orbit" which is fine if you 
are leaving or just making a high speed run to your destination, 
or "Collision Orbit" which is again fine if you intend to land, 
but less desirable if that was not your intention.  (These same 
warnings are displayed in the main computer output area upon 
engine shutdown.)  The navigation display is often used during 
maneuvers.  When the engines are running the navigation display 
shows the trajectory you would follow if the engines were shutdown 
at that moment.  This is termed the osculating orbit in space 
navigation, and is a good indication of when you should shut down 
the engines to achieve a stable, closed orbit. 

                   2.2 Graviton Engine Controls                   

     The Antares 5000SX comes equipped with the most modern 
Hawkings Effect Graviton engines.  The enormous maneuverability 
they afford your 5000SX has made the need for carefully 
precomputed and optimized orbital navigation a thing of the past.  
They are as reliable as modern quantum engineering and microbot 
fabrication can make them.  While you can trust your family's 
lives to the 5000SX with complete confidence, it is your 
responsibility to ensure that proper maintenance procedures are 
performed by qualified service personnel at the appropriate times.  
See the chapter on maintenance schedules for recommended service 
procedures and periods.  Aphelion Reaction Motors maintains 
certified maintenance docks in all major inhabited systems for 
your convenience and safety. 
     To prevent accidental engine operation, the engines cannot be 
fired without first giving a preliminary arming command with the 
F6 key.  Otherwise the engines remain in the "Safed", or shutdown 
condition.  When the engines are armed or on, a yellow "pipper" 
appears in the center of your viewscreen.  Of course, the main 
engines only operate in the forward direction, so be sure you are 
looking out of the correct window when you line up a maneuver!  
Once armed, the `A' will increase your acceleration in increments 
of 1 "Gee", or one earth - normal gravity.  For finer control, the 
`a' key increases the acceleration in 0.1 Gee increments.  This is 
useful when maneuvering near a low mass object, and 1 gravity 
acceleration is too much for precision control.  Hitting the F6 
key when the engines are operating will zero out the acceleration, 
while hitting F6 again shuts down the engines and returns them to 
the safed condition. (During landing it is not safe to shut the 
engines down, so hitting F6 adjusts your acceleration to that of 
the planet you are landing on.  This makes your approach speed 
constant.)  The main engines are not normally used in docking 
operations, for which there is a set of auxiliary thrusters. 
     We mention here that two higher level engine / navigation 
functions have been provided for your convenience and safety.  The 
stop command, "S" (Capital is required!) will bring you to a 
complete stop relative to the closest large object in the current 
system.  Similarly, the circularize orbit command, "C" (again, 
capital is mandatory) will place you in a circular orbit about a 
moon or planet.  Either is handy for adverting looming disaster, 
but their use is looked down upon by more experienced pilots. 

                       2.3 Thruster Systems                       

     In addition to the main engines, your Antares 5000 comes 
equipped with the usual impulsive thruster systems, usually used 
for delicate control of rendezvous and landing approaches.  Each 
thruster firing will change your speed by 5 meters / second.  This 
is a very small amount, so its use for main engine backup in case 
of a main engine failure is noted as required by the InterStellar 
Flight and Licensing Board Regulations, but Aphelion Reaction motors 
hastens to add that a main engine failure is quite impossible with 
our level of technology and quality control 
     The thrusters are commanded using the shift key and the 
keypad numbers.  (Again, some protection against inadvertent 
maneuvers is necessary).  Shifted keypad "8" moves the spacecraft 
upwards, while shifted keypad "2" maneuvers downward.  Similarly, 
shifted keypad "4" is a left maneuver, while "6" is rightward.  
Finally, as you will quickly learn in landing and rendezvous 
training, shifted keypad "7" is forward, while "9" is rearward. 

                        2.4 Stasis Systems                        

     While the Hawkings Graviton engine has made starflight 
possible, it is the development of time stasis systems at the 
Wheeler Institute at CalTech that has  made it convenient.  
Although not the "time machine" often portrayed in holo movie 
thrillers, since it cannot make time go backwards, time 
compression or "Stasis" makes the dreary billions of kilometers 
between planets seem to just zip by.  Stasis is set by entering 
`t', and then the factor (0 to 30000) by which time is to be 
compressed, followed by a `return' or `enter'. Time stasis takes 
large amounts of power when deep within the gravitational field of 
a planet, however.  You will often see the notice "Stasis 
Decreased" when approaching a planet, indicating that the master 
computer has decreased the time compression factor to prevent 
excessive energy drain on the ship's main reactor.  This is 
normal, and once you have moved past the object you are free to 
increase stasis again. 
     One of the great thrills of spaceflight is to leave a 
planetary system at high acceleration   and  stasis, and watch the 
celestial objects slip past and vanish out the rear viewscreen. 
However, the use of large stasis factors during maneuvering is 
dangerous, since   time stasis slows your effective reaction time 
by compressing time while at the same time increasing the apparent 
acceleration of your ship!   Novice pilots can be detected 50 
million kilometers away as they ruin a perfect approach on a moon 
by forgetting to decrease stasis before maneuvering. This usually 
results in a dramatic and unplanned departure from the planetary 
system.  Its funny, if it doesn't happen to you. 

