Perturbing Acceleration

• The sun, of course, is the dominant celestial body in the

solar system. It is over 1000 times more massive than the
largest planet, Jupiter, and has a mass of over 300 000
earths.
• The sun’s gravitational pull holds all of the planets in its
grasp according to Newton’s law of gravity.
• However, near a given planet the influence of its own gravity
exceeds that of the sun.
• Example - at its surface the earth’s gravitational force is over
1600 times greater than the sun’s. The inverse-square nature
of the law of gravity means that the force of gravity Fg drops
off rapidly with distance r from the center of attraction. If Fg0
is the gravitational force at the surface of a planet with
radius r0, then
• Figure shows how rapidly the force diminishes with distance.
• At ten body radii, the force is 1 percent of its value at the
surface. Eventually, the force of the sun’s gravitational field
overwhelms that of the planet.
• Consider the three-body system comprising a planet p of mass mp, the
sun s of mass ms and a space vehicle v of mass mv illustrated in Figure.
• The position vectors of the planet and spacecraft relative to an inertial
frame centered at the sun are R and Rv, respectively.
• The position vector of the space vehicle relative to the planet is r.
• The gravitational force exerted on the vehicle by the planet is denoted
𝑭𝒗𝒑 , and that exerted by the sun is 𝑭𝒗𝒔 .
𝒑 𝒑
• Likewise, the forces on the planet are 𝑭𝒔 and 𝑭𝒗 ,whereas on the sun
we have 𝑭𝒔𝒑 and 𝑭𝒔𝒗 .
• Note - upper case letters to represent position, velocity and acceleration
measured relative to the sun and lower case letters when they are
measured relative to a planet.
• According to Newton second law of gravitation,

(1)
• We have,
Rv = R + r
• From Figure and the law of cosines we see that the magnitude of Rv
is,

• We expect that within the planet’s sphere of influence, r/R ≪ 1. In

that case, the terms involving r/R in above equation can be neglected,
so that, approximately,
Rv = R
• The equation of motion of the spacecraft relative to the sun-centered
inertial frame is
• Solving for R ̈ v and substituting the gravitational forces given by
Equations (1), we get,

• We can,
𝑅𝑣 ሷ = 𝐴𝑠 + 𝑃𝑝
• Where,

• As is the primary gravitational acceleration of the vehicle due to the

sun,
• whereas Pp is the secondary or perturbing acceleration due to the
planet.
• The magnitudes of As and Pp are

• The ratio of the perturbing acceleration to the primary acceleration is,

therefore,
•
• The equation of motion of the planet relative to the inertial frame is,
Oblatness
• The earth, like all of the planets with comparable or higher rotational rates, bulges out at
the equator because of centrifugal force. The earth’s equatorial radius is 21 km (13 miles)
larger than the polar radius. This flattening at the poles is called oblateness and expressed
as:

• The earth is an oblate spheroid, lacking the perfect symmetry of a sphere. (A basketball
can be made an oblate spheroid by sitting on it.)
• This lack of symmetry means that the force of gravity on an orbiting body is not directed
towards the center of the earth. Whereas the gravitational field of a perfectly spherical
planet depends only on the distance from its center, oblateness causes a variation also
with latitude, that is, the angular distance from the equator (or pole). This is called a zonal
variation.
• The dimensionless parameter which quantifies the major effects of oblateness on orbits is
J2, the second zonal harmonic.
• J2 is not a universal constant. Each planet has its own value, as illustrated in Table on next
slide, which lists variations of J2 as well as oblateness.
• The gravitational acceleration (force per unit mass) arising from
an oblate planet is given by,

• The first term on the right is the familiar one due to a spherical
planet.
• The second term, p, which is several orders of magnitude
smaller than μ/r2, is a perturbing acceleration due to the
oblateness. This perturbing acceleration can be resolved into
components,

• where uˆ r , uˆ ⊥ and hˆ are the radial, transverse and normal

unit vectors attached to the satellite, as illustrated in Figure
• uˆ r points in the direction of the radial position vector r,
• hˆ is the unit vector normal to the plane of the orbit and uˆ⊥ is
perpendicular to r, lying in the orbital plane and pointing in the
direction of the motion.
• The perturbation components pr , p⊥ and ph are all directly proportional to J2
and are functions of otherwise familiar orbital parameters as well as the planet
radius R,

• the time variation of the right ascension Ω depends only on the component of
the perturbing force normal to the (instantaneous) orbital plane, whereas the
rate of change of the argument of perigee is influenced by all three
perturbation components.
• Integrating Ωሶ over one complete orbit yields the average rate of change,

• where T is the period. Carrying out the mathematical details leads to an

expression for the average rate of precession of the node line, and hence, the
orbital plane,
• where we have dropped the subscript avg. R and μ are the radius and
gravitational parameter of the planet, a and e are the semimajor axis and
eccentricity of the orbit, and i is the orbit’s inclination. Observe that if 0 ≤ i <
90◦, then Ω̇ሶ < 0.
• For posigrade orbits, the node line drifts westward. Since the right ascension
of the node continuously decreases, this phenomenon is called regression of
the nodes.
• 90◦ < i ≤ 180◦, we see that Ω̇ሶ ̇ > 0. The node line of retrograde orbits therefore
advances eastward. For polar orbits (i = 90◦), the node line is stationary.
Satellite Drag
• Drag is a force exerted on an object moving through a
fluid, and it is oriented in the direction of relative fluid
flow.
• Drag acts opposite to the direction of motion and tends
to slow an object.
• Example, think of running against a high wind and
feeling the drag pushing you back in the direction of
relative fluid flow. This same force acts on spacecraft
and objects flying in the space environment.
• Drag has a significant impact on spacecraft in low Earth
orbit (LEO), generally defined as an orbit below an
altitude of approximately 2,000 kilometers (1,200 mi).
• Although the air density is much lower than near the
Earth’s surface, the air resistance in those layers of the
atmosphere where satellites in LEO travel is still strong
enough to produce drag and pull them closer to the
Earth
• Figure shows the region of the Earth’s atmosphere
where atmospheric drag is an important factor
perturbing spacecraft orbits.
• The drag force on satellites increases during times when the Sun is
active.
• When the Sun adds extra energy the atmosphere the low density layers
of air at LEO altitudes rise and are replaced by higher density layers that
were previously at lower altitudes.
• As a result, the spacecraft now flies through the higher density layer and
experiences a stronger drag force.
• When the Sun is quiet, satellites in LEO have to boost their orbits about
four times per year to make up for atmospheric drag.
• When solar activity is at its greatest over the 11-year solar cycle,
satellites may have to be maneuvered every 2-3 weeks to maintain their
orbit.
• In addition to these long-term changes in upper atmospheric temperature
and density caused by the solar cycle, interactions between the solar wind
and the Earth’s magnetic field during geomagnetic storms can produce large
short-term increases in upper atmosphere temperature and density,
increasing drag on satellites and changing their orbits.
• The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has to re-
identify hundreds of objects and record their new orbits after a large solar
storm event (Figure 2). During the March 1989 storm event, for example,
the NASA's Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) spacecraft was reported to have
"dropped as if it hit a brick wall" due to the increased atmospheric drag.