ai = normalized radius of body’s circularized orbit for i M;S, where M moon and S sun C = cost function Cd = discrete cost function D1 D2 = operator that denotes the derivative with respect to the first (second) argument dEO = distance of spacecraft from Earth, km dMO = distance of spacecraft from moon, km dp = altitude of elliptical orbit at perigee, km E = energy integral Ei = critical energy...

[1] The Space Technology 5 (ST-5) mission successfully placed three micro-satellites in a 300 4500 km dawn-dusk orbit on 22 March 2006. Each spacecraft carried a boommounted vector fluxgate magnetometer that returned highly sensitive and accurate measurements of the geomagnetic field. These data allow, for the first time, the separation of temporal and spatial variations in field-aligned curren...

The formation control of a long-distance, drag-free, low-thrust, low-Earth orbit satellite is outlined, in view of future Earth-gravity monitoring missions employing long baseline interferometry (> 10 km) and lasting at least six years. To this purpose, a formation consisting of two drag-free satellites, orbiting at a fixed distance in a sun-synchronous orbit, has been proposed. Formation fluct...

A new method of capturing an asteroid in an orbit around the Earth is proposed, inspired by the theory that the irregular satellites of Jupiter and Neptune may have at one time been members of a binary asteroid. After a close approach with the planet, the binary asteroid was disrupted, and one member was captured into a permanent orbit. A parametric study was conducted by simulating binary-Eart...

Parametric resonance driven oscillations of a dumbbell satellite in elliptical orbit in central gravitational field of force under the combined effects of perturbing forces Earth Magnetic field and Oblateness of the Earth has been studied. The system comprises of two satellite connected by a light, flexible and inextensible cable, moves like a dumbbell satellite in elliptical orbit, in central ...

The space environment is a complex, orbit dependent phenomenon. Regardless of orbit, the external surfaces of a spacecraft will be exposed to photons, charged particles and solid particles such as micrometeoroids. Vehicles in low earth orbit (LEO) must be designed to withstand additional environmental hazards such as hyper-velocity impacts by man-made orbital debris and erosion of external surf...

A nonlinear semi-analytic filtering method to sequentially estimate spacecraft states and their associated uncertainties is presented. We first discuss the state transition tensors that characterize the localized nonlinear behavior of the spacecraft trajectory and illustrate the importance of higher order effects on orbit uncertainty propagation. We then present the semi-analytic filtering meth...

Nonlinear semi-analytic filtering methods to sequentially estimate spacecraft states and their associated uncertainties are presented. We first discuss the state transition tensors that characterize the localized nonlinear behavior of the trajectory statistics and illustrate the importance of higher-order effects on orbit uncertainty propagation. We then present a semi-analytic filtering method...