Long-Term Orbital Dynamics of Smart Dust

Yafei Zhao, Pini Gurfil, Shijie Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This paper investigates the long-term orbital evolution of smart dust in space. Previous studies modeled the dynamics of smart dust under solar radiation pressure and drag only, and they found conditions for long-lived orbits but without considering the gravitational perturbations. In this work, the orbital dynamics under the additional effect of gravitational perturbations are investigated, and two groups of initial conditions yielding long-lived orbits are characterized.Amongthese conditions, five representative points are selected to study the long-term orbital evolution. Based on these considerations, it is found that there are long-term stable orbits, not only with small eccentricities but also with large eccentricities, due to the influence of gravitational perturbations, solar radiation pressure, and drag.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)125-142
Number of pages18
JournalJournal of Spacecraft and Rockets
Volume55
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2018

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Space and Planetary Science

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