THE SOLAR SYSTEM ASTRONOMICAL COORDINATE N-BODY PROBLEM

There are many planetary systems like ours SYSTEMS

in the universe, with planets orbiting a host Organized arrangements for specifying
sta. . positions
Located in an outer spiral arm of the Milky of satellites, planets, stars, galaxies, and
Way galaxy other celestial objects relative to physical
Formed about 4.5 billion years ago from a reference points available to a situated
dense cloud of interstellar gas and dust observer
Made up of a star, eight planets, and VERNAL EQUINOX
countless smaller bodies The point where the sun's path across the
Our solar system consists of our star, the sky, the Ecliptic, crosses the Celestial
Sun, and everything bound to it by gravity – Equator
the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, It is always going to be on the Celestial
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; Equator
dwarf planets such as Pluto; dozens of CELESTIAL SPHERE
moons; and millions of asteroids, comets, A projection of an imaginary gigantic bubble
and meteoroids. with apparent rotation (concentric and
Extends much farther than the eight planets coaxial) relative to the Observer on Earth
that orbit the Sun The Earth itself is a near-spherical object,
Orbits the centre of the Milky Way galaxy at orbiting relative to the Sun in a somewhat
about 515,000 mph circular ellipse on an annual basis.
Takes our solar system about 230 million ASTEROIDS
years to complete one orbit around the Asteroid, also called minor
galactic centre planet or planetoid, any of a host of small
A region of space, It has no atmosphere bodies, about 1,000 km (600 miles) or less
Contains many worlds – including Earth – in diameter
with many kinds of atmospheres Orbit the Sun primarily between the orbits
The planets of our solar system – and even of Mars and Jupiter in a nearly flat ring
some asteroids – hold more than 200 called the asteroid belt
moons in their orbits COMETS
The four giant planets – and at least one Any of a class of small icy objects orbiting
asteroid – have rings the Sun and developing diffuse gaseous THREE BODY PROBLEM
More than 300 robotic spacecraft have envelopes and often long glowing tails
explored destinations beyond Earth's orbit when near the Sun
Our solar system is the only one known to METEOROIDS
support life Meteor and meteoroid, respectively, a
So far, we only know of life on Earth glowing streak in the sky (meteor) and its
cause, which is a relatively small stony or
EARTHS ATMOSPHERE metallic natural object from space
Earth’s atmosphere stretches from the (meteoroid) that
surface of the planet up to as far as 10,000 enters Earth’s atmosphere and heats to
kilometres (6,214 miles) above incandescence
Earth’s atmosphere is composed of about
78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, 0.9 LAGRANGE POINTS
percent argon, and 0.1 percent other gases Lagrange Points are positions in space
Divided into five different layers, based on where the gravitational forces of a two body
temperature system like the Sun and the Earth produce
Troposphere Stratosphere Mesosphere enhanced regions of attraction and
Thermosphere and Ionosphere repulsion. These can be used by spacecraft
Exosphere Magnetosphere to reduce fuel consumption needed to
remain in position.
SIDERIAL TIME At Lagrange points, the gravitational pull of
The angle, measured along the celestial two large masses precisely equals the
equator centripetal force required for a small object
When the vernal equinox passes the upper to move with them.
meridian Distinguished from solar time This mathematical problem, known as the
Corresponds to the apparent motion of "General Three-Body Problem"
the Sun The primary unit of sidereal time is
the sidereal day TWO BODY PROBLEM
1 sidereal day = 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4.1 The problem of determining the previous or
seconds subsequent motion and the data for
computing the places at any time of two
SOLAR TIME bodies when given the Newtonian law of
Time measured by Earth’s rotation relative gravitation and the masses of two bodies
to the Sun with their positions and motions at any
Apparent solar time is that measured by moment.
direct observation of the Sun or by
a sundial
Mean solar time, kept by
most clocks and watches
The difference between mean and apparent
solar time is known as the equation of time

REFERENCE FRAME
A “frame of reference” is a standard relative
to which motion and rest may be measured;
any set of points or objects that are at rest
relative to one another enables us, in
principle, to describe the relative motions of
bodies.

STANDARD TIME
Standard Time, the time of a region or
country that is established by law or general
usage as civil time.
TWO BODY PROBLEM ORBITAL INJECTION ERRORS PARAMETER TO LAUNCH A SATELLITE
Orbital injection error is when there is an FROM EARTH TO ORBIT
error with the velocity of a satellite as it is Launching a satellite into orbit requires
leaving Earth when traveling to another consideration of a number of major science
planetary body. When a satellite is leaving ideas. These include gravity, circular motion
Earth's sphere of influence (the area where and atmospheric drag.
