Connect the dots ... finding all possible orbits between two points

Fuente: arXiv
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Autor principal: Blanco, Philip R.
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
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author Blanco, Philip R.
author_facet Blanco, Philip R.
contents You have a satellite spacecraft or asteroid that moves under the gravitational influence of a massive central body and follows a Keplerian orbit around it ellipse parabola or hyperbola Given measurements of two positions in its orbit what is the family of possible orbital paths that connects them I use the conic section orbits semilatus rectum directly related to orbital angular momentum to parameterise these orbits The solutions have applications to orbit determination ballistic missiles interplanetary interception and targeted reentry I also show how they can be applied to solve the Lambert problem of finding the unique transfer orbit that connects two points in a specified time interval These results are accessible to advanced undergraduate students in physics or aerospace engineering. Supplementary materials are provided online
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_02695
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Connect the dots ... finding all possible orbits between two points
Blanco, Philip R.
Physics Education
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Classical Physics
You have a satellite spacecraft or asteroid that moves under the gravitational influence of a massive central body and follows a Keplerian orbit around it ellipse parabola or hyperbola Given measurements of two positions in its orbit what is the family of possible orbital paths that connects them I use the conic section orbits semilatus rectum directly related to orbital angular momentum to parameterise these orbits The solutions have applications to orbit determination ballistic missiles interplanetary interception and targeted reentry I also show how they can be applied to solve the Lambert problem of finding the unique transfer orbit that connects two points in a specified time interval These results are accessible to advanced undergraduate students in physics or aerospace engineering. Supplementary materials are provided online
title Connect the dots ... finding all possible orbits between two points
topic Physics Education
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Classical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.02695