Related papers: Sun-Earth Lagrange reference for fundamental physi…
The exploration of interstellar space will require autonomous navigation systems that do not rely on tracking from the Earth. Here I develop a method to determine the 3D position and 3D velocity of a spacecraft in deep space using a star…
Trojan asteroids are minor planets that share the orbit of a planet about the Sun and librate around the L4 or L5 Lagrangian points of stability. They are important solar-system fossils because they carry information on early Solar System…
Satellite tracking involves sending electromagnetic signals to Earth. Both the orbit of the spacecraft and the electromagnetic signals themselves are affected by the curvature of spacetime. The arrival time of the pulses is compared to the…
Current and future optical technologies will aid exploration of the Moon and Mars while advancing fundamental physics research in the solar system. Technologies and possible improvements in the laser-enabled tests of various physical…
We investigate the utility of a constellation of four satellites in heliocentric orbit, equipped with accurate means to measure intersatellite ranges, round-trip times and phases of signals coherently retransmitted between members of the…
Trojan asteroids are minor planets that share the orbit of a planet about the Sun and librate around the L4 or L5 Lagrangian points of stability. They are important because they carry information on early Solar System formation, when…
The accuracy reached in the past few years by Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) allows for measuring even tiny features of the Earth's gravitational field predicted by Einstein's General Relativity by means of artificial satellites. The…
The microhertz frequency band of gravitational waves probes the merger of supermassive black holes as well as many other gravitational wave phenomena. However, space-interferometry methods that use test masses would require further…
Existing capabilities in laser ranging, optical interferometry and metrology, in combination with precision frequency standards, atom-based quantum sensors, and drag-free technologies, are critical for the space-based tests of fundamental…
In this article, we describe a very simple technique to locate naked-eye planets in the sky, to an accuracy of $\sim 1^{\circ}$. The procedure, comprising just three steps, involves very simple manual calculations for planetary orbits…
This study investigates the potential of the Sagnac Effect for detecting dark matter in the Solar System, particularly within the Sun. Originating from the relative delay and interference of light beams traveling in opposite directions on…
The concept of Space Manifold Dynamics is a new method of space research. We have applied it along with the basic idea of the method of Ott, Grebogi and York (OGY method) to stabilize the motion of a spacecraft around the triangular…
Extrasolar systems with planets on eccentric orbits close to or in mean-motion resonances are common. The classical low-order resonant Hamiltonian expansion is unfit to describe the long-term evolution of these systems. We extend the…
A simple procedure is developed to determine orbital elements of an object orbiting in a central force field which contribute more than three independent celestial positions. By manipulation of formal three point Gauss method of orbit…
To date, studies of $\textit{Laplace Surface}$ dynamics have concerned themselves with test particle orbits of fixed shape and orientation in the combined field of an oblate central body (to which the particle is bound) and a distant,…
Laboratory experiments provide a valuable complement to explore the fundamental physics of space plasmas without the limitations inherent to spacecraft measurements. Specifically, experiments overcome the restriction that spacecraft…
Usually, positions of spacecraft on interplanetary or deep space missions are determined by radar tracking from ground stations, a method by which uncertainty increases with distance from Earth. As an alternative, a spacecraft equipped with…
The concept of the Solar Ring mission was gradually formed from L5/L4 mission concept, and the proposal of its pre-phase study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China in November 2018 and then by the Strategic…
For centuries, astronomers have discussed the possibility of inhabited worlds - from Herschel's 18th-century observations suggesting Mars may host life, to the systematic search for technosignatures that began in the 1960s using radio…
In order to avoid collisions with space debris, the near Earth orbit must be continuously scanned by either ground- or spaced-based facilities. For the low Earth orbit, radar telescopes are the workhorse for this task, especially due to…