Gauss-Radau Small-body Simulator (GRSS): An Open-source Library for Planetary Defense

We present GRSS , a small-body propagation and orbit determination library specifically designed for planetary defense applications. GRSS is an end-to-end, open-source software tool that begins with optical observations obtained from the Minor Planet Center and Gaia spacecraft, as well as radar obse...

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Main Authors: Rahil Makadia, Davide Farnocchia, Steven R. Chesley, Siegfried Eggl
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2025-01-01
Series:The Planetary Science Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/adbc88
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author Rahil Makadia
Davide Farnocchia
Steven R. Chesley
Siegfried Eggl
author_facet Rahil Makadia
Davide Farnocchia
Steven R. Chesley
Siegfried Eggl
author_sort Rahil Makadia
collection DOAJ
description We present GRSS , a small-body propagation and orbit determination library specifically designed for planetary defense applications. GRSS is an end-to-end, open-source software tool that begins with optical observations obtained from the Minor Planet Center and Gaia spacecraft, as well as radar observations from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and ends with reliable predictions about the trajectory of a small body in the solar system. The library is built on a C++11 orbit propagation core and provides additional orbit determination capability through a Python interface for ease of use. We conducted extensive validation for both of these components of the library by comparing them with the state-of-the-art operational software tools. We demonstrate the capabilities of GRSS by applying it to orbit propagation for (65803) Didymos and orbit determination for (29075) 1950 DA. We also used GRSS to calculate the keyholes for the 2135 close encounter of (101955) Bennu and determine the impact location for 2024 BX _1 and 2024 RW _1 . The library is designed to be modular and extensible, allowing for future addition of additional orbit filters and dynamical models. GRSS is publicly available on GitHub under a GPLv3 license and is intended to be a community resource for planetary science and planetary defense.
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spelling doaj-art-f3b81a26f171441a98c49a2c3669f2a72025-08-20T03:17:27ZengIOP PublishingThe Planetary Science Journal2632-33382025-01-01648510.3847/PSJ/adbc88Gauss-Radau Small-body Simulator (GRSS): An Open-source Library for Planetary DefenseRahil Makadia0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9265-2230Davide Farnocchia1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0774-884XSteven R. Chesley2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3240-6497Siegfried Eggl3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1398-6302Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, IL 61801, USA ; makadia2@illinois.eduJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91109, USAJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91109, USADepartment of Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, IL 61801, USA ; makadia2@illinois.eduWe present GRSS , a small-body propagation and orbit determination library specifically designed for planetary defense applications. GRSS is an end-to-end, open-source software tool that begins with optical observations obtained from the Minor Planet Center and Gaia spacecraft, as well as radar observations from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and ends with reliable predictions about the trajectory of a small body in the solar system. The library is built on a C++11 orbit propagation core and provides additional orbit determination capability through a Python interface for ease of use. We conducted extensive validation for both of these components of the library by comparing them with the state-of-the-art operational software tools. We demonstrate the capabilities of GRSS by applying it to orbit propagation for (65803) Didymos and orbit determination for (29075) 1950 DA. We also used GRSS to calculate the keyholes for the 2135 close encounter of (101955) Bennu and determine the impact location for 2024 BX _1 and 2024 RW _1 . The library is designed to be modular and extensible, allowing for future addition of additional orbit filters and dynamical models. GRSS is publicly available on GitHub under a GPLv3 license and is intended to be a community resource for planetary science and planetary defense.https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/adbc88Celestial mechanicsOrbit determinationAsteroid dynamicsComet dynamics
spellingShingle Rahil Makadia
Davide Farnocchia
Steven R. Chesley
Siegfried Eggl
Gauss-Radau Small-body Simulator (GRSS): An Open-source Library for Planetary Defense
The Planetary Science Journal
Celestial mechanics
Orbit determination
Asteroid dynamics
Comet dynamics
title Gauss-Radau Small-body Simulator (GRSS): An Open-source Library for Planetary Defense
title_full Gauss-Radau Small-body Simulator (GRSS): An Open-source Library for Planetary Defense
title_fullStr Gauss-Radau Small-body Simulator (GRSS): An Open-source Library for Planetary Defense
title_full_unstemmed Gauss-Radau Small-body Simulator (GRSS): An Open-source Library for Planetary Defense
title_short Gauss-Radau Small-body Simulator (GRSS): An Open-source Library for Planetary Defense
title_sort gauss radau small body simulator grss an open source library for planetary defense
topic Celestial mechanics
Orbit determination
Asteroid dynamics
Comet dynamics
url https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/adbc88
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AT stevenrchesley gaussradausmallbodysimulatorgrssanopensourcelibraryforplanetarydefense
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