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Shuttle on-orbit dynamics are outlined. Topics discussed include: on-orbit dynamic environment; on-orbit dynamic interaction; accelerated g-levels and sources; phase plane controller; maximum average RCS pulsing rate; maximum RCS accelerations; manual pulse mode; dynamic interaction; generic screening.
At the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), modeling capability requirements are often driven by the need to simulate upcoming mission scenarios for analysis, procedures development, and training. In preparation for free-flyer vehicle capture, maneuvers, and release, it was determined that the multibody dynamics capabilities provided by MBDyn and the orbital dynamics capabilities supplied by JEOD needed to be merged to properly simulate the dynamic behaviors expected on-orbit. After initial attempts to combine the two packages proved cumbersome, it was decided that a more refined solution was required to facilitate the interface between these two packages. The resulting interface software package was named MBJEOD. The primary design goals for this new package were to leave MBDyn and JEOD untouched, to simplify and clarify simulation initialization for users, and to support any topology or on-orbit operational scenario that future missions might require. This paper provides a detailed overview of MBJEOD and the approach taken to seamlessly integrate the multibody dynamics of MBDyn with the orbital dynamics of JEOD. Additional attention is given to the numerical considerations required for MBJEOD and the simplifying assumptions leveraged to provide for real-time simulation needs. Verification and validation are addressed and current MBJEOD applications at the NASA JSC are discussed.
At the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), modeling capability requirements are often driven by the need to simulate upcoming mission scenarios for analysis, procedures development, and training. In preparation for free-flyer vehicle capture, maneuvers, and release, it was determined that the multibody dynamics capabilities provided by MBDyn and the orbital dynamics capabilities supplied by JEOD needed to be merged to properly simulate the dynamic behaviors expected on-orbit. After initial attempts to combine the two packages proved cumbersome, it was decided that a more refined solution was required to facilitate the interface between these two packages. The resulting interface software package was named MBJEOD. The primary design goals for this new package were to leave MBDyn and JEOD untouched, to simplify and clarify simulation initialization for users, and to support any topology or on-orbit operational scenario that future missions might require. This paper provides a detailed overview of MBJEOD and the approach taken to seamlessly integrate the multibody dynamics of MBDyn with the orbital dynamics of JEOD. Additional attention is given to the numerical considerations required for MBJEOD and the simplifying assumptions leveraged to provide for real-time simulation needs. Verification and validation are addressed and current MBJEOD applications at the NASA JSC are discussed.
The GPAS data acquired by the TOPEX/POSEIDON (T/P) Demonstration Receiver (DR) have been used in a dynamic orbit determination, which was based on the description of the gravitational and nongravitational forces in the equations of motion. The GPS carrier phase data were processed in a double difference mode to remove clock errors, including the effects of Selective Availability. Simultaneous estimation of the T/P orbit and GPS orbits was performed using five 10-day cycles in the interval between December (1992) and April (1993). The resulting T/P orbits have been compared with the orbits determined from Satellite Laser Ranging, the French one-way Doppler tracking system, DORIS, and with the JPL reduced dynamic orbit determination strategies and force models with the GPS/DR to those used with SLR/DORIS, the radial component of the T/P orbit (based on JGM-2) was found to agree better than 30 mm (rms) and 35 mm with the JPL reduced dynamic orbit. An experiment gravity tuning was accomplished using four cycles of GPS/DR data. The resulting GPS./DR-orbits, determined by the dynamic technique with the experimental gravity field, are in better agreement with the JPL reduced dynamic orbits in both the radial component (21-25 mm) and altimeter crossover residuals than the JGM-2 orbits. (21-25 mm) and altimeter crossover residuals than the JGM-2 orbits.
I present a review of the orbital dynamics of the three body problem of PSR1257+12 and its two putative planetary companions. The orbital dynamics provides two 'reality checks' on the planetary interpretation of the pulse arrival time residuals observed by Wolszczan and Frail (1992). First, by examining the dynamical stability of the system for the deduced orbital periods, one can place upper limits on the companion masses of about two times the mass of Jupiter. Since the lower limits of the companion masses deduced from the observations are well below this upper limit, the planetary interpretation passes this first 'reality check'. Second, the 3:2 near-commensurability of the orbital periods effects periodic variations of the Keplerian orbital parameters. The amplitude of these variations provides a direct measure of the masses of the companions relative to the mass of the pulsar. The signature of these variations in pulse time-of-arrival data is not straightforward, but, if the planetary interpretation is correct, it should become detectable as an additional quasi-periodic phase residual over a period of a few years.
