A N EDUCATIONAL PUBLICATION OF THE

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

NF-37/ 12-67

SDase NavigaIio~
OBJECTIVE: MARS
On earth man moves between points which
remain fixed in relation to one another. But in the
sofar system all bodies are in continuous motion.
Soon man will walk on the moon, and not long
thereafter he will journey t o the planets; man will
navigate great distances in space. He will be able
to navigate there with a precision unfamiliar to
most earth-bound navigators. Yet the tools and
techniques which will be used will seem familiar,
Space navigation is essentially the same as naviga-
tion on earth: a process of finding out where you
are with respect to where you want to be.
If the objective is Mars, for example, the astro-
nauts will not move directly toward the planet but
along a curving path toward another point in space.
Here they will rendezvous with Mars. They must
arrive at that point in space at the same time the
planet Mars arrives.
Though the spacecraft will be traveling thou-

Figure 1-The sextant-for centuries a tool for mariners, in the form shown here-has been adapted for use in
space navigation. See "The Sextant."
sands of miles per hour, it will seem to the men on
board that it is hanging motionless in space. The
stars will appear t o be fixed in their positions.
This is a fortunate circumstance of nature; it will
allow the astronauts to determine the spacecraft’s
position.
The receding earth will not remain behind but
will be moving ahead imperceptibly. The point
from which the astronauts left the earth is now
only a point in space.
In the trajectory designed to encounter Mars,
the astronauts will be in orbit around the sun.
ESCAPING THE EARTH
In our solar system each planet is held in its
orbit by its velocity balanced against the sun‘s
gravitational force. The inner planets, where the
sun’si force is greatest, travel at greater speeds
than the outer planets, where the force is weaker.
If a spacecraft is t o leave the earth (Figure 2)
for another planet, it must increase or decrease
the speed imparted t o it by the orbiting earth. Yet
either way this velocity change is a fraction of the
orbital speed of the earth, which is about 66 thou-
sand miles per hour.
To reach a planet closer t o the sun (Venus, for
example), a spacecraft must escape earth in a
direction opposite to earth’s travel. This reduces
its velocity and allows the sun to pull it inward so
that its orbital path will intersect that of the planet.
With correct timing, the inner planet will be in the
vicinity of the intersecting point when the space-
craft gets there. If they don’t collide, the space-
craft will continue in an elliptical orbit around the
sun forever.
On the other hand, to reach a planet farther
from the sun, a spacecraft must escape earth in
the same direction as its movement around the
sun (Figure 3). Its greater velocity throws the
spacecraft outward, but the sun‘s gravitation grad-
ually slows it down and places it into an elongated
orbit that intersects that of the outer planet. Here
2
again accurate timing is essential to insure that
its arrival at the intersecting point coincides with
that of the planet. (Figure 4).
COURSE ALTERATIONS
It is velocity change which alters the course of
an orbiting body.
The velocity imparted by earth also puts the
spacecraft into the ecliptic plane (the plane of the
earth’s orbit).
It would take a considerable amount of energy
to get out of that plane. But fortunately all planets
move in planes very close to the ecliptic and they
all orbit in the same direction.
Now, if on a journey to Mars the spacecraft is
injected into its trajectory in the same direction
as the earth’s travel around the sun, its greater
velocity will throw it outward towards Mars.
But is the injection velocity correct? The path
the spacecraft should follow has
but 100% accuracy cannot be re
most sophisticated flight programs
for inaccuracies in injection or pr
cise orbits of the earth and the
On this trip, a discrepancy i
at earth of less than 1/10 of 1
will cause the craft to miss Mar
of a million miles.
The additional propellant and
correct so large an error near
voyage might be prohibitive. T
probably fail. The error must be
as possible.
Errors in trajectory can be corr
ing up, or slowing down, the s
amount of correction needed is
comparing the actual trajectory w
tended.
The actual trajectory is dete
lishing the position of the spa
intervals of time. This requir
measurements.

