This is a command-line tool, written in Octave/Matlab, to answer the question:
"What orbit should I use to most efficiently scan some planetary body
with some supported scanner given that only want to use one vessel?"
Scanners are defined in scanners.txt. This is a simple, tab-delimited table containing information needed to make the calculation and some information to make the output prettier.
When running MapSatAltitude.m, the response to Scanner name? should be the first column of one
of these rows:
Name FOV HalfFOV AltitudeMin AltitudeIdeal AltitudeMax LongName
AltLo1 1.50 0.75 05000.00 70000.00 250000.00 R-3B Radar Altimeter
AltLo2 3.50 1.75 50000.00 100000.00 500000.00 R-EO-1 Radar Antenna
AltHi1 1.50 0.75 70000.00 250000.00 500000.00 SAR-X Antenna
AltHi2 3.00 1.50 500000.00 700000.00 750000.00 SAR-C Antenna
AltHi3 4.00 2.00 250000.00 500000.00 1000000.00 SAR-L Antenna
ResLo0 3.00 1.50 15000.00 500000.00 7500000.00 M700 Survey Scanner
ResHi0 2.00 1.00 10000.00 150000.00 500000.00 M4435 Narrow-Band Scanner
ResHi1 1.00 0.50 20000.00 70000.00 250000.00 SCAN-R Resource Mapper
ResHi2 2.50 1.25 70000.00 250000.00 500000.00 SCAN-R2 Advanced Resource Mapper
ResHi3 3.00 1.50 100000.00 500000.00 750000.00 SCAN-RX Hyperspectral Resource Mapper
Multi1 3.00 1.50 20000.00 70000.00 250000.00 MS-1 Multispectral Sensor
Multi2 1.50 0.75 70000.00 300000.00 400000.00 MS-R Enhanced Multispectral Sensor
Multi3 4.00 2.00 100000.00 500000.00 750000.00 MS-2A Advanced Multispectral Sensor
VisHi1 1.50 0.75 20000.00 70000.00 250000.00 VS-1 High Resolution Imager
VisHi2 2.50 1.25 70000.00 350000.00 500000.00 VS-3 Advanced High Resolution Imager
VisHi3 4.00 2.00 100000.00 200000.00 1000000.00 VS-11 Classified Reconnaissance Imager
Planets are defined in PlanetInfos.txt. This has the same format as the scanners file, with different fields.
Name Radius Day GM SOI Atmo
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Earth 6371000.00 86164.098903691 398600441800000.000 923795000.000 180000.000
Moon 1737100.00 2360584.6847999 4902800000000.000 66009800.000 0.000
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%%% Original Planets from here down ...
%%% Values from https://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/User:Craftsman
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Kerbol 26160000.00 432000.000 1172332800000000000.000 999999999999.00 0.000
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Moho 250000.000 1210000.000 168609378654.510 9646663.023 0.000
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Eve 700000.000 80500.000 8171730229210.800 85109364.738 90000.000
Gilly 13000.000 28255.000 8289449.81500000 126123.272 0.000
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Kerbin 600000.000 21549.425 3531600000000.000 84159286.480 70000.000
Mun 200000.000 138984.377 65138397520.7810 2429559.117 0.000
