Atmospheric Drag on Non-Spherical Artificial Satellites

Computer Science

Scientific paper

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Scientific paper

The rate of decrease of the anomalistic period P of an artificial satellite caused by atmospheric drag depends essentially on the atmospheric density p, the effective cross section of the satellite S, its orbital elements, and an aerodynamic coefficient CD. According to recent results CD should depend on the height of the satellite and its shape and size; if the satellite is nonspherical the value of S depends on the way the satellite tumbles; finally, the atmospheric density experiences variations due to the solar activity through a mechanism that is far from well understood. In this paper an attempt is made to build up an internally consistent picture of the variation of all these quantities, during a period of about 2-1/2 months, by using orbital data from Satellites 1958 δ1 and δ2, 1958 Epsilson, 1958 Alpha, and 1958 β2. For a correct intercomparison of these data the diurnal effect of solar activity is taken into accou by assuming a suitable model of the earth's atmosphere. The first four satellites mentioned are nonspherical; to determine the variation of the effective cross section due to the tumbling a technique is used that, at least in two cases, produces a good agreement with experimental evidence drawn from sources not directly related to the drag phenomena.

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