INVESTIGATION OF PHYSICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE NAVIGATION OF SPACE VEHICLES AND EARTH SATELLITES

Abstract

DATA ON PHASES, SPECTRAL DISTRIBUTION, SIZE AND FIGURE OF THE MOON, AND THE INTENSITY OF Lyman alpha reflected from the moon are presented. Preliminary design and peration of an automatic sextant for use in interplanetary vehicles is discussed. The sextant is capable of MEASURING ANGLES, USUALLY NOT EXCEEDING 5 DEGREES, ITH A PRECIPATION OF 0.2 SECONDS. Various aspects of satellite navigation by terrestrial occultations of stars are discussed. A condition for occultation in terms of stellar coordinates and the orbital elements of the satellite is derived. Also an occultation equation relating the time of occultation to the orbital elements is derived. The expected frequency of occultations is discussed. A method of virtual occultation using extinction of starlight in the atmosphere is discussed. An error of approximately 1/2 km in the satellite position measurement is anticipated due to unpredictable variations of atmospheric density. Finally the interference due to the brightness of earth's atm sphere is discussed.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1962
Accession Number
AD0291848

Entities

People

  • Ali M. Naqvi

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Air Force
  • Air Force Facilities
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Intensity
  • Light Sources
  • Navigation
  • Orbital Elements
  • Orbits
  • Planets
  • Plastic Explosives
  • Solar System
  • Space Navigation
  • Spacecraft
  • Stars
  • United States
  • Vehicles

Readers

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics.
  • Mathematical Modeling and Probability Theory.
  • Spectroscopy.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Orbital Debris