Perhaps it's a matter of using the right tool for the job. I've said it before — Vladimir has given me an entire universe to play around in (I would have been happy with just a galaxy ), if I wanted to play around in Earth orbit, I'd still be flying Orbiter. And for actual astronomical events and timing, I find Stellarium still gets the job done for me.

But... to each his or her own.

Perhaps it's a matter of using the right tool for the job. I've said it before — Vladimir has given me an entire universe to play around in (I would have been happy with just a galaxy ), if I wanted to play around in Earth orbit, I'd still be flying Orbiter. And for actual astronomical events and timing, I find Stellarium still gets the job done for me.

But... to each his or her own.

Oh I did the whole intergalactic travel thing, I love it.  But this planetary flying thing was more of a challenge and I wanted to conquer it.  Now I've been able to fly for 20 hours under 20 km and I did that so now on to the next challenge lol.  20 km altitude would be considered cruising altitude right (safely within the atmosphere)?  The atmosphere is 6.6 times denser than Earth's and the HUD still read "Aviation" after 20 hours.  My computer always crashes after 20 hours so I can't run anything longer than that.

FYI I'm not downloading any more add ons after this for .980 or 990, my primary SSD hard drive is now full, I have like 200 MB of storage space left lol.  And only 250 MB on my secondary drive, which is a mechanical one.

Perhaps it's a matter of using the right tool for the job. I've said it before — Vladimir has given me an entire universe to play around in (I would have been happy with just a galaxy ), if I wanted to play around in Earth orbit, I'd still be flying Orbiter. And for actual astronomical events and timing, I find Stellarium still gets the job done for me.

But... to each his or her own.

I run Space Engine on one screen and Starry Night on my other screen.  I just find Stellarium a bit too cluttered for my taste.  I was thinking of getting and running Universe Sandbox 2 on a third screen, but do you think a 6 GB video card wouldn't be enough to run all three of the above together?  I wonder what kind of memory and video card I would need to run them all at the same time?  I wanted to see if the universe of the new version of Universe Sandbox was as diverse as the one of Space Engine and if it was up to date with its lists of exoplanets and if their surfaces were as detailed and their atmospheres as colorful and realistic as what I have in SE.

My point was that SE concentrates on a wider variety of celestial objects, all manner of exotic places to visit. I don't spend any time on or even near Earth, so why waste resources on trying to do a detailed Earth? Orbiter would be better for Earth-orbital flights, or Solar System in general, as that doesn't waste too many resources on the rest of the universe. And come to think of it, flying in-atmosphere on a detailed Earth is better done with MS Flight Sim or some such thing.

That being said, all my flying is still done with SE these days. (But most of it still with 980.)

Cruising altitude, I would think, will depend on the planet/moon's mass, size, and atmospheric makeup and density. Not to mention the type of aircraft you are flying — cruising altitude for a Cessna here on Earth might be 8,000 to 10,000 feet (2,500 to 3,000 meters or so), but for a 747 would be 30,000 to 35,000 feet (9 to 10.5 km).  Not all questions have a simple yes or no answer.

My point was that SE concentrates on a wider variety of celestial objects, all manner of exotic places to visit. I don't spend any time on or even near Earth, so why waste resources on trying to do a detailed Earth? Orbiter would be better for Earth-orbital flights, or Solar System in general, as that doesn't waste too many resources on the rest of the universe. And come to think of it, flying in-atmosphere on a detailed Earth is better done with MS Flight Sim or some such thing.

That being said, all my flying is still done with SE these days. (But most of it still with 980.)

Cruising altitude, I would think, will depend on the planet/moon's mass, size, and atmospheric makeup and density. Not to mention the type of aircraft you are flying — cruising altitude for a Cessna here on Earth might be 8,000 to 10,000 feet (2,500 to 3,000 meters or so), but for a 747 would be 30,000 to 35,000 feet (9 to 10.5 km).  Not all questions have a simple yes or no answer.

