Capability of spacecraft navigator to make in-flight navigation measurements from onboard spacecraft using hand-held sextant was studied at NASA Ames Research Center; tests were conducted in Ames Midcourse Navigation and Guidance Simulator and in Convair 990 research aircraft and onboard orbiting Gemini XII spacecraft; results show that hand-held sextant measurement performance is excellent, providing standard deviation of measurement error less than plus or minus 10 arcsec; spacecraft rotational motion and actual spacecraft operational environment had little effect on sextant performance and is critically dependent on adequate crew training.
Hand-held sextant -- Results from Gemini XII and flight simulator experiments
J Spacecraft Rockets
Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets ; 5 , n 6
1968
8 pages
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Englisch
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