Theory of Orbit Determination

Andrea Milani is Full Professor of Mathematical Physics in the Department of Mathematics, University of Pisa. His areas of research include the N-body problem, stability of the Solar System, asteroid dynamics and families, satellite geodesy, planetary exploration, orbit determination, and asteroid impact risk. Giovanni F. Gronchi is a Researcher of Mathematical Physics in the Department of Mathematics, University of Pisa. His research is on Solar System body dynamics, perturbation theory, orbit determination, singularities and periodic orbits of the N-body problem.

• Preface; Part I. Problem Statement and Requirements: 1. The problem of orbit determination; 2. Dynamical systems; 3. Error models; 4. The N-body problem; Part II. Basic Theory: 5. Least squares; 6. Rank deficiency; Part III. Population Orbit Determination: 7. The identification problem; 8. Linkage; 9. Methods by Laplace and Gauss; 10. Weakly determined orbits; 11. Surveys; 12. Impact monitoring; Part IV. Collaborative Orbit Determination: 13. The gravity of a planet; 14. Non-gravitational perturbations; 15. Multi arc strategy; 16. Satellite gravimetry; 17. Orbiters around other planets; References; Index.

"This book is written clearly and is almost self-contained." -Alessandra Celletti, Mathematical Reviews