While spacecraft orbital variations due to the Earth's tilt and orbital eccentricity are well-known phenomena, the implications for the James Webb Space Telescope present unique features. We investigate the variability of the observatory trajectory characteristics, and present an explanation of some of these effects using invariant manifold theory and local approximation of the dynamics in terms of the restricted three-body problem.
Spin and orbital angular momenta are two intrinsic properties of an electron and are responsible for the physics of a solid. How the spin and orbital evolve with respect to each other on several hundred femtoseconds is largely unknown, but it is at the center of laser-induced ultrafast demagnetization. In this paper, we introduce a concept of the spin–orbital correlation diagram, where spin angular momentum is plotted against orbital angular momentum, much like the position-velocity phase diagram in classical mechanics. We use four sets of highly accurate time-resolved X-ray magnetic circular dichroism data to construct four correlation diagrams for iron and cobalt. To our surprise, a pattern emerges. The trace on the correlation diagram for iron is an arc, and at the end of demagnetization, it has a pronounced cusp. The correlation diagram for cobalt is different and appears more linear but with kinks. We carry out first-principles calculations with two different methods: time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) and time-dependent Liouville density functional theory. These two methods agree that the experimental findings for both Fe and Co are not due to experimental errors. It is the spin–orbit coupling that correlates the spin dynamics to the orbital dynamics. Microscopically, Fe and Co have different orbital occupations, which leads to distinctive correlation diagrams. We believe that this correlation diagram presents a useful tool to better understand spin and orbital dynamics on an ultrafast time scale. A brief discussion on the magnetic anisotropy energy is also provided.
The coupling of slosh dynamics within a partially filled rotating dewar of superfluid helium 11 with spacecraft orbital dynamics is investigated in response to the environmental disturbances of (a) lateral impulses, (b) gravity gradients and (c) g-jitter forces. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the coupling of helium 11 fluid slosh dynamics driven by three cases of environmental force with spacecraft dynamics can affect the bubble deformations and their associated fluid and spacecraft mass centre fluctuations. The numerical computation of slosh dynamics is based on a rotational frame, while the spacecraft dynamics is associated with a non-rotational frame. Results show that the major contribution of orbital dynamics is driven by coupling with slosh dynamics. Neglecting the effect of slosh dynamics acting on the spacecraft may lead to the wrong results for the development of orbital and attitude control techniques.
An overview of research on cometary orbital dynamics and astrometry is presented, with emphasis on the nongravitational acceleration model which provides accurate orbits and ephemerides, and on new asymmetric models that represent the cometary outgassing phenomena more closely. Using a combination of long-focus telescopes, CCD detectors, microdensitometer reductions, and modern star catalogs, cometary astrometric data that are accurate to the subarcsecond level can be generated.
Leonardo-BRDF is a NASA mission concept proposed to allow the investigation of radiative transfer and its effect on the Earth's climate and atmospheric phenomenon. Enabled by the recent developments in small-satellite and formation flying technology, the mission is envisioned to be composed of an array of spacecraft in carefully designed orbits. The different perspectives provided by a distributed array of spacecraft offer a unique advantage to study the Earth's albedo. This paper presents the orbit dynamics analysis performed in the context of the Leonardo-BRDF science requirements. First, the albedo integral is investigated and the effect of viewing geometry on science return is studied. The method used in this paper, based on Gauss quadrature, provides the optimal formation geometry to ensure that the value of the integral is accurately approximated. An orbit design approach is presented to achieve specific relative orbit geometries while simultaneously satisfying orbit dynamics constraints to reduce formation-keeping fuel expenditure. The relative geometry afforded by the design is discussed in terms of mission requirements. An optimal two-burn initialization scheme is presented with the required delta-V to distribute all spacecraft from a common parking orbit into their appropriate orbits in the formation. Finally, formation-keeping strategies are developed and the associated delta-V's are calculated to maintain the formation in the presence of perturbations.
The different roles played by orbital dynamics and dissipative cloud-cloud collisions in the formation of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) in a global spiral structure are investigated. The interstellar medium (ISM) is simulated by a system of particles, representing clouds, which orbit in a spiral-perturbed, galactic gravitational field. The overall magnitude and width of the global cloud density distribution in spiral arms is very similar in the collisional and collisionless simulations. The results suggest that the assumed number density and size distribution of clouds and the details of individual cloud-cloud collisions have relatively little effect on these features. Dissipative cloud-cloud collisions play an important steadying role for the cloud system's global spiral structure. Dissipative cloud-cloud collisions also damp the relative velocity dispersion of clouds in massive associations and thereby aid in the effective assembling of GMC-like complexes.
