Probing the Earth’s gravity field by means of satellite-to-satellite tracking

Abstract
The idea of tracking one spacecraft from another grew out of some tracking studies performed early in the Apollo programme (1962-3). The main practical advantage of such a technique is that ( a ) contact time with a low orbiting spacecraft can be increased considerably (approximately 50 min v . 5 min for a single ground station); ( b ) the number of ground stations can be reduced; ( c ) the dependency on stations on foreign soil can almost be eliminated; and ( d ) detailed studies of spacecraft motions due to small variations in the Earth’s gravity field (anomalies) may be detectable. This paper describes specifically two satellite-to-satellite tracking (s. s. t.) tests, namely ( a ) the ATS-6/Geos-3 and ( b ) the ATS-6/Apollo-Soyuz experiment and some of the results obtained. The main purpose of these two experiments was first to track via ATS-6 the Geos-3 as well as the Apollo-Soyuz and to use these tracking data to determine ( a ) both orbits, that is, ATS-6, Geos-3 and/or the Apollo-Soyuz orbits at the same time; ( b ) each of these orbits alone, and ( c ) test the ATS-6/Geos-3 and /or Apollo-Soyuz s. s. t. link to study local gravity anomalies; and, second, to test communications, command and data transmission from the ground via ATS-6 to these spacecraft and back again to the ground (Rosman, N. G.). Most of the interesting data obtained to date originate from the Apollo-Soyuz geodynamics experiment. Thus, it will be discussed in some detail. Gravity anomalies of say 3-5 mGal (3-5 × 10 -5 m s -2 ) or larger having wavelength of 500-1000 km on the Earth’s surface are important for studies of the upper layers of the earth. Such anomalies were actually ‘seen’ for the first time from space as signatures in the form of very small variation (order of ~ 1 to 2 cm/s) in the range rate between ATS-6, Geos-3 and Apollo-Soyuz. Since the measured range noise turned out to be only 0.03- 0.05 cm/s on the average, these signatures were detected with an excellent signal-to-noise ratio. Orbit determination examples using s. s. t. data from ATS-6 and Geos-3 are also discussed in detail together with errors associated with the orbits of Geos-3. Further, signature studies and gravity anomaly detections with s. s. t. data will be shown and discussed in detail.

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