Yep and I found out today what it feels like to have an overpowered ship trying to cruise like an airplane lol.  I think I've finally got the hang of it tonight with the USS Enterprise F (refit), but the Star Trek ships seem to have quite a bit more power than the ships I've been using.  I'm a huge Star Trek fan and its music is all over my SE soundtrack so I only thought it fitting I should experiment with Enterprise ships. None of them have cockpits available but some give a cockpit like effect because they offer a window like view in the direction of movement.  I had to set main engines just to 1 to make sure I stay in the atmosphere as well as hover engines also being at 1.
I dont think I have Orbiter, is it any better than Google Earth?  The latter shows current weather and cloud conditions.  PS dont forget to check out the Perseids tonight and tomorrow night

I also really like this, which is a real concept warp travel ship

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IXS_Enterprise

Klud made this add on and it works well, the only thing is it blocks the middle of my screen (I want a windowed view).
IXS Enterprise is a conceptual interstellar spaceship designed by NASA scientist Dr. Harold G. White, revealed at SpaceVision 2013, designed for the goal of achieving warp travel. The conceptual spacecraft would make use of a modified version of the Alcubierre drive. Dr. White is currently running the White–Juday warp-field interferometer experiment in order to develop a proof of concept for Alcubierre-style warp travel, if possible. The Alcubierre drive uses exotic matter (not to be confused with antimatter) to travel faster than light.

While the concept had been out since 2013 the design of IXS Enterprise was popularized in June 2014 after a series of media outlets reported on the conceptual artwork done by Dutch artist Mark Rademaker in collaboration with NASA.[1] According to Mark Rademaker, over 1,600 hours have been spent on the conceptual artwork that he created.[2]

In 2012, NASA reported that it was experimenting with the concept of warp drive and the loop hole within Einstein's Theory of Relativity. By 2014, it was announced that designer Mark Rademaker had created a CGI representation of a new vessel that would achieve warp velocity. The vessel he designed was the IXS Enterprise. The energy required to power the warp drive, according to White,[3] is approximately the negative (negative energy is required for the Alcubierre drive concept to function) mass–energy equivalence of Voyager 1, which has a mass of approximately 700 kilograms. Using E=mc2, −700 kilograms of mass is equivalent to ~−63 exajoules of energy (this number is not definitive and can be further reduced). The ship has two thick outer rings (to reduce required energy) that generate the warp field—a contraction of space ahead, and expansion of space behind it. The space inside the rings is optimized to fit more space for cargo, crew and equipment. 

Hey Alex, question.  I just used the RZ-1 A-Wing (my favorite light weight star ship, highly maneuverable) to fly around a planet for 48 hours!  Two full days!  I only used Firefox (no memory guzzling Chrome) which is what kept my system stable.  So who knows what spyware Google puts in Chrome, but Firefox is much better and much more secure.  But back to my question, how does that waterskiing camera drone thing work?  During my 48 hr trip, I was at around 20 km for the last half of the trip so at a stable altitude.  I tried to deploy the camera by pressing "3" but it just did the same thing that happens when I click the airplane icon at the bottom left menu and made the ship console disappear?  I had to regain control of the ship to get it back.  I couldn't get the camera to deploy on the surface while controlling the ship, is there something else I need to do to make that happen?  Also in regards to creating an extra camera for my ship using Shift F3 is there any way I can program one to be under the ship and pointed down and another one to above the ship and pointed up and then another one to be behind the ship and pointed backwards (like a rear view camera!)  The one under the ship and pointed down, I actually want that to be close to the ground, is there a way to do that without crashing it into the surface?)

Also I was trying to figure something out with Altitude and Elevation.  Is Altitude distance of the ship above sea level and is Elevation height of the terrain above sea level?  So if I want to figure out the distance of the ship above the local terrain it would be Altitude minus Elevation?  If this is the case then why are Altitude and Terrain the same number when I am flying above a body of water?

Is Altitude distance of the ship above sea level and is Elevation height of the terrain above sea level?  So if I want to figure out the distance of the ship above the local terrain it would be Altitude minus Elevation?