The reduced dynamic Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking technique has been applied for the first time as part of the GPS experiment on TOPEX/Poseidon. This technique employs local geometric position corrections to reduce orbit errors caused by the mismodeling of satellite forces. Results for a 29-day interval in early 1993 are evaluated through postfit residuals and formal errors, comparison with GPS and laser/DORIS dynamic solutions, comparisons on 6-hr overlaps of adjacent 30-hr data arcs, altimetry closure and crossover analysis. Reduced dynamic orbits yield slightly better crossover agreement than other techniques and appear to be accurate in altitude to about 3 cm RMS.
A comparative analysis of the on-orbit dynamic performance of four large anetanna concepts is presented. Among the antenna concepts evaluated are: the box truss; tetrahedral truss; warp-radial rib; and the hoop and column antenna designs. The characteristics and magnitudes of the antennas' dynamic response were evaluated in terms of structural displacements and member loads incurred during various slew-rate maneuvers. The results of the dynamic response analysis are compared to the design requirements of the Land Mobile Satellite System (LMSS) with respect to surface accuracy, decenter, defocus, and angular rocking. Comments are made on the effectiveness of structural damping and the application of active controls for vibrational response reduction. Schematic illustrations of the antenna design concepts are provided.
Orbit dynamics of the solar occultation technique for satellite measurements of the Earth's atmosphere are described. A one-year mission is simulated and the orbit and mission design implications are discussed in detail. Geographical coverage capabilities are examined parametrically for a range of orbit conditions. The hypothetical mission is used to produce a simulated one-year data base of solar occultation measurements; each occultation event is assumed to produce a single number, or 'measurement' and some statistical properties of the data set are examined. A simple model is fitted to the data to demonstrate a procedure for examining global distributions of atmospheric constitutents with the solar occultation technique.
The long term behavior of satellites is studied at a level of complexity suitable for the initial planning phases of earth monitoring missions. First-order perturbation theory is used to describe in detail the basic orbit dynamics of satellite motion around the earth and relative to the sun. Surface coverage capabilities of satellite orbits are examined. Several examples of simulated observation and monitoring missions are given to illustrate representative applications of the theory. The examples stress the need for devising ways of maximizing total mission output in order to make the best possible use of the resultant data base as input to those large-scale, long-term earth monitoring activities which can best justify the use of satellite systems.
The autonomous formation flying control algorithm developed by the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) for the New Millennium Program (NMP) Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) mission is investigated for applicability to libration point orbit formations. In the EO-1 formation-flying algorithm, control is accomplished via linearization about a reference transfer orbit with a state transition matrix (STM) computed from state inputs. The effect of libration point orbit dynamics on this algorithm architecture is explored via computation of STMs using the flight proven code, a monodromy matrix developed from a N-body model of a libration orbit, and a standard STM developed from the gravitational and coriolis effects as measured at the libration point. A comparison of formation flying Delta-Vs calculated from these methods is made to a standard linear quadratic regulator (LQR) method. The universal 3-D approach is optimal in the sense that it can be accommodated as an open-loop or closed-loop control using only state information.
The satellites of Uranus all have significant non-zero eccentricities and in the case of Miranda a significant inclination as well. The Voyager 2 encounter with Uranus in January 1986, provided more accurate estimates of the masses and sizes of the satellites. Orbital history and possible tidal heating were reexamined by using the Voyager data. The relevant orbital dynamics equations are described.
The dynamics of a weakly charged dust grain orbiting in the equatorial plane of a planet surrounded by a rigidly corotating magnetospehre is examined. It is shown that an introduction of an effectilve 1D potential causes a perturbation due to electrostatic forces, which induces a motion of the pericenter, similar to the effect of the planetary oblateness. A case is examined where the charge varies periodically due to the modulation of the photoelectron current occurring as the grain enters and leaves the planetary shadow, causing the electromagnetic perturbation to resonate with the orbital period and to modify the size and eccentricity of the orbit. This effect is demonstrated both numerically and analytically for small grains comprising the Jovian ring, showing that their resulting changes are periodic, and their amplitude is much larger than that of the periodic changes due to light-pressure perturbation or the secular changes due to resonant charge variations that develop over a comparable time span.