Short range visual rendezvous technique (fixed line-of-sight method) could be used by astronaut who has neither radar nor complex electronic equipment for navigation; rendezvous method is analyzed by determining relative motion of astronaut with respect to target, rate of closure, and total impulse expended per unit mass; fixed line-of-sight is compared with 2-impulse and rotating line-of-sight methods; for near earth orbits it is desirable to initiate fixed line-of-sight maneuver from directly behind rather than directly ahead of target.
Visual rendezvous along field line by nulling apparent drift of star background
Am Astronautical Soc -- Advances Astronautical Sciences
1963
17 pages
Article (Journal)
English
© Metadata Copyright Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.