• Title/Summary/Keyword: Earth-Moon Rotating Frame

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An Astronomer's View on the Current College-Level Textbook Descriptions of Tides

  • Ahn, Kyung-Jin
    • Journal of the Korean earth science society
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    • v.30 no.5
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    • pp.671-681
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    • 2009
  • In the equilibrium theory of tides by Newton, tide on the Earth is a phenomenon driven by differential gravity contributed both by the Sun and the Moon. Due to the direct link of the generic tidal effect to the oceanic tides, college students in the earth science education department are exposed to this theory through oceanography lectures as well as astronomy lectures. Common oceanography textbooks adopt a non-inertial reference frame fixed to the Earth in which the fictitious, centrifugal force appears. This has a potential risk to provide misconceptions among students in various aspects including the followings: 1) this is how Newton originally derived the equilibrium theory of tides, and 2) the tide is a phenomenon appearing only in rotating systems. We show that in astronomy, a much simpler description, which employs the inertial frame, is generally used to explain tides and thus causes less confusion. We argue that the description used in astronomy is preferable both in the viewpoints of simplicity and ease of interpretation. Moreover, on a historical basis, an inertial frame was adopted by Newton in Principia to explain tides. Thus, the description used in astronomy is consistent with Newton's original approach. We also present various astrophysical tides which do not comply with the concept of centrifugal force in general. We therefore argue that the description used in oceanography should be compensated by that in astronomy, due to its complexity, historical inconsistency and limited applicability.

Mission Design and Analysis based on SEM Angle by Using Variable Coast During 3.5 Earth-Moon Phasing Loop Transfer (Variable Coast를 이용하는 3.5 지구-달 위상전이궤적에서 SEM 각도에 따른 임무설계 및 해석)

  • Choi, Su-Jin;Lee, Donghun;Lim, Seong-Bin;Choi, Suk-Won
    • Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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    • v.46 no.1
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    • pp.68-77
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    • 2018
  • In order to analyze the overall characteristics of the lunar orbiter, the Variable Coast method, which can be launched everyday, is applied to the 3.5 phasing loop transfer trajectory. The mission scenario for the entire process from launching to entering the lunar orbit is set up and performed simulation by selecting the launch pad and launch vehicle. In particular, the SEM(Satellite-Earth-Moon) angle defined in Earth-Moon rotating frame is an important constraint to comprehensively evaluate the 3.5 phasing loop transfer trajectory. The simulation using SEM angle is analyzed from various viewpoints such as launch epoch, coast duration, perigee altitude and ${\Delta}V$ not only trans-lunar trajectory but lunar orbit insertions and the optimum SEM angle is suggested in this study. It is expected that this results will be helpful to evaluate the characteristics of the 3.5 phasing loop transfer trajectory according to the launch vehicle selection by comparison with Fixed Coast analysis results in the future.