The motion of a satellite in an axi-symmetric gravitational field

The equations for the variation of the osculating elements of a satellite moving in an axi-symmetric gravitational field are integrated to yield the complete first-order perturbations for the elements of the orbit. The expressions obtained include the effects produced by the second to eighth spherical harmonics. The orbital elements are presented in the most general form of summations by means of Hansen coefficients. Due to their general forms it is a simple matter to estimate the perturbations of any higher harmonic by simply increasing the index of summation. Finally, this paper gives the respective general expressions for the secular perturbations of the orbital elements. The formulae presented should be useful for the reductions of Earth-satellite observations and geopotential studies based on them.List of Symbols semi-major axis - C _jk ⁿ (, ) cosine functions of and - e eccentricity of the orbit - f acceleration vector of perturbing force - f sin²t - i inclination of the orbit - J _n coefficients in the potential expansion - M mean anomaly - n mean motion - p semi-latus rectum of the orbit - R, S, andW components of the perturbing acceleration - r radius-vector of satellite - r magnitude ofr - S _jk ⁿ (, ) sine functions of and - T time of perigee passage - u argument of latitude - U gravitational potential - true anomaly - V perturbing potential - G(M₊+m) (gravitational constant times the sum of the masses of Earth and satellite) - _n,k coefficients ofR component of disturbing acceleration (funtions off) - _n,k coefficients ofS andW components of disturbing acceleration (functions off) - mean anomaly at timet=0 - X ₀ ^n,m zero-order Hansen coefficients - argument of perigee - right ascension of the ascending node     

Poisson equations of rotational motion for a rigid triaxial body with application to a tumbling artificial satellite

Differential equations are derived for studying the effects of either conservative or nonconservative torques on the attitude motion of a tumbling triaxial rigid satellite. These equations, which are analogous to the Lagrange planetary equations for osculating elements, are then used to study the attitude motions of a rapidly spinning, triaxial, rigid satellite about its center of mass, which, in turn, is constrained to move in an elliptic orbit about an attracting point mass. The only torques considered are the gravity-gradient torques associated with an inverse-square field. The effects of oblateness of the central body on the orbit are included, in that, the apsidal line of the orbit is permitted to rotate at a constant rate while the orbital plane is permitted to precess (either posigrade or retrograde) at a constant rate with constant inclination.A method of averaging is used to obtain an intermediate set of averaged differential equations for the nonresonant, secular behavior of the osculating elements which describe the complete rotational motions of the body about its center of mass. The averaged differential equations are then integrated to obtain long-term secular solutions for the osculating elements. These solutions may be used to predict both the orientation of the body with respect to a nonrotating coordinate system and the motion of the rotational angular momentum about the center of mass. The complete development is valid to first order in (n/w ₀)², wheren is the satellite's orbital mean motion andw ₀ its initial rotational angular speed.     

The libration points of axisymmetric satellite in the gravitation field of two triaxial rigid bodies

In this paper we consider the restricted problem of three rigid bodies (an axisymmetric satellite in the gravitation field of two triaxial primaries). The collinear and triangular equilibrium solutions are obtained. The effect of the primaries on the location of the libration points of a spherical satellite has been studied numerically.     

Effects of gravity-gradient torque on the rotational motion of A triaxial satellite in a precessing elliptic orbit

A method of general perturbations, based on the use of Lie series to generate approximate canonical transformations, is applied to study the effects of gravity-gradient torque on the rotational motion of a triaxial, rigid satellite. The center of mass of the satellite is constrained to move in an elliptic orbit about an attracting point mass. The orbit, which has a constant inclination, is free to precess and spin. The method of general perturbations is used to obtain the Hamiltonian for the nonresonant secular and long-period rotational motion of the satellite to second order inn/0, wheren is the orbital mean motion of the center of mass and0 is a reference value of the magnitude of the satellite's rotational angular velocity. The differential equations derivable from the transformed Hamiltonian are integrable and the solution for the long-term motion may be expressed in terms of Jacobian elliptic functions and elliptic integrals. Geometrical aspects of the long-term rotational motion are discussed and a comparison of theoretical results with observations is made.     

On the integrability cases of the equation of motion for a satellite in an axially symmetric gravitational field

The projection of an axially symmetric satellite's orbit on a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis (z=const.) is given by the second-order differential equation. $$\frac{{y''}}{{1 + y'^2 }} = \bar \Psi _y - y'\bar \Psi _{x,}$$ where the prime denotes the derivative with respect tox and \(\bar \Psi (x,y)\) is a known function. Two integrability cases have been investigated and it has been shown that for these two cases the integration can be carried out either by quadratures or reduced to a first-order differential equation. Analytical and physical properties are expressed, and it is shown that the equation can be derived from the calssical plane eikonal equation of geometric optics.     

