James Miller - Planetary Spacecraft Navigation

Published jointly by Microcosm Press and Springer

The Space Technology Library Editorial Board

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/6575

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This book is based on my 50 years of experience in navigation of Earth entry vehicles, Minuteman ballistic missiles, and planetary spacecraft. At the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, I worked on the Mariner 6, Viking, Pioneer, Galileo, and Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous missions. At KinetX Inc. I worked on the MESSENGER and New Horizons missions. In writing this book I have drawn on engineering memoranda, conference papers, and publications I have written as well as many notes that I have accumulated over many years. My purpose is to present a book that will describe how navigation is done. The emphasis is on mathematics that have been coded in computer programs used for mission operations. Therefore, the derivations are given in detail since relatively little mathematics actually makes it into operational software. The mathematics that do are generally straightforward, but the programs are large and complex and must be virtually error free. In writing this book, I have frequently checked the mathematics by looking at computer code that I am confident is correct.

Chapter . The navigation system and navigation operations procedures are constantly evolving. An overview is given that applies to all navigation systems. It is conservatively estimated that there is at least one navigation system for each person doing navigation operations. The final chapter is anecdotal and describes some navigation analyses I performed over the years. My purpose is to describe the type of analyses the reader would be expected to perform if he or she pursued a career in navigation. I hope I have succeeded in convincing the reader that navigation is a lot of fun.

Planetary spacecraft navigation is the result of the work of many individuals including the author of this book. The person who had the original idea is often not known. I have mentioned some individuals in the text who I am aware of and made some significant contribution. Some are contemporary and known personally, but often these individuals are mathematicians and have lived over a 100 years ago. I have made little effort to search the literature and track down the original source. Most of my acknowledgments are anecdotal and the source is discussions in the coffee room that have not been verified. There are a few who have contributed directly to the writing of this book. My wife, Dr. Connie Weeks, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, Loyola Marymount University, is the source of a large amount of my limited knowledge of mathematics. I cannot recall a question about mathematics where she did not have an immediate answer. The person most responsible for this book being written is Dr. Gerald Hintz who teaches at the University of Southern California. I have known him for about 50 years and since I started writing this book 20 years ago, he has kept encouraging me to finish. Writing this book has not been as difficult as I thought it would be, but rather an enjoyable experience. I must also acknowledge my mother, Eunice Miller, who thought it would be a good idea for me to be the first one on either side of my family to go to college. My sisters, Peggy Joyce, Nan Elizabeth, and Linda Lee, also got behind this major effort and I will be forever indebted to them.

I am particularly indebted to the editors at Springer International Publishing. Hannah Kaufman and Maury Solomon showed great patience in leading me through the process. The production people headed by Batmanadan Karthikeyan transformed my manuscript into what I regard as a work of art.