pytwobodyorbit

pytwobodyorbit is a module that provides various computations about two-body orbits, including:

• Defines the orbit by position and velocity of an object
• Defines the orbit by classical orbital elements
• Computes position and velocity of an object at a given time
• Provides a series of points on orbital trajectory of an object for visualization
• Solves so-called Lambert's problem (When two positions and flight time between them are given, the module computes initial and terminal velocity of the object).

The module contains TwoBodyOrbit class and lambert function.

TwoBodyOrbit (Class)

A class that provides a two-body orbit of a celestial body, which orbits around or flies by a central body.

Attributes

• bodyname: The name of the celestial body
• mothername: The name of the central body
• mu: Gravitational parameter (mu) of the central body
  • The dimension of mu prescribes units of length and time used in the instance. For example, when you use the default value of mu (1.32712440041e20), the unit of length should be meters, and the unit of time should be seconds.

Methods

• setOrbCart: Define the orbit by Cartesian orbital elements (the position and velocity of the body). Arguments are as follows:

  • t: Time
  • pos: Position of the body [x, y, z]; an array-like object
  • vel: Velocity of the body [xd, yd,zd]; an array-like object

• setOrbKepl: Define the orbit by classical orbital elements (Keplerian orbital elements). Arguments are as follows:

  • epoch: Epoch
  • a: Semi-major axis
  • e: Eccentricity; 1.0 is not allowed
  • i: Orbital inclination in degrees
  • LoAN: Longitude of ascending node in degrees; if inclination is zero, this value defines a reference longitude of AoP
  • AoP: Argument of periapsis in degrees; if inclination is zero, this value indicates an angle from the reference longitude; for a circular orbit, this value defines a imaginary periapsis
  • Following three keyword parameters (TA, T, MA) are mutually exclusive. You should specify one of them.
    • TA: True anomaly at epoch in degrees; for a circular orbit, this value indicates an angle from the imaginary periapsis
    • T: Periapsis passage time; for a circular orbit, this value indicates passage time for the imaginary periapsis
    • MA: Mean anomaly at epoch in degrees; for a hyperbolic trajectory, you cannot specify this argument; for a circular orbit, this value indicates anomaly form the imaginary periapsis

• posvel: Returns position and velocity of the body for given true anomaly

• points: Returns points on orbital trajectory for visualization

• posvelatt: Returns position and velocity of the body for given time

• elmKepl: Returns classical orbital elements (Keplerian orbital elements) of the orbit

Usage

from pytwobodyorbit import TwoBodyOrbit
sunmu = 1.32712440041e20
orbit = TwoBodyOrbit("Space Probe", mu=sunmu)   # create an instance
t0 = 0.0                                        # epoch
pos0 = [1e11, 1.2e11, 0.2e11]                   # position
vel0 = [-2e4, 1.8e4, 0.0]                       # velocity
orbit.setOrbCart(t0, pos0, vel0)                # define the orbit
t1 = 100.0 * 86400                              # time after 100 days
pos, vel = orbit.posvelatt(t1)                  # get position and velocity at t1
xs, ys, zs, times = orbit.points(100)           # get points (series of 100 points)
kepl = orbit.elmKepl()                          # get classical orbital elements

The value for the gravitational parameter (1.32712440041e20) is for the Sun, and it prescribes units of length to meters and units of time to seconds.

lambert (Function)

A function to solve Lambert's Problem. From given initial position and terminal position of a body and flight time, the function computes a two-body orbit and returns initial velocity and terminal velocity of the body. The function returns following two numpy arrays. The origin of axes is the central body.

• ivel: Initial velocity of the body [xd, yd, zd]
• tvel: Terminal velocity of the body [xd, yd, zd]

Arguments

• ipos: Initial position of an body [x, y, z]; an array-like object; origin of coordinates is the central body
• tpos: Terminal position of an body [x, y, z]; an array-like object; origin of coordinates is the central body

Usage

from pytwobodyorbit import lambert
P1 = [1.5e11, 0.0, 0.0]                                 # initial position
P2 = [-0.5e11, 1.3e11, 0.4e11]                          # terminal position
Ft = 100.0 * 86400                                      # flight time in seconds
sunmu = 1.32712440041e20                                # mu of the Sun
prog = True                                             # Prograde orbit
ivel, tvel = lambert(P1, P2, Ft, mu=sunmu, ccw=prog)    # get initial velocity and terminal velocity

Install pytwobodyorbit

pytwobodyorbit has been registered on PyPI (Python Package Index). You can install it by pip command of Python as follows.

pip install pytwobodyorbit

Required environment

• Python 3

Packages and Modules

• Numpy

Referenced document

• 室津義定, 宇宙航行力学, 宇宙工学の基礎I, 共立出版株式会社, Japan, 1993-1998

Modification Log

v1.0.0 January 2, 2019

• TwoBodyOrbit class

  • Initiating method was changed its argument name (mmu to mu)
  • Method setOrbKepl was added to TwoBodyOrbit class
  • Method elmKepl was changed its returning data; keys of dictionary were modified

• lambert function

  • Function name was changed; from solveGauss to lambert
  • The argument "mu" became to have a default value

v0.1.0 November 7, 2016

• Initial release

Programs for testing and demonstration

This repository contains two programs for testing and demonstration of pytwobodyorbit module. Those are testConvert.py and testLambert.py. You can find their scripts in the "source" directory.

testConvert.py

A program that demonstrates functionalities of the TwoBodyOrbit class of pytwobodyorbit. By utilizing the class, the program converts a set of classical orbital elements of a body that orbits around or flies by the Sun, into a set of Cartesian orbital elements, and vice versa. In addition, the program draws a 3D chart of the orbit, from classical orbital elements or Cartesian orbital elements.

The program requires Numpy and matplotlib.

testLambert.py

A program that demonstrates the lambert function of pytwobodyorbit. By utilizing the function, the program compute a two-body orbit from initial position and terminal position of a body that orbit around or flies by the Sun and flight time between them. The program shows you classical orbital elements of the orbit, and draws the orbit into a 3D chart. For the computation of a two-body orbit, you can choose flight direction of the orbit, one is a direct (prograde) orbit and another is a retrograde orbit.

The program requires Numpy and matplotlib.