Мethod for orientation angles forecasting of optical instruments from the international space station with orientation platform

Abstract

Onboard the International Space Station (ISS), as a part of the “Uragan” Earth exploration experiment, various observation devices are used, including photo and video spectral equipment, the orientation of which is carried out manually by the crew through the portholes. However, severe limitations are imposed on the planning of such experiments, primary related to the necessity taking into account the crew’s daily routine and the availability of time allocated for scientific experiments. The solution for expanding the ability to conduct experiments is the employing of automated orientation platforms (OP). One of these OPs is the video spectral equipment orientation system SOVA-1-426. A method for orientation angles forecasting of optical instruments for pointing at predefined objects on the Earth’s surface with SOVA-1-426 is presented. Moreover, in the described method, in addition to the coordinates of the center of mass, the current orientation of the ISS is taken into account, which makes it possible to perform the forecast with better precision. Taking into account the ISS orientation is carried out through the use of the ISS rotation quaternion to control the platform in automatic mode. The presented method for the orientation angles forecasting of high-resolution photo-camera aboard the ISS by employing SOVA-1-426 allows its automatic alignment on the Earth’s surface objects with accuracy up to seven kilometers. The described method is implemented in software and is currently used in the SOVA-1-426 OP aboard the ISS for the remote sensing of the Earth’s surface.