Inertia parameter statistics of an uncertain small body shape
Abstract
This paper proposes an analytical formulation of the inertia parameters of Bezier shapes of arbitrary order. Bezier shapes can represent classical polyhedra as well as higher-order surface elements within the same framework. This formulation is linearized so as to yield the expressions of the first variation in the inertia properties of interest. These expressions eventually provide the second moment about the means of the inertia parameters, under the assumption of normally distributed, correlated mesh coordinates errors. This statistical model was evaluated over asteroid Itokawa and comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, whose shape control points were subjected to a Gaussian, correlated deviation along their surface normals. The model exhibited good agreement with Monte-Carlo evaluations of the perturbed inertia moments, and should thus be of benefit to astronomers and astrodynamicists studying the dynamical environment of small bodies whose shape model is only known within some uncertainty.
- Publication:
-
Icarus
- Pub Date:
- August 2019
- DOI:
- 10.1016/j.icarus.2019.02.016
- Bibcode:
- 2019Icar..328...32B
- Keywords:
-
- Asteroid Itokawa;
- Asteroids;
- Surfaces;
- Asteroid;
- Dynamics