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Williams, B. G.

Publications and source records attributed to Williams, B. G..

At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1995

Determination of Eros Physical Parameters for Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous Orbit Phase Navigation

Navigation of the orbit phase of the Near Earth steroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission will re,quire determination of certain physical parameters describing the size, shape, gravity field, attitude and inertial properties of Eros. Prior to launch, little was known about Eros except for its orbit which could be determined with high precision from ground based telescope observations. Radar bounce and light curve data provided a rough estimate of Eros shape and a fairly good estimate of the pole, prime meridian and spin rate. However, the determination of the NEAR spacecraft orbit requires a high precision model of Eros's physical parameters and the ground based data provides only marginal a priori information. Eros is the principal source of perturbations of the spacecraft's trajectory and the principal source of data for determining the orbit. The initial orbit determination strategy is therefore concerned with developing a precise model of Eros. The original plan for Eros orbital operations was to execute a series of rendezvous burns beginning on December 20,1998 and insert into a close Eros orbit in January 1999. As a result of an unplanned termination of the rendezvous burn on December 20, 1998, the NEAR spacecraft continued on its high velocity approach trajectory and passed within 3900 km of Eros on December 23, 1998. The planned rendezvous burn was delayed until January 3, 1999 which resulted in the spacecraft being placed on a trajectory that slowly returns to Eros with a subsequent delay of close Eros orbital operations until February 2001. The flyby of Eros provided a brief glimpse and allowed for a crude estimate of the pole, prime meridian and mass of Eros. More importantly for navigation, orbit determination software was executed in the landmark tracking mode to determine the spacecraft orbit and a preliminary shape and landmark data base has been obtained. The flyby also provided an opportunity to test orbit determination operational procedures that will be used in February of 2001. The initial attitude and spin rate of Eros, as well as estimates of reference landmark locations, are obtained from images of the asteroid. These initial estimates are used as a priori values for a more precise refinement of these parameters by the orbit determination software which combines optical measurements with Doppler tracking data to obtain solutions for the required parameters. As the spacecraft is maneuvered; closer to the asteroid, estimates of spacecraft state, asteroid attitude, solar pressure, landmark locations and Eros physical parameters including mass, moments of inertia and gravity harmonics are determined with increasing precision. The determination of the elements of the inertia tensor of the asteroid is critical to spacecraft orbit determination and prediction of the asteroid attitude. The moments of inertia about the principal axes are also of scientific interest since they provide some insight into the internal mass distribution. Determination of the principal axes moments of inertia will depend on observing free precession in the asteroid's attitude dynamics. Gravity harmonics are in themselves of interest to science. When compared with the asteroid shape, some insight may be obtained into Eros' internal structure. The location of the center of mass derived from the first degree harmonic coefficients give a direct indication of overall mass distribution. The second degree harmonic coefficients relate to the radial distribution of mass. Higher degree harmonics may be compared with surface features to gain additional insight into mass distribution. In this paper, estimates of Eros physical parameters obtained from the December 23,1998 flyby will be presented. This new knowledge will be applied to simplification of Eros orbital operations in February of 2001. The resulting revision to the orbit determination strategy will also be discussed.

Miller, J. K.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Calibration of TOPEX/POSEIDON at Platform Harvest

We present estimates for the mean bias of the TOPEX/POSEIDON NASA altimeter (ALT) and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales altimeter (SSALT) using in-situ data gathered at Platform Harvest during the first 36 cycles of the mission. Data for 21 overflights of the ALT and six overflights of the SSALT have been analyzed. The analysis includes an independent assessment of in-situ measurements of sea level, the radial component of the orbit, wet tropospheric path delay, and ionospheric path delay. (The sign convention used is such that, to correct the geophysical data record values for sea level, add the bias algebraically. Unless otherwise stated, the uncertainty in a given parameter is depicted by +/- sigma(sub x), where sigma(sub x) is the sample standard deviation of x about the mean.) Tide gauges at Harvest provide estimates of sea level with an uncertainty of +/- 1.5 cm. The uncertainty in the radial component of the orbit is estimated to be +/- 1.3 cm. In-situ measurements of tropopsheric path delay at Harvest compare to within +/- 1.3 cm of the TOPEX/POSEIDON microwave radiometer, and in-situ measurements of the ionospheric path delay compare to within -0.4 +/- 0.7 cm of the dual-frequency ALT and 1.1 +/- 0.6 cm of Doppler orbitography and radiopositioning integrated by satellite. We obtain mean bias estimates of -14.5 +/- 2.9 cm for the ALT and +0.9 +/- 3.1 cm for the SSALT (where the uncertainties are based on the standard deviation of the estimated mean (sigma(sub bar x/y), which is derived from sample statistics and estimates for errors that cannot be observed). These results are consistent with independent estimates for the relative bias between the two altimeters. A linear regression applied to the complete set of data shows that there is a discernable secular trend in the time series for the ALT bias estimates. A preliminary analysis of data obtained through cycle 48 suggests that the apparent secular drift may be the result of a poorly sampled annual signal.

