Spacecraft Doppler tracking with possible violations of LLI and LPI:upper bounds from one-way measurements on MEX

We analyze the post-fit residuals of one-way Doppler tracking data from the Mars Express(MEX) spacecraft to test possible violations of local Lorentz invariance(LLI) and local position invariance(LPI).These one-way Doppler observations were carried out on 2011 August 7 for about 20 minutes at Sheshan Station of Shanghai Astronomical Observatory in China.These downlink signals were sent by MEX for telemetry at X-band.Because we are not able to decode the data in the form of telemetry and separate them from the carrier frequency,this makes the post-fit residuals of the Doppler data degrade to the level of 0.1 m s~(-1).Even so,the residuals can still impose upper bounds on LLI and LPI at 10~(-1),which is consistent with the prediction based on our analysis of the detectability.Although the upper bounds given by three-way Doppler tracking of MEX are better than those obtained in the present work,one-way Doppler measurements still provide a unique chance to test possible violations of LLI and LPI far from the ground stations.     

Spacecraft Doppler tracking with possible violations of LLI and LPI: preliminary bounds on LLI from Mars Express

Three-way spacecraft Doppler tracking is currently widely used and it plays an important role in the control and navigation of deep space missions. Using the theory of three-way Doppler tracking, including possible violations of the local Lorentz invariance(LLI) and the local position invariance(LPI), we analyze the post-fit residuals of three-way Doppler tracking data of Mars Express. These Doppler observations were carried out from August 7th to 8th in 2009, with an uplink station administered by the European Space Agency at New Norcia in Australia and three downlink stations at Shanghai, Kunming and Urumqi in China. We find that, although these observations impose preliminary bounds on LLI at the level of 10-2, they are not suitable for testing LPI because of the configuration of these stations and the accuracy of the observations.To our knowledge, this is one of the first attempts in China to apply radio science to the field of fundamental physics.     

双向定时近周日误差成分初步分析

该文介绍了利用地球同步卫星定位系统进行双向定时的基本原理,采用北京和乌鲁木齐两站的试验数据进行了计算分析,发现双向定时结果明显存在周期性变化,并且两地结果随地方时的变化趋势基本一致。谱分析表明:两站的主要周期谱基本一致,都比较明显地存在近周日和近半日变化。这种周期性变化可能主要由电离层延迟随地方时的变化引起。     

Insight-building models for lunar range and range rate

The analysis of range or Doppler data between sites on the Earth and Moon requires an accurate computation of the lunar orbit and detailed models of the orientation of the Earth and Moon. Models constructed to understand range and range rate can lack detail, but if they include the largest lunar orbit variations, tracking stations on a rotating Earth, and lunar sites on a synchronously rotating Moon, then they will display the largest effects for orbit elements, Earth orientation, tracking station locations, and lunar site coordinates. The range and range rate are expanded into periodic series. To understand accurate solutions, the largest periodic terms that are sensitive to various solution parameters indicate the sensitivity of data to solution parameters and the time spans needed for their determination. Conclusions include: cylindrical coordinates work well for sites on the rapidly rotating Earth, but Cartesian coordinates are more natural for the synchronously rotating Moon since the series for the three coordinate projections are distinct. For range and range rate data, daily, semimonthly, monthly, and longer periods are present. For Doppler data, the daily periods may be stronger and more useful than the long periods, particularly for terms associated with the terrestrial tracking station. Doppler data do not determine the lander coordinate toward the Earth well. Observational strategies for range and Doppler data are not identical. For all data types, one wishes a variety of hour angles, lunar declinations, times of month, and longer periods. A long span of high-quality range data can improve the lunar orbit, orientation of the Earth’s equator, and physical librations. The locations of new lunar sites or new tracking stations can be determined from shorter spans of data.     

A characteristic observable signature of preferred-frame effects in relativistic binary pulsars

In this paper, we develop a consistent, phenomenological methodology to measure preferred-frame effects (PFEs) in binary pulsars that exhibit a high rate of periastron advance. We show that in these systems the existence of a preferred frame for gravity leads to an observable characteristic 'signature' in the timing data, which uniquely identifies this effect. We expand the standard Damour–Deruelle timing formula to incorporate this 'signature' and show how this new PFE timing model can be used to either measure or constrain the parameters related to a violation of the local Lorentz invariance of gravity in the strong internal fields of neutron stars. In particular, we demonstrate that in the presence of PFEs we expect a set of the new timing parameters to have a unique relationship that can be measured and tested incontrovertibly. This new methodology is applied to the Double Pulsar, which turns out to be the ideal test system for this kind of experiment. The currently available data set allows us only to study the impact of PFEs on the orbital precession rate,     , providing limits that are, at the moment, clearly less stringent than existing limits on PFE strong-field parameters. However, simulations show that the constraints improve fast in the coming years, allowing us to study all new PFE timing parameters and to check for the unique relationship between them. Finally, we show how a combination of several suitable systems in a PFE antenna array , expected to be available, for instance, with the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), provides full sensitivity to possible violations of local Lorentz invariance in strong gravitational fields in all directions of the sky. This PFE antenna array may eventually allow us to determine the direction of a preferred frame should it exist.     

