Citation
Abstract
Earth orientation errors, consisting of errors in knowledge of the Earth’s polar axis motion and rotation period, introduce systematic errors into the radio metric data that are acquired by the Deep Space Network (DSN) and used for spacecraft navigation. This article contains a brief analysis of the sensitivity of station location and baseline coordinates to Earth orientation errors, and of the uncertainties induced in DSN station location and intercontinental baseline coordinates by current levels of Earth orientation uncertainty. The analysis indicates that while the sensitivities of certain DSN baseline coordinates differ by more than an order of magnitude, DSN station locations and baseline coordinates in general have Earth orientation error sensitivities of similar magnitudes. Typical (not maximum) DSN station location uncertainties were found to be 6 to 8 cm in spin-radius and z-height coordinates, and approximately 40 nrad in station longitudes. Baseline coordinate uncertainties ranged from 1 to 13 cm in spin-radius and z-height, with longitude uncertainties of about the same (40 nrad) magnitude as those of the individual stations.
Details
- Volume
- 42-103
- Published
- November 15, 1990
- Pages
- 40–46
- File Size
- 274.7 KB