Stable Orbits about the Martian Moons

Abstract

Orbits about the Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos, were investigated using the Poincare' surface of section technique. Hamilton's canonical equations were derived to describe the dynamics of the modified restricted three-body problem (Mars, moon, artificial satellite). The surface of section technique involved the numerical integration of several test orbits with the same value for the Hamiltonian. Apoapsis and periapsis points of the orbits are plotted in the two-dimensional configuration space. Stable orbits were discovered when the points formed sets of closed curves; chaotic orbits were indicated by the scattering of the points. Keywords: Orbits; Phobos; Surface of section; Mars; Deimos; Theses.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1989
Accession Number
ADA216400

Entities

People

  • Scott W. Jansson

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Air Force
  • Altitude
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Astronautics
  • Celestial Mechanics
  • Classification
  • Computer Programs
  • Coordinate Systems
  • Dynamics
  • Equations
  • Equations Of Motion
  • Geometry
  • Low Altitude
  • Satellite Orbits
  • Spacecraft
  • Two Dimensional

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Control Systems Engineering.
  • Electromagnetic Wave Scattering and Antenna Radiation Engineering
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Orbital Debris