Earth's gravity affects the satellite), it needs Atmospheric drag
to reach escape velocity. If the satellite has Satellites need to be placed in orbit high
too little velocity, it will either undershoot its above the Earth’s atmosphere so that the
target or continue to orbit the Earth. If it has drag of the atmospheric gases doesn’t
too much velocity, it will overshoot its make the orbiting satellite slow down.
target. This difference between the required An altitude of 100 km has been adopted by
velocity and actual velocity of the satellite is the UN
called the orbital injection error. Called the Kármán line where the Earth’s
atmosphere ends and space begins
ENCKE’S METHOD FOR PURTURBED At this height an aircraft would have to
SATELLITE ORBIT travel at 7.85 km/s, about 24 times the
Encke's method begins with the osculating speed of sound
orbit as a reference and integrates Making a satellite orbit at that height,
numerically to solve for the variation from however, is impractical due to the
the reference as a function of time. atmospheric drag
Encke's method is similar to the general Most satellites are placed into orbit well
perturbation method of variation of the above the Kármán line at altitudes between
elements, except the rectification is 350 and 1,500 km
performed at discrete intervals rather than There is gravity in space
continuously A lot of people think that there is no gravity
above the Earth’s atmosphere. The truth is
that gravity keeps pulling an object towards
the centre of the Earth even if the object is
far above the Earth’s atmosphere.
The force of gravity pulling you towards
Earth at an altitude of 100 km compared to
that acting on you if you were on a 10 m
high diving board only varies by about 20 N.
2
F = G mE mO/d
Energy needed to reach an altitude of
100 km
The work that needs to be done on a 1 kg
object to reach a height of 100 km above
the Earth’s surface is calculated in the
following way.
work done = gravitational force x vertical
height
= (1 x 9.8) N x (100 x 1,000) m
= 980,000 joules
To supply this amount of energy
per kilogram of load, you would need a very
powerful and well-designed rocket. Since
the rocket and fuel also have mass, there
needs to be additional fuel to lift the mass
of the fuel and rocket into space.
Speed of orbit
To balance the strong gravitational pull, the
1 kg mass must be given additional energy
TRAJECTORY GEOMETRY to place it in orbit around the Earth. An
object will fall back to Earth unless it has
enough orbital speed.
To calculate the orbital speed needed, we
combine Newton’s law of universal
gravitation with a circular motion equation.
The net result of this is an equation of the
form
V=√[(G x ME)/R]

SATELLITE ORBIT RELATION

BETWEEN POSITION AND TIME
COWELL'S METHOD FOR PERTURBED POLYMER MATRIX COMPOSITE SOLAR PLANETARY SYSTEM
SATELLITE ORBIT Polymer matrix composites are materials Solar system consists of our star, the Sun,
made up of fibres that are embedded in an and everything bound to it by gravity – the
organic polymer matrix. These fibres are planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars,
introduced to enhance selected properties Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune;
of the material dwarf planets such as Pluto; dozens of
Polymer matrix composites are classified moons; and millions of asteroids, comets,
based on their level of strength and and meteoroids.
stiffness into two distinct types: Planets are classified into two types:
Reinforced plastics - confers additional Terrestrial/Rocky Planets: Mercury, Venus,
strength by adding embedded fibrous Earth, and Mars
matter into plastics Gas Giants: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and
Advanced Composites - consists of fibre Neptune
and matrix combinations that facilitate SUN: The biggest star in our solar system,
strength and superior stiffness. They mostly accounting for 99.8% of its mass
contain high-performance continuous fibres It emits the majority of the heat and light
such as high-stiffness glass (S-glass), that allow life to exist on Earth and
graphite, aramid, or other organic fibres potentially beyond.
Applications MERCURY: The smallest planet in the solar
Automotive industry system
Aircraft and aerospace industry Measuring only slightly bigger than Earth's
Marine Moon
Sports goods Travelling around the Sun in only 88 days
Biomedical Atmosphere of Mercury is extremely thin
Electrical and mostly consists of oxygen, sodium,
Protective equipment hydrogen, helium, and potassium
Industrial VENUS: The nearest planet to Earth
Structural The second closest to the Sun in terms of
distance from the Sun
CARBON/CARBON MATRIX COMPOSITE Sometimes known as Earth's twin since it is
Carbon Fibre-Reinforced Carbon so similar to Earth in terms of size and
Composite (CFRCC) density
Amorphous carbon matrix composite Venus's atmosphere is thick and poisonous,
Carbon matrix reinforced by graphitic filled with carbon dioxide
carbon fibres EARTH: Our home planet, Earth, is the
Both the reinforcing fibres and the matrix third planet from the Sun.
material are pure carbon It is a water world, with water covering two-
Woven mesh of carbon fibres thirds of the globe.
