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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1972

On the determination of the long period tidal perturbations in the elements of artificial earth satellites

The magnitude of the tidal effects depends upon the elastic properties of the earth as described by Love numbers. The Love numbers appear as the coefficients in the expansion of the exterior tidal potential in terms of spherical harmonics (in Maxwellian form). A single averaging process was performed only along the parallels of latitude. This process preserves additional long period tidal effects (with periods of a few days or more). It also eliminates the short period effects with periods of one day or less.

Musen, P.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Atmospheric gravitational influence on geodetic satellite orbits - Starlette analysis

The atmosphere is constantly in motion. The changing gravitational force due to the air mass movement will slightly perturb the orbit of a satellite. As the instrument accuracy for geodetic satellites improves, failure to model this perturbation can result in significant systematic errors in the orbit determination. The latter, in turn, will degrade the Earth's gravity solutions. A direct modeling technique to analyze the atmospheric gravitational influence on geodetic satellite is developed. We use the global surface pressure data from the ECMWF Initial Analysis Database to compute the gravitational force due to atmospheric perturbation exerted on given satellite as a function of time during selected orbital arcs. Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) tracking data for selected Starlette (altitude 900 km) orbital arcs are used to test the computed force model. Although only a slight reduction in the rms residuals is observed when the atmospheric gravitational perturbation is included in the force model for data reduction of the SLR data, significant improvement is obtained in the predictability of the satellite orbit. Comprehensive studies involving more definitive test criteria and more refined models are still needed.

Chao, B. F.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Earth's external magnetic fields at low orbital altitudes

Under our Jun. 1987 proposal, Magnetic Signatures of Near-Earth Distributed Currents, we proposed to render operational a modeling procedure that had been previously developed to compute the magnetic effects of distributed currents flowing in the magnetosphere-ionosphere system. After adaptation of the software to our computing environment we would apply the model to low altitude satellite orbits and would utilize the MAGSAT data suite to guide the analysis. During the first year, basic computer codes to run model systems of Birkeland and ionospheric currents and several graphical output routines were made operational on a VAX 780 in our research facility. Software performance was evaluated using an input matchstick ionospheric current array, field aligned currents were calculated and magnetic perturbations along hypothetical satellite orbits were calculated. The basic operation of the model was verified. Software routines to analyze and display MAGSAT satellite data in terms of deviations with respect to the earth's internal field were also made operational during the first year effort. The complete set of MAGSAT data to be used for evaluation of the models was received at the end of the first year. A detailed annual report in May 1989 described these first year activities completely. That first annual report is included by reference in this final report. This document summarizes our additional activities during the second year of effort and describes the modeling software, its operation, and includes as an attachment the deliverable computer software specified under the contract.

Klumpar, D. M.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Station keeping of geostationary satellites by electric propulsion

As various types of perturbations tend to drive a geostationary satellite away from its prescribed position, occasional orbit corrections have to be carried out by means of a suitable propulsion system. In future geostationary missions, low thrust electric propulsion is likely to be applied for station keeping because of considerable mass savings. In this paper a station keeping strategy for electric propulsion systems is developed. Both the unconstrained case and the case where thrust operation constraints are present are considered and tested by computer simulation of a realistic example.

Eckstein, M. C.↗
NASA NTRS1960

A Modified Hansen's Theory as Applied to the Motion of Artificial Satellites

This report presents a theory of oblateness perturbations of the orbits of artificial satellites based on Hansen's theory, with modification for adaptation to fast machine computation. The theory permits the easy inclusion of any gravitational terms and is suitable for the deduction of geo-physical and geodetic data from orbit observations on artificial satellites. The computations can be carried out to any desired order compatible with the accuracy of the geodetic parameters.

Musen, Peter↗
NASA NTRS1976

The elimination of short and intermediate period terms from the problem of a high altitude earth satellite

The Delaunay-Similar elements of Scheifele (1976) are applied to the problem of an earth satellite that is perturbed by the sun, moon, and J2. All three effects are assumed to be the same order of magnitude. Since the external body terms depend explicitly on time, the time element appears as an additional angle variable. Also, the eccentric anomaly is used as a noncanonical auxiliary variable. A solution to the first Von Zeipel equation allows simultaneous elimination of short- and intermediate-period terms. The canonical transformation to mean elements is defined by a generating function that is a series involving Bessel coefficients.

