QUOTE (djellison @ Jul 9 2013, 08:13 PM)
In what context, specifically? What are you attempting to understand?
Well like when they plotted the path for voyager to swing around planets using gravity assist etc they would I think calculate gravity of the planets and elliptical orbital paths of spacecraft etc and had to plot that all out. Lots of simulators like celestia etc to must round off numbers sometimes to mimic accurately what paths historical craft have taken? I am not sure even if they round off that is why I am asking. I would think you would need super precise numbers to make sure everything was timeout perfectly for the route.
or maybe a part 2 to the question is how do solar system simulators get so accurate? If so how big of numbers do programmers need to create an accurate simulator? Can 3d software programs out their work as well as simulators?