2 research outputs found
Recreating the OSIRIS-REx Slingshot Manoeuvre from a Network of Ground-Based Sensors
Optical tracking systems typically trade-off between astrometric precision
and field-of-view. In this work, we showcase a networked approach to optical
tracking using very wide field-of-view imagers that have relatively low
astrometric precision on the scheduled OSIRIS-REx slingshot manoeuvre around
Earth on September 22nd, 2017. As part of a trajectory designed to get
OSIRIS-REx to NEO 101955 Bennu, this flyby event was viewed from 13 remote
sensors spread across Australia and New Zealand to promote triangulatable
observations. Each observatory in this portable network was constructed to be
as lightweight and portable as possible, with hardware based off the successful
design of the Desert Fireball Network.
Over a 4 hour collection window, we gathered 15,439 images of the night sky
in the predicted direction of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Using a specially
developed streak detection and orbit determination data pipeline, we detected
2,090 line-of-sight observations. Our fitted orbit was determined to be within
about 10~km of orbital telemetry along the observed 109,262~km length of
OSIRIS-REx trajectory, and thus demonstrating the impressive capability of a
networked approach to SSA