Preliminary Orbit Determination Research Articles

Self-contained preliminary orbit determination from angular measurements

Self-contained preliminary orbit determination from angular measurements

Determination of the preliminary orbits of artificial lunar and planetary satellites

Preliminary orbit determination theories for artificial lunar and planetaiy satellites ate developed in this paper The theories are based on Doppler obseivations alone Both circular and elliptical preliminary orbits are treated The portions of classical specti oscopic binai y star theory that are applicable to the pioblem are pointed out The secular bulge peituibations, which accumulate during the observation interval, are taken into account in the development These terms heretofore have been neglected in pieliminary orbit determination theories for artificial planetary satellites It is important that they be included if the theory is to have practical application Particular attention is directed to lunar and Martian artificial satellite orbits, but the theories aie applicable to satellites of other planets as well A numerical verification of the theory for a lunar satellite reveals that the observations used in the orbit determination must be selected with considerable care Also, moie than the minimum number of observations and a least-squares solution foi the elements are necessary in order to obtain satisfactory results

Preliminary orbit determination from self- contained data

Preliminary orbit determination from self- contained data