Postflight Performance of GPS/INS Navigation for a Hypersonic Reentry Body,
Abstract
This paper discusses the postflight evaluation of navigation performance in a hypersonic reentry body using GPS and inertial instrumentation. The evaluation was performed by The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) using independent GPS and INS data recorded from a Navy reentry body on a recent flight test. The reentry body was configured with a dual frequency wideband GPS translator developed by JHU/APL, along with a complementary ground station used for receiving and recording the translator data. The GPS data are used postflight to update the INS trajectory, as well as to evaluate the INS performance. The results provide a prediction of real-time performance which could be expected from an integrated GPS/INS navigator in a highly dynamic environment. Error budgets are shown in the impact domain for multiple scenarios, including (1) INS only, (2) INS with early reentry phase GPS, and (3) INS with early and post-plasma reentry GPS. Any use of GPS data during reentry phase significantly improves the trajectory and impact performance of the INS. Post-plasma GPS, although a challenge to acquire and track, provides a dramatic improvement in predicting impact position and time-of-impact.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 18, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADB217369
Entities
People
- James J. Kinnally
- Steven J. Mochtak
- Thomas M. Hattox
- William J. Farrell
Organizations
- Johns Hopkins University