Abstract
We present an approximation scheme for gravitational forces near arbitrarily shaped small bodies. The approximation uses polynomial interpolation with an adaptive spatial data structure near the asteroid and spherical harmonics far from it. These data structures allow us to drive the approximation errors of the model to within user-defined thresholds, while significantly reducing the run time of trajectory integrations about small bodies. This alleviates the computational burden of Monte Carlo simulation for small-body proximity operation and mission design. We conclude with performance tests and models for the asteroid 1998 ML 14.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1041-1051 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2008 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Control and Systems Engineering
- Aerospace Engineering
- Space and Planetary Science
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
- Applied Mathematics