Practical Applications
The most typical use of this algorithm to solve Lambert's problem is certainly for the design of interplanetary missions. A spacecraft traveling from the Earth to for example Mars can in first approximation be considered to follow a heliocentric elliptic Kepler orbit from the position of the Earth at the time of launch to the position of Mars at the time of arrival. By comparing the initial and the final velocity vector of this heliocentric Kepler orbit with corresponding velocity vectors for the Earth and Mars a quite good estimate of the required launch energy and of the maneuvres needed for the capture at Mars can be obtained. This approach is often used in conjunction with the Patched Conic Approximation. This is also a method for Orbit determination. If two positions of a spacecraft at different times are known with good precision from for example a GPS fix the complete orbit can be derived with this algorithm, i.e an interpolation and an extrapolation of these two position fixes is obtained.
Read more about this topic: Lambert's Problem
Famous quotes containing the word practical:
“The English masses are lovable: they are kind, decent, tolerant, practical and not stupid. The tragedy is that there are too many of them, and that they are aimless, having outgrown the servile functions for which they were encouraged to multiply. One day these huge crowds will have to seize power because there will be nothing else for them to do, and yet they neither demand power nor are ready to make use of it; they will learn only to be bored in a new way.”
—Cyril Connolly (1903–1974)