Ground-based navigation of spacecraft missions currently involves intensive manpower and inherent downlink-uplink time delays. It would be beneficial to have autonomous navigation to determine the flight path in real-time, compute maneuvers, and control science instrument pointing during the orbiting phase of a mission. Laser altimetry is an accurate data type that requires neither the two-way communication of Doppler nor the human identification of landmarks that optical data currently requires. The NEAR mission has offered the first opportunity to compare navigation by laser altimetry to navigation using the standard data types. The test would be whether laser altimetry provides sufficient information to perform orbit determination within mission requirements.

    To assess the effectiveness of laser altimetry-based navigation, questions of what constitutes an effective estimation strategy, the accuracy of spacecraft position and velocity estimates, the required accuracy of shape and gravity models, the speed of recovery from maneuver errors, and the accuracy with which position may be mapped (predicted), are examined.


    Access

    Check access

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    A Test of Autonomous Navigation Using Near Laser Rangefinder Data


    Additional title:

    J of Astronaut Sci


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Publication date :

    2002-09-01


    Size :

    13 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English






    A Test of Autonomous Navigation Using Near Laser Rangefinder Data (AAS 01-137)

    Weeks, C. J. / AAS / AIAA | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2001


    A Test of Autonomous Navigation Using Near Laser Rangefinder Data (AAS 01-137)

    Weeks, C. J. / American Astronautical Society | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2001


    Laser rangefinder

    Engineering Index Backfile | 1963