Minmus 60000.000 40400.000 1765800026.31200 2247428.388 0.000
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Duna 320000.000 65517.859 301363211975.100 47921949.370 50000.000
Ike 130000.000 65517.862 18568368573.1440 1049598.939 0.000
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Dres 138000.000 34800.000 21484488600.0000 32832839.577 0.000
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Jool 6000000.000 36000.000 282528004209990.000 2455985185.423 200000.000
Laythe 500000.000 52980.879 1962000029236.100 3723645.811 50000.000
Vall 300000.000 105962.089 207481499473.750 2406401.445 0.000
Tylo 600000.000 211926.358 2825280042099.900 10856518.368 0.000
Bop 65000.000 544507.429 2486834944.41005 1221060.863 0.000
Pol 44000.000 901902.624 721702080.000000 1042138.892 0.000
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Eeloo 210000.000 19460.000 74410814527.0520 119082941.648 0.000
| UEQx | EQx | Sidelap | Altitude | Error | Inc. | O. Period | Scan Time | Error | FOV | Swath | Res (°) | Res (m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | 29 | (1.10) | 782.176 km | +/- 1.51 km | (80.07°) | 6h 38.9m | 96h 24.4m | +/- 13.4m | (3.5°) | 14 m | (0.07°) | 0.238 km |
| 18 | 31 | (1.09) | 739.453 km | +/- 1.53 km | (80.72°) | 6h 13.2m | 96h 24.0m | +/- 14.1m | (3.4°) | 13 m | (0.06°) | 0.221 km |
| 19 | 33 | (1.04) | 701.102 km | +/- 1.56 km | (81.29°) | 5h 50.5m | 96h 23.5m | +/- 15.0m | (3.2°) | 11 m | (0.06°) | 0.199 km |
| 23 | 40 | (1.24) | 695.092 km | +/- 1.57 km | (81.37°) | 5h 47.0m | 115h 40.0m | +/- 18.3m | (3.2°) | 11 m | (0.06°) | 0.195 km |
| 25 | 44 | (1.16) | 639.982 km | +/- 1.62 km | (82.16°) | 5h 15.4m | 115h 39.2m | +/- 20.1m | (3.0°) | 9 m | (0.05°) | 0.165 km |
| 32 | 57 | (1.24) | 583.331 km | +/- 1.65 km | (82.95°) | 4h 44.0m | 134h 54.4m | +/- 25.7m | (2.7°) | 8 m | (0.04°) | 0.137 km |
| 33 | 59 | (1.21) | 565.539 km | +/- 1.72 km | (83.19°) | 4h 34.4m | 134h 53.8m | +/- 27.3m | (2.6°) | 7 m | (0.04°) | 0.129 km |
| 29 | 52 | (1.01) | 551.451 km | +/- 1.72 km | (83.37°) | 4h 26.8m | 115h 37.3m | +/- 23.8m | (2.5°) | 7 m | (0.04°) | 0.123 km |
| 34 | 61 | (1.18) | 548.716 km | +/- 1.72 km | (83.41°) | 4h 25.4m | 134h 53.5m | +/- 27.9m | (2.5°) | 7 m | (0.03°) | 0.122 km |
| 36 | 65 | (1.11) | 517.680 km | +/- 1.76 km | (83.82°) | 4h 09.0m | 134h 52.5m | +/- 29.9m | (2.4°) | 6 m | (0.03°) | 0.108 km |
| 37 | 67 | (1.09) | 503.306 km | +/- 1.57 km | (84.00°) | 4h 01.6m | 134h 53.5m | +/- 27.2m | (2.3°) | 6 m | (0.03°) | 0.102 km |
| 43 | 78 | (1.22) | 494.577 km | +/- 1.51 km | (84.11°) | 3h 57.1m | 154h 07.8m | +/- 30.2m | (2.3°) | 6 m | (0.03°) | 98.69 m |
| 38 | 69 | (1.06) | 489.696 km | +/- 1.72 km | (84.18°) | 3h 54.6m | 134h 52.9m | +/- 30.3m | (2.3°) | 6 m | (0.03°) | 96.75 m |
| 39 | 71 | (1.03) | 476.594 km | +/- 1.70 km | (84.34°) | 3h 47.9m | 134h 51.0m | +/- 30.6m | (2.2°) | 5 m | (0.03°) | 91.64 m |