Graf, O. F., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Numerical integration of the satellites of the outer planets

The formulation of a numerical integration program, used to construct ephemerides for satellites of the outer planets, is described. The equations of motion are derived, including (1) n massive integrated satellites, (2) m massive perturbing planets, (3) J2, J4 oblateness coefficients of the primary and each satellite, and (4) a barycentric coordinate system. Variational equations are also found: (1) 6n initial states and n masses of the integrated satellites, (2) J2, J4 of the primary planet, (3) the mass of the system, and (4) right ascension and declination of the pole. The formulation was used to construct the satellite ephemerides of Saturn for the Voyager mission.

Peters, C. F.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Satellite-to-satellite tracking experiment for global gravity field mapping

The satellite-to-satellite (STS) tracking concept for estimating gravitational parameters offers an attractive means to improve on regional and global gravity models in areas where data availability is limited. The extent to which the STS tracking measurements can be effectively utilized in global field models depends primarily on the satellite's altitude, number of satellites, and their orbit constellation. The estimation accuracy of the gravity field recovery also depends on the measurement accuracy of the sensors employed in the STS tracking concept. A comparison of the obtainable accuracies in the gravity field recovery using various STS tracking concepts was presented by Jekeli. The results of a feasibility study for a specific realization of the STS high-low tracking concept are summarized. In this realization, the high altitude satellites are the GPS satellites, and the low orbit satellite is the space shuttle. The GPS satellite constellation consists of 18 satellites in 6 orbital planes inclined at 55 deg. The shuttle orbit is at approximately 300 km, with an inclination of 30 deg. This specific configuration of high-low satellites for measuring perturbation in the gravity field is named the Air Foce STAGE (Shuttle GPS Tracking for Anomalous Gravitation Estimation) mission. The STAGE mission objective is to estimate the perturbations in gravity vector at the shuttle altitude to an accuracy of 1 mgal or better. Recent simulation studies have confirmed that the 1 mgal accuracy objective is near optimum for the STAGE mission.

Upadhyay, Triveni N.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Jacobi-Integral Method For Two-Body Problem

Jacobi-integral method enables efficient, accurate computation of trajectory of natural satellite or spacecraft perturbed by component of gravitational potential depending explicitly on both position and time. Instead of total energy, Jacobi integral, which is energylike constant of motion in this case, embedded in Newtonian differential equations of motion. Trajectories computed in fewer steps. With modifications, applicable to such terrestrial problems as motions of rotors and of beams of electrically charged particles in changing electrical and magnetic fields.

Bond, Victor R.↗
NASA NTRS2020

GRACE gravitational measurements of tsunamis after the 2004, 2010, and 2011 great earthquakes

The 2004 Sumatra, 2010 Maule, and 2011 Tohoku great earthquakes triggered tsunamis as large as a few decimeters over a few 100 km in the open ocean. The transient ocean mass redistribution propagating as tsunamis changed the Earth’s gravity field enough to perturb the GRACE satellites’ orbits at ~ 500 km above the surface. The on-board microwave ranging system detected inter-satellite acceleration anomalies of up to 1.0–4.0 nm/s2. There is good agreement between GRACE measurements and tsunami models for the three events. Complementarily to buoys, ocean bottom pressure sounders, and satellite altimeters, GRACE is sensitive to the long-wavelength spatial scale of tsunamis and provides an independent source of information for assessing alternate early earthquake and tsunami models. Our study demonstrates an innovative way of applying GRACE and GRACE Follow-On data to detect transient geophysical mass changes which cannot be observed by the conventional monthly Level-2 and mascon solutions.

Khosro Ghobadi-Far↗
NASA NTRS1981

The origin of the eccentricities of the rings of Uranus

The effect of gravitational perturbations from a nearby satellite on the eccentricity e of a narrow particulate ring is considered. The perturbations near a resonance in an eccentric ring may be divided into corotation and Lindblad terms. For small e, the corotation terms damp e, whereas the Lindblad terms excite e. In the absence of saturation the corotation terms win by a small margin, and e damps. However, if the perturbations open gaps at the strongest resonances, then the Lindblad terms win, and e grows. This result offers an explanation for the existence of both circular and eccentric rings around Uranus. It is also shown that eccentricity changes induced by circular rings on eccentric satellite orbits are similar to those induced by satellites with circular orbits on eccentric rings.

Goldreich, P.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Drag-free satellite control system technology

Some of the technology developed in building a drag-free satellite simulator for laboratory use is described. The design decisions made in order to achieve a 10 to the -11th power g perturbation level for the navigation satellite is discussed. The control system development that will make possible drag-free operation of spinning satellites to reduce perturbation levels by averaging is described.

Debra, D. B.↗