Method and system for analyzing ballistic trajectories

Abstract

This paper describes ballistic trajectory analysis, and more particularly a method and system for comparing ballistic trajectories. A ballistic trajectory represents the motion of an object where the only substantive force acting on the object is the earth's gravity. An object is typically placed in such a trajectory through the use of one or more booster rockets that throw the object away from the earth and its atmosphere and into a desired trajectory intended to cause the object to reach a given destination. The booster rockets provide the initial force acting on the object, but once they burn out the object is only acted upon by gravity and it assumes its ballistic trajectory. Such a trajectory is elliptical in shape, occurring fully within a geometric plane that passes through the earth's center. If the ellipse is of sufficient size, the object will continue to orbit the earth in that trajectory indefinitely. If, as is the case with ballistic missiles, the orbit is not sufficiently large for the object to freely orbit the earth, it will collide with the earth at some point in the orbit, but it may do so at a great distance from where it is launched, and it can collide with the earth at enormous speed.