All interested researchers and students are invited to attend. No registration is required for the short course. Seating is limited and is available on a first come, first served basis.
Program
Talk 1 – “Interplanetary Laser Trilateration Network” – Bruce Bills, JPL
- Overview of Interplanetary Laser Trilateration Network
- What are some chief science questions & challenges related to ILTN?
- What measurements are needed to address these questions?
- What is the relationship between: cadence of observations and accuracy of tie to center of mass of host planet?
Talk 2 – “High-Precision Solar System Dynamics with Improved Interplanetary Ranging” – Konstantin Batygin, Caltech
- Overview of orbital dynamics in the solar system, emphasizing the role of chaos on both short timescales (planetary scattering) and long timescales (stability boundaries identified via high-precision numerical integrations).
- The significance of asteroidal chaos in limiting the predictability of planetary orbits.
- Potential of interplanetary ranging networks to detect unseen objects in the outer solar system.
Talk 3 – “Laser Ranging Beyond Lunar Distances” – Evan Hoffman, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- The history and current state of ground-based satellite laser ranging network infrastructure
- What models do we use to predict single-shot and normal point (averaged) precision and accuracy?
- What do past and current 2-way (round-trip) and 1-way (dual laser/clock) laser ranging missions teach us about the engineering challenges of an ILTN?
Talk 4 – “Enabling Planetary Missions with ILTN” – Andrea Donnellan, Purdue University
- ITLN characteristics
- Planetary science goals that would benefit from ITLN
- ITLN as infrastructure versus discovery-based mission
- Requirements development
- Community engagement
- Advocacy and proposals
Talk 5 – “Future of Solar System Science with ILTN” – Mike Watkins, Caltech
- How have the measurements for understanding Solar System Dynamics evolved over the past 50 years?
- What has the combination of flyby’s, orbiters, and landers taught us so far about planetary orbital dynamics and planetary internal structure? What drives the limits of our current understanding?
- Highlights of particular missions and measurements (planetary ephemeris development, gravity, seismometry, altimetry)
- How does ILTN continue that evolution?
Short Course Presentations
| Speaker | Affiliation | Presentation |
|---|---|---|
| Bruce Bills | JPL | Interplanetary Laser Trilateration Network (.pdf) |
| Konstantin Batygin | Caltech | High-Precision Solar System Dynamics with Improved Interplanetary Ranging (.pdf) |
| Evan Hoffman | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | Laser Ranging Beyond Lunar Distances (.pdf) |
| Andrea Donnellan | Purdue University | Enabling Planetary Missions with ILTN (.pdf) |
| Mike Watkins | Caltech | Future of Solar System Science with ILTN (.pdf) |
