A Shuttle's fly around manoeuvre

[SiberianTiger]

I'm intrigued, how the station fly-around manoeuvre is performed? Is it a powered flight controlled by the shuttle's thrusters or a free trajectory manoeuvre of sorts? Is there any chart showing how the correct relative trajectory is achieved?

 

[Urwumpe]

I'm intrigued, how the station fly-around manoeuvre is performed? Is it a powered flight controlled by the shuttle's thrusters or a free trajectory manoeuvre of sorts? Is there any chart showing how the correct relative trajectory is achieved?

No powered flight, just orbital mechanics. Just imagine the station is in a circular orbit and you are in the same orbit a bit ahead... now, if you give your orbit a bit of vertical velocity, you increase eccentricity, but keep semimajor axis. So, your orbit period is now the same, but you fly above and below the station in altitude (apogee and perigee different). As you are faster as the station at perigee, and slower at apogee, the only solution is a loop around the station.

The chart is inside the Rendezvous checklist, but it is actually a very simple maneuver.

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/flightdatafiles/index.html

 

[SiberianTiger]

As you are faster as the station at perigee, and slower at apogee, the only solution is a loop around the station.

Thank you - I thought it was exactly this way. And another guy has almost crossed me up with his confidence.