[Orekit Users] Fwd: Sprite orbit-guesser on the web using Orekit?

[Michael Turner <michael.eugene.turner@gmail.com>]

See forwarded e-mail below, from Zac Manchester, the lead on KickSat.

  http://www.kickset.net

I have Java web hosting (metawerx.net) and a little experience with
getting the demo code running, but I'm not an orbital mechanics expert
by any means. The SpaceX CRS 3 / ELaNa 5 launch is now scheduled for
March 1st, so there's about one month to do something here with
Orekit.

I think it's an interesting problem -- a few hundred flat,
spin-stabilized femtosats, with high ballistic coefficents, deployed
radially from a sun-pointing, spin-stabilized cubesat. Being able to
predict their orbits even approximately might help those with ground
stations. Deviations from Orekit trajectory predictions might count as
exosphere density data (for all I know, which isn't much.)

 If anyone wants to help out with this, please write me. Everybody
involved with KickSat Sprites would greatly appreciate it.
Contributors will be duly credited.

Regards,
Michael Turner
Executive Director
Project Persephone
K-1 bldg 3F
7-2-6 Nishishinjuku
Shinjuku-ku Tokyo 160-0023
Tel: +81 (3) 6890-1140
Fax: +81 (3) 6890-1158
Mobile: +81 (90) 5203-8682
turner@projectpersephone.org
http://www.projectpersephone.org/

"Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward
together in the same direction." -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Zac Manchester <zacinaction@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Jan 30, 2014 at 4:03 AM
Subject: Re: Sprite orbit-guesser on the web using Orekit?
To: Michael Turner <michael.eugene.turner@gmail.com>


Hi Michael,

Good to hear from you - hope things are going well. First off, the
launch date has slipped once again to March 1, and I'm told that date
is "very soft" and likely subject to further (possibly significant)
delays.

Right now I'm working on getting my radio demodulator/decoder online
so that hams can just record audio files and upload them to be decoded
in the cloud. Ideally we could then plot all of the ground station
contacts on a google maps overlay or something.

As for some kind of astrodynamics thing using Orekit, the obvious
thing to do is some kind of orbit propagation/estimation using the
tracking data we get. The issue I think is that we're likely to run
out of time with the launch coming up so quickly. If this is what you
want to focus on, I'd recommend trying to pipe the Orekit orbit
propagator output into a google earth or google maps visualization to
be displayed online. If you can take care of the graphics/web UI
stuff, I can handle the astrodynamics end.

Have fun at the Brown conference - I've been to a couple and they're
always interesting. I think this one will be right up your alley.

Best,
Zac