Upgrades to navigations Capabilities for GEODYN

  GEODYN is GSFC's scientific orbit determination software. GEODYN uses tracking data to estimate satellite orbital parameters and also parameters of the body that a satellite is orbiting (gravity parameters are one example). We are upgrading GEODYN's capabilities to take into account the complex environment of a binary asteroid system.  

   Our GEODYN upgrades for a binary asteroid system can be divided into two categories: (1) force model upgrades and (2) measurement model upgrades.   At the start of our project, GEODYN's  measurement model works for Earth based Deep Space Network tracking (Range and Doppler observations) and altimeter and camera observations taken from the artificial satellite to the body that the satellite is orbiting. GEODYN's measurement model will upgraded to to know when the altimeter or camera instrument is pointing away from the orbited (primary) asteroid and is taking observations to the secondary asteroid.