The Orbital and Celestial
Mechanics Web Site
Latest News
To upgrade purchased software,
simply download the zipped file again and extract the updated contents using
the password provided with the original purchase. If for some reason the password changes, you
will be notified.
February 8, 2012
The Windows executable program and PDF
user’s guide for A Computer Program for Earth to Mars Mission Design has
been updated in the Interplanetary Mission Analysis section.
The force models used in the software
have been enhanced (non-spherical Earth gravity, solar radiation pressure,
etc.) and the program can now target to a user-defined entry interface at Mars.
February 4, 2012
Several new documents in PDF format have
been uploaded to the Technical Reports section.
January 30, 2012
The Windows executable program and PDF
user’s guide for A Computer Program for Propagating Spacecraft Trajectories
from Earth to Mars in the Interplanetary Mission Analysis section has been
updated to include program options for propagating to a user-defined
areocentric (Mars-centered) distance or a final epoch. This computer program is freeware.
Also, a scanned PDF version of the Numerical Analysis Handbook has been added to the Technical Reports
section.
January 24, 2012
The Windows executable program and PDF
user’s guide for A Computer Program for Propagating Spacecraft Trajectories
from Earth to the Moon has been added to the Lunar Mission Analysis
section. This computer program is
freeware.
January 17, 2012
The Windows executable program and PDF
user’s guide for A Computer Program for Propagating Spacecraft Trajectories
from Earth to Mars has been added to the Interplanetary Mission Analysis
section. This computer program is
freeware.
Also, the website for Applied Mathematical Analysis (AMA) is now
online at www.appliedmathematicalanalysis.com. AMA is the company that markets the optimal
control software used by the computer programs described in the Aerospace
Trajectory Optimization section.
January 11, 2012
I’ve started a new blog at http://cdeaglejr.wordpress.com.
January 7, 2012
The Windows executable program and PDF
user’s guide for A Computer Program for Earth-to-Mars TCM Optimization has
been added to the Interplanetary Mission Analysis section. This computer program is freeware.
December 7, 2011
A Computer Program for
Interplanetary Gravity-Assist Trajectory Design and Optimization, located in the Interplanetary Mission Analysis area, has been
updated. The companion PDF document has
also been updated. This Windows
compatible executable program is freeware.
The updates include a bug fix, a new algorithm for computing the
departure trajectory characteristics, and the ability to use a comet or
asteroid as a final destination.
December 6, 2011
A Computer Program for
Patched-Conic, Ballistic Interplanetary Trajectory Design and Optimization, located in the Interplanetary Mission Analysis area, has been
updated. The companion PDF document has
also been updated. This Windows
compatible executable program is freeware.
December 3, 2011
An updated
version of the Impulsive Hyperbolic Injection from a Circular Park Orbit
executable program is available in the Interplanetary Mission Analysis
section. An updated PDF user’s guide is
also available.
November 28, 2011
The Windows executable program and PDF
user’s guide for A Computer Program for Creating Pork Chop Plots of
Ballistic Earth-to-Mars Trajectories has been added to the Interplanetary
Mission Analysis section. This computer
program is freeware.
October 16, 2011
In the
MATLAB Scripts area of the Interplanetary Mission Analysis section, the Impulsive
Hyperbolic Injection from a Circular Park Orbit application now includes a
second MATLAB script called hyper2.m that uses SNOPT to compute the
characteristics of non-coplanar maneuvers.
A PDF document (hyper2_matlab.pdf) for this script has also been
included.
September 30, 2011
The Windows executable program and PDF user’s
guide for A Computer Program for Parametric Analysis of Ballistic
Earth-to-Mars Trajectories has been added to the Interplanetary Mission
Analysis section. This computer program
is freeware.
September 22, 2011
A MATLAB Script for Ballistic
Interplanetary Trajectory Design and Optimization in the Interplanetary Mission Analysis section has been updated to
include a graphical primer vector summary of the solution. The PDF document has also been updated.
September 19, 2011
A Computer Program for Patched-Conic,
Ballistic Interplanetary Trajectory Design and Optimization in the Interplanetary Mission Analysis section has been updated to
include a graphical primer vector summary of the solution. The PDF document has also been updated.
September 15, 2011
The Optimal
Orbital Transfer Analysis application in the Freeware section has been
updated to include a graphical primer vector summary of the solution. The PDF document has also been updated.
September 14, 2011
The Technical
Notes section of the Lunar Mission Analysis area has been expanded to
include Technical Reports from the NASA Technical Reports server. This area includes PDF technical documents
related to lunar mission analysis.
September 12, 2011
A Technical
Reports section has been added to the Interplanetary Mission Analysis
area. This area includes PDF technical
documents related to interplanetary mission analysis.