Figure 2-If the spacecraft is to leave the earth, it must
increase or decrease the speed imparted to it by the
orbiting earth.
Figure 3-To reach a planet farther from the sun, a space-
craft must escape earth in the same direction as its move-
ment around the sun.
Figure 4-Accurate timing is essential to insure arrival at
the planet.
~ 0 the ~actual,
~ mechanical
~ 0 procedure
~ ~
used to steer a vehicle along a path, or to
maintain its attitude in a specific orientation
in space.
ic: the apparent annual path of the sun
the stars, as seen from earth, projected
onto the celestial sphere; the intersection of
the earth’s orbit with the celestial sphere.
lane: the orbital plane of Earth.
68: the information required by a vehi-
make it follow a prescribed path or
fulfill a particular objective.
avigation: the process of determining vehicle
position and velocity in some known frame of
reference.
: the path of a body in space when the
path is closed and repetitive.
r a j e ~ t 0 r ~the
: path of a body in space with
more or less specific initial and end points.
Figure 5 -The astronauts use their sextant to track
landmarks.
3
Figure 6-The angle defines a cone of position.
some unavoidable'error ...

Figure 8-. .
. position is determined within a football Figure 9-Intersection of ellipsoid and cone establishes
shaped volume. position more closely.

Figurelo-The astronauts know approximately how far they Figure 11-Repeated sightings reduce the amount of
are from the desired trajectory. uncertainty.

4
 THE SEXTANT
Fundamental to all navigation is the ability to
measure angles.
For this, astronauts use a device which has been
used in navigating for over two hundred years:
the sextant. (See Figure 1, Page 1.)
The angle between a planet and a known star
can be measured precisely with a sextant. This
angle is recorded in a computer along with the
exact time of sighting. The angle defines a cone
of position because that angle could have been
sighted from any point on the surface of the cone.
(Figure 6).
But one sighting is not sufficient to tell the
astronauts where they are. They do know they are
near their desired trajectory. Their approximate
speed, elapsed time, and the limits of possible
error locate them within a football-shaped-volume
which navigators call the “estimated ellipsoid of
position”. (Figures 7 and 8 . )
The volume where this ellipsoid intersects the
cone establishes the craft’s position more closely;
they are somewhere in the area where the two coin-
cide (Figure 9). From this the astronauts know
approximately how far they are from the desired
trajectory. (Figure 10)
Repeated sightings will be made along the way
to reduce the amount of uncertainty, until the
actual trajectory is determined within allowable
limits. (Figure 111)
When the actual trajectory is determined to
have deviated too far from the desired one, a mid-
course correction must be made to attain a cor-
rected trajectory.
parking orbit around the planet can be calculated.
These velocity changes enable the spacecraft to
approach the planet from the proper distance and
go into parking orbit. The astronauts will then use
their sextant to track landmarks. (Figure 5 ) This
confirms their parking orbit, and determines its
characteristics which permit them to plan a descent
trajectory.
To navigate their return to earth the astronauts
will reverse the above procedure.
GUIDANCE OF UNMANNED SPACECRAFT
Deep space tracking equipment and methods
are already so accurate that unmanned craft can
be guided to the moon and nearby planets with
remarkable accuracy.
For example, Mariner II, on its mission of flying
past Venus, traversed one hundred and eighty
million miles of space and passed Venus 21,648
miles from the planet; 10,000 miles had been
planned .
This is like shooting at a moving target from a
platform that is moving and rotating, at a range of
one mile and hitting the target four and one quarter
inches from deadcenter.
Later, Ranger VI1 hit the moon within eight miles
of its aiming point. An inch and a half miss at one
mile.
Ranger IX came closer, impacting only two-and-
three-quarter miles from its target center. Mariner

LANDING ON A PLANET
Throughout the flight, earth-based tracking
information will be used to correct or supplement
on-board navigation. But as the spacecraft nears
its target position, millions of miles from earth’s
tracking stations, the astronauts will have to rely
almost entirely upon the on-board navigational
equipment because they need a precision far
greater than that available from earth data.
Furthermore, any back-up information would
take 12 minutes to travel the 134 million miles
that separate the astronauts from earth.
The exact location and speed of the craft must
be determined with respect to the planet, using
sextant sightings. The sightings will be made be-
tween the target planet and known stars. Then the
final velocity changes that will achieve a precise Figure 12-Surveyor spacecraft.

