Constraints-Based Optical Hybrid Navigation for Small-Body Close Flybys

What is it about?

This paper proposes a new optical hybrid navigation method for use in close flybys of small celestial bodies. Two steps are taken to estimate the inertial position and attitude of the spacecraft: i) The relative motion between the spacecraft and the center of mass (COM) of the small body is determined by processing the images taken from the onboard monocular camera using the photogrammetric technique; ii) The absolute state is determined by establishing an accurate displacement increment equation, which is based on various constraints and integrates both optical and radiometric observations. No a priori precise alignment information of onboard cameras is needed for the whole process. The flyby of asteroid Toutatis by Chang’e-2 in 2012 is selected as a case study.

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