| 45 | 82 | (1.17) | 472.062 km | +/- 1.40 km | (84.40°) | 3h 45.7m | 154h 14.0m | +/- 28.9m | (2.2°) | 5 m | (0.03°) | 89.90 m |
| 40 | 73 | (1.01) | 464.256 km | +/- 1.37 km | (84.50°) | 3h 41.8m | 134h 55.3m | +/- 25.0m | (2.1°) | 5 m | (0.02°) | 86.95 m |
| 47 | 86 | (1.12) | 450.963 km | +/- 1.24 km | (84.66°) | 3h 35.2m | 154h 13.2m | +/- 26.5m | (2.1°) | 5 m | (0.02°) | 82.03 m |
| 55 | 101 | (1.21) | 432.519 km | +/- 0.91 km | (84.89°) | 3h 26.2m | 173h 32.1m | +/- 22.4m | (2.0°) | 4 m | (0.02°) | 75.45 m |
| 49 | 90 | (1.07) | 431.470 km | +/- 1.16 km | (84.90°) | 3h 25.6m | 154h 12.2m | +/- 25.5m | (2.0°) | 4 m | (0.02°) | 75.09 m |
| 56 | 103 | (1.19) | 424.315 km | +/- 0.70 km | (84.99°) | 3h 22.2m | 173h 35.0m | +/- 17.5m | (2.0°) | 4 m | (0.02°) | 72.61 m |
| 51 | 94 | (1.03) | 413.344 km | +/- 1.11 km | (85.12°) | 3h 16.8m | 154h 10.7m | +/- 25.2m | (1.9°) | 4 m | (0.02°) | 68.90 m |
| 58 | 107 | (1.14) | 408.717 km | +/- 0.84 km | (85.17°) | 3h 14.7m | 173h 34.2m | +/- 21.6m | (1.9°) | 4 m | (0.02°) | 67.37 m |
| 59 | 109 | (1.12) | 401.149 km | +/- 0.81 km | (85.26°) | 3h 11.0m | 173h 31.9m | +/- 21.1m | (1.9°) | 4 m | (0.02°) | 64.90 m |
| 67 | 124 | (1.22) | 391.767 km | +/- 0.64 km | (85.37°) | 3h 06.6m | 192h 51.2m | +/- 18.7m | (1.8°) | 4 m | (0.02°) | 61.89 m |
| 61 | 113 | (1.08) | 386.934 km | +/- 0.59 km | (85.43°) | 3h 04.4m | 173h 36.1m | +/- 15.7m | (1.8°) | 3 m | (0.02°) | 60.37 m |
| 62 | 115 | (1.06) | 380.113 km | +/- 0.73 km | (85.51°) | 3h 01.1m | 173h 34.4m | +/- 19.7m | (1.8°) | 3 m | (0.02°) | 58.26 m |
| 69 | 128 | (1.18) | 379.445 km | +/- 0.59 km | (85.52°) | 3h 00.8m | 192h 53.6m | +/- 17.6m | (1.8°) | 3 m | (0.02°) | 58.06 m |
| 71 | 132 | (1.14) | 367.647 km | +/- 0.56 km | (85.66°) | 2h 55.3m | 192h 52.9m | +/- 17.0m | (1.7°) | 3 m | (0.02°) | 54.50 m |
| 64 | 119 | (1.03) | 367.011 km | +/- 0.68 km | (85.66°) | 2h 55.0m | 173h 33.9m | +/- 18.9m | (1.7°) | 3 m | (0.02°) | 54.31 m |
| 79 | 147 | (1.24) | 363.004 km | +/- 0.00 km | (85.71°) | 2h 53.3m | 212h 19.9m | +/- 00.0m | (1.7°) | 3 m | (0.02°) | 53.13 m |
| 65 | 121 | (1.01) | 360.731 km | +/- 0.51 km | (85.73°) | 2h 52.2m | 173h 36.0m | +/- 14.2m | (1.7°) | 3 m | (0.02°) | 52.47 m |
| 80 | 149 | (1.22) | 357.932 km | +/- 0.46 km | (85.77°) | 2h 50.9m | 212h 10.9m | +/- 15.8m | (1.7°) | 3 m | (0.01°) | 51.66 m |
| 73 | 136 | (1.11) | 356.517 km | +/- 0.54 km | (85.78°) | 2h 50.2m | 192h 55.0m | +/- 16.9m | (1.6°) | 3 m | (0.01°) | 51.25 m |
| 81 | 151 | (1.21) | 353.003 km | +/- 0.43 km | (85.82°) | 2h 48.6m | 212h 11.7m | +/- 14.8m | (1.6°) | 3 m | (0.01°) | 50.24 m |
| 82 | 153 | (1.19) | 348.217 km | +/- 0.41 km | (85.88°) | 2h 46.5m | 212h 13.7m | +/- 14.4m | (1.6°) | 3 m | (0.01°) | 48.89 m |
| 83 | 155 | (1.17) | 343.447 km | +/- 0.41 km | (85.93°) | 2h 44.3m | 212h 12.1m | +/- 14.5m | (1.6°) | 3 m | (0.01°) | 47.56 m |
