Atmospheric drag model for Cassini orbit determination during low altitude Titan flybys

摘要

On April 16, 2005, the Cassini spacecraft performed its lowest altitude flyby of Titan to date, the Titan-5 flyby, flying 1027 km above the surface of Titan. This document discusses the development of a Titan atmospheric drag model for the purpose of the orbit determination of Cassini. Results will be presented for the Titan A flyby, the Titan-5 flyby as well as the most recent low altitude Titan flyby, Titan-7. Different solutions will be compared against OD performance in terms of the flyby B-plane parameters, spacecraft thrusting activity and drag estimates. These low altitude Titan flybys were an excellent opportunity to observe the effect of Titan's atmospheric drag on the orbit determination solution and results show that the drag was successfully modeled to provide accurate flyby solutions.