Elevation should be height above the terrain. Altitude is height above sea level (atmospheric altitude).

With the water-skiing method, yes the HUD disappears, as you are now a floating camera, but it is still connected to the ship. Which is why it works better with a ship in orbit — it is usually much easier to put it in a hands-off stable orbit.  However, you can retake control of the ship with the "4" key, and then quickly press "Esc" to stop the view from returning back to one of the ship cameras, but that method works much better in .980 than 990.

To add or modify cameras, with the ship selected, press shift-F2 to bring up the editor menu. Click on "Edit behind camera". You may see some red or green cubes. Those are the already-defined camera positions. Green for "Behind" camera, red for "Cockpit" camera. The difference between them is the way the camera behaves when you rotate it (right-click-mouse drag?). With a "cockpit" camera, the view rotates at the camera position, as if you are turning your head. With "behind" camera, the view orbits around the 0,0,0 center of the ship.

If you want to add a camera, you can add one at your current location and then move it with the number parameters for position as well as rotation. Your view will not immediately change to reflect the new position, you can hit the "4" key to cycle through the cameras.  Or you can pick a free floating camera again, move it to where to want the camera, then click on "Move here". You will still have to manually adjust the rotation if you want it to point downwards.
This is a view from a cockpit camera position. (The yellow cube is another camera position, the selected camera position you are editing flashes red or green and yellow — the one selected in the drop-down box.) If you change one of the parameters in the rotation boxes, you will see that spherical grid rotate. Clicking on the "4" key should update the view to the new angle.
This green box is one of the "behind" cameras.

Is Altitude distance of the ship above sea level and is Elevation height of the terrain above sea level?  So if I want to figure out the distance of the ship above the local terrain it would be Altitude minus Elevation?

Elevation should be height above the terrain. Altitude is height above sea level (atmospheric altitude).

With the water-skiing method, yes the HUD disappears, as you are now a floating camera, but it is still connected to the ship. Which is why it works better with a ship in orbit — it is usually much easier to put it in a hands-off stable orbit.  However, you can retake control of the ship with the "4" key, and then quickly press "Esc" to stop the view from returning back to one of the ship cameras, but that method works much better in .980 than 990.

To add or modify cameras, with the ship selected, press shift-F2 to bring up the editor menu.
scr06259.jpg

Click on "Edit behind camera". You may see some red or green cubes. Those are the already-defined camera positions. Green for "Behind" camera, red for "Cockpit" camera. The difference between them is the way the camera behaves when you rotate it (right-click-mouse drag?). With a "cockpit" camera, the view rotates at the camera position, as if you are turning your head. With "behind" camera, the view orbits around the 0,0,0 center of the ship.

If you want to add a camera, you can add one at your current location and then move it with the number parameters for position as well as rotation. Your view will not immediately change to reflect the new position, you can hit the "4" key to cycle through the cameras.  Or you can pick a free floating camera again, move it to where to want the camera, then click on "Move here". You will still have to manually adjust the rotation if you want it to point downwards.

scr06260.jpg
This is a view from a cockpit camera position. (The yellow cube is another camera position, the selected camera position you are editing flashes red or green and yellow — the one selected in the drop-down box.) If you change one of the parameters in the rotation boxes, you will see that spherical grid rotate. Clicking on the "4" key should update the view to the new angle.

scr06261.jpg
This green box is one of the "behind" cameras.

Thanks so if Altitude=Elevation it likely means I am flying above an ocean or a sea!  And Altitude minus Elevation is the height of the terrain itself above sea level?
In the case of the waterskiing camera, what I did was press 3 to use it, but I really didn't get any closer to the surface, I had the same view as before I pressed it, the only difference was no HUD lol.  So what I did was go back to the ships menu and select "take control of ship" again to bring the HUD back.
So I can add another cockpit camera to the one that gives me the cockpit view?  That means I can look out from either side of the cockpit instead of just straight ahead?!  And after I am done editing cameras, can I use the Switch View button in the bottom console to cycle between all the different cameras just like I do with the 2 cameras that came with my ship?

