LADEE Orbit Determination – How we Find Where LADEE is, and Where it’s Going

Part of an astrogator’s job is to determine the spacecraft’s current orbit, and predict where it will be in the future, just as the navigators on sailing ships figured out where their ship was and where they were going.  Those navigators used star sightings, Sun observations, and accurate clocks to figure out their latitude and … Continue reading LADEE Orbit Determination – How we Find Where LADEE is, and Where it’s Going