MAT 172 Project

SATELLITES

Currently, there are more than 5,600 satellites orbiting the Earth, over 2,800 of which
are still active. The biggest contributors to this are the U.S. with 1258 active satellites
out of 3,199 total, the Commonwealth of Independent States with 174 active
satellites of 3,564 total, and the People’s Republic of China with 356 active satellites
out of 495 total1. There are many things that we could study about orbiting satellites,
but most are beyond the scope of this course.

For this project, we will take a look at several satellites and record their latitude and time. With this data, we will be able
to determine a sinusoidal model to represent the satellite’s latitude at any point in time.

DATA COLLECTION (GROUP)

Go to the website http://sscweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/ (opens in new window) and click the + Locator Tabular link. You will see
a list of satellites, some are still active but most not. As directed by your instructor, select one of the following satellites
from the list.

AIM, Aura, Calipso, Cassiope, Hinode, ISS, Firebird 3 or 4, Oersted, Parasol, Reimei, RHESSI, TIMED

 With your satellite selected, enter “2021/9/1 0:0:0” for the Start Time and “2021/9/1 3:59:59” for the Stop
Time. This is the first 4 hours on September 1, 2021.
 Under the REQUIRED SETTINGS, click the Output Options button. On the options grid, place a checkmark for the
GEO row under the LAT LON column.
 Under the OPTIONAL SETTINGS, click the Output Units/Formatting button. Set the Date to yy/mm/dd and the
Distance to Kilometers.
 Under the EXECUTION OPTIONS, click the Submit query and wait for output button to get your data.

You should see a page displaying the options you selected for you satellite followed by a long table of data. Copy the
entire table of values, starting with “21/9/1 00:00:00 …” and continuing until the bottom. Paste your data into column A
in an empty Excel sheet.

With your data selected in Excel, go to the Data tab and click the Text to Columns button. Select Delimited and click
Next. Select the Space delimiter and click Finish. Your data should now appear in columns A through D, where A is the
date, B is the time, C is the Latitude and D is the Longitude.

DEVELOPING YOUR MODEL (GROUP)

Format the cells in the entire column B to be a “General” format. Then replace the values in the column with 0, 1, 2, 3,
…, 239. This column should represent the time in minutes.

Select the Time and Latitude columns and Insert a Scatter plot. Use the graph and data to determine a sinusoidal
equation of the form L=a sin ( k ( t−b ) ) to model the Latitude as a function of Time. To do this, you will need to
determine the values for Amplitude, Period and Phase Shift. We can assume the Vertical Shift is c = 0.

Type your model into column E. In Excel, you would type “=A*sin(2*pi()/P*(CELL-B))” where the A is the value of your
amplitude, P is the value of your period, B is the value of your phase shift, and CELL is the cell reference to the first value
in column B. Copy the formula to the bottom of the data. Then select all the values in column E and copy/paste them
onto your graph. You should be able to compare you model with the actual data to verify that you have a good model.

1. Data current as of February 25, 2020 from CelesTrak (new window) [http://celestrak.com/satcat/boxscore.asp].
RESEARCHING YOUR SATELLITE (INDIVIDUAL)
Use the internet to learn more about your satellite. Look for the following things about your satellite (note you are
encouraged to explore your satellite beyond this list).

 What is the satellites full name (if the above name is an abbreviation)?
 What country and organization operate the satellite?
 When was the satellite launched?
 What is the purpose of the satellite?

SOLVING YOUR MODEL (INDIVIDUAL)

1. Determine when the satellite will cross the equator during its first period. Then, also express every time it will cross
the equator. Show ALL your algebraic work to solve this.
2. Raleigh, NC has latitude of 35.77°N. Determine when the satellite will be at the same latitude as Raleigh during its
first period. Then, also express every time it will be at the latitude. Show ALL your algebraic work to solve this.
3. Trade model equations with someone in another group. Be sure to state the name of their satellite and their model.
Determine when both models will be at the same latitude at the same time, during the first 4 hours on September 1,
2021. You will need to solve this graphically and include a graph(s) displaying your solution(s).

SUBMITTING YOUR REPORT (INDIVIDUAL)

Each student should complete and submit a report as directed by the instructor. This should be typed and include
electronically created graphs. It should include a summary of what you learned about your satellite, a graph of the data
with your model (Excel), a thorough explanation of how you developed your model with supporting computations, and
an explanation and summary of the solutions for your model (hand-written, clearly organized, detailed algebraic work
for #1 and #2 should be attached at the end of your report; for #3, include a Desmos graph containing both your model
and the other group’s model along with all intersections clearly labeled).

GRADING
Use the grade rubric provided to help guide you in setting up your final computer generated paper.

Content Possible Earned

Proper format of report (style, clarity, grammar, etc.) 5
Introduction – include the satellite name and your sinusoidal model equation 5
Summary of your research about your satellite, including sources 10
Detailed explanation of how the model was determined, including any work.
15
Do not include your entire data set
Explanation of what the amplitude, period and phase shift represent in terms
10
of the satellite
Graph of the original data together with the model, including title and axis
10
labels. Evaluate and briefly discuss how well your model fits the data.
Conclusion 5
Writing 60
Correct answers to when the satellite crosses the equator, including ALL work 15
Correct answers to when the satellite is level with Raleigh, including ALL work 15
Correct answers to when the satellite is level with another group’s satellite,
10
including a labeled graph with highlighted solution(s)
Calculations 40
Project Grade 100