The motion of a lunar satellite

Presented in this theory is a semianalytical solution for the problem of the motion of a satellite in orbit around the moon. The principal perturbations on such a body are due to the nonspherical gravity field of the moon, the attraction of the earth, and, to a lesser degree, the attraction of the sun. The major part of the problem is solved by means of the celebrated von Zeipel Method, first successfully applied to the motion of an artificial earth satellite by Brouwer in 1959. After eliminating from the Hamiltonian all terms with the period of the satellite and those with the period of the moon, it is suggested to solve the remaining problem with the aid of numerical integration of the modified equations of motion.This theory was written in 1964 and presented as a dissertation to Yale University in 1965. Since then a great deal has been learned about the gravity field of the moon. It seems that quite a number of recently determined gravity coefficients would qualify as small quantities of order two. Hence, according to the truncation criteria employed, they should be considered in the present theory. However, the author has not endeavored to update the work accordingly. The final results, therefore, are incomplete in the lunar gravitational perturbations. Nevertheless, the theory does give the largest such variations and it does present the methods by which perturbations may be derived for any gravity terms not actually developed.     

The existence and stability of the equilibrium points of a triaxial rigid body moving around another triaxial rigid body

The motion of two mutually attracting triaxial rigid bodies has been considered. Thirty six particular solutions corresponding to the libration points and analogous to the points Spoke, Arrow and Float (Duboshin, 1959) have been found. The stability of these libration points has been discussed in two categories of cases. In the first category, different shapes of the bodies have been taken and in the second category, the mass and the linear dimensions of one of the bodies have been taken small in comparison to the other.     

The motion of a satellite in a ring potential

This investigation presents the orbital elements of a satellite moving in a circular ring potential. The ring is considered to be of infinitesimal thickness and of unit radius. The components of the perturbing accelerations due to the ring potential have been substituded into the Gauss form of Lagrange's planetary equations to yield the first-order approximations. The elements of the orbit have been expressed by means of Hansen coefficients. The results include the effects produced by the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th spherical harmonics. Due to their importance we present separately the secular terms from the periodic ones. The general expressions for the orbital elements can be easily extended to include the effects produced by any other higher harmonic.List of Symbols semi-major axis - C _jK ⁿ (u, ) cosine functions ofu and - e eccentricity of the orbit - f sin² - inclination of the orbit - M mean anomaly - n mean motion - p semi-latus rectum of the orbit - R, S, andW components of the perturbing acceleration - r magnitude of position vector - S _jK ⁿ (u, ) sine functions ofu and - T time of periapse passage - u argument of latitude - U gravitational potential - V perturbing potential - G(M _r +m) (gravitational constant times the sum of the masses of ring and satellite) - _{n, k} coefficients ofR component of disturbing acceleration (functions off) - _{n, k} coefficients ofS andW components of disturbing acceleration (functions off) - mean anomaly at timet=0 - X ₀ ^{n, m} zero-order Hansen coefficients - argument of periapse - longitude of the ascending node     

On the roto-translatory motion of a satellite of an oblate primary

We deal with the problem of the motion of a triaxial satellite of an oblate primary of larger mass. We show that the treatment is simplified by using a canonical set of variables previously introduced by the authors, that allows a drastic reduction in the expansions of the potential. A general method to avoid the appearance of virtual singularities when the angles between certain planes are small is designed. Our approach is applicable either to natural or artificial satellites.     

The equations of motion of an artificial satellite in nonsingular variables

The equations of motion of an artificial satellite are given in nonsingular variables. Any term in the geopotential is considered as well as luni-solar perturbations up to an arbitrary power ofr/r, r being the geocentric distance of the disturbing body. Resonances with tesseral harmonics and with the Moon or Sun are also considered. By neglecting the shadow effect, the disturbing function for solar radiation is also developed in nonsingular variables for the long periodic perturbations. Formulas are developed for implementation of the theory in actual computations.     

Theory of the motion of an artificial Earth satellite

An improved analytical solution is obtained for the motion of an artificial Earth satellite under the combined influences of gravity and atmospheric drag. The gravitational model includes zonal harmonics throughJ ₄, and the atmospheric model assumes a nonrotating spherical power density function. The differential equations are developed through second order under the assumption that the second zonal harmonic and the drag coefficient are both first-order terms, while the remaining zonal harmonics are of second order.Canonical transformations and the method of averaging are used to obtain transformations of variables which significantly simplify the transformed differential equations. A solution for these transformed equations is found; and this solution, in conjunction with the transformations cited above, gives equations for computing the six osculating orbital elements which describe the orbital motion of the satellite. The solution is valid for all eccentricities greater than 0 and less than 0.1 and all inclinations not near 0^o or the critical inclination. Approximately ninety percent of the satellites currently in orbit satisfy all these restrictions.     