Used for their strength and modulus of The atmosphere of Earth is rich in nitrogen
rigidity and oxygen
Light weight material The only known globe to support life
BOOST PHASE IN TERMS OF
Withstand temperatures up to 3000 deg MARS: The solar system's fourth planet
BALLISTIC MISSILE TRAJECTORIES
Celsius It is a frigid, desert-like planet coated in iron
The boost phase is the portion of a missile’s
Structure can be tailored to meet oxide dust and red in colour
flight when it is thrusting to gain the velocity
requirements Mars' terrain is rocky, with mountains,
needed to reach its target. This phase
Applications valleys, and canyons
usually lasts between one and five minutes
Aircraft JUPITER: The biggest planet in the solar
depending on the range of the missile.
Spacecraft system and the fifth planet from the Sun
During this phase the rocket is climbing
Rockets Its whirling clouds are coloured by various
against the earth’s gravity and either exiting
F1 racing cars trace gases such as ammonia ice,
the earth’s atmosphere into outer space, or
Train Brakes ammonium hydrosulphide crystals, and
in the case of shorter range missiles, only
water ice and vapour. Powerful magnetic
reaching the fringes of outer space.
MATERIAL SELECTION CRITERIA OF field and 75 moons
Intercepting a missile in its boost phase is
SPACECRAFT SATURN: The sixth planet from the Sun is
the ideal solution for a ballistic missile
Readily available to manufacturing known for its extensive and unusual ring
defence, since destroying a missile during
Be aware that some materials are not system. Even though Saturn is not the only
this phase of its flight precludes the
available domestically, and their planet in the solar system to have rings,
deployment of any countermeasures, and
certifications can be difficult to get or are The gaseous planet, which is mainly
also prevents the missile warhead from
unreliable. hydrogen and helium, contains several
attaining the velocity necessary to read its
Shortest processing time, machining, heat moons.
intended target. Although attacking a
treating, etc URANUS: The seventh planet from the Sun
missile while it is struggling against the
The simplest storage requirements and is an outlier. It possesses hydrogen
earth’s gravity is ideal, it poses significant
Composite Materials sulphide clouds, the same component that
challenges to a defender. First, the boost
Superior mechanical properties makes rotting eggs smell so bad. It rotates
phase is relatively short. This means that
Materials for spacecraft structure are from east to west, similar to Venus.
sensors will have to detect a launch and
selected based primarily on the specific NEPTUNE: The eighth planet from the Sun
relay accurate information about the missile
strength (strength/density) and the specific and the coldest planet in the solar system
very quickly. Second, an interceptor missile
rigidity (elastic modulus/density) on average. The planet is more than 30
would have to be very close, or extremely
Other properties for consideration times farther away from the Sun than Earth
fast to catch up to the accelerating missile.
are ductility, fracture toughness, thermal is. Neptune is around 17 times the size of
conductivity, thermal expansion, corrosion Earth and contains a rocky core.
resistance, volatility, fabrication ease, and
procurement ease
Non-Magnetic Materials
Solid for safety
Lightweight so that they have a better
chance of escaping earth's gravitational pull
with less fuel or propellant
Protect from impacts, pressure, radiation
and temperature swings
SPACE ENVIRONMENT SPACE AFFECTING SPACECRAFT CONSERVATION OF MECHANICAL
Space environment is the large void which Depending on where the spacecraft is ENERGY
occupies the (relatively) empty areas of the flying, it may encounter atomic oxygen, According to the principle of conservation of
universe outside the atmosphere or surface ultraviolet and other forms of radiation, mechanical energy,
of any planet or other celestial body. It is a charged particles, micrometeoroids and The total mechanical energy of a system is
vacuum that contains a low density of debris, and temperature extremes. These conserved i.e., the energy can neither be
particles, as well as electromagnetic environments on their own and in created nor be destroyed; it can only be
radiation, magnetic fields, and neutrinos. combination can cause degradation and internally converted from one form to
Based on our own perspective from planet failure of polymers, composites, paints and another if the forces doing work on the
Earth, the space environment is defined as other materials used on the exterior of system are conservative in nature.
the area beyond the atmosphere of the spacecraft for thermal control, structure, In order to understand this statement more
Earth. It is also considered as a branch of and power generation clearly, let us consider an example of one-
astronautics that addresses conditions of In the vacuum deep space, outgassing has dimensional motion of a system. Here a
space that might affect the operations of contributed to degraded mechanical body, under the action of a conservative
spacecraft, the health of astronauts, and performance of composite materials used in force F, gets displaced by Δx, then from the
any other living being during space flight. spacecraft work-energy theorem, we can say that the
Spacecraft materials exposed to atomic network done by all the forces acting on a
SOLAR WINDS oxygen experience breakdown or “rusting” system is equal to the change in the kinetic
The solar wind is a stream of energized, of their surfaces, which can eventually energy of the system.
