Autonomous imaging of Phobos and Deimos for the PLANET-B Mission

Abstract

The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science is currently planning to launch the PLANET-B spacecraft toward Mars, carrying an optical imaging instrument Mars imaging camera, and close-up imaging of Martian satellites Phobos and Deimos is planned. This paper presents analysis of using the optical images as a source in an autonomous, real-time onboard navigation scenario. The results obtained here show that radio metric navigation using ephemerides of Martian satellites will not correctly orient the camera. This paper proposes a nonlinear observer as well as navigation schemes that provide orbital properties in real time such as ballistic parameters and the phase angle in the #-pIane (defined as the plane perpendicular to the relative velocity to the target.) Special attention is focused on how the camera angle is programmed in the case of spin-stabilized spacecraft like PLANET-B. Also provided is a new algebraically implemented tracking scheme that is independent of the /?-plane properties.