METHOD FOR DETERMINING ERROR IN TRAJECTORY MEASUREMENTS OF INTERPLANETARY SPACECRAFT DUE TO PROPAGATION OF RADIO SIGNALS IN EARTH'S IONOSPHERE AND INTERPLANETARY PLASMA Russian patent published in 2018 - IPC B64G3/00 

FIELD: astronautics.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to the tracking of the flight of interplanetary spacecrafts (2), in case of errors introduced by the passage of radio signals from the interplanetary spacecraft (at f01 frequency) and quasar (1) close to it on the celestial sphere (at f01 and f02 frequencies) through ionized medium (8). Using Δf1 = f01- fpr1 displacement of the fpr1 frequency received from the quasar and the two-frequency method, the error in measuring the speed of the interplanetary spacecraft is determined, as well as the integral electronic concentration of medium (8) and, by its magnitude, the time delay of the signal with f01 frequency. Receiving points (9) are arranged at the vertices of a rectangular triangle-interferometer with three extra-long bases: in the azimuthal, angle and hypotenuse planes. Signals received by the interferometer, emitted by the quasar at f02 frequency, are processed using adjustable delay blocks and correlation functions. As a result, the location of quasar (1) is determined exactly and unambiguously.

EFFECT: technical result of the invention is an increase in the reliability of the determination of the errors of the trajectory measurements of interplanetary spacecrafts.

1 cl, 3 dwg