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GP-B Post-Flight Analysis—Final Report - Gravity Probe B - Stanford ...

GP-B Post-Flight Analysis—Final Report - Gravity Probe B - Stanford ...

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Figure 4-7. Eta-Average Error Associated with <strong>GP</strong>-B Orbit as a function of IOC duration and sciencemission lifetime4.4.4 Orbit Determination Calculations<strong>GP</strong>-B operations also require an accurate knowledge of the satellite ephemeris throughout the mission. Themost stringent requirements are for 25 m and 7.5 cm/sec RMS position and velocity accuracy, to permitaccurate relativistic drift scaling and allow the computed aberration signature to be used for science signalcalibration. There also is a looser requirement for regular three-week predictions for scheduling missionoperations.For those purposes, <strong>GP</strong>-B ephemeris segments have been generated every day using independent batch fits to30-hour data spans centered on Greenwich noon. That allows for 6-hours overlap before and after each segmentfor consistency comparisons.Global positioning system (<strong>GP</strong>S) measurements have been used as the primary means of orbit determinationwhile Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) measurements have been used as an independent means since late-July2004. A similar procedure is used on both data sets to generate daily solutions.4.4.4.1 OD Using <strong>GP</strong>S Data<strong>GP</strong>S data points are taken once every 10 seconds. Duplicate points and points with impossibly large or smallradius values are removed from the data set before a <strong>GP</strong>S solution is generated. The result is a data set at around7500-8500 time points in each 30-hour segment (Figure 4-5). The decrease in usable points available after day66 reflects a switch from A-side to B-side <strong>GP</strong>S receiver.Next, the commercial software package Microcosm was used to fit an ephemeris to the data. The 35 x 35 gravitymodel jgm3 was used for these fits, along with lunar-solar and earth-tide effects, a constant (shadowed)radiation pressure model and a Jacchia 71 atmospheric density model, both with adjustable scale factors.114 March 2007 Chapter 4 — <strong>GP</strong>-B On Orbit

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