Space Exploration Stack Exchange
Space Exploration Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [navigation]

Topics that relate to orbit determination and flight path control. May also be used for navigation on the surface of celestial objects.

The JPL "basics of spaceflight" defines navigation as including these two topics. One is estimation of velocity and prediction of course, and the other is actuating rocket motor action to fire and impart corrective impulse to the spacecraft.

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How can spacecraft navigate without contact from Earth?

My understanding is that probes within the Solar system primarily rely on Earth-based tracking networks and ephemeris data to navigate. Once they get really close to their destinations, they can optionally also use visual tracking to position…
coleopterist
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Would tethering to a large mass be an efficient way to change velocity?

Changing velocity rapidly in space is a bit of a problem requiring either the expense of propellant, or aiming past a planet for a gravitational slingshot. If you could fire out a strong tether and anchor to a large mass such as an asteroid…
Rory Alsop
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What conventional reference frame is used for interplanetary telemetry and navigation?

Specifically a location in the celestial sphere that is fixed, most likely a star, which creates a set of still coordinates with respect to the Sun. There are many ways to do this, but I am interested in frames used for interplanetary missions,…
Stu
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How did early inertial navigation systems handle vibration?

In the early ICBM-era rockets, it seems that inertial navigation accuracy was critical. How did these systems filter out the noise in the data due to the vibration of the rocket? If a fairly slow digital computer was sampling acceleration and…
Brad
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Spacecraft Navigation

Reading fascinating things about New Horizon's journey in the Kuiper Belt, I asked myself the following question: how can one know the spacecraft's position and speed, and with which precision? Of course, one can certainly predict them using the…
Antoine Ducros
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How could you turn a satellite constellation into a SatNav system?

Apparently, the UK government wants to convert the OneWeb satellites into its own UK SatNav system, following Brexit which limits the UK's access to Galileo's Public Regulated Service [reports from the BBC and theRegister]. While, some reports are…
Dohn Joe
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Measurements processing order impact in Kalman filter

In sequential Kalman filters the measurements are processed as scalars one after the other. The sequence is somewhat: Compute innovation Compute Kalman gain (I consider for simplification a linear Kalman filter) State and covariance innovation The…
AUP
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How far would we have to get from the Solar system to be unable to recognize constellations?

So the question is simple. How many light years would we have to go from Earth until we would be unable to determine known constellations?
Vladislav Zalesak
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Azimuth and elevation from satellite point of view

I have read for calculating azimuth and elevation from the Earth we use north east up reference frame. What reference frame is used for satellite to measure azimuth and elevation on the Earth? And which axis is taken as boresight axis for satellite?
kartheek
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What's a good source of information on determining spacecraft positions via radio?

I'm willing to spend a decent amount on a textbook, but please tell me about cheap or free sources as well.
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