AAS 99-135

A Flight Mechanics Analysis of Crew Return Vehicle (CRV)/International Space Station (ISS) Safe Separation

C. Kennedy

Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, CO

Abstract

The following ISS/CRV Separation Analysis report outlines tools created in MATLAB that were used to perform a preliminary analysis of the CRV/ISS separation problem. Specifically, the tools are able to model a tumbling ISS and the CRV departure from it, by integrating the equations of motion and determining the CRV trajectory relative to the tumbling ISS.