July 20, 2011
A MATLAB Script for Earth-to-Mars
Mission Design, located in the Interplanetary Mission
Analysis area, has been updated. The
script now optimizes the interplanetary injection hyperbola; the trajectory
correction maneuver (TCM) at the Earth’s sphere of influence has been
eliminated. This new version also
includes the option to target to user-defined components of the B-plane (B dot
T and B dot R) and entry interface conditions at Mars. The companion PDF document has also been
updated.
July 19, 2011
A Computer Program for
Earth-to-Mars Mission Design,
located in the Interplanetary Mission Analysis area, has been updated. This executable program now optimizes the
interplanetary injection hyperbola; the trajectory correction maneuver (TCM) at
the Earth’s sphere of influence has been eliminated. This new version also includes the option to
target to user-defined components of the B-plane (B dot T and B dot R) and
entry interface conditions at Mars. The
companion PDF document has also been updated.
July 15, 2011
A Computer Program for
Patched-Conic, Ballistic Interplanetary Trajectory Design and Optimization, located in the Interplanetary Mission Analysis area, has been
updated. The companion PDF document has
also been updated. This Windows
compatible executable program is freeware.
July 9, 2011
A Computer Program for
Interplanetary Gravity-Assist Trajectory Design and Optimization, located in the Interplanetary Mission Analysis area, has been
updated. The companion PDF document has
also been updated. This Windows
compatible executable program is freeware.
June 10, 2011
The assist.m MATLAB script, which is part of the Orbital Mechanics with MATLAB
software suite, has been updated. It has
been renamed to aeroassist.m. The maneuvers.pdf PDF document has also been updated.
May 3, 2011
A freeware program for Precision
Propagation of Earth to Mars Interplanetary Trajectories is available for download in the Interplanetary Mission Analysis area.
April 1, 2011
A MATLAB Script for Preliminary
Earth-to-Mars Interplanetary TCM Optimization
is available for purchase in the Interplanetary Mission Analysis area. The PDF user’s guide is also available for
download.
March 27, 2011
Several
broken links on the Celestial Computing with Numerit
page have been fixed.
March 25, 2011
BUG FIX –
lambert4.m script in Orbital Mechanics with MATLAB software suite; line
298.
fprintf('\n\ndelta-v
magnitude %12.6f meters/second\n', 1000.0 * norm(x(1:3)));
March 5, 2011
Several
new MATLAB scripts are available for purchase in the Lunar Mission Analysis and
Interplanetary Mission Analysis areas.
February 17, 2011
A
computer program for predicting the orbital lifetime of Earth satellites
(LIFTIM) is available for download in the Freeware section. The PDF user’s guide is also available for
download.
February 8, 2011
A MATLAB Script for Designing
Interplanetary Launch Trajectories and Impulsive
Hyperbolic Injection from a Circular Park Orbit are available for purchase ($49 each) in the Interplanetary Mission
Analysis section. The PDF user’s guides
are also available for download.
February 6, 2011
A MATLAB Script for Creating Interplanetary
Pork Chop Plots is available for purchase ($49) in the Interplanetary Mission
Analysis section. The PDF user’s guide
is available for download.
January 31, 2011
An updated
version of the Impulsive Hyperbolic Injection from a Circular Park Orbit
executable program is available in the Interplanetary Mission Analysis
section. This version is compiled with
Intel Visual Fortran. An updated PDF
user’s guide is also available.
January 27, 2011
An updated
version of the Closest Approach between
a Spacecraft and Celestial Body executable program is available in the
Interplanetary Mission Analysis section.
This version now uses DE421 as the fundamental ephemeris. An updated PDF user’s guide is also
available.
January 25, 2011
An Astro App that computes lunar libration
angles and rates has been added to the Astro Apps
section. It requires the JPL DE421 binary
ephemeris. A link for downloading DE421
is provided.
January 22, 2011
An updated
version of the Closest Approach between
the Earth and Heliocentric Objects executable program is available in the
Freeware section. This version now uses
DE421 as the fundamental ephemeris and also includes the point-mass gravity of
the Moon in the equations of motion. An
updated PDF user’s guide is also available.
June 21, 2010
MATLAB
source code for a subset of the NOVAS 3.0 subroutines and functions has been
added to the DOWNLOADS area of the Orbital Mechanics with MATLAB web page. These MATLAB functions were ported from the
Fortran version of the version 3.0 source code.
NOVAS 3.0 Fortran and C source code and documentation can be found at http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/software-products/novas.
June 19, 2010
MATLAB
source code for a demonstration script called demo_sidtim1 along with support functions has been added to the
DOWNLOADS area of the Orbital Mechanics with MATLAB web page. This script demonstrates how to interact with
a
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