Electron content near the lunar surface using dual-frequency VLBI tracking data in a single lunar orbiter mission

In VLBI observations of Vstar, a subsatellite of the Japanese lunar mission SELENE, there were opportunities for lunar grazing occultation when Vstar was very close to the limb of the Moon. This kind of chance made it possible to probe the thin plasma layer above the Moon's surface as a meaningful by-product of VLBI,by using the radio occultation method with coherent radio waves from the S/X bands.The dual-frequency measurements were carried out at Earth-based VLBI stations. In the line-of-sight direction between the satellite and the ground-based tracking station where VLBI measurements were made, the effects of the terrestrial ionosphere, interplanetary plasma and the thin lunar ionosphere mixed together in the combined observables of dual-frequency Doppler shift and phase shift. To separate the variation of the ionospheric total electron content(TEC) near the surface of the Moon from the mixed signal, the influences of the terrestrial ionosphere and interplanetary plasma have been removed by using an extrapolation method based on a short-term trend. The lunar TEC is estimated from the dual-frequency observation for Vstar from UT 22:18to UT 22:20 on 2008 June 28 at several tracking stations. The TEC results obtained from VLBI sites are identical, however, they are not as remarkable as the result obtained at the Usuda deep space tracking station.     

Solar Coronal Plasma in Doppler Measurements

Doppler tracking of an interplanetary spacecraft near solar conjunction is strongly affected by the plasma in the solar corona, the main competitive contribution in measurements of the gravitational deflection of light rays. With the simultaneous availability of carriers in X band and K_a band for interplanetary communications, the plasma contribution to the corona can be accurately eliminated and measured. If, as in the Cassini mission, three different observables are available, this can be done in two ways: one deals with the total plasma content in the electric approximation, even in the ionosphere and interplanetary space; another is limited to the corona, but has access to subtler effects, like the magnetic correction to the refractive index. This technique will allow important progress in the radio investigation of the solar corona.     

Numerical simulations of a Mars geodesy network experiment: Effect of orbiter angular momentum desaturation on Mars' rotation estimation

The scientific objectives of a geodetic experiment based on a network of landers, such as NEIGE (NEtlander Ionosphere and Geodesy Experiment) are to improve the current knowledge of Mars' interior and atmosphere dynamics. Such a network science experiment allows monitoring the motions of the Martian rotation axis with a precision of a few centimeters (or milli-arc-seconds (mas)) over annual and sub-annual periods. Thereto, besides radio tracking of a Mars orbiter from the Earth, radio Doppler shifts between this orbiter and several landers at the planet's surface will be performed. From the analysis of these radio Doppler data, it is possible to reconstruct the orbiter motion and Mars' orientation in space. The errors on the orbit determination (position and velocity of the orbiter) have an impact on the geodetic parameters determination from the Doppler shifts and must be removed from the signal in order to achieve a high enough accuracy. In this paper, we perform numerical simulations of the two Doppler signals involved in such an experiment to estimate the impact of the spacecraft angular momentum desaturations on the determination of Mars' orientation variations. The attitude control of the orbiter needs such desaturation maneuvers regularly repeated. They produce velocity variations that must be taken into account when determining the orbit. For our simulations, we use a priori models of the Martian rotation and introduce the spacecraft velocity variations induced by each desaturation event. By a least-squares adjustment of the simulated Doppler signals, we then estimate the orbiter velocity variations and the parameters of the Mars' rotation model. We show that these velocity variations are ill resolved when the spacecraft is not tracked, therefore requiring a near-continuous tracking from the Earth to accurately determine the orbit. In such conditions we show that only 15- of lander-orbiter tracking per week allows recovering Mars' orientation parameters with a precision of a few mas over a period of 1 Martian year.     

