The Design of ‘Interceptor’ and Integrated Guidance and Navigation Strategy for Flyby
- Paper number
IAC-07-A5.I.-A3.I.B.14
- Author
Dr. Osamu Mori, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Japan
- Coauthor
Mr. Shunsuke Okada, University of Tokyo, Japan
- Coauthor
Dr. Yasuhiro Kawakatsu, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)/ISAS, Japan
- Coauthor
Dr. Yuichi Tsuda, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Japan
- Coauthor
Dr. Junichiro Kawaguchi, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)/ISAS, Japan
- Year
2007
- Abstract
More than 300 thousands asteroids and comets are in the solar system. They are conceived to have preserved primordial state well. The origin and developing process of the solar system can be known by investigating the typical one of them intensively. Only taking pictures of many small bodies are also very significant. We are developing small probes named ‘interceptor’ for flyby missions which aim at Near Earth Objects. This paper shows the mission of interceptor and proposes a new integrated method of autonomous guidance and navigation. An interceptor is a spinning probe whose weight is less than 10 kg. It observes spectrum, takes close images, and determines mass of a NEO during a flyby. These measurements make clear the geographical and geological features of the target. Three types of missions are proposed. First type is that only one interceptor is launched as piggyback mission. The second type is that several interceptors are launched and each one aims at each target. The third type is that a few interceptors are mounted to a spacecraft as submissions. In any type of mission, the structure of each interceptor is the same. There are a lot of chances. We are developing an interceptor for piggyback payload on HIIA rocket. It also deploys a membrane with solar cells for solar sail. This paper introduces its design. In order to accomplish the high speed flyby, an active orbit control guiding a spacecraft passing though the specified point in the B-plane around an object is required. At the same time, an autonomous navigation capability using optical cameras is requested. In this paper, an integrated guidance and navigation strategy during high speed flyby is described. In general, it is impossible to determine the relative orbit during a flyby only with optical information due to the scaling effect in ballistic flight. Combining optical navigation with the radio navigation, the relative position between interceptor and asteroid is estimated. The strategy of autonomous orbit control is also proposed. These are verified by the ground experiment using robotics simulator, which consists of a 6 DOF chaser and a 3 DOF target. In this experiment, on-board camera of the chaser takes images of a pebble attached on the target. The guidance and navigation of the chaser with respect to the target is demonstrated in various conditions, changing the small bodies shape and the lighting angle.
- Abstract document