Results of a demonstration of same-beam interferometry, the simultaneous tracking of two spacecraft in orbit about a distant planet by widely separated earth-based radio antennas, are presented with regard to the Magellan and Pioneer 12 orbiters at Venus. Signals from both spacecraft fall within the same beamwidth of the tracking antennas. The plane-of-sky position difference between spacecraft is precisely determined by double-differenced phase measurements. This data type complements line-of-sight Doppler and improves orbital accuracy by up to an order of magnitude. The predicted error is dominated by solar plasma fluctuations, and is 15.1 psec for a 5-min integration. The rms of the residuals is less than this by about 25 percent. The shape of the spectrum computed from residuals is consistent with that derived from a model of solar plasma fluctuations. Same-beam interferometry is expected to enhance tracking accuracy and efficiency for proposed multiple missions to Mars.


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    Title :

    Precise tracking of the Magellan and Pioneer Venus orbiters by same-beam interferometry


    Contributors:


    Publication date :

    1991-01-01


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English




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