Three-Dimensional Kinematics of Coronal Mass Ejections from STEREO/SECCHI-COR2 Observations in 2007 – 2008

We present a new method to perform the three dimensional characterization of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) using stereoscopic images obtained with the STEREO/SECCHI-COR2 coronagraphs. Two approaches are proposed, and each associated algorithm gives the trajectory of the CME and its kinematical properties (velocity and acceleration profiles) intended for space weather forecast. The first approach is based on forward modeling appropriate to the reconstruction of surfaces in an optically thin medium, and performs a local approximation of the observed CME by a hemispherical shell, thus tracking the leading edge of the event. The second approach is based on tracking the center of gravity of the radiance of the CME in the images. More than 16?000 blind tests have been performed to assess the performance of each algorithm. For that purpose, we used three distinct libraries of simulated images of CMEs that correspond to three CME models: hemispherical shell, flux rope, and cloud-like. The two methods are applied to a set of CMEs observed in 2007 and 2008 by the SECCHI-COR2 coronagraphs, and when possible, our results are compared to those already published. The determinations of the direction of propagation and of the velocity are generally found in good agreement.     

精密测距测速系统的研究与应用

精密测距测速系统（ＰＲＡＲＥ）是由德国发展的双频双程微波卫星跟踪系统,其空间部分搭载在欧洲航天局（ＥＳＡ）的第二颗资源遥感卫星ＥＲＳ－２上并正常运行至今,该系统具有全天候,全自动,台站便于流动,数据多等特点,其高精度的跟踪信息可用于ＥＲＳ－２的定轨以主某些大地测量与地球物理参数的确定,其双频特性可用于电离层方面的研究,另外,ＰＲＡＲＥ还可用于精确的时钟同步,详细介绍了ＰＲＡＲＥ的发展,构成,测量原     

The theoretical polarisation from the obliquely rotating envelopes of single stars

The polarimetric variability of stars possessing an obliquely rotating envelope is investigated in the optically thin, single electron scattering approximation. It is shown that in the point light source treatment, one is unable to distinguish between polarimetric variability occurring due to rotation about a body axis and (binary) orbital motion. Nor is it possible, from the polarimetric variability, to infer the physical geometry of the obliquely rotating envelope.It is shown that polarimetric discrimination between envelope geometries is possible (to some extent) when the light source is considered to be finite in extent, due to the possible occultation of some of the scatteres, resulting in polarimetric variability that cannot be explained by the canonical point light source models.In this paper, we consider, as illustrative examples of the effects of scatterer occultation, two diametrically opposite spots and an obliquely rotating, near planar, disc. Finally, an account is made of the spectroscopic variability of the two geometries considered, which again indicate that geometry discrimination is possible.     

Celestial-mechanical interpretation of the two-way radio measurements of radial velocity of spacecraft for scientific applications

The article describes a model of the two-way measurements of radial velocity based on the Doppler effect. The relations are presented for the instantaneous value of the increment range at the time of measurement and the radial velocity of the mid-dimensional interval. The compensation of methodological errors of interpretation of the two-way Doppler measurements is considered.     

Coronal velocity measurements with Ulysses: multi-link correlation studies during two superior conjunctions

A well-known method for studying the solar wind very close to the Sun (heliocentric distances: 4 to 40 solar radii) is by radio sounding between a spacecraft at superior conjunction and the Earth. The Ulysses Solar Corona Experiment was performed at the spacecraft's two solar conjunctions in summer 1991 and winter 1995, during which dual-frequency ranging and Doppler observations were conducted globally on a nearly continuous basis at the NASA Deep Space Network and other ground stations. The dual-frequency Doppler measurements were used to determine coronal plasma velocities by a cross-correlation analysis during those occasions when tracking data were recorded simultaneously at two well-separated ground stations. A filtering technique was developed to suppress noise and enhance the 2-station correlations, a procedure particularly effective at small solar offsets. From the electron content measurements during the two solar conjunctions it was found that regions of higher electron density tend to occur when the two-station correlations yield slower outward flow velocities.     

A possible experiment with two counter-orbiting drag-free satellites to obtain a new test of Einstein's general theory of relativity and improved measurements in geodesy

In 1918, J. Lense and H. Thirring calculated that a moon in orbit around a massive rotating planet would experience a nodal dragging effect due to general relativity. We describe an experiment to measure this effect by means of two counter-orbiting drag-free satellites in polar orbit about the earth. For a 2 1/2 year experiment, the measurement should approach an accuracy of 1%. An independent measurement of the geodetic precession of the orbit plane due to the motion about the sun may also be possible to about 10% accuracy. In addition to precision tracking data from existing ground stations, satellite-to-satellite Doppler data are taken at points of passing near the poles to yield an accurate measurement of the separation distance between the two satellites. New geophysical information on both earth harmonics and tidal effects is inherent in this polar ranging data.Work supported partially by NASA Grant No. NGR 05-020-019 through the Marshall Space Flight Center and by NASA Contract No. 5-21960 through the Goddard Space Flight Center.     