                    2.5 System Operating Modes                    

2.5.1 Deep Space Mode

     is the usual operating mode between planets.  Displays show 
the current main engine status (Safed, Armed, or On), the 
acceleration level in "Gees", and Nernst Reactor fuel status.  
Perhaps most important, the radius from your current primary 
object and your orbital speed are shown.  For atmospheric vehicle 
pilots, please be warned that this is a radius,  not an altitude!   
Subtract the planet's radius to find your current altitude. 

2.5.2 Rendezvous Mode

     is entered automatically when you approach within 100 
kilometers of another ship or space facility.  Main engines are 
automatically disabled, and your piloting systems will match 
velocities with the space station at a safe distance.  Displays 
include relative distance and speed from the station, as well as 
your relative orientation with respect to the space station.  If 
the object is equipped with standard docking facilities, the 
docking bay approach corridor will also appear on the attitude 
indicator.  
    Successful docking requires use of your thruster systems to 
match rotation rate (if it is a rotating facility) and reach the 
center of the docking bay to within the 20 meter error allowed by 
standard auto - dock equipment.  Once docking has been achieved, 
refueling will begin after a short wait.  Do not maneuver during 
refueling, since this will cause the station's auto - dock 
equipment to disengage, and you will have to dock all over again.  
Of course, to undock you simply use your thruster systems.
     You can elect to base your Antares 5000 at one of the major 
space docking facilities, although major rotating facilities 
normally do not offer permanent docking bays.  On departing from 
the vicinity of a space facility, your main engines will be 
unlocked and you will return to Deep Space Mode once beyond the 
100 kilometer radius. 

2.5.3 Jump Mode

     is invoked with the F5 key.  You will then be presented with 
a list of known stargates from your current system.  Once you have 
made a choice of gate, your autopilot will recommend an 
acceleration for the jump, and display a crude visual gate 
reference on the viewscreen.  This gate image is for rough 
alignments only! 
     Jump Mode instrumentation includes the target gate name, and 
two critical error indicators.  These are the in - track error 
indicator and the lateral error indicator.  The in - track error 
is shown on a linear display, and shows the gate as a broad green 
line, while your current amount of overshoot or undershoot is 
shown by a pipper.  The pipper will be white if you will pass the 
speed of light within the gate, and red otherwise.  You change 
this position by changing the engine setting.  Increasing your 
acceleration will cause you to reach the speed of light sooner, 
and the pipper will pull inwards (to the left).  Decreasing your 
acceleration causes you to reach the speed of light later, and the 
pipper will move outwards (to the right).  So you increase 
acceleration to correct an overshoot, and decrease acceleration to 
correct an undershoot. 
     The lateral error display is similar, but shows your jump 
point with respect to the gate on the plane of the sky.  The green 
circle is the safe gate area, and the point at which you will 
enter hyperspace is shown by a pipper, red or white as above.  
Lateral errors are corrected by rotating the nose of the starship 
to get the pipper within the green circle.  As you will be 
familiar with jumps from your pilot training, we don't need to 
tell you here that this is much easier to do just before you 
actually hit the speed of light, when time is critical!  
Experienced pilots usually achieve a fairly good solution early in 
a jump, and then go to a high Stasis Factor.  Just before 
hyperspace entry they decrease Stasis, and make their final 
targeting adjustments. 
     Again, be careful!  No ship has ever returned from an 
incorrect hyperspace entry to tell us what happens when you botch 
an approach.  You wouldn't be the first to find out what does 
happen, but you won't be telling us if you do!  Hitting F5 again 
cancels jump mode.  Don't be embarrassed to abort a jump.....all 
old jumpship pilots have had to at one time or another.  Thats how 
they got to be old jumpship pilots!

