(In progress)
Sample 4: Orienting Earth and Moon with PCK kernel data
In MaxQ, planet rotations are provided by PCK kernels. Planetary orientations and angular velocities can be determined in a few ways:
pxform - Position Transformation Matrix
Get the orientation of a body’s “Fixed Frame” (IAU_*) to determine its orientation relative to an inertial frame.
sxform - Position Transformation Matrix
Get the orientation of a body’s “Fixed Frame” (IAU_*) to determine its orientation relative to an inertial frame. The angular velocity can be determined with the help of xf2rav (transform to position and angular velocity).
A portion of Sample 4 Blueprint implementation
CK kernels can provide accurate orientation for past spacecraft missions. This makes it possible to determine exactly what a Spacecrafts instruments/cameras/etc were pointed at for a given time.
