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• If you want to move this tab around, feel free to click and drag it around; place it wherever you like. If you press the downwards arrow along the top of the bar, you can change it from floating (it goes wherever you want), to docking (will snap along the screen), to integrated (will go wherever you want in your workspace).
• If you accidentally closed it, here's how you can find it! Along the very top toolbar, click "view". From there, find "5"; that will make your OB appear again.
• Double-click any item in this tree list to open its properties menu.

By default, you should have a 3D window where your central body is the Earth. 

If you want a new one, click "view" along the very top toolbar, then "New 3D Graphics Window". You can also duplicate an existing window via very similar means. 

By default, you should have this window open when you create a new scenario. 

If you want a new one, click "view" along the very top toolbar, then "New 2D Graphics Window". You can also duplicate an existing window via very similar means. 

• 9 times out of 10, an "odd" looking ground track pattern is just normal flat-map projection geometry. If you really want to know if it's normal, check the 3D window to see its true circular path. 

By default, it should be towards the bottom of your screen. However, the actual standard media controls (Play, Pause, Fast Forward, Reset) live in the 3D media toolbar just above your workspace with your graphics windows!

• If everything is frozen, that means you've probably hit the end of your global Scenario duration. Click that red reset button in the animation toolbar to rewind to the very beginning of your simulation period.

To get to it, click "Analysis" from the main toolbar along the top. Then, find "Analysis Workbench", and the first tab that you should be automatically on is the VGT tab. 

• If you need data that is NOT relative to the center of the Earth, use VGT and create a new coordinate system.

Do you remember what you named your scenario? That, in the OB, is what you'd double-click to get to its properties. It rests at the very top of the tree in the OB. 

• If you want to change the global mission timeline, you can open this object's properties and edit the analysis period's start and stop times.

From left to right, these are the buttons: reset (it's RED, jumps back to the beginning of the scenario period), step in reverse, reverse , pause, play, step forward, decrease time step, increase time step, "Normal" Animation Mode, Real Time Animation Mode, X Real Time Animation Mode. Let's go through some terminology:

• The timestep determines how much time is passing every time the animation updates. By default, this is 60 seconds, so the animation jumps ahead by 1 minute per frame. Thus, to step forward or backward is to jump back or ahead by your timestep.
• Normal Animation Mode runs as fast as your device can handle. Real Time Animation Mode locks itself onto your device's clock, only going as fast as "real-time". X Real Time Animation Mode is identical to the actual thing, except that you can multiply "real-time" by some constant to keep it moving smooth, just slightly faster or slower. 

It usually pops up in the bottom right corner of your screen. If something's gone wrong, it will tell you exactly what has gone wrong and where. 

• To clear the panel (if there's too many messages), right-click inside the panel and select "Clear All". 

To find it: Utilities (main toolbar, along the top of the screen) → Solar Panel Tool

You can input your panel surface area, efficiency percentages, and whether your solar wings are fixed or spinning.

• If you happen to have zero power generation, double check that you aren't paused in the middle of an eclipse in your timeline...

You can use this to toggle high-resolution satellite imagery, terrain elevation maps, cloud cover layers, and nighttime city light visualizations on and off. 

• If your 3D Earth looks ugly (pixelated, flat, etc.), consult the Globe Manager and make sure a) your terrain cache server is checked and active, and b) your local imagery files are checked and active. 

• If you're looking at the properties of an object with vision (e.g. a satellite), you can add lines of sight via the "Constraints" branch in the Object Properties tree. Specifically, you can add limits like minimum elevation angles. 

To get to it: Insert (main toolbar at the top) → New

• You have many ways to make a new object. Take a satellite for example. You could use the Orbit Wizard and define the orbit of the satellite using certain parameters, import the data of an active/retired real satellite, or load one from various file types.

To get to it: File (main toolbar at the top) → VDF Setup → Create VDF

The above is how you can make a standalone, shareable file. This is good if the person you're sending the file to is using the free viewer for STK. 

• If you're trying to share your scenario with your friend, and they can't see your data files, you've got two options. First, you use VDF setup to create a compressed .vdf file. Your other option is to convert the entire individual scenario folder that STK generated when you saved your scenario, into a zip file.