On estimating the Venus spin vector

Abstract

The improvement in spin vector and probe position estimates one may reasonably expect from the processing of such data is indicated. This was done by duplicating the ensemble calculations associated with a weighed least squares with a priori estimation technique applied to range rate data that were assumed to be unbiased and uncorrelated. The weighting matrix was assumed to be the inverse of the covariance matrix of the noise on the data. Attention is focused primarily on the spin vector estimation.