Project Title:

Simulation and Analysis of Satellite$/$Comet Motion Under Gravitational Influence of Earth,

Moon, and Sun

Project Objective:

This project aims to enable students to apply principles of particle dynamics to simulate and

analyze the motion of a satellite or comet under the combined gravitational influence of the Earth,

Moon, and Sun using Python. Students will develop a code to model the motion, solve the resulting

differential equations, and analyze the trajectories under different scenarios, using realistic initial

conditions collected from the internet.

Team Formation and Communication:

Form teams of $3$ to $5$ students.

Designate one member as the team's communication lead, responsible for all

correspondence with the instructor.

By $5$ PM on May $17$th$,2024,$ submit an email with the names and ID numbers of all team

members, including the designated communication lead. Any student not listed in these

submissions will receive a ZERO for the project with NO EXCEPTIONS.

Project Scope:

Satellite$/$Comet Dynamics Simulation:

Objective: Develop a Python program to simulate the motion of a satellite or comet

under the gravitational forces of the Earth, Moon, and Sun using realistic initial

conditions.

Tasks:

Define the gravitational force equations for the Earth, Moon, and Sun.

Collect realistic initial conditions for a satellite or comet from the internet

$($e$.$g$.,$ position, velocity, mass$).$

Write Python code to set up and solve the equations of motion using

numerical methods $($e$.$g$.,$ Euler's method, Runge$-$Kutta method$).$

Simulate the motion for the collected initial conditions and gravitational

parameters.

Analysis and Visualization:

Objective: Analyze the simulation results and visualize the trajectories of the

satellite or comet.

Tasks:

Plot the trajectories for different scenarios.

Analyze the effects of varying initial conditions on the motion.

Discuss the stability and behavior of the satellite$/$comet under the

gravitational influences.

Deliverables:

Python Code:

Well$-$documented Python code for the simulation and analysis.

Comments explaining the code logic and numerical methods used.

Report $(8-10$ pages$)$:

Introduction to the problem and gravitational influences considered.

Detailed explanation of the numerical methods and Python code.

Source and details of the collected initial conditions.

Simulation results and analysis.

Conclusions and potential applications of the study.

Appendices with code snippets and detailed calculations.

List of references.

Evaluation Criteria:

Python Code $(50\%$ of total grade$)$:

Correctness and efficiency of the simulation $(30\%).$

Quality of code documentation and comments $(20\%).$

Report of total grade$)$:

Clarity and coherence in writing $(20\%).$

Depth of analysis and insights $(30\%).$