Related papers: Autonomous Orbit Determination Using Epoch-Differe…
This paper explores the problem of analytically approximating the orbital state for a subset of orbits in a rotating potential with oblateness and ellipticity perturbations. This is done by isolating approximate differential equations for…
DESTINY+ is an upcoming JAXA Epsilon medium-class mission to flyby multiple asteroids including Phaethon. As an asteroid flyby observation instrument, a telescope mechanically capable of single-axis rotation, named TCAP, is mounted on the…
We reexamine non-Einsteinian effects observable in the orbital motion of low-orbit artificial Earth satellites. The motivations for doing so are twofold: (i) recent theoretical studies suggest that the correct theory of gravity might…
Future NASA X-ray Observatories will shed light on a variety of high-energy astrophysical phenomena. Off-plane reflection gratings can be used to provide high throughput and spectral resolution in the 0.3--1.5 keV band, allowing for…
A new era of space exploration and exploitation is fast approaching. A multitude of spacecraft will flow in the future decades under the propulsive momentum of the new space economy. Yet, the flourishing proliferation of deep-space assets…
Geometric optics approximation is sufficient to describe the effects in the near-Earth environment. In this framework Faraday rotation is purely a reference frame (gauge) effect. However, it cannot be simply dismissed. Establishing local…
We propose two algorithms to provide a full preliminary orbit of an Earth-orbiting object with a number of observations lower than the classical methods, such as those by Laplace and Gauss. The first one is the Virtual debris algorithm,…
Small body exploration is a pertinent challenge due to low gravity environments and strong sensitivity to perturbations like Solar Radiation Pressure (SRP). Thus, autonomous methods are being developed to enable safe navigation and control…
We have carried out a numerical investigation of the coupled gravitational and non-gravitational perturbations acting on Earth satellite orbits in an extensive grid, covering the whole circumterrestrial space, using an appropriately…
The obliquity of a terrestrial planet is an important clue about its formation and critical to its climate. Previous studies using simulated photometry of Earth show that continuous observations over most of a planet's orbit can be inverted…
A differential algebra based importance sampling method for uncertainty propagation and impact probability computation on the first resonant returns of Near Earth Objects is presented in this paper. Starting from the results of an orbit…
The recent growing interest in small solar system bodies such as asteroids and comets for scientific inspection, exploitation of resources, and planetary defense reasons is pushing the development of innovative engineering solutions to…
Linking a coronagraph instrument to a spectrograph via a single mode optical fiber is a pathway towards detailed characterization of exoplanet atmospheres with current and future ground- and space-based telescopes. However, given the…
Twenty years of gravity observations from various satellite missions have provided unique data about mass redistribution processes in the Earth system. This paper studies the benefit of enhanced electrostatic and novel optical…
Effective space traffic management requires positive identification of artificial satellites. Current methods for extracting object identification from observed data require spatially resolved imagery which limits identification to objects…
As gravity is a long-range force, one might a priori expect the Universe's global matter distribution to select a preferred rest frame for local gravitational physics. At the post-Newtonian approximation, two parameters suffice to describe…
We report on a new test of the gravitational redshift and thus of local position invariance, an integral part of the Einstein equivalence principle, which is the foundation of general relativity and all metric theories of gravitation. We…
Astrocombs are ideal spectrograph calibrators whose limiting precision can be derived using a second, independent, astrocomb system. We therefore analyse data from two astrocombs (one 18 GHz and one 25 GHz) used simultaneously on the HARPS…
This paper presents a robust roll angle estimation algorithm, which is developed from our previously published work, where the roll angle was estimated from a dense disparity map by minimizing a global energy using golden section search…
This paper presents the development and evaluation of an optimization-based autonomous trajectory planning algorithm for the asteroid reconnaissance phase of a deep-space exploration mission. The reconnaissance phase is a low-altitude flyby…