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 Greenwich sidereal time function based on NOVAS 3.0.  The hard-wired input for this script is taken from the sample.f source code provided with NOVAS 3.0.  Several of the support functions have been ported to MATLAB from the NOVAS 3.0 Fortran code.  Please note that this script is based on a truncated version of the IAU 2000a nutation algorithm.  NOVAS 3.0 source code and documentation can be found at http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/software-products/novas.

 


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