OPERATION AND PERFORMANCE OF THE NRL SATELLITE POSITION DISPLAY,
Abstract
Nearing completion at NRL is an experimental Satellite Position Prediction and Display equipment (SPAD) for shipboard use. SPAD will store orbital elements and related information of 88 satellites in a digital computer, which then will predict and display positions and other information on up to eleven satellites. Position and height information is updated on the 19-in geographic display each 1.1 sec. The prediction time can be varied forwards or backwards to permit a rapid determination of where and when different configurations of satellite orbits, for instance, satellite grouping, will occur. An orbit with a granularity of four degrees in both latitude and longtitude can be computed in just five seconds. The operational program, prepared for the AN/UYK-1 digital computer, takes into account the variation of anomalistic periods of irregular satellites. Thus, positions of decaying satellites have been printed on the tabular readout with position errors of as much as 0.2 deg in latitude or longitude at nine days from epoch. A surveillance circle up to 504 naut mi in radius for one selected satellite can be painted on the expanded display. Course, speed, and position of own ship are displayed at all times. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 11, 1965
- Accession Number
- AD0622198
Entities
People
- H. G. Talmadge Jr.
- R. J. Orsino
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory