Methodology Development for the Reconstruction of the ESA Huygens Probe Entry and Descent Trajectory

Details Methodology Development for the Reconstruction of the ESA Huygens Probe Entry and Descent Trajectory Methodology Development for the Reconstruction of the ESA Huygens Probe Entry and Descent Trajectory

Jan 2005

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005phdt.........1k&link_type=abstract

Karl-Franzens University Graz, Austria

Computer Science

Sound

1

Cassini, Huygens, Entry And Descent Trajectory

Scientific paper

The European Space Agency's (ESA) Huygens probe performed a successful entry and descent into Titan's atmosphere on January 14, 2005, and landed safely on the satellite's surface. A methodology was developed, implemented, and tested to reconstruct the Huygens probe trajectory from its various science and engineering measurements, which were performed during the probe's entry and descent to the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. The probe trajectory reconstruction is an essential effort that has to be done as early as possible in the post-flight data analysis phase as it guarantees a correct and consistent interpretation of all the experiment data and furthermore provides a reference set of data for "ground-truthing" orbiter remote sensing measurements. The entry trajectory is reconstructed from the measured probe aerodynamic drag force, which also provides a means to derive the upper atmospheric properties like density, pressure, and temperature. The descent phase reconstruction is based upon a combination of various atmospheric measurements such as pressure, temperature, composition, speed of sound, and wind speed. A significant amount of effort was spent to outline and implement a least-squares trajectory estimation algorithm that provides a means to match the entry and descent trajectory portions in case of discontinuity. An extensive test campaign of the algorithm is presented which used the Huygens Synthetic Dataset (HSDS) developed by the Huygens Project Scientist Team at ESA/ESTEC as a test bed. This dataset comprises the simulated sensor output (and the corresponding measurement noise and uncertainty) of all the relevant probe instruments. The test campaign clearly showed that the proposed methodology is capable of utilizing all the relevant probe data, and will provide the best estimate of the probe trajectory once real instrument measurements from the actual probe mission are available. As a further test case using actual flight data the NASA Mars Pathfinder entry and descent trajectory and the space craft attitude was reconstructed from the 3-axis accelerometer measurements which are archived on the Planetary Data System. The results are consistent with previously published reconstruction efforts.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Methodology Development for the Reconstruction of the ESA Huygens Probe Entry and Descent Trajectory does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Methodology Development for the Reconstruction of the ESA Huygens Probe Entry and Descent Trajectory, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Methodology Development for the Reconstruction of the ESA Huygens Probe Entry and Descent Trajectory will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1065292