Keywords:refernce framers; navigation; Very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI); global positioning system (GPS); International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF); International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF)
Publisher:Pasadena, CA : Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2010.
Citation:Reference Frames for Applications in Geosciences (REFAG2010), Marne-la-Vallee, France, October 4-8, 2010
Abstract:
Navigation of interplanetary spacecraft is typically based on range, Doppler, and differential interferometric measurements made by ground-based telescopes. Acquisition and interpretation of these observations requires accurate knowledge of the terrestrial reference frame and its orientation with respect to the celestial frame. Work is underway at JPL to reprocess historical VLBI and GPS data to improve realizations of the terrestrial and celestial frames. Improvements include minimal constraint alignment, improved tropospheric modeling, better orbit determination, and corrections for antenna phase center patterns.
