Course
Unguided
500 XP5–7 hours

RV ↔ COE Converter with Ground Track

Build the coordinate machinery every flight dynamics system depends on — your way.

No step-by-step this time. You are given a specification and the acceptance criteria; the architecture is yours. Build a module that converts between a Cartesian state vector (r, v) and the six classical orbital elements — both directions — and plots the ground track of an orbit.

Classical orbital elementsState-vector ↔ COE conversionGround tracks & orbit types
Objective

Write rv_to_coe(r, v, mu) and coe_to_rv(a, e, i, raan, argp, nu, mu). A round-trip through both must return the original state to numerical precision. Then plot the ground track for the ISS orbit.

Acceptance criteria
0/5
Workspace
Deliverables
  • •A single Python file with both conversion functions and a demo.
  • •A printed round-trip test proving coe_to_rv(rv_to_coe(r,v)) ≈ (r,v).
  • •A saved ground-track figure for the ISS orbit.
Stretch goals
  • •Handle the edge cases: equatorial orbits (i≈0) and circular orbits (e≈0) where RAAN/argp are undefined.
  • •Add molniya and GEO examples and compare their ground tracks.