Christensen, E. J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Navigation for Rendezvous and Orbit Missions to Small Solar-System Bodies

All previous spacecraft encounters with small solar-system bodies, such as asteroids and comets, have been flybys (e.g. Galileo's flybys of the asteroids Gaspra and Ida). Several future projects plan to build on the flyby experience and progress to the next level with rendezvous and orbit missions to small bodies. This presents several new issues and challenges for navigation which have never been considered before. This paper addresses these challenges by characterizing the different phases of a small body rendezvous and by describing the navigation requirements and goals of each phase. Prior to the encounter with the small body, improvements to its ephemeris and initial estimates of its physical parameters, e.g. size, shape, mass, rotation rate, rotation pole, and possibly outgassing, are made as accurately as ground-based measurements allow. This characterization can take place over years...

Helfrich, C. E.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Navigation for Low-Cost Missions to Small Solar-System Bodies

A variety of low-cost space missions planned by NASA for flight in the late 1990's and early 2000's will involve rendevous with, and orbits about, small solar-system bodies such as asteroids and comets.

low-cost missions solar system bodies asteroid exp↗
NASA NTRS1994

Calibration of TOPEX/Poseidon at Platform Harvest

We present preliminary estimates for the mean bias of the TOPEX/Poseidon NASA altimeter (ALT) and the CNES altimeter (SSALT) using in situ data gathered at platform Harvest during the first 36 cycles of the mission. Data for 21 overflights of the ALT and 3 overflights of the SSALT have been analyzed.

TOPEX/Poseidon↗
NASA NTRS1993

Venus gravity and topography: 60th degree and order model

We have combined the most recent Pioneer Venus Orbiter (PVO) and Magellan (MGN) data with the earlier 1978-1982 PVO data set to obtain a new 60th degree and order spherical harmonic gravity model and a 120th degree and order spherical harmonic topography model. Free-air gravity maps are shown over regions where the most marked improvement has been obtained (Ishtar-Terra, Alpha, Bell and Artemis). Gravity versus topography relationships are presented as correlations per degree and axes orientation.

Konopliv, A. S.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Modeling Non-Gravitational Forces Acting on Topex/Poseidon: The Early Days

Topex/Poseidon is a satellite mission that will use altimetry to make precise measurements of sea-level with unprecedented acuracy such that small-amplitude, basin wide sea-level with unprecedented accuracy such that small-amplitude, basin wide sea-level changes caused by large-scale ocean circulation can be detected.

Topex/Poseidon↗
NASA NTRS1993

Modeling non-gravitational forces acting on TOPEX/POSEIDON: The early days

TOPEX/POSEIDON is a satellite mission that will use altimetry to make precise measurements of sea-level. The principal goal is to measure sea-level with unprecedented accuracy such that small-amplitude, basin wide sea-level changes caused by large-scale ocean circulation can be detected. To reach this goal, the sensor system and orbit must measure sea-level with decimeter accuracy. This requires that the radial component of the orbit be known to the decimeter level. Orbital errors are dominated by mismodelled gravitational and non-gravitational forces. This paper presents our analysis of non-gravitational forces acting on the satellite during the early days of the mission. Studies were conducted by comparing direct estimates of these forces with observed perturbations in the mean orbital elements. The results show that the satellite is experiencing an unexpected along-track acceleration. Hypotheses range from out-gassing to thruster leaks and drag forces to radiative force. Currently, these issues have not been resolved; however, the evidence suggests that out-gassing was dominant during the first weeks of the mission and that thermal imbalances persist.

Christensen, E. J.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Short arc orbit determination for altimeter calibration and validation on TOPEX/POSEIDON

TOPEX/POSEIDON (T/P) is a joint mission of United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and French Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) design launched August 10, 1992. It carries two radar altimeters which alternately share a common antenna. There are two project designated verification sites, a NASA site off the coast at Pt. Conception, CA and a CNES site near Lampedusa Island in the Mediterranean Sea. Altimeter calibration and validation for T/P is performed over these highly instrumented sites by comparing the spacecraft's altimeter radar range to computed range based on in situ measurements which include the estimated orbit position. This paper presents selected results of orbit determination over each of these sites to support altimeter verification. A short arc orbit determination technique is used to estimate a locally accurate position determination of T/P from less than one revolution of satellite laser ranging (SLR) data. This technique is relatively insensitive to gravitational and non-gravitational force modeling errors and is demonstrated by covariance analysis and by comparison to orbits determined from longer arcs of data and other tracking data types, such as Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS) and Global Positioning System Demonstration Receiver (GPSDR) data.

Williams, B. G.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Exact hierarchical clustering in one dimension

The present adhesion model-based one-dimensional simulations of gravitational clustering have yielded bound-object catalogs applicable in tests of analytical approaches to cosmological structure formation. Attention is given to Press-Schechter (1974) type functions, as well as to their density peak-theory modifications and the two-point correlation function estimated from peak theory. The extent to which individual collapsed-object locations can be predicted by linear theory is significant only for objects of near-characteristic nonlinear mass.

Williams, B. G.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Navigation accuracies for GPS demonstration on Topex/Poseidon

When Topex/Poseidon, is launched in June 1992, the joint United States/French oceanographic satellite mission will carry a developmental Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver on board to support the planned GPS demonstration experiment. The navigation operations aspect of the demonstration will develop software and operational procedures for the GPS Data Processing Facility (GDPF) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This paper presents simulations and covariance analysis of operational scenarios in support of the GDPF. Multi-orbit filter techniques using GPS carrier phase and P-code pseudo-range are studied both to tune the filter parameters and to determine feasible arc lengths for use in operations. In addition, a baseline operational scenario is presented with performance results given in terms of end-to-end processing times and computational loading based on a prototype version of the operational software.

Williams, B. G.↗