Subject: A Foray Into Eclipses And AI
From: Daniel Adamo <[email-masked]>
To: "ATIG (A-K)" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 08 Feb 2023 20:41:37 -0800

ATIG Members-

The attached white paper documents a generic method to compute the unobscured decimal fraction of a Source body’s apparent disc area as it may be blocked by an Occulter body’s apparent disc from the perspective of an Observer body.  This capability enables all manner of communications and solar power simulations for spacecraft, together with solar radiation pressure modeling as a trajectory perturbation.  Real world examples from ISS entries to and exits from Earth’s shadow as cast by the Sun are provided.

The paper’s examples are straightforward to the degree they are collectively posed for independent solution by ChatGPT AI software.  Results of this experiment are documented in the paper’s appendix.  My impression is a college student with ChatGPT’s abilities would have reasonably good writing skills while being somewhat mediocre in math (not too different from me circa age 20).  Bottom line: ChatGPT is not yet ready for prime time, so don’t trust it for critical applications yet.  Let me know what you think about the paper and the brave new world of AI.

-Dan