2.5.4 Landing Mode

     Like all modern starships, the Antares 5000 is a "tailsitter" 
when landing.  Normally, landing begins with a speed run to a 
point about a 1000 kilometers above your intended landing place.  
Once you come to a relative stop ( "S" ) and enter landing mode ( 
F7 ), your ship will rotate to the vertical and stay in that 
orientation. You can still roll the ship about the vertical axis, 
but yaw and pitch controls are disabled. The main engines will 
automatically cancel the planet's gravity and rotation, making 
landing a much simpler process than it was in the old days. (You 
are free to try landing the old way at any time....pressing F7 
again cancels landing mode.) 
     Landing instrumentation includes numerical displays of your 
altitude, vertical closing speed, and ship's acceleration.  In 
addition, your horizontal drift speed is shown by a combined 
numerical and "clock face" direction display.  Color changes 
indicate safe speeds (green), unsafe speeds (yellow), and 
suicidal speeds (red).
     Control during landing is via either the thruster system or 
through the main engines.  The thrusters can handle lateral 
movement while the main engines cannot.  Remember you are looking 
out the rear viewscreen when using the thrusters, causing left and 
right to appear to be reversed!  The main engine controls function 
normally, with "A" and "a" increasing acceleration and "Z" and "z" 
decreasing acceleration.  Hitting F6   does not  shut down the 
engines, however!  (Not a good idea during landing.)  Instead, 
hitting F6 causes the engines to return to just canceling the 
local gravity, and your Antares 5000 will maintain a constant 
approach speed. 
     Generally, any approach speed under 50 meters / second is 
safe at touchdown, although a little rough on passengers.  Union 
ground crews are generally very finicky about servicing starships 
not actually on the pad,  so a little landing practice can save 
much argument later.  Your Antares 5000 can be based at most major 
planetary ports.  Contact the commander of the landing site for 
berthing information.
     Launching  occurs  by  using  the  main  engines  or   upward 
thrusters to leave the ground.   Any  time  after  you  leave  the 
ground you may return to deep space mode by hitting F7,  canceling 
landing mode.  Be sure that you are accelerating upwards at more 
than the planet's gravitational acceleration before canceling 
landing mode, or you could suffer a very rough return to the 
surface!



                             Chapter 3                            
                         Basic Astrogation                        

     You are undoubtedly familiar with space travel from holo - 
thrillers on the tube.  Starships shown there always have their 
engines running full blast, because it looks so spectacular.  The 
stars flash by the viewports, even when the ship is orbiting a 
planet. The reality is different, as any licensed starpilot will 
know. However, this section might help you explain to family and 
friends just what you are doing when you don't behave like the 
famous Captain Astron from the holos. 
     First, a ship in space has no friction to retard its motion.  
All other forms of transportation must fight friction of 
atmosphere, water, or wheel contact, and this limits the speed 
they can achieve.  In space, nothing holds a starship back except 
gravity, and leaving the engines on all the time will result in an 
unlimited speed increase.  This is fine during a jump to a 
stargate, but at other times it makes it very difficult to even 
stay near your destination planet.  So, the engines only are on 
when you maneuver. 
     Second, since you probably have your hypersonic flitter 
license (who doesn't?), flying a starship is not like flying an 
atmospheric craft.  Because there is no air, you don't have to 
point the nose of your ship in the direction you are travelling.  
It does not matter where you point the nose of the ship except 
when the main Graviton Engines are on.  Then you will accelerate 
in the direction of the ship's nose. 

                    3.1  Interplanetary Flight                    

     Your Antares 5000 has so much "Delta V", or the ability to 
change velocity , that it is no longer necessary to fool around 
with Hohmann transfers or planetary slingshot maneuvers as our 
ancestors had to.  Instead, to go somewhere you just point the 
nose of the ship at the target and accelerate until you have 
reached a reasonable transit velocity.  Most inhabited systems 
impose a limit of 100 kilometers per second (`km/sec') when within 
a planetary system, and 5000 kilometers per second when traveling 
between planets.  (Jumps, of course, require that you accelerate 
to the speed of light.  But you will be well outside any solar 
system by the time you approach this speed.)  Stasis is then used 
as desired to eliminate the tedium of traveling the void of space.  
As you approach your destination, you will see it begin to drift 
across the sky, indicating that you are not on a perfect approach 
orbit.  The quick way to continue your approach is `tacking': use 
the stop option to bring yourself to zero speed with respect to 
your target, realign your nose with the destination, and 
accelerate to speed to close the gap.  With practice, two or three 
tacks are all that is needed. More experienced pilot will rotate 
the spacecraft ahead of the direction of drift, and accelerate to 
cancel the drift rate (a `midcourse correction').  

                      3.2  Planetary Approach                     

     Every massive object is surrounded by an imaginary boundary 
called the `Activity Sphere', which is an approximate limit to the 
region controlled by the gravity of that planet or moon. To orbit 
that object, you must be within the activity sphere. You will know 
this has happened by the message `Entered Mars System', or 
something similar appearing on the main console.  Since you came 
in from the outside, you will almost certainly see the further 
message `Escape Orbit', meaning that unless you maneuver you are 
destined to leave again.  You can confirm this via the navigation 
screen F3.  If in addition you also get the warning `Collision 
Orbit', then maneuvering would certainly seem to be in order. 
     To establish a safe, closed orbit about your destination, you 
must slow down.  One quick way to do this is to wait until you are 
at the desired distance from the planet, and then invoke the 
Circular Orbit navigation function, `C'.  The automatic systems of 
your Antares 5000 will do the rest.  A somewhat more `hands - on' 
approach is to invoke the Stop function `S' at the desired 
distance.  This is only temporary, since the gravity of the planet 
will now begin to accelerate you inwards.  To establish a closed 
orbit, rotate the spacecraft so the planet is off one side (say, 
centered in the left viewscreen), and then using the navigation 
screen, accelerate tangentially to orbital velocity.  The engines 
are shut down once the desired stable, closed orbit has been 
achieved. 
     The way hot starpilots do it is still different.  Without 
using either Stop or Circularize, you can align the nose of the 
ship with the `Negative V' direction using the sensor screens. You 
are now ready to accelerate in the direction opposite to the 
direction you are moving.  Once at the correct distance from the 
planet, you use the main engines to retard your motion, smoothly 
transitioning from an escape hyperbola to a closed orbit.  The 
navigation screen is the ideal aid in doing this. It does take 
some practice, however. 

                          3.3  Starflight                         

     It is difficult at any time to explain quantum gravitational 
physics.  Our three dimensional space is actually folded through 
higher dimensions (hyperspace) like a crumpled piece of paper. 
Traveling between stars using normal space would require many 
decades of cold sleep.  However, with the discovery that it is 
possible to `jump' across the folds at certain special places, 
popularly known as `stargates' (technically Wheeler-Matsumo 
Congruencies), it is possible to visit other stars in only a few 
weeks of transit time, and far less when the stasis effect is 
employed.  (It is often asked why the colonists on the 
nostalgically named `Enterprise', now in cold sleep transit to New 
Earth, cannot be rescued.  Since they are out on a `fold' of 
`real' space, there is no stargate nearby.  They will be very 
surprised when they arrive in about 60 years!) 
     A stargate, then, is a special place where two distant 
portions of `real' space are in close proximity.  If you pass the 
speed of light within a very small region, you can `jump' across 
hundreds of light years, and arrive at your destination.  Modern 
instrumentation and fail - safe engines make a starjump quite safe 
if a few simple rules are followed. 
    A jump is basically a long, straight - line accelerating 
trajectory carefully controlled to reach the speed of light 
(usually referred to as `C') just at the center of the stargate.  
Any deviation from this will cause you to enter hyperspace away 
from the gate.  No ship has ever returned from an incorrect 
hyperspace entry!  As you will have to complete many simulated 
jumps in earning your Interstellar Pilot's Certificate, and the 
coveted `Broken Arrow' jumper's pin, we don't have to describe 
here how it is done.  Simply remember that the safety of your 
family and guests is your responsibility as pilot. 

                    3.4  Rendezvous and Landing                   

     At the opposite extreme from the gargantuan power and tension 
of a starjump, rendezvous and landing require delicate control and 
low relative speeds!  Here you will be using mainly the thruster 
systems.  
     During landing, the main engines will automatically cancel 
the main part of the planet's gravitational attraction.  They can 
still be used to increase your closing speed by commanding a 
negative acceleration (`z' or `Z'), but this should be done with 
care.  Positioning errors over the landing site must be corrected 
with the thrusters, which can also be used to control approach 
velocity.  Remember that the tail of your Antares 5000 is pointing 
towards the planet, so `left' and `right' appear reversed on the 
screen.  Final landing speeds should be less than 50 meters per 
second to avoid costly damage to your ship. 
     Rendezvous is also controlled mainly with the thruster 
systems, and again final approach should be made at low speeds and 
with stasis set to one.  The first thing you learn in approaching 
a rotating space station or colony is to position your ship on the 
rotation axis first, then worry about matching rotation rates as 
you close for docking. Both landing and rendezvous, of course, 
will be covered in dual instruction when you get your pilot's 
license, so no further information needs to be offered here. 






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