Differential spacecraft tracking by interferometryThis study estimates measurement system errors for two space vehicles on the surface of Mars, and for two Mars orbiting spacecraft, which are being tracked by differential interferometry. In these examples, signals from all spacecraft lie within the same beamwidth of an earth-based radio antenna. The measurements of all spacecraft signals are made simultaneously; errors that scale with angular source separation or with temporal separation between measurement epochs are practically removed. It is shown that errors due to system thermal noise and to systematic effects within ground receiver electronics dominate, except for geometries when signals pass close to the sun, when solar plasma becomes the dominant error source. The instantaneous relative position of two orbiters may be measured to within ten meters, leading to 50-meter three-dimensional orbital accuracy.
Document ID
19910027694
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Border, James S. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Folkner, William M. (JPL Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 14, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1990
Subject Category
Space Communications, Spacecraft Communications, Command And Tracking