Orbiter is a free spaceflight simulator for the PC.

Imagine sitting in the commander’s seat of NASA’s shuttle Orbiter...

With your back to the Earth and your face to the heavens you prepare yourself for the final seconds before lift-off. Moments from now you will experience the effects of 3 g’s (3 times the force of gravity on earth) as the shuttle system lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center. For now your thoughts turn to final system checks and the voice of Mission Control. At T-00:03 seconds the first of three main engines ignites, at T-00:02 the shuttle’s Solid Rocket Boosters ignite and you are on your way. Five on-board computers process thousands of bits of data each second as you are hurtled into space. At T+02:12 you are traveling at Mach 4.5 and have reached an altitude of 28 miles. At T+06:30 minutes into the flight you are traveling at almost 15 times the speed of sound. Imagine...

ORBITER is the shuttle simulator based, on the actual commands and procedures used by NASA. It will test your knowledge about the shuttle and the mechanics of space flight.

Panels and graphic displays simulate, as closely as possible, the experience of launching, landing and performing the delicate missions required of the astronauts who pilot and crew the space shuttles for NASA. Your objective is to launch the shuttle, complete the mission of your choice and safely land the space craft at the specified base. Random mechanical failures and complications may occur as you attempt to meet your mission objectives.

The activities you perform and the number of hours expended during the mission will be kept in the Astronaut Log. You will have a limited amount of time to complete your flight objectives before your life support systems run low and you are forced to return to Earth.

You are about to experience one of the closest things to actually being in the commander’s seat of NASA’s shuttle. You are about to fly ORBITER...