The Shape of Weight - Julia 1.2 Gravitational Modeling Program
Faculty Mentor Name
Kaela Martin
Format Preference
Poster
Abstract
Julia is a new programming language designed for numerical computing, combining simplicity and the ease of dynamic languages with the speed of compiled languages. Julia version 1.0 was released in August of 2018, marking the first stable version of the language. Julia’s ability to handle large amounts of data provides the perfect language to create an ephemeris reader. Ephemeris readers are used in astrodynamics to access hundreds of years’ worth of celestial body data. An ephemeris and constant reader, capable of retrieving data for major and small bodies, does not yet exist in Julia. Creating such a tool in Julia would provide later projects with a convenient and functional package to automate many tasks in astrodynamics. The most recent addition, gravitational field modeling, uses both polyhedral models and spherical harmonics to calculate the fields. Our team’s newest version can now calculate additional sets of harmonics to more accurately represent the field. Using the Database of Asteroid Models from Inversion Techniques (DAMIT), the code can produce three-dimensional models of asteroids. DAMIT provides coordinates for the asteroid, the reader then utilizes DAMIT to provide an accurate gravitational model. The knowledge of celestial bodies and their gravitational models within one program will help reduce the cost and increase efficiency in astrodynamics and space trajectory optimization.
- POSTER PRESENTATION
- ARIZONA SPACE GRANT AWARD
The Shape of Weight - Julia 1.2 Gravitational Modeling Program
Julia is a new programming language designed for numerical computing, combining simplicity and the ease of dynamic languages with the speed of compiled languages. Julia version 1.0 was released in August of 2018, marking the first stable version of the language. Julia’s ability to handle large amounts of data provides the perfect language to create an ephemeris reader. Ephemeris readers are used in astrodynamics to access hundreds of years’ worth of celestial body data. An ephemeris and constant reader, capable of retrieving data for major and small bodies, does not yet exist in Julia. Creating such a tool in Julia would provide later projects with a convenient and functional package to automate many tasks in astrodynamics. The most recent addition, gravitational field modeling, uses both polyhedral models and spherical harmonics to calculate the fields. Our team’s newest version can now calculate additional sets of harmonics to more accurately represent the field. Using the Database of Asteroid Models from Inversion Techniques (DAMIT), the code can produce three-dimensional models of asteroids. DAMIT provides coordinates for the asteroid, the reader then utilizes DAMIT to provide an accurate gravitational model. The knowledge of celestial bodies and their gravitational models within one program will help reduce the cost and increase efficiency in astrodynamics and space trajectory optimization.
- POSTER PRESENTATION
- ARIZONA SPACE GRANT AWARD