Orbit Determination Accuracies Using Satellite-to-Satellite Tracking

The results are reported of the ATS-6/GEOS-3 and the ATS-6 NIMBUS-6 satellite-to-satellite orbit determination experiments. NASA intends to use the tracking data relay satellite system for operational orbit determination of NASA satellites. Hence, in the near future, satellite-to-satellite tracking data will be routinely processed to obtain orbits. The satellite-to-satellite tracking system used in the ATS-6/NIMBUS-6 and ATS-6/GEOS-3 experiments performed with a resolution of 1 to 2 m in range and less than 1 mm/s in range rate for a 10-s averaging. A Bayesian least squares estimation technique utilizing independent ranging to the synchronous relay satellite was determined to be the most effective procedure for estimating orbits from satellite-to-satellite tracking data. The use of this technique yields estimates of user satellite orbits which are comparable in accuracy to what is usually obtained from ground based systems.     

一种采用双视场星敏感器的飞行器姿态角快速、高精度测量方法

针对姿态经常机动的飞行器之间建立激光通信问题,研究了一种针对这种飞行器的姿态角高精度、快速测量新方法.这种姿态角测量方法采用一种由宽、窄两种视场组成的双视场星敏感器,并以0轨道飞行器应用为例进行了姿态角测量仿真:其中的宽视场用于识别北极星,窄视场用于跟踪北极星;通过对北极星方向矢量测量值与其理论值进行比较精确求出了偏航、俯仰和滚动三个姿态角.分析表明,姿态角的角分辨率小于1″;测量过程不需要耗时的星图数据库搜索,一帧图像就可以完成一次快速测量.     

The San Andreas fault experiment

Two NASA laser satellite tracking systems on opposite sides of the San Andreas fault will be used in an experiment to measure the gross relative motion of the tectonic plates of North America and the Pacific during the next several years. Initial sites at San Diego on the Pacific Plate and Quincy, California, on the North American Plate, nearly 900 km apart, have already been selected and occupied, and other sites further south are proposed. Each site is occupied for two or three months per year and simultaneous precision laser distance measurements to the Beacon Explorer-C satellite from these sites will be used to determine the relative position of one site with respect to the other. Results of a simulation of this experiment in which a pair of sites are reoccupied annually for about eight years indicate an eventual accuracy of about 0.5 cm/yr in the average plate motion. The results of a preliminary three-month observing period in 1972 indicate a precision of about 15 cm in the chord distance between the San Diego and Quincy sites.