The geomagnetic effects on the motion of an electrically charged artificial satellite

The orbital effects of the Lorentz force on the motion of an electrically charged artificial satellite moving in the Earth's magnetic field are determined. The geomagnetic field is considered as a multipole potential field and the satellite electrical charge is supposed to be constant. The relativistic perturbations of the main geomagnetic field are discussed briefly. The results are concentrated on the determination of the secular changes, and numerical values are computed for the case of the LAGEOS satellite. The results are discussed in the context of a possible detection of the Lense-Thirring effect analyzing the orbital perturbations of the LAGEOS and LAGEOS X satellites.     

The motion of a satellite in resonance with the second-degree sectorial harmonic

The solution to the motion of a satellite in an eccentric orbit and in resonance with the second-degree sectorial harmonic of the potential field is developed. The method of solution used parallels the well known von Zeipel method of general perturbations. The solution consists of expressions for the variations of the Delaunay variables. These expressions are composed of the perturbations developed by Brouwer in 1959 for the motion of an artificial satellite plus first-order perturbations due to the second-degree sectorial harmonic (in terms of the Legendre normal elliptic integrals of the first and second kind).This paper presents the results of one phase of research carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under Contract No. NAS 7-100, sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.     

About the motion of a heavy flexible string attached to the satellite in the central field of attraction

The motion of a heavy inextensible flexible string attached to the satellite in the central gravitational field is discussed. It is supposed that the mass of the string is infinitesimally small compared to the mass of the satellite and hence it does not affect the latter's motion. Under the assumption that the satellite moves along the Keplerian elliptical orbit (in particular circular orbit), the relative motion of the string is investigated. It has been shown that the motion of the flexible string is unstable which is stable in the case of a solidified string.

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About the non-existence of additional analytical integral in the problem of satellite's motion under the gravitatonal attraction of a triaxial rigid body

Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy - In this paper, Poincare (1971) method has been developed to prove the non-existence of additional analytical integral in the degeneration case.     

The effects of diffuse solar radiation on the motion of an artificial satellite

Previous analyses of the orbits of spherical balloon satellites have attempted to satisfy residuals in observed perturbations in Keplerian elements, assumed to be caused by diffuse radiation pressure, by introducing small variations ins, the parameter representing the reflection characteristics of the satellite's surface. It is difficult to distinguish, however, between those perturbations caused by diffuse radiation and those caused by reflected radiation, as a result of the deformation of the assumed sphere. Following the derivation by Lucas of exact expressions for both incident and reflected radiation forces on a prolate spheroidal satellite, and the subsequent work of Aksnes pertaining to spherical satellites, the theory is extended to include the effects of diffuse radiation whilst at the same time qualifying the assumption that the radiation force acting along the Sun-satellite line can be taken as parallel to the Sun-Earth line.     

Tidal effects and the motion of a satellite

The effect of resonant planetary perturbations on the evolution of the orbit of a satellite driven by tidal forces is studied in this paper. The basic equations that govern it are similar to the equations found in orbit-orbit and in spin-orbit couplings. The general form of these equations is: A general treatment of such equations, proposed earlier (J. Kovalevsky, in Dynamical Trapping and Evolution of the Solar system, IAU Colloquium n^o74, V. V. Markellos and Y. Kozai, eds., 1983) is sketched.In particular, the effects of the large long periodic variations of the excentricity e' of the planet are analysed on an example taken from the lunar theory and the Earth's general theory due to Bretagnon.The argument of the well known planetary term =18 V-16T due to the tidal friction and quasi-periodic variations due to the presence of e' in the expression of the mean motion of the Moon. Their joint effect, has been to produce in the past resonant situations for this argument that repeated more than 100 times. Every such situation can be treated by equation (1).Numerical integration, using conditions that might have occurred while or similar other arguments were quasi resonant, have produced the following results: (a) In some cases, the argument becomes temporarily resonant. Between the capture to and the escape from the resonance, the semi-major axis undergoes oscillations, but the tidal secular evolution is stopped. (b) In other cases, the argument is not trapped into a resonant conditions, but the semi-major axis undergoes a quick change while d/dt is close to zero.A number of arguments that have been quasi resonant in the past history of the Earth-Moon system has been identified from the Chapront and Chapront-Touzé Lunar Theory. It appears that the phenomena described are frequent features in the evolution of the Lunar orbit.