Variable curvature concepts for smart thermal protection systems (Smart TPS)

Paper number

IAC-05-C2.4.01

Author

Luca Lampani, University of Rome "La Sapienza", Italy

Coauthor

Dr.-Ing. Ernst K. Pfeiffer, Germany

Coauthor

Heiko Ritter, European Space Agency (ESA)/ESTEC, The Netherlands

Coauthor

Prof. Paolo Gaudenzi, University of Rome "La Sapienza", Italy

Year

2005

Abstract

Earth - Mars interplanetary transfers using spaceports at the Halo orbits in the vicinity of Sun-Earth and Sun-Mars libration points in the restricted Hill three-body problem are analyzed. This application is motivated by future proposals to place “deep space ports” at the Earth and Mars L1 or L2 points. Constructing spaceports at the Sun-Earth and Sun-Mars Halo orbits can separate the space transportation system into three regions: the Earth escape transfer phase, the Mars capture transfer phase and the interplanetary transfer phase. This system could facilitate a round-trip space exploration using spaceports as relay points and leads to a reusable transportation system in the future.

In this study we utilize stable and unstable manifolds associated with Halo orbits for the escape and capture trajectories from/to Halo orbits1. For Earth-Mars interplanetary transfer, we discuss the ways of linking interplanetary transfer trajectories with the stable/unstable manifolds. As a result, we find that the required delta-V for Earth – Mars transfer from LEO to the orbit around Mars via Earth and Mars Halo orbits is almost the same as that of an Earth- Mars Hohmann transfer. Moreover, if spaceports are built on each Halo orbit in the vicinity of the Sun-Earth and Sun-Mars libration points, the propellant can be supplied to the spacecraft there, or payload can be transferred from interplanetary cargo ships to a space vehicle exclusively used at Mars. It follows that the propellant, which is carried with the payload by the interplanetary vehicle can be considerably reduced compared with a direct Hohmann transfer case.

Reference

1. Nakamiya, M., Scheeres, D., Yamakawa, H., and Yoshikawa, M., “Three-Dimensional Analysis of Capture Trajectories to the Periodic Orbits of L1 and L2 Points,” accepted for publication in Journal of Guidance, Control and Dynamics.

Abstract document

IAC-05-C2.4.01.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-05-C2.4.01.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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