AAS 98-108

NAVIGATION FEASIBILITY STUDIES FOR THE EUROPA ORBITER MISSION

M. D. Guman, D. C. Roth, B. G. Williams - Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Abstract

This paper describes preliminary navigation analyses for the proposed Europa Orbiter mission. To quantify achievable navigation accuracies, orbit uncertainties are computed for simulated range and Doppler tracking coverage from NASA's Deep Space Network stations. In addition, single-station optical communication range tracking is simulated to assess its capabilities against those of traditional radiometric tracking. Covariance analyses are performed for these scenarios to identify important model uncertainties. Emphasis is placed on the operational "orbit phase" of the mission for which additional navigation considerations are investigated; these include spacecraft safety shortly after Europa orbit insertion and sensitivity to various orbit configurations.

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