charged particles, primarily electrons and weaken components, change their thermal Mathematically, ΔKE = F(x) Δx
protons, flowing outward from the Sun, characteristics, and degrade sensor Where, ΔK is the change in kinetic
through the solar system at speeds as high performance. energy of the system. Considering only
as 900 km/s and at a temperature of 1 conservative forces are acting on the
million degrees (Celsius). It is made of PLANE ORBIT CHANGE system W net = W c.
plasma. So far, all the orbital manoeuvres we have Thus W c = ΔKE
The solar wind is caused by the hot solar considered have been coplanar—the initial Also, If conservative forces do the work in a
corona, which is the outermost layer of the and final orbits shared the same inclination system, the system loses potential energy
solar atmosphere, expanding into space. relative to the orbital focus. However, this equal to the work done. Hence, W c = -PE.
The corona is the "rim" of the Sun that is need not be the case, and we will relax that Which implies that the total kinetic energy
visible to the naked eye during a solar assumption in this section. and potential energy of a system remains
eclipse. In particular, orbital plane changes are constant if the process involves only
The solar wind is what blows the tails of necessary in many cases when the launch conservative forces.
comets back away from the bodies of location does not match the desired orbit. KE + PE = constant
comets as they go through the solar Since the latitude of the launch location KEi+ PEi = KEf + PEf
system. affects the orbital inclination, achieving Where denotes the initial values and f
certain orbits requires an orbital plane denotes the final values of KE and PE.
change depending on the launch latitude. This law applies only to the extent that the
HOW ASTRONAUTS SUSTAIN IN SPACE One example is geosynchronous equatorial forces are conservative in nature. The
Astronauts can survive in their spacesuits orbit (i = 0°). If the spacecraft is launched mechanical energy of the system is defined
as long as the oxygen tanks allow them to from anywhere except the equator, a plane as the total kinetic energy plus the total
continue breathing. The two oxygen tanks change is required to change the potential energy. In a system that
and the emergency oxygen supply in inclination. comprises only conservative forces, each
current EMU suits collectively contain 6.5 to force is associated with a form of potential
8 hours (+ 30 minutes) worth of oxygen. IN-PLANE ORBIT CHANGE energy and the energy only changes
Astronauts must have oxygen, food, water, Orbital inclination change is an orbital between the kinetic energy and different
and rest. maneuver aimed at changing types of potential energy, such that the total
The gases in space cannot support human the inclination of an orbiting body's orbit. energy remains constant.
life. In fact, most of space contains no This maneuver is also known as an orbital
gases at all—it is what scientists call a plane change as the plane of the orbit is GENERAL ASPECTS OF SATELLITE
vacuum. Spacecrafts must provide their tipped. This maneuver requires a change in INJECTION
passengers with oxygen to breathe. the orbital velocity vector (delta-v) at Kepler's second law of planetary motion
Spacecrafts carry their own sources of the orbital nodes (i.e. the point where the must, of course, hold true for circular orbits.
oxygen and nitrogen. These gases are initial and desired orbits intersect, the line of • In such orbits both and r are constant so
circulated throughout the spacecraft to orbital nodes is defined by the intersection that equal areas are swept out in equal
provide similar air to the one we breathe on of the two orbital planes). times by the line joining a planet and the
Earth. In general, inclination changes can take a sun. • For elliptical orbits, however, both
very large amount of delta-v to perform, and and r will vary with time. • Figure shows a
MATERIALS USED IN SPACE most mission planners try to avoid them particle revolving around C along some
With the substantial amount of materials whenever possible to conserve fuel. This is arbitrary path. The area swept out by the
available, only two metals make the cut typically achieved by launching a spacecraft radius vector in a short time interval Δt is
when it comes to protecting satellites and directly into the desired inclination, or as shown shaded.. • This area, neglecting the
other spacecraft — aluminum and titanium. close to it as possible so as to minimize any small triangular region at the end, is one-
As titanium is much harder to mine and inclination change required over the half the base times the height or
fabricate, most satellites are made of duration of the spacecraft life. Planetary approximately r(r ωΔ t)/2. . • This
aluminum and its alloys. Aluminum is flybys are the most efficient way to achieve expression becomes more exact as Δt
lightweight, durable, and relatively cheap. large inclination changes, but they are only approaches zero, i.e. the small triangle
The metal is even used to insulate satellites effective for interplanetary missions. goes to zero more rapidly than the large
in the form of aluminum-coated polyimide. one.
The polyimide layer surrounds the exterior,
with the aluminum side facing inward. The
polyimide is gold-colored, giving the exterior
of many of these crafts that iconic gold
shimmer even though there's no actual gold
in the insulation. It also includes layers of
fiberglass, spacers, silver and beta cloth to
improve the material's overall insulation
capabilities.
Graphite, boron, carbon, fiberglass, Teflon,
Kevlar and many other materials all work
together to create a fully functional satellite.