Collision and pursuit course terminal closures for spacecraft to satellite rendezvous

Collision and pursuit course closure maneuvers were studied for correcting position and velocity errors in the terminal phase of spacecraft to satellite rendezvous. Minimum values of the ratio of initial range to velocity necessary to achieve rendezvous were determined for collision closures as a function of the initial line of sight. The time and velocity increment required for rendezvous were computed as a function of initial conditions. Pursuit closure maneuvers were analyzed and time and velocity increments defined as a function of initial range, closing velocity, line of sight angle and angular velocity. The velocity increments required were significantly higher than for a collision closure under similar initial conditions. In addition, the pursuit closure was shown to require very precise control of the initial angular velocity in order to achieve rendezvous. The collision closure maneuver was recommended because the pursuit closure required a greater velocity increment and precise control of the initial angular velocity. An example was presented to illustrate the analysis of a collision closure maneuver i n a rendezvous mission --Abstract, page ii

Line-of-sight guidance techniques for manned orbital rendezvous

Thesis (Sc. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1963.Vita.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 305-309).by Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr.Sc.D

Impact of low cost refurbishable and standard spacecraft upon future NASA space programs. Payload effects follow-on study, appendix

Mission analysis is discussed, including the consolidation and expansion of mission equipment and experiment characteristics, and determination of simplified shuttle flight schedule. Parametric analysis of standard space hardware and preliminary shuttle/payload constraints analysis are evaluated, along with the cost impact of low cost standard hardware

Development of flight experiment task requirements. Volume 2: Technical Report. Part 2: Appendix H: Tasks-skills data series

The data sheets presented contain the results of the task analysis portion of the study to identify skill requirements of space shuttle crew personnel. A comprehensive data base is provided of crew functions, operating environments, task dependencies, and task-skills applicable to a representative cross section of earth orbital research experiments

Line-of-sight rendezvous

We consider the rendezvous problem faced by two mobile agents, initially placed according to a known distribution on intersections in Manhattan (nodes of the integer lattice Z2). We assume they can distinguish streets from avenues (the two axes) and move along a common axis in each period (both to an adjacent street or both to an adjacent avenue). However they have no common notion of North or East (positive directions along axes). How should they move, from node to adjacent node, so as to minimize the expected time required to ‘see’ each other, to be on a common street or avenue. This is called ‘line-of-sight’ rendezvous. It is equivalent to a rendezvous problem where two rendezvousers attempt to find each other via two means of communication. We show how this problem can be reduced to a double alternating search (DAS) problem in which a single searcher minimizes the time required to find one of two objects hidden according to known distributions in distinct regions (e.g. a datum held on multiple disks), and we develop a theory for solving the latter problem. The DAS problem generalizes a related search problem introduced earlier by the author and J.V. Howard. We solve the original rendezvous problem in the case that the searchers are initially no more than four streets or avenues apart

Bilateral street searching in Manhattan (line-of-sight rendezvous on a planar lattice)

We consider the rendezvous problem faced by two mobile agents, initially placed according to a known distribution on intersections in Manhatten (nodes of the integer lattice Z2): We assume they can distinguish streets from avenues (the two axes) but have no common notion of North or East (positive directions along axes). How should they move, from node to adjacent node, so as to minimize the expected time required to �see�each other, to be on a common street or avenue. This problem can be viewed either as a bilateral form (with two players) of the street searching problems of computer science, or a �line-of-sight�version of the rendezvous problem studied in operations research. We show how this problem can be reduced to a Double Alternating Search (DAS) problem in which a single searcher minimizes the time required to nd one of two objects hidden according to known distributions in distinct regions (e.g. a datum held on multiple disks), and we develop a theory for solving the latter problem. The DAS problem generalizes a related one introduced earlier by the author and J. V. Howard. We solve the original rendezvous problem in the case that the searchers are initially no more than four streets or avenues apart