Global Mapping Via Hyperbolic Flybys
- Paper number
IAC-06-A3.P.2.08
- Author
Mr. Nathan Strange, Jet Propulsion Laboratory / CalTech, United States
- Coauthor
Mr. Brent Buffington, Jet Propulsion Laboratory / CalTech, United States
- Year
2006
- Abstract
Traditionally the problem of global mapping of a moon such as Saturn’s Titan or Jupiter’s Europa has led to the design of orbiter missions. Such orbiter missions are very expensive as a result of the large amount of propellant needed to insert into orbit around such small bodies, and are plagued by orbit stability concerns.
As part of the Cassini Extended Mission design effort, we have developed a new method for the placement of the groundtrack of a hyperbolic orbit over an arbitrary latitude and longitude. This method can be expanded to plan for multiple flyby coverage of the entire surface of a moon. It will be extremely useful in the design of missions for global mapping of moons such as Saturn’s Titan and Enceladus, as well as Jupiter’s Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, as well as Neptune’s Triton. With proper design of an instrument package, a multiple flyby mission can provide a science similar to that of an orbital mission
Note: May also be relevant to session C1.8. Mission and Constellation Design
- Abstract document