Simulated Images

RMS-NAV includes an image simulator that synthesizes spacecraft frames – stars, planetary bodies, and rings, with a realistic detector model – for arbitrary geometry. It exists to test and validate the navigation pipeline: because a simulated frame’s true pointing offset is known by construction, it is the only kind of frame whose navigation answer can be checked exactly. The simulator backs the algorithmic-invariant tests, the regression baselines, and the single-variable sensitivity sweeps that verify the navigator behaves as expected.

As a user navigating real spacecraft images you do not need the simulator; the results you rely on are validated with it on your behalf. If you are extending or calibrating the pipeline and want to use the simulator directly – the scene formats, the GUI, and how to render and navigate synthetic frames – see the developer guide’s The Image Simulator chapter and the Simulator Performance and Sensitivity Report.