Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “resonant orbit”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1973

Evolution of satellite resonances by tidal dissipation.

Analysis of a realistic model shows how satellites' gravitational interaction can halt their differential tidal evolution when resonant commensurabilities of their orbital periods are reached. The success of this study lends support to the hypothesis that orbit-orbit resonances among satellites in the solar system, including the Titan-Hyperion case, did evolve as a result of tidal energy dissipation. Consideration of the time scale for this evolution process, possible now that the capture mechanism has been revealed, can offer more sophisticated constraints on the tidal dissipation function, Q, and on past orbital conditions.

Greenberg, R.↗
NASA NTRS2019

HelioSwarm: Swarm Mission Design in High Altitude Orbit for Heliophysics

Resolving the complex three-dimensional turbulent structures that characterize the solar wind requires contemporaneous spatially and temporally distributed measurements. HelioSwarm is a mission concept that will deploy multiple, co-orbiting satellites to use the solar wind as a natural laboratory for understanding the fundamental, universal process of plasma turbulence. The HelioSwarm transfer trajectory and science orbit use a lunar gravity assist to deliver the ESPA-class nodes attached to a large data transfer hub to a P/2 lunar resonant orbit. Once deployed in the science orbit, the free-flying, propulsive nodes use simple Cartesian relative motion patterns to establish baseline separations both along and across the solar wind flow direction.

lunar resonant orbit↗
NASA NTRS2019

HelioSwarm: Swarm Mission Design in High Altitude Orbit for Heliophysics

Resolving the complex three-dimensional turbulent structures that characterize the solar wind requires contemporaneous spatially and temporally distributed measurements. HelioSwarm is a mission concept that will deploy multiple, co-orbiting satellites to use the solar wind as a natural laboratory for understanding the fundamental, universal process of plasma turbulence. The HelioSwarm transfer trajectory and science orbit use a lunar gravity assist to deliver the ESPA-class nodes attached to a large data transfer hub to a P/2 lunar resonant orbit. Once deployed in the science orbit, the free-flying, propulsive nodes use simple Cartesian relative motion patterns to establish baseline separations both along and across the solar wind flow direction.

lunar resonant orbit↗
NASA NTRS1972

Tesseral resonance on Imp 4 orbit.

The supersynchronous resonance occurred because the orbital period of 4 1/3 days was nearly commensurate with the earth's rotational period. The satellite was launched on May 24, 1967. The perturbation due to commensurability is discussed, giving attention to the ground track of the longitude at perigee passage and the effect of the tesseral harmonic on the time of perigee passage. The measurement of the time of perigee passage of Imp 4 is accurate enough to provide a stringent test of the third-degree tesseral terms in the model of the earth's gravitational field.

Lowrey, B. E.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Mercury's core - The effect of obliquity on the spin-orbit constraints

Constraints were previously placed on various properties of a Mercurian liquid core for compatibility with Mercury's escape from the stable spin-orbit resonance with the spin angular velocity equal to twice the orbital mean motion (the 2n resonance), under the assumption that the planet's obliquity was nearly zero at the time of resonance passage. Capture probabilities at arbitrary nonzero obliquities for the 2n resonance are determined for the cases where the core is strongly or weakly coupled to the mantle. It is found that the capture probabilities are reduced to below unity for all core-fluid viscosities in the weak-coupling limit, but are almost unchanged in the strong-coupling limit. The reduction in capture probability is attributed to reduction of the mantle's spin angular velocity by the core-mantle interaction, which would also reduce the obliquity to negligibly small values before the 2n resonance was even reached. It is concluded that the constraints on the core may still be maintained since Mercury most likely passed through the 2n resonance with nearly zero obliquity.

Peale, S. J.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Orbital evolution

The orbital evolution of a large satellite is governed primarily by tidal interactions between the satellite and the planet it orbits. Tides raised on a planet by a satellite transfer energy and angular momentum to the satellite orbit; this changes the semimajor axes of satellite orbits, increasing the size of those orbits where the satellite mean motion is smaller than the planetary angular velocity, and decreasing those where the opposite is true. Substantial changes caused by such tides for satellites of the terrestrial planets may explain the absence of satellites about Mercury and Venus. For Jovian and Saturnian satellites, such tides probably are only important in bringing about some of the observed orbital resonances. Tides raised on satellites generally cause decreasing orbital eccentricities, indicating why close satellites always have nearly circular orbits. Different processes of orbital evolution dominate for small bodies; their effects probably are critical in positioning material in the primordial dust cloud so that satellite coagulation may occur. A qualitative description is given of the orbital results of gas drag, radiation pressure, Poynting-Robertson drag and electromagnetic forces.

Burns, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1987

On the lack of commensurabilities in the mean motions of the satellites of Uranus and the resurfacing of Ariel

The lack of commensurabilites among the mean motion of the satellites of Uranus is investigated by determining the probabilities of capture into those orbital resonances which might be encountered as the satellite orbits expand differentially from tidal torques. An alternate to this is investigated to evaluate the conditions necessary to allow sufficient tidal heating of Ariel for the observed resurfacing.

