Kaitlyn Raub, The MITRE Corporation; Tim McLaughlin, Pine Park Engineering Corporation; Roger L. Mansfield, Astronomical Data Service
Keywords: telescope, james webb space telescope, observations, astronomy, cislunar
Abstract:
We present Pine Park Engineering and MITREs collection campaign on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) during its deployment to beyond geostationary orbit, or XGEO space. Included in this paper are our end-to-end collection methods using new satellite observation techniques, an analytical study in the data quality and products, and the challenges presented during the campaign. We will outline the XGEO collection methods that were used in the campaign, address the current challenges that traditional ground-based optical sensors face with these orbits, and outline additional work needed to be fully prepared for the future of XGEO data collection.
The Artemis program, which will return humans to the lunar surface for the first time since Apollo 17, and the recent deployment of NASAs James Webb Space Telescope to beyond the Moon, are just two examples of missions to send spacecraft to XGEO. Traditional methods for satellite observations are rendered unusable for objects near the moon. Common tracking methods are not valid for a 3-body system because of lunar and solar gravitational perturbations, such as those using two-line element sets (TLE’s) and standard state vector propagation models. Due to the increasing number of XGEO missions, it is important to identify the limitations of our current tracking and observation capabilities and to establish new ones.
Date of Conference: September 27-20, 2022
Track: Cislunar SSA