What is Orbiter Space Flight Simulator?

[D H]

We have now observed other solar systems. In several of these systems, the large gas giants orbit very close to their parent star. The Titus-Bode Law does not explain this phenomenon. In our solar system, the Titus-Bode law predicts a planet between Mars and Jupiter. No planet exists there; just a bunch of asteroids that collectively mass far less than any planet and that could not have formed into a planet because of the disruptive influence of Jupiter. The Titus-Bode Law does not explain this phenomenon. Neptune is also a member of our solar system, and it completely defies the Titus-Bode law.

Falsifiability and falsification are cornerstones of the scientific method. Scientific theories can never be proven true, but they can be proven false by one well-confirmed piece of falsifying evidence. Several scientific hypotheses to explain some phenomena have fallen by the wayside because of evidence against them. The Titus-Bode law is one such rejected hypothesis. It is now viewed as little more than numerology. The analogy to the insurance industry is a false analogy because science operates with the scientific method while the insurance industry does not. The medical industry operates on the edge of the scientific method because of ethics, the complicated nature of drug interactions, and a host of other reasons. A single bad reaction or failed cure is not an adequate reason to reject a drug that does work in some people.

The existence of Neptune is more than enough to reject the Titus-Bode law in physics and astronomy. Please desist with this stuff on the Titus-Bode law.

 

[Aethelwulffe]

Back to the subject of creating an orbital simulator, are any of you guys familiar with Orbiter? It is a free space-flight simulator. I myself am a pretty prolific add-on developer for it, having done some Mars mission stuff as well as some (well about 700 mb actually) SCI-FI add-ons for it. There is quite a great support community, and a lot of fun things to do with existing packages and add-ons, not to mention the SDK.
This software is being used in lots of space flight simulations for education, as well as a rendering engine for video presentations of space missions. Best of all, it is FREE, has a HUGE in-depth API and SDK, as well as tons of support from lots and lots of top-notch developers that all contribute for free and make their works free to the public, as well as help set up simulations in classrooms all over the world. If nothing else, the global/local coordinate system and other elements would be a good thing to check out for someone starting their own project...though you would be a few million man-years behind that particular project which has been developed since 1999 or so.
Just google Orbiter Space Flight Simulator and check it out if you care to. It's no joke, and it's no cheezy bit of work.