5
IV, traveling three hundred and twenty-five million The time-keeping and time-recording devices
miles, swept past Mars within two thousand miles which are essential to space navigation are now so
of its aiming point. Surveyors 1 and Ill soft-landed precise that they have an accuracy of one ten-
on the moon within a few miles of target centers. billionth of a second.
Lunar Orbiters have been placed in precise orbits Even though navigational instruments have
around the moon, as has the Interplanetary Ex-
plorer XXXV. These historic space Slights are great
technological achievements. They are skillful
demonstrations of the reliability and accuracy of
ea rth-based tracking techniques.

NEW TOOLS
There are new tools which have been developed
to solve the unique problems introduced by the
third dimension and immense vastness of space.
Basically these tools consist of:
a. Information gathering devices, both optical and
electronic;
b. Information processing devices (computers);
c. Time-keeping devices.
Manned space navigation and guidance demand
a great variety of information gathering devices.
They include:
a. Sextants or other optical instruments to measure
angles between celestial bodies;
b. On-board radar and other electronic equipment
for determining altitude and velocity relative to
the target planet, when near the planet;
c. Earth-based radio and radar for precise distance
and velocity measurements;
d. Inertial sensing and measurement equipment to
provide a reference frame for positioning the
vehicle during mid-course correction and t o
gauge the extent of the correction.
The information processing devices include
computers (both on-board and earth-based) that
use stored information as well as information fur-
nished them by the measuring and sensing devices.
The devices process at high speed the large number
of involved calculations necessary for space navi-
gation. They can solve in seconds problems which
would' take an experienced navigator an entire
voyage to calculate. Information processing devices
also include certain elements of the deep space
communication systems that carry information
between spacecraft and earth.
Figure 13-A navigation panel for space flight.
reached high degrees of reliability and accuracy,
more effort is being directed toward simplifying
equipment and methods, aimed at solving the con-
siderable problems of landing on a planet with an
accuracy of 10 miles.
In manned flight, studies are under way to deter-
mine how on-board and earth-based systems can
best work together to reduce on-board equipment
as much as possible. Knowledge is being improved
constantly about the planets' masses, their orbits
and distances from the sun, so that trajectories
can be computed more accurately.
Trajectory equations are being developed which
can be solved by simplified computers, which will
still provide navigational data to the degree of
reliability needed for manned flight to the planets.
Knowledge is augmented by missions like
Gemini; i n these practice missions man is gaining
experience in measuring angles, distances and
relative velocities, and in determining the changes
needed to attain specific trajectories.