| 84 | 157 | (1.16) | 338.884 km | +/- 0.40 km | (85.98°) | 2h 42.2m | 212h 14.2m | +/- 14.1m | (1.6°) | 3 m | (0.01°) | 46.30 m |
| 77 | 144 | (1.04) | 335.640 km | +/- 0.49 km | (86.02°) | 2h 40.7m | 192h 52.9m | +/- 16.0m | (1.6°) | 3 m | (0.01°) | 45.42 m |
| 85 | 159 | (1.14) | 334.400 km | +/- 0.32 km | (86.03°) | 2h 40.2m | 212h 17.5m | +/- 11.4m | (1.5°) | 3 m | (0.01°) | 45.09 m |
| 79 | 148 | (1.01) | 325.989 km | +/- 0.46 km | (86.13°) | 2h 36.4m | 192h 54.7m | +/- 15.2m | (1.5°) | 2 m | (0.01°) | 42.85 m |
| 87 | 163 | (1.11) | 325.560 km | +/- 0.37 km | (86.13°) | 2h 36.2m | 212h 14.0m | +/- 13.3m | (1.5°) | 2 m | (0.01°) | 42.73 m |
| 95 | 178 | (1.21) | 325.194 km | +/- 0.32 km | (86.13°) | 2h 36.1m | 231h 32.6m | +/- 12.6m | (1.5°) | 2 m | (0.01°) | 42.64 m |
| 97 | 182 | (1.18) | 317.467 km | +/- 0.30 km | (86.22°) | 2h 32.7m | 231h 32.3m | +/- 12.2m | (1.5°) | 2 m | (0.01°) | 40.63 m |
| 89 | 167 | (1.08) | 317.117 km | +/- 0.37 km | (86.22°) | 2h 32.5m | 212h 13.3m | +/- 13.5m | (1.5°) | 2 m | (0.01°) | 40.54 m |
| 91 | 171 | (1.05) | 308.881 km | +/- 0.14 km | (86.31°) | 2h 28.9m | 212h 12.1m | +/- 05.4m | (1.4°) | 2 m | (0.01°) | 38.46 m |
| 108 | 203 | (1.23) | 307.545 km | +/- 0.19 km | (86.33°) | 2h 28.3m | 250h 54.5m | +/- 08.5m | (1.4°) | 2 m | (0.01°) | 38.13 m |
| 92 | 173 | (1.03) | 305.065 km | +/- 0.35 km | (86.35°) | 2h 27.2m | 212h 12.7m | +/- 13.2m | (1.4°) | 2 m | (0.01°) | 37.52 m |
| 93 | 175 | (1.02) | 301.249 km | +/- 0.35 km | (86.40°) | 2h 25.5m | 212h 14.2m | +/- 13.3m | (1.4°) | 2 m | (0.01°) | 36.59 m |
| 110 | 207 | (1.20) | 300.947 km | +/- 0.22 km | (86.40°) | 2h 25.4m | 250h 52.0m | +/- 10.0m | (1.4°) | 2 m | (0.01°) | 36.51 m |
| 111 | 209 | (1.19) | 297.735 km | +/- 0.24 km | (86.43°) | 2h 24.0m | 250h 50.7m | +/- 10.8m | (1.4°) | 2 m | (0.01°) | 35.74 m |
| 94 | 177 | (1.00) | 297.433 km | +/- 0.32 km | (86.44°) | 2h 23.9m | 212h 13.5m | +/- 12.2m | (1.4°) | 2 m | (0.01°) | 35.67 m |
| 113 | 213 | (1.16) | 291.407 km | +/- 0.08 km | (86.50°) | 2h 21.3m | 250h 50.7m | +/- 03.7m | (1.3°) | 2 m | (0.01°) | 34.23 m |
| 107 | 202 | (1.04) | 282.725 km | +/- 0.24 km | (86.59°) | 2h 17.6m | 231h 33.4m | +/- 10.3m | (1.3°) | 2 m | (0.01°) | 32.22 m |
| 116 | 219 | (1.12) | 282.487 km | +/- 0.21 km | (86.60°) | 2h 17.5m | 250h 52.3m | +/- 09.7m | (1.3°) | 2 m | (0.01°) | 32.17 m |
| 125 | 236 | (1.21) | 282.264 km | +/- 0.19 km | (86.60°) | 2h 17.4m | 270h 10.3m | +/- 09.6m | (1.3°) | 2 m | (0.01°) | 32.12 m |
| 127 | 240 | (1.18) | 276.890 km | +/- 0.17 km | (86.66°) | 2h 15.1m | 270h 10.2m | +/- 08.9m | (1.3°) | 2 m | (0.01°) | 30.91 m |
| 118 | 223 | (1.09) | 276.683 km | +/- 0.21 km | (86.66°) | 2h 15.0m | 250h 51.4m | +/- 09.8m | (1.3°) | 2 m | (0.01°) | 30.86 m |
