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Text Description of Geodetic Satellite Animation Tutorial

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The following text is displayed in the screen capture of the geodetic satellite coordinate alignment tutorial.

Geodetic Surveying: Aligning Satellite Axes with Terrestrial Axes

This VRML animation demonstrates the four rotations need to align the coordinate system of a satellite with the axes of the earth.

Satellite Coordinates

Satellite in Orbit
Y axes not labelled

Each satellite in orbit has its own three dimensional coordinate system. In the satellite system all axes are designated with a subscript s.
  • The X sub S axis is on the line from the center of the earth towards the satellite.
  • The Z sub S axis is perpendicular to the satellite's oribital plane.
  • The Y sub S axis is in the same orbital plane as the X sub S axis, but at a 90° angle from it.

More text in rest of downloaded HTML file.

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Last Update: January 19, 2007