In the case of the waterskiing camera, what I did was press 3 to use it, but I really didn't get any closer to the surface, I had the same view as before I pressed it, the only difference was no HUD lol.

Yes, but you have control over the camera as you normally do without a ship. Use up, down, left, right, whatever keys you use for that, to position the camera to wherever you want it. Rotate it, too, if you want. If the ship is in orbit, you may have to move the camera tens or even hundreds of kilometers downwards to approach the surface.

So I can add another cockpit camera to the one that gives me the cockpit view?

Yes.

That means I can look out from either side of the cockpit instead of just straight ahead?!

But you can look left or right already. I think these are default keys, for me they are ctrl-NumPad keys — 4 is left, 6 is right, 5 is behind, 8 is up, and 2 is down. And you can lock that view by releasing the ctrl key first instead of the num key first. To unlock and revert to forward view, just press any view key again (ctrl-numpad "number").

And after I am done editing cameras, can I use the Switch View button in the bottom console to cycle between all the different cameras just like I do with the 2 cameras that came with my ship?

Yes, pressing the 4 (upper row) key cycles through all defined cameras for that ship. (Don't forget to save the changes if you want to keep them.)

In the case of the waterskiing camera, what I did was press 3 to use it, but I really didn't get any closer to the surface, I had the same view as before I pressed it, the only difference was no HUD lol.

Yes, but you have control over the camera as you normally do without a ship. Use up, down, left, right, whatever keys you use for that, to position the camera to wherever you want it. Rotate it, too, if you want. If the ship is in orbit, you may have to move the camera tens or even hundreds of kilometers downwards to approach the surface.

So I can add another cockpit camera to the one that gives me the cockpit view?

Yes.

That means I can look out from either side of the cockpit instead of just straight ahead?!

But you can look left or right already. I think these are default keys, for me they are ctrl-NumPad keys — 4 is left, 6 is right, 5 is behind, 8 is up, and 2 is down. And you can lock that view by releasing the ctrl key first instead of the num key first. To unlock and revert to forward view, just press any view key again (ctrl-numpad "number").

And after I am done editing cameras, can I use the Switch View button in the bottom console to cycle between all the different cameras just like I do with the 2 cameras that came with my ship?

Yes, pressing the 4 (upper row) key cycles through all defined cameras for that ship. (Don't forget to save the changes if you want to keep them.)

Oh okay, I use the Numpad keys, but I use them to change the direction the ship is traveling in.  (Using the two axes in the display.)
So Control-Numpad doesn't change the direction the ship is moving, but gives the appearance of the pilot changing the direction he or she is looking in?
How does one rotate the camera, do I have to use the mouse for that?  I got the "3" and "4" to work fine in 0.990, "3" took away the HUD and "4" brought it back.  Now all I need to do is to use the directional keys to move the camera.  I don't get any higher than about 20 km above sea level, or about 15 km above ground level, so this shouldn't be too hard?  By the way, does this work in warp mode too, to see beyond the field of view?
My ship is in warp now as I'm going to a different galaxy, strange thing is I don't see a warp field around me.

See, no warp field

with the HUD intact

Nevermind I didn't have the boost at max.  Is 11.637 boost enough to get anywhere in the SE Universe within a reasonable amount of time (12 hours at most?)  I'm a little disappointed, I thought there would be a warp bubble around the ship.

Nevermind I didn't have the boost at max.  Is 11.637 boost enough to get anywhere in the SE Universe within a reasonable amount of time (12 hours at most?)  I'm a little disappointed, I thought there would be a warp bubble around the ship.

scr05111.jpg

Just zoom out and you'll see the bubble.
With current physical velocity of your ship, you will be able to travel just under 1 million light years in 12 hours. Increase it to go further during the same amount of time (that is the whole goal of the black hole slingshot!!!, but here you can just accelerate using the engines).