4 ms·
It's not just velocity, it's angular accuracy. In other words, where are we pointing? When you're course correcting, it's more like "steer this way" or "steer
by jmole 5y ago
It's not just velocity, it's angular accuracy. In other words, where are we pointing?
When you're course correcting, it's more like "steer this way" or "steer that way", not "dammit we're not going fast enough".
Getting the wrong velocity would have been a complete disaster.
- garaetjjte 5y agoTrue, but I think most of course correction delta-v budget is due to velocity rather than direction changes, especially with that deliberate underboost. Additionally direction is controlled during burn which is several minutes long, while velocity depends on precise timing of shutting down relatively big thruster.