A rendezvous navigation algorithm for orbit determination, based on visual measurements by space vehicle crew members

At present, various radio navigation systems are employed during the automated approach of a transport vehicle to a space station. Experience has shown that emergency situations can occur in which it is necessary to revert to manual override of the automatic approach.Such situations have indeed occurred during flight operations of the space station Mir. The crews of the transport vehicles and the Mir used manual steering more than 30 times for successful docking, and four times for approach to the station.Successful manual steering demands absolute understanding of the relative orbit parameters. The decisive task of the crew is to determine these relative parameters. This is possible using visual observations from either the transport vehicle or the station using simple and reliable instruments. This article explains the algorithm for determining the relative orbits from visual crew observations, based on similarities of relative orbit families.