Da thing ...

The thing about realism in an addon is that it's guaranteed to give you some major headaches, unless you have a degree in all the single fields that are involved in Space Vehicle Design. Obviously this isn't my case so I drafted the help of a couple of book on the subject, such as Michael Griffin's one (the second been Elements of Spacecraft Design). Now, these books are not a miraculous solution to building a realistic simulation as they both assume the readers are actually studying the subjects in University, thus have the required background in mathematic and physic ... Needless to said both subject weren't my cup of tea back in the days, so overcoming my limitations is part of the fun of the whole Orbiter experience. For example, lately I have been refreshing my long forgotten (and not fully acquired 9_9) knowledge on heat and heat transfer mechanisms, so that I could design (from an addon point of view) the thermal control system of [CENSURED]. I have to admit that I felt rather dumb, having gone so many year without fully understanding how basic things like heater and fridge really work. I like to think that, caught in everyday life, I never had the time to indulge the curiosity to dig further ... Whatever the (real) reason, it's never to late, isn't it?