Abstract
A method to resolve initialization ambiguities encountered in x-ray-based pulsar navigation in deep space is presented. Prior work has shown that x-ray signals from pulsars can be used to determine the position of a spacecraft relative to its starting point. However, determining the initial position is still a challenge. This challenge is addressed in this paper by developing an algorithm which uses gravitational acceleration “maps” that are a function of a spacecrafts position in the solar system. We show that the spacecraft acceleration can be estimated from the Doppler shift of pulsar signals tracked by a spacecraft. Given the acceleration estimate, one can place the location of the spacecraft in the acceleration map. The proposed algorithm is validated using observation data from the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) observatory aboard the International Space Station (ISS). It shown that the method can provide an initial position estimate that is accurate within 1/4 of the period of many pulsars that are proposed for use in deep space navigation.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | 35th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of the Institute of Navigation, ION GNSS+ 2022 |
| Publisher | Institute of Navigation |
| Pages | 1885-1900 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781713871361 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2022 |
| Event | 35th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of the Institute of Navigation, ION GNSS+ 2022 - Denver, United States Duration: Sep 19 2022 → Sep 23 2022 |
Publication series
| Name | 35th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of the Institute of Navigation, ION GNSS+ 2022 |
|---|---|
| Volume | 3 |
Conference
| Conference | 35th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of the Institute of Navigation, ION GNSS+ 2022 |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | United States |
| City | Denver |
| Period | 9/19/22 → 9/23/22 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the National Science Foundation (through grant No.1841006) and the NASA/Minnesota Space Grant Consortium (MnSGC) for the work reported in this paper. The authors also acknowledge the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC) online services provided by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. This work has made extensive use of data from the NICER sensor data archived in HEASARC. Although the authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the aforementioned organization, the views and conclusion expressed d in this paper are those of the authors alone and should not be interpret as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the NSF, MnSGC or NASA.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 35th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of the Institute of Navigation, ION GNSS+ 2022. All rights reserved.