Doppler Tomography of X‐ray binaries

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on HST provides the first ultraviolet data that are of sufficient spectral and temporal resolution to generate Doppler tomograms of X‐ray binaries.We show both optical and ultraviolet maps constructed for the intermediate mass system Hercules X‐1/HZ Her and the massive wind‐fed system SMC X‐1/SK160. We have used the maps and corresponding lightcurves as diagnostics with which to test the validity of published models for Hercules X‐1. We find that although the models are mostly able to explain the light curves they are not consistent with the full phase maps. We present simulations of Doppler maps of X‐ray lines that will be possible with the spectral and temporal resolution and substantial effective area of the next major X‐ray mission, Con‐X. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Martian gravity field model and its time variations from MGS and Odyssey data

We present results of several years of research and data processing aimed at modelling the Mars gravity field and its longest wavelength time variations. The new solution includes tracking data from Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) from 1998 to 2006 (end of mission) and from Mars Odyssey from 2002 to the spring of 2008; this is the longest analyzed data set from these two orbiter missions as compared to previous works. The new model has been obtained by a team working in Europe, independently from the works of groups at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), also with totally independent software. Observations consist in two and three-way Doppler measurements (also one way for MGS), and range tracking data collected by the Deep Space Network and have been processed in 4 day arcs, taking into account all disturbing forces of gravitational and non-gravitational origins; for each arc the state vector, drag and solar pressure model multiplying factors, and angular momentum dump parameters are adjusted. The static field (MGGM08A) is represented in spherical harmonics up to degree and order 95 and is very close to previously published models (in terms of spectral components and also over specific features); correlations with the global Mars topography are established and apparent depths of compensation by degree are derived. Lumped zonal harmonics of degree two and three are solved for every 10 days, exhibiting variations in line with previous results (including authors’ ones); the work also shows the difficulty of finding clean signatures (annual and semi-annual) for the zonal coefficient of second degree. The k₂ Love number is also derived from the ensemble of data, as well as from subsets of them; values between 0.110 and 0.130 are found, which are consistent with the existence of a Martian fluid core of significant radius.     

北斗星地双向时频传递与广广播钟差精度分析

与其他卫星导航系统不同,北斗卫星导航系统采用星地双向时间比对技术,直接测量卫星钟相对于地面保持的系统时间的钟差,并用于广播电文钟差参数的建模。讨论了电离层延迟误差、卫星相位中心误差等不同误差源对不同类型卫星双向时间同步卫星钟差精度的影响。实测数据分析结果表明,星地双向卫星钟差内符合精度(RMS)优于0.15 ns。利用双向卫星钟差序列,对广播星历钟差参数预报精度进行了分析,统计结果显示广播电文钟差参数预报1 h,精度在2 ns以内,移动卫星刚入境时,钟差参数预报6 h误差可达10 ns。     

Differential Radial Velocity Spectrometer for extrasolar planetary studies

The large stellar/planetary flux ratio (>10⁶) and small angular separation (0.1 arcsec when observed from 10 parsecs) make it difficult to study Earthlike extrasolar planets. Hybrid coronographs with apodized masks and nulling by Earth based interferometric techniques could reduce the flux ratio by 3 orders of magnitude. Further reduction of starlight is possible with frequency filters. Due to large (upto 30 km/s) differences in radial velocities the specific spectral line for a particular molecule will be Doppler shifted by different amounts depending on from where, the star or the planet, the emission originates. The stellar spectrum itself could be used as a dynamic reference to determine the differential Doppler shift and define the frequency search space for the sought after planetary spectral line. The Differential Radial Velocity Spectrometer (DRVS) could use a heterodyne receiver with steep skirted filters and a laser local oscillator tracking the stellar spectrum. Several planetary spectral line windows should be searched and correlation/code gain techniques used to enhance detection capabilities.     

New analysis of Lunar Prospector radio tracking data brings the nearside gravity field of the Moon with an unprecedented resolution

A new analysis of the Doppler tracking data from the Lunar Prospector mission in 1999 revealed a number of previously-unseen gravity anomalies at spatial scales as small as 27 km over the nearside. The tracking data at low altitudes (50 km or below) were better analyzed to resolve the nearside features without dampening from a power law constraint, by partitioning the gravity parameters concentrated on either the nearside or farside. The resulting model presents gravity anomalies correlated with topography with a correlation coefficient of 0.7 or higher from degree 50 to 150, the widest bandwidth yet. The gravity-topography admittance of ∼70 mGal/km is found from numerous craters of which diameters are 60 km or less. In addition, the new model produces orbits that fit to independent radio tracking data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Kaguya (SELENE) better than previous gravity models. This high-resolution model can be of immediate use to geophysical analysis of small craters. Our technique could be applied to an upcoming mission, the Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory and useful to extract short wavelength signals from the MESSENGER Doppler data.