6
APOLLO MOON FLIGHT
Systems development in the most ambitious
space project to date-the Apollo Moon Flight-is
well under way.
The guidance and navigation station aboard the
Apollo is equipped with scanning telescope, sextant,
digital computer and an inertial measurement unit.
The Apollo astronaut can maneuver the spacecraft
directly by the use of manually operated controls
or can select programs in the computer which will
initiate automatic maneuvers.
This complete system permits all navigation
functions for the lunar journey to be performed
on board and independent of earth-based tracking
or computing facilities, if necessary.
The navigator will make repeated sightings to
confirm his position and trajectory.
However, throughout the entire lunar trip he will
have earth-based tracking information available
for use in his own computer.
APOLLO ON-BOARD EQUIPMENT
This is how the on-board equipment works:
a. The line of sight of the scanning telescope is
fixed to the spacecraft. Looking through this
scope, the navigator acquires both the earth and
the selected star;
b. He maneuvers the spacecraft until the earth
landmark is centered at zero. He rotates the tele-
scope until the reticle falls across the star; this
also turns the sextant;
c. The navigator notes the angle of the star and
sets the-sextant at that angle. Now, looking
through the sextant, both images appear en-
larged and superimposed. When they are lined
up, the “mark” button is pushed. This feeds
precise time and angle information into the
computer;
d. The computer also receives earth-based tracking
data which, together with the observed data,
keeps the navigator informed of his current
position and actual trajectory;
e. The navigator instructs the computer to make
the necessary trajectory correction. The com-
puter determines the exact amount and direction
of thrust needed to accomplish this correction;
f. The inertial measurement unit furnishes a sense
of direction t o the computer, enabling the space-
craft to be oriented correctly. The rocket is fired.
The inertial measurement unit measures the
acceleration, and feeds this data to the computer;
g. When the desired speed change is accomplished,
the computer cuts the engine. Now the space-
craft is on its corrected course. More than one
correction may be needed. As the moon is ap-
proached sextant readings may be made between
known lunar landmarks and appropriate stars
to determine the final course correction;
h. Both on-board and earth-based computers deter-
mine independently what manuever is required
to place the Apollo craft into lunar orbit;
1. The familiar landmark tracking technique is then
used to confirm the parking orbit, putting man
for the first time in a position to land on an
extraterrestrial surface.
The navigational experience gained in the Apollo
program will contribute information needed for
trips of greater complexity.
EARLY ASTRONOMERS:
THE COURSES OF THE PLANETS
Man has observed the movements of the sun,
moon, and planets for hundreds of years.
In the 15th century Nicolaus Copernicus led the
way to modern man’s perception of the solar sys-
tem: the earth revolves around the sun along with
the other planets.
In the next century, the astronomer Tycho Brahe
made his painstaking determinations of the loca-
tions of the planets. His remarkably accurate ob-
servations preceded the telescope.
In the 17th century, Johannes Kepler, after years
of patient calculation, discovered the laws that
govern the movements of the planets. Using Tycho
Brahe’s observations, he demonstrated that a
planet does not travel in an exact circular orbit
around the sun but in a slightly elliptical one, with
the sun at one focus of the ellipse. This was the
foundation for his first law: the orbits of the planets
are ellipses, with the sun at a common focus.
His second law is that each planet revolves so
that the line joining it to the sun sweeps over equal
7
areas in equal intervals of time.
His third law, or discovery, is that the squares of
the periods of any two planets are in the same
proportion as the cubes of their mean distances
0
from the sun.
Kepler’s laws are used today to calculate the
trajectories of space probes.
Galileo Galilei was the first man to peer at the
heavens through an optical telescope. He saw that
there are worlds and satellites beyond earth. He
noted the craters of the moon, the moons of Jupiter,
and the phases of Venus.

Interest now began to shift from the courses of

the planets to studies of the forces controlling the
planets.
In the next generation Isaac Newton wrote his
laws of motion, which use both Kepler’s laws and
Galileo’s work on mechanics. Newton’s laws state:
1. A body either remains at rest or moves with
constant speed in a straight line provided it is
not acted upon by any external force.
2. A force acting on a body causes it to accelerate
in the direction of the force, the acceleration
being directly proportional to the force and
inversely proportional to the mass of the body. 0
3. Every action is accompanied by an equal and
opposite reaction.
By means of his laws of motion and by mathemati- Newton’s law of gravitation provided the key for
cal reasoning, Newton succeeded in reducing understanding planetary motion; men could view
Kepler’s geometrical description of the planetary the solar system as a vast machine, with predicta-
system to a single comprehensive law: ble parts and movements. For example, Neptune
and Pluto were calculated to exist by Newton’s
The gravitational force exerted between two bodies laws, and they were duly discovered.
is proportional to the product of their masses From that time onward man’s capability to navi-
divided by the square of the distance between gate in space waited only upon development of
their centers of gravity. technology.

NASA FACTS IS AN EDUCATIONAL PUBLICATION OF NASA’s OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS DIVISION.
A MAILING LIST IS MAINTAINED FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION TO TEACHERS. TO REQUEST LISTING FOR NASA FACTS WRITE
TO PUBLICATIONS DISTRIBUTION, FAD-1, NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND &ACE ADMINISTRATION, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20546.
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, US. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price 10 cents
0
d 5 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1968 0-285-603