The Stardust spacecraft, launched February 7, 1999, successfully delivered its sample return capsule to the Utah Test and Training Range on January 15, 2006. The entry maneuver strategy included a trajectory correction at entry minus 10 days (TCM18) targeted to entry with the inclusion of a final biased fixed direction maneuver at entry minus 29 hours (TCM19). To meet the stringent entry targeting requirements necessary for human safety and capsule integrity, a campaign of maneuver calibrations were undertaken in summers of 2003 and 2005 to improve performance for both maneuvers. The results of the calibration program are reported here. The in-flight calibrations included a series of several turns to various final attitudes via deadband walks about each of the three spacecraft axes, as well as 12 in-place burns with magnitudes between 0.5 and 1.0 m/s, the range initially expected for TCM19. The turn and burn calibrations as well as the performance of TCM 17, 18 and 19 are discussed.
On-Orbit Maneuver Calibrations for the Stardust Spacecraft
AIAA/AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference and Exhibit ; 2006 ; Keystone, CO, United States
2006-08-21
Conference paper
No indication
English
On-Orbit Maneuver Calibrations for the Stardust Spacecraft AIAA Paper 2006-6409
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2006
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