Orbit Determination Error Analysis for an Interior Libration Point Orbit in the Sun-Earth+Moon Elliptic Restricted Three-Body Problem
Abstract
A spacecraft in a libration point orbit between the Earth and the Sun can be useful to study the interaction of the Sun's corona with the terrestrial environment and will be of great scientific value. However, the spacecraft in such an orbit will drift from the nominal (unstable) path, and the forces individually have some level of uncertainty. Both range and range-rate tracking also include some inaccuracy in the data obtained. The accumulated error in the spacecraft's position and velocity relative to the nominal path after a predetermined period of tracking can be measured. This error, or uncertainty, in the spacecraft state is measured through simulations commonly referred to as orbit determination error analysis. The specific error analysis method used here is covariance analysis; the covariance matrix, after a predetermined period of tracking along the nominal path, contains the state uncertainties (state vector element variances) along its diagonal.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1991
- Accession Number
- ADA241690
Entities
People
- Steven C. Gordon
Organizations
- United States Air Force Academy