Peale, S. J.↗
NASA NTRS1975

On the alleged collisional origin of the Kirkwood Gaps

This paper examines two proposed mechanisms whereby asteroidal collisions and close approaches may have given rise to the Kirkwood Gaps. The first hypothesis is that asteroids in near-resonant orbits have markedly increased collision probabilities and so are preferentially destroyed, or suffer decay in population density, within the resonance zones. A simple order-of-magnitude analysis shows that this hypothesis is untenable since it leads to conclusions which are either unrealistic or not in accord with present understanding of asteroidal physics. The second hypothesis is the Brouwer-Jefferys theory that collisions would smooth an asteroidal distribution function, as a function of Jacobi constant, thus forming resonance gaps. This hypothesis is examined by direct numerical integration of 50 asteroid orbits near the 2:1 resonance, with collisions simulated by random variables. No tendency to form a gap was observed.

Heppenheimer, T. A.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Could Ariel have been heated by tidal friction?

For significant dissipation in Ariel, the past existence of an orbital resonance to force and maintain a substantial eccentricity in the orbit is hypothesized. The absolute maximum dissipation rate would be reduced both by the time necessary to establish the resonance in the first place and by a consequently larger minimum Q. The actual heating rate was much less than this maximum so even the existence of a 2/1 resonance may not be sufficient to account for Ariel's smooth sufrace.

Peale, S. J.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Charged dust in Saturn's magnetosphere

The overall distribution of fine dust in the Saturnian magnetosphere, its behavior, the cosmogony of the Saturnian ring system, and observations of the magnetosphere and ring system are synthesized and explained using gravito-electrodynamics. Among the phenomena discussed are the formation of waves in the F-ring, the cause of eccentricities of certain isolated ringlets, and the origin and morphology of the broad diffuse E-ring. Magnetogravitational resonance of charged dust with nearby satellites, gyro-orbital resonances, and magnetogravitational capture of exogenic dust by the magnetosphere are used to explain individual observations. The effect of a ring current associated with the charged dust is evaluated. Finally, the cosmogonic implications of the magnetogravitational theory are discussed.

Mendis, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Episodic volcanism of tidally heated satellites with application to Io

Io is presently considered in light of a simple model for the coupled thermal and orbital evolution of a tidally heated satellite in an orbital resonance, demonstrating quantitatively how a feedback mechanism between the orbital and thermal energy of such a satellite may yield periodic surface heatflow and orbital eccentricity variations. The model predicts that the mean motion of Io may currently be increasing, as suggested by recent estimates of Io's mean motion on the basis of eclipse data. It is further inferred that the tidal stresses in the ice shell of Europa, whose eccentricity mimics that of Io, may recently have been sufficiently great to generate the fracturing observed.

Ojakangas, G. W.↗
NASA NTRS1977

A spin-orbit constraint on the viscosity of a Mercurian liquid core

The escape of Mercury from the stable spin-orbit resonance in which the spin angular velocity is twice the orbital mean motion (2n) requires that the kinematic viscosity of a molten core with a laminar boundary layer be comparable to that of water (0.01 sq cm/s) and the tidal Q be less than about 100. If the boundary layer is turbulent, escape from the resonance is only consistent with a liquid core of low viscosity if the critical Reynolds number for the onset of turbulence is above about 500, the moment difference (B - A)/C is below about 0.00001, and the tidal dissipation factor Q is less than about 40. These conclusions depend on the assumptions that Mercury's obliquity was near 0 deg at the time of resonance passage, that the liquid core was not stably stratified at the time at which Mercury passed through the resonance, that a turbulent boundary layer can be characterized by a turbulent or eddy viscosity coefficient, and that the most important coupling between core and mantle is a viscous coupling at a smooth spherical boundary.

Peale, S. J.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Contribution of tidal dissipation to lunar thermal history

Possible contributions of tidal heating to the thermal history of the moon are investigated, and conditions under which such heating would have been an important factor in the evolution of the moon are defined as precisely as possible within the bounds of the uncertainties. The tidal dissipation is defined as a function of position in the moon and of the earth-moon separation for a homogeneous incompressible moon. Results for the dissipation are given for eccentricities of zero and 0.055 as well as for the lunar obliquity as determined by the equilibrium Cassini states. Possible orbital resonances which interrupt the assumed simplified expansion of the lunar orbit are considered, along with radial variations in rigidity. The dissipation in a two-layer model moon with a molten inner core and an outer mantle with the moon's present rigidity is determined, and implications of the results for the role of tidal heating in the history of the moon are discussed.

