The Evolution of the PROP6 Orbit Determination Program, and Related Topics.
Abstract
Numerous changes have been made to the orbit determination program PROP, since the PROP3 Users' Manual was published in 1968. A recent change has been made to the orbit generator, which, though its effect is numerically slight in most applications, needed to be documented. This Report gives such a documentation, and compares the PROP orbit generator, before and after the change, with the generators of other programs in use at RAE. A synopsis is given of all the other changes since PROP3, and of changes in the related FORTRAN programs PREP and ORES. Some basic information is given for another program in the same family, PRAP, for which a manual has never been issued. Some detail is given, for the first time, of the way in which the programs have been implemented on the RAE's 1907 computer. The Report also discusses - the effect on PROP runs of the use of satellite observations based on UTC as reference time; the effect of the earth's precession on a satellite's orbital elements; various aspects of the differential-correction process as used in PROP.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1974
- Accession Number
- ADA007883
Entities
People
- Robert H. Gooding
Organizations
- Royal Aircraft Establishment