Introduction

Relatively Adequate Mission Planner (RAMP) is a set of kOS programs that aims to improve your KSP experience in several ways:

• Maximize the precision of your maneuvers
• Let you focus on the fun parts of spaceflight by automating the drudgework
• Teach you about orbital mechanics and physics

You can use the scripts as a kind of autopilot or poke into them to see how everything works, learn about the underlying science, or customize them to your needs.

Getting Started

RAMP scripts have a naming pattern: one-word scripts can be executed without any parameters, and multi-word scripts require parameters. Comments at the top of every script explain what it does and which parameters it needs.

Run the launch program to ascend to a circular orbit a few hundred km above your local atmosphere:

run launch.

After you reach a stable orbit, select a target. Use the transfer or rendezvous script to reach your target.

set target to vessel("My Other Vessel").
run rendezvous. // travel to another vessel

set target to body("Mun").
run transfer. // or, travel to a moon

The boot, rendezvous and transfer scripts are idempotent: you can safely run them at any time; they either make progress toward your goal, or error out with an explanation as to why they can't. The universal boot leader is customizable per ship.

Maneuvers

Other idempotent scripts include:

run circ.             // circularize at nearest apsis
run circ_alt(250000). // circularize to specific altitude of 250km
run approach.         // get close to target and stop
run match.            // match velocity at closest approach to target
run dock.             // dock with your target

Planning Burns by Hand

You can also plan and execute on-orbit maneuvers by hand using the node_* scripts.

run node_apo(1000000). // plan to make our apogee huge!
run node.              // make it so

Automating a Mission

If you want to script your entire mission end-to-end, it is highly suggested that you choose boot as the boot script for your vessel's main CPU. When your ship is on the pad, run initialize. to create a sample Mun mission for your craft. Finally, reboot. to perform the automated sample mission.

To change the mission profile, just edit the startup script that now lives under start/YourCraftName.ks and launch a fresh craft of the same name. The sample mission is not very robust or interesting; under the mission/ subfolder, RAMP provides several other example missions that you can copy into start/ and edit to your liking.

You can learn more about bootstrapping in this file.

Preparing for Launch

If your ship will travel farther than 100km from KSC, you should install a CPU with enough space on the vessel and run boot to copy the mission software onto the primary volume. Running archive scripts is fine in low orbit, but a space probe needs to be able to think for itself!

Contributing & Customizing

Clone my repo. Hack to your enjoyment. Pull requests are gladly accepted!

WARNING: notice the control flow between programs is fairly flat. I try never to call more than 2-3 programs deep. This is because the kOS VM seems to have bugs with programs and functions calling one another. Specifically:

1. Local variables from inner programs sometimes overwrite same-named variables from the outer program
2. Function libraries don't seem to work when they are compiled code

See comments in node_apo/node_peri for an example of #1. Try to compile lib_ui and run it from another program for an example of #2.

Design Principles

RAMP's code should be:

1. Safe: scripts should check for errors and harmful conditions
2. Modular: each script accomplishes a specific purpose
3. Reusable: scripts call library functions rather than copy-pasting code
4. Educational: comments explain each script and provide science and math background
5. Ethical: anything copied or derived from an outside work includes a link to the original

Program Naming

One-word programs should require no parameters so they can be run from the console. Multi-word programs may accept many parameters and must be called like a function (generally by another program, or possibly from the console).

Program names must be as short as possible while still conveying the purpose of the program.

Names must follow lexical ordering, i.e. all programs related to maneuver-node management begin with node: node_apo, node_peri and so forth. The program simply named node is standalone; it executes the next node, then halts.

The additional words of a program name should convey what the program accomplishes for single-purpose programs, and when during the mission the program needs to run, for more complex or long-running program.

1. node_apo: create node to change apoapsis
2. launch_asc: perform ascent phase of launch

Parameter Passing

Whenever possible, programs and functions should accept parameters with "ordinary" units and frames of reference. The name of the parameter should convey its unit of measure. Suggested units/frames are:

1. Name of ship orbital position e.g. "apoapsis"
2. Universal time (UT) in seconds after the epoch
3. Altitude (ALT) in meters above SoI surface

Function Libraries

Programs beginning with lib_ contain reusable functions and are invoked by other programs using run once or runoncepath().

Beware that libs cannot run other libs! If two library scripts depend on one another's functions, then you must make sure to run once both scripts from every top-level program that uses either oft hem!

Comments and Documentation

Every program should begin with comments explaining what the program does. Functions should be likewise commented. Every parameter (to a program or a function) needs a comment explaining the purpose of the parameter.