Massachusetts Institute of Technology • Program in Science, Technology and Society

Science, Technology and Global Security Working Group

Home

Research

Downloads

Courses

Community Building

Staff

Seminar Series

Publications

Contact Us

Directions

STS Homepage

MIT Homepage

DOWNLOADS

NEW 2.1 version now available!

GUI_Missile_Flyout: A General Program for Simulating Ballistic Missiles

GUI_Missile_Flyout is a stand-alone program running under Windows for simulating ballistic missiles with 1, 2, or 3 stages in a framework with a round, rotating Earth.  Users can easily input all the necessary parameters in an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI).  A modest number of quantities can be interactively plotted on the Interface but the complete trajectory can be saved as either an Excel or Matlab file for further analysis.  The trajectory can also be directly displayed in Google Earth for visualization.  The GUI can be used to optimize gravity turn parameters to maximize range or aim at a specific target (entered, as is the launch site) through latitude-longitude pairs.  In addition to an introduction to using the program, this paper describes the integration of the three-degrees-of-freedom equations of motion and approximations made to the aerodynamic (such as a parameterized drag coefficient, Cd). 

Download 2.1 version here.(~173M)

Download this file for the ability to make polar plots here.(~.4M)

Download this file for a collection of pre-processed launch sites from around the world that can be read by the program. (~31KB zipfile)

Please “register” by sending your name, email address, and institution (if applicable) to dmancini@mit.edu.  This will help us continue to provide information and services to the arms control and national security community.

If you use this program for a publication, please reference: Forden, Geoffrey. A GUI-Based Missile Simulation Program. Science and Global Security, Vol. 15, No. 2 (2007), 133-146.

A Quick Guide to Using GUI_Missile_Flyout:

To install:

Download the file GUI_missile_flyout_pkg.exe to a windows based computer and run this self extracting file.  Please keep the GUI_MISSILE_FLYOUT_20.ctf file in the same path (usually, same directory is easiest) as the executable image, GUI_MISSILE_FLYOUT_20.exe.  The instillation package, GUI_MISSILE_FLYOUT_20_pkg,  installs the necessary files on your system and can be deleted (together with MCRInstaller.exe, and _install.bat) after instillation.

Running the program:

Double click on GUI_MISSILE_FLYOUT_20.exe or use the “run program” from the start menu.  Two screens will appear: a DOS command prompt window (which can be ignored but not deleted without stopping the program) and a Graphical User Interface (GUI) shown below.  There are four missile models already programmed into the GUI that can be selected using the Missile Type pull-down menu.  These can be run as is, or modified to reflect the user’s preferred parameterizations.  New missiles can be entered into the program from the GUI by selecting “Create New Missile” from the “Missile” pull-down menu.  Missile models can also be saved to the disk for future use.

Send a message to dmancini@mit.edu to request the GUI_Missile_Flyout Help File.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology • Science, Technology and Global Security Working Group
Building E51-163 • 77 Massachusetts Avenue • Cambridge, MA 02139
Copyright © 2006
Last modified: 05 April 2006