A Study of Trajectories to Neptune Using Gravity Assists and Gravitational Capture
- Paper number
IAC-07-A3.I.A.27
- Author
Dr. Antonio Prado, National Institute for Space Research, Brazil
- Year
2007
- Abstract
NASA's Solar System Exploration theme listed a Neptune mission as one of its top priorities for the mid-term (2008-2013). Here, a mission to Neptune for the mid-term (2008-2020) is proposed, with the goal of studying several schemes for the mission. A direct transfer to Neptune is considered and also Venus, Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn gravity assists are used for the transfer to Neptune, which represent new contributions for a possible real mission. We show several schemes, including or not the braking maneuver near Neptune, in order to find a good compromise between the delta-V and the time of flight to Neptune. After that, a study is made to take advantage of an asteroid flyby opportunity, when the spacecraft passes by the main asteroid belt. Results for missions are shown. After that, gravitational capture is included in the maneuver. The gravitational capture was initially used to understand the capture of planetary satellites. However, in the 90’s decade, this phenomenon was applied in spacecraft trajectories. Belbruno and Miller studied missions in the Earth-Moon system that uses this technique to save fuel during the insertion of the spacecraft in its final orbit around the Moon. Using a parameter defined as twice the two-body energy of the planet-particle system, Yamakawa also studied the gravitational capture in the Earth-Moon system. This technique is used here to study a mission that perform a gravitational capture in the satellite Triton. The results show direct and retrograde trajectories, for different values of the initial conditions.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-07-A3.I.A.27.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.