| 109 | 206 | (1.01) | 276.445 km | +/- 0.24 km | (86.66°) | 2h 14.9m | 231h 32.9m | +/- 10.4m | (1.3°) | 2 m | (0.01°) | 30.81 m |
| 123 | 233 | (1.03) | 262.946 km | +/- 0.19 km | (86.80°) | 2h 09.2m | 250h 52.1m | +/- 09.3m | (1.2°) | 2 m | (0.01°) | 27.87 m |
| 142 | 269 | (1.19) | 262.787 km | +/- 0.10 km | (86.80°) | 2h 09.2m | 289h 31.5m | +/- 05.4m | (1.2°) | 2 m | (0.01°) | 27.84 m |
| 143 | 271 | (1.18) | 260.465 km | +/- 0.10 km | (86.83°) | 2h 08.2m | 289h 29.1m | +/- 05.4m | (1.2°) | 2 m | (0.01°) | 27.35 m |
| 124 | 235 | (1.02) | 260.306 km | +/- 0.19 km | (86.83°) | 2h 08.1m | 250h 51.6m | +/- 09.4m | (1.2°) | 2 m | (0.01°) | 27.32 m |
| 139 | 264 | (1.04) | 247.539 km | +/- 0.14 km | (86.96°) | 2h 02.8m | 270h 11.2m | +/- 07.8m | (1.1°) | 1 m | (0.01°) | 24.70 m |
| 149 | 283 | (1.11) | 247.380 km | +/- 0.13 km | (86.96°) | 2h 02.8m | 289h 29.5m | +/- 07.4m | (1.1°) | 1 m | (0.01°) | 24.67 m |
| 159 | 302 | (1.18) | 247.252 km | +/- 0.11 km | (86.96°) | 2h 02.7m | 308h 47.8m | +/- 06.9m | (1.1°) | 1 m | (0.01°) | 24.64 m |
| 171 | 325 | (1.24) | 243.452 km | +/- 0.10 km | (87.00°) | 2h 01.1m | 328h 06.3m | +/- 06.4m | (1.1°) | 1 m | (0.01°) | 23.89 m |
| 161 | 306 | (1.16) | 243.341 km | +/- 0.11 km | (87.00°) | 2h 01.1m | 308h 47.4m | +/- 07.0m | (1.1°) | 1 m | (0.01°) | 23.87 m |
| 151 | 287 | (1.09) | 243.214 km | +/- 0.11 km | (87.00°) | 2h 01.0m | 289h 29.5m | +/- 06.5m | (1.1°) | 1 m | (0.01°) | 23.85 m |
| 141 | 268 | (1.02) | 243.071 km | +/- 0.14 km | (87.01°) | 2h 01.0m | 270h 10.9m | +/- 07.9m | (1.1°) | 1 m | (0.01°) | 23.82 m |
| 175 | 334 | (1.02) | 218.203 km | +/- 0.10 km | (87.25°) | 1h 50.9m | 308h 48.2m | +/- 06.3m | (1.0°) | 1 m | (0.01°) | 19.19 m |
| 186 | 355 | (1.08) | 218.108 km | +/- 0.08 km | (87.26°) | 1h 50.9m | 328h 06.4m | +/- 05.6m | (1.0°) | 1 m | (0.01°) | 19.18 m |
| 197 | 376 | (1.15) | 218.012 km | +/- 0.06 km | (87.26°) | 1h 50.9m | 347h 25.0m | +/- 04.8m | (1.0°) | 1 m | (0.01°) | 19.16 m |
| 208 | 397 | (1.21) | 217.949 km | +/- 0.05 km | (87.26°) | 1h 50.9m | 366h 44.2m | +/- 03.8m | (1.0°) | 1 m | (0.01°) | 19.15 m |
| 210 | 401 | (1.19) | 215.150 km | +/- 0.06 km | (87.28°) | 1h 49.7m | 366h 43.0m | +/- 05.1m | (1.0°) | 1 m | (0.01°) | 18.66 m |
| 199 | 380 | (1.13) | 215.071 km | +/- 0.06 km | (87.29°) | 1h 49.7m | 347h 24.8m | +/- 04.8m | (1.0°) | 1 m | (0.01°) | 18.65 m |
| 188 | 359 | (1.06) | 214.991 km | +/- 0.06 km | (87.29°) | 1h 49.7m | 328h 07.2m | +/- 04.5m | (1.0°) | 1 m | (0.01°) | 18.63 m |
| 177 | 338 | (1.00) | 214.896 km | +/- 0.10 km | (87.29°) | 1h 49.6m | 308h 48.1m | +/- 06.4m | (1.0°) | 1 m | (0.01°) | 18.62 m |
| 227 | 435 | (1.04) | 193.256 km | +/- 0.02 km | (87.50°) | 1h 41.2m | 366h 46.8m | +/- 01.3m | (0.9°) | 1 m | (0.00°) | 15.05 m |
| 229 | 439 | (1.03) | 190.807 km | +/- 0.02 km | (87.52°) | 1h 40.2m | 366h 43.3m | +/- 01.3m | (0.9°) | 1 m | (0.00°) | 14.68 m |