Peale, S. J.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Navigation Architecture for a Space Mobile Network

The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) Augmentation Service for Satellites (TASS) is a proposed beacon service to provide a global, space based GPS augmentation service based on the NASA Global Differential GPS (GDGPS) System. The TASS signal will be tied to the GPS time system and usable as an additional ranging and Doppler radiometric source. Additionally, it will provide data vital to autonomous navigation in the near Earth regime, including space weather information, TDRS ephemerides, Earth Orientation Parameters (EOP), and forward commanding capability. TASS benefits include enhancing situational awareness, enabling increased autonomy, and providing near real-time command access for user platforms. As NASA Headquarters' Space Communication and Navigation Office (SCaN) begins to move away from a centralized network architecture and towards a Space Mobile Network (SMN) that allows for user initiated services, autonomous navigation will be a key part of such a system. This paper explores how a TASS beacon service enables the Space Mobile Networking paradigm, what a typical user platform would require, and provides an in-depth analysis of several navigation scenarios and operations concepts. This paper provides an overview of the TASS beacon and its role within the SMN and user community. Supporting navigation analysis is presented for two user mission scenarios: an Earth observing spacecraft in low earth orbit (LEO), and a highly elliptical spacecraft in a lunar resonance orbit. These diverse flight scenarios indicate the breadth of applicability of the TASS beacon for upcoming users within the current network architecture and in the SMN.

Data Relay↗
NASA NTRS1981

The tides of Io

A theory is developed for the origin and evaluation of the orbital resonances between the Galilean satellites Io, Europa and Ganymede as a result of the effects of dissipative tides in Jupiter and its satellites. Following a preliminary consideration of the consequences of tidal interaction for satellite orbits and a comprehensive Hamiltonian theory of the resonance interactions which allows terms up to third order in eccentricity to be included, a dynamic model of the origin and evolution of the resonance locks is presented in which the relative expansion of the orbits by tidal torques from Jupiter together with tidal dissipation in Io lead to the rapid driving out of Io until it is captured into a 2:1 resonance with Europa and the resonance with Ganymede is achieved. Consideration of the effects of other commensurabilities on the orbital evolution of the system reveals that second-order Laplace-like resonances would act to excite free eccentricites, while the resonances associated with the two-body 3:1 commensurability could not have been encountered. Analysis of the hypothesis that the Laplace relation is primordial shows that the bounds on the tidal dissipation of Jupiter still can not be relaxed. Recent determinations of the tidal dissipation in Jupiter are discussed, and it is noted that none is sufficiently small to be consistent with the high heat flux estimates for Io. Finally, the possibility of the observational determination of the tidal dissipation in Jupiter by the measurement of the secular acceleration of Io's main motion is considered.

Yoder, C. F.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Radar Studies in the Solar System

We aid in study of the solar system by means of ground-based radar. We have concentrated on: (1) developing the ephemerides needed to acquire radar data at Arecibo Observatory and (2) analyzing the resultant data to: test fundamental laws of gravitation; determine the size , shape, topography, and spin vectors of the targets; and study the surface properties of these objects, through their scattering law and polarization characteristics. We are engaged in radar observations of asteroids and comets, both as systematically planned targets and as "targets of opportunity." In the course of the program, we have prepared ephemerides for about 80 asteroids and three comets, and the radar observations have been made or attempted at the Arecibo Observatory, in most cases successfully, and in some cases on more than one apparition. The results of these observations have included echo spectra for the targets and, in some cases, delay - Doppler images and measurements of the total round-trip delay to the targets. Perhaps the most dramatic of these results are the images obtained for asteroids (4179) Toutatis and 1989PB (Castalia), which were revealed to be double-lobed objects by the radar images. Besides these direct results, the radar observations have furnished information on the sizes and shapes of the targets through analysis of the Doppler width of the echoes as a function of time, and on the surface properties (such as composition, bulk density, and roughness) through analysis of the reflectivity and of the polarization state of the echoes. We have also refined the orbits of the observed asteroids as a result of the Doppler (and in some cases delay) measurements from the radar observations. Although the orbits of main-belt asteroids accessible to ground-based radar are quite well known from the available optical data, some near-Earth objects have been seen by radar very soon after their optical discovery (for example, 199OMF, just eight days after discovery). In such cases. the radar results ensure that the object in question can be anticipated and identified at the next apparition. We have also participated in radar studies of the terrestrial planets. The results of these studies have included both planetary topography profiles from the analysis of round-trip delays to points along the target Doppler equator and determinations of the target spin state. The latter is of special interest in the case of Venus, which is very close to, but not on, a multi-body spin-orbit resonance such that Venus rotates 12 times for every 8 Earth orbits and 13 Venus orbits. As a result, Venus presents nearly the same face toward Earth at each inferior conjunction. Our latest results confirm that the spin state of Venus is slightly off the resonance. The delay measurements from planetary 2 ranging have also been used in combination with other types of range data in testing general relativity with increasing accuracy. We have also been engaged in radar studies of planetary satellites. Using our ephemerides, Arecibo made radar observations of the Galilean satellites of Jupiter and of Mars' satellite Phobos during the favorable opposition seasons (1988-1992 for Jupiter and 1990 for Mars). An attempt was also made to observe Deimos, but without detecting an echo. In 1997, an attempt was made to observe Saturn's satellite Titan, using the newly upgraded Arecibo radar system for transmitting and the Goldstone radar for receiving, but no echo was detected. The study of satellites by radar is in many ways similar to that of asteroids. The results from these observations have included characterization of the surface properties from the reflectivity and polarization ratio, as well as (in the case of the large satellites of Jupiter) the variation of reflectivity with